Welcome to the complete guide on managing waitlists, cancellations, and no-shows for your classes. This guide covers key aspects such as waitlist policies, early cancellations, late cancellations, and no-shows. Understand the nuances of late cancellations and no-shows, including penalty fees and refund policies. Discover how the policies vary for unlimited and limited/drop-in plans. The guide also addresses livestream classes and provides insights on managing refunds based on original payment methods or account balances. Finally, learn how to prevent penalties, manage late cancellations and no-shows, and handle enrollment cancellations.

You can set, edit, and check your cancellation and no-show settings under Business Settings. For multi location studios, update your waitlist and cancellation settings under Locations. The settings apply to all class types. Policies can not be customized at the class or plan level.

Single location studios:

Multi-location studios:

Waitlists apply to classes only, they do not apply to enrollments or classes. Clients can automatically added to the waitlist all the way up to the start of class. At the end of class, all clients are removed from the waitlist, the waitlist is not retained. Clients can book multiple waitlist positions and they can book overlapping waitlist positions.

When a spot opens, waitlisted clients are automatically added to class.

You will need to have the waitlist Transactional notifications enabled in order for clients to be informed when they are removed from a waitlist, are added to a waitlist, or when they are moved from the waitlist into a class. Clients are not sent an email when their spot on the waitlist changes. However, their position number on the waitlist when viewing their schedule will change. Waitlist bookings appear under the client Bookings tab under the client profile. When a client is removed from the waitlist or if they cancel their waitlist spot, the cancellations is not listed under the client Bookings tab in their profile.

The client will be charged the late cancelation fee even though they were added after the late cancel window and they may not have enough time to make the class. You can always cancel the penalty up to 24 hours after the class so they will not incur a fee or lose a session.

Waitlist close determines how long before class clients can add themselves or be added to the waitlist by staff.

If a client is on the waitlist roster and a spot opens up after the waitlist window has closed, the client can cancel their waitlist booking and book themselves into the open spot. They can book themselves back into the class as long as the booking window has not closed. Then, they can re-book themselves into the open spot on the class roster or staff can book them into the class. Staff can move clients from the waitlist to the class roster at anytime regardless of the booking close window, waitlist close window, or even if the class is full.

To better understand the above concept, let's take a look at an example: Booking window is set to 5 minutes, waitlist close window is set to 10 minutes, the class is full and there is one person on the waitlist.

10 minutes or less before class clients can not add themselves to the waitlist and staff can not add clients to the waitlist. Clients on the waitlist will not be automatically added to the class 10 minutes or less before the start of class.
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Up until 5 minutes before the class clients can book themselves into the class roster if a spot opens up, even if the waitlist close window has passed. Staff can book clients into the class roster at anytime, even if the waitlist close window has passed.

Clients on the waitlist who did not make it into class are removed from the waitlist 10 minutes after the start of class and their sessions, drop-in, or credits returned. It is important to note that drop-ins are always returned to the original method of payment, regardless of your Refund Policy settings. So, if a drop-in purchased with a credit card was used for a waitlist booking and the client isn't added to the class, the system will refund them to the card. If the drop-in was bought with cash, the refund is given as account credit. This isn't a setting that can be changed.

The late cancel policy does not apply to clients on the waitlist. If a client cancels their waitlist booking, then their session will be returned to their original payment method. When a waitlist booking is made with a drop-in and the client is not added to the class, the system will refund the client back to the client's original payment method regardless of the setting chosen under Refund Policy. If a client purchased the drop-in with a credit card, then the card used to purchase the drop-in will be refunded. If a client purchased the drop-in with cash, the drop-in will be refunded as account credit. This is not a setting that can be customized or changed.

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Waitlist windows are set on the individual class type level, located under Class Management. Here you can enable waitlists, set number of waitlist spots, and set waitlist comp settings.

Enable Waitlist? This setting will allow you to set the number of waitlist spots for a class.

Number of Waitlist Spots This setting allows you to enter the number of available waitlist spots.

Allow Comps To Waitlist? If this is set to no, clients with $0 plans, such as staff memberships, are considered comps and will not be able to waitlist.

To enable waitlists for your class types complete the following steps:

You can find early cancellations under the plan details of a clients plan or, if the booking was made with a drop-in, the cancellation record can be found under the Transactions tab in the client profile. Early cancellations are not found under the Bookings tab of the client profile. However, clients can view early cancellations, late cancellations, and no-shows under their booking history found in your website widget. If you have cancellation Transactional Notifications enabled, then the clients Communications tab also serves as a timestamp for cancellations.

Here, you can set the number of hours a client must cancel their reservation before their cancellation is considered a late cancellation. You can enter the amount you would like to charge the client for the late cancellation and have separate late cancel fees for limited/drop-ins and unlimited plans. The late cancel policy does not apply to clients on the waitlist. If a client cancels their waitlist booking, then their session will be returned to their original payment method regardless of chosen Refund Policies set under Business Settings.

Clients are considered no-shows when they are not checked into class. Clients are officially marked as no-shows 24 hours after class. This means if a client is checked in 24 hours after class, they will not be marked as a no-show. If you charge a fee or deduct a session for no-shows, you have up to 24 hors after class to not charge a fee and return the session from the Late Cancellations & Client No-Shows tab of the class roster.

Unlimited Policy: The unlimited policy applies to all unlimited plans and unlimited intro offers. The setting client loses/ does not lose their pass does not apply to unlimited plans because the client has unlimited sessions.

Limited/ Drop-in Policy: The limited/ drop-in policy applies to all drop-ins, bookings made with a guest pass, comp passes, limited plans, credit bundles, and limited intro offers.

Choose either they lose or do not lose the session, fee, or credits used to pay for class.

If will also lose is selected: Drop-in clients will lose their drop-in, limited plans will have a session deducted, and credit bundles will have credits deducted. This applies to guest passes and comp passes as well.

If will not lose is selected: Limited plans will have a session returned, credit bundles will have their credits returned, guest passes will be returned to the plan the guest pass originated from, and the comp will be returned back to the client’s account for later use.

If will not lose is selected and the client booked with a drop-in: The drop-in will be returned either to the client’s account as account credit or the drop-in will be returned back to the client’s original payment method. Your Class Cancellation Policy and your No-Show Refund Policy determines if a client will be refunded back to their account or their original payment method.

Penalty fees: Enter $0.00 if you do not want to charge clients a penalty fee for no-shows or late cancellations. If you want to charge clients a fee for no-shows or late cancellations, enter a value into the field. Fees are charged 24 hours after class.

ClassPass and Gym Pass fees are managed separately outside of Walla. Clients will not be charged late cancellation and no-show fees through Walla. They will be charged based on the settings you have entered under the two platforms.

No-show and late cancel fees will be charged to the client who brought the guest.

The late cancellation policy always applies to clients who book livestream classes. If a client does not select the booking link to join your livestream class, they will not be automatically checked-in to class by the system. This means that if they decide to copy and paste the meeting ID and password and they do not click the Zoom link, then they will not be automatically checked into class. Be sure to check livestream clients in in order to avoid your client from incurring a late cancellation fee.

This setting only applies to drop-in bookings.

When a client cancels a class via the widget or front-desk, you can choose to restrict the refund to account balance or to original payment. Currently, there is not a no refund option. When Original Payment Method is selected, this means the client will be refunded to the payment method the drop-in was purchased with, except when the drop-in is purchased with cash. If Account Balance is selected, the drop-in will be refunded to the client's account balance for later use. The account balance can be used for purchases in-studio, on the widget, and the Walla App. Client account balances and account balance details can be found under the Overview tab in client’s profile.

Cash: If the client pays with cash, the drop-in will be refunded to the client’s account balance.

Credit card: If the drop-in was purchased with a credit card, the credit card will be refunded. When original payment is selected and a client does not have a credit card on file or if there is an issue with the client's credit card, then the refund will go back to the clients account balance. As with all refunds, there is not a separate refund fee but the Stripe transaction fee is not returned, it is kept by Stripe.

If you charge clients a late cancellation or no-show fee, the fee will be charged 24 hours after the class takes place. If you have the Sent when client is not checked into class (No-show) or the Sent when a client cancels outside of the cancellation window (Late Cancellation) Transactional Notifications enabled, your client will receive these notifications 12 hours after class. If you return the session and stop the fee prior to the 12 hour window, your client will not be sent these notifications. You can manage your late cancellations and no-shows directly from the class roster or the Class Cancellations and No-Show report.

Late Cancelation & Client No-Show roster

To manage your late cancellations and no-shows from the roster:

If your policy is set to they do not lose the session, fee, or credits used to pay for class:

You can return their session from their limited plan or drop-in by selecting Return the session, fee, or credits used to pay for class, then Save. Selecting save will immediately return the session. If you charge a fee, fees will be charged 24 hours after the end of class.

Drop-ins: Will be immediately refunded automatically after the class ends. If a client paid for their drop-in with a credit card, you can not reverse the credit card refund.

Limited plans: Sessions are returned 24 hours after the end of class.

Refund a fee after is has been charged:

Set your enrollment cancellation policy for your members and non-members. When removing a client from an enrollment staff will have the option to charge or not charge an enrollment cancellation fee. This fee is charged when removing a client from the enrollment directly from the enrollment roster or when removing the client from an enrollment via their profile. This fee can be changed or removed completely prior to charging on both of these pages. Only staff can remove a client from an enrollment. Clients can not cancel themselves from an enrollment.

Clients can not cancel enrollments via the Walla App or via the Widget. Staff must cancel clients from an enrollment. When removing a client from an enrollment, the enrollment cancellation penalty can be waived. Keep in mind that if a client does not have a credit card on file, then the client's account balance will be charged.

This is most likely due to the client not having a credit card on file, their credit card failed, or they paid with an alternative payment method such as cash, a gift card, or an account balance. If a client does not have a credit card on file or if their credit card fails when the system attempts to charge their card for the fee, their account balance will be charged. Clients who have negative account balances will appear under the Account Balance report. Negative account balances will also appear at the bottom of the client profile and can be paid directly from the clients profile.

Notifications are sent to the client 12 hours after class if you have the notifications enabled under Transactional Notifications. Notifying the client before they are charged gives the client a chance to reach out to you before they are charged or if the client needs to put funds on their credit card they can do so. If the penalties are stopped less than 12 hours after the class, the client will not receive the notification. If you deduct a pass and/or charge a fee, you have the send your client the Cancellations Sent when a client cancels outside of the cancellation window Transactional Notification. When a guest pass incurs a fee or if the guest pass will be deducted the client who booked the guest will be sent the Cancellations: Sent when a guest cancels outside of the cancellation window notification if you have the notification enabled.

The penalty is charged 24 hours after the start of class. This allows you to stop the penalty if the penalty applies. Clients are sent an email and/or text message 12 hours after their missed class notifying them of their missed class. You can remove the penalty fee or return the session directly from the class roster up to 24 hours after the class. If more than 24 hours has passes, you can return the fee or session back to the client form their profile.

If a client does not have a stored credit card on file their account balance will be charged. If the client already has a positive account balance the positive balance apply to the fee. If the client does not have a positive account balance, when the fee is charged their account balance will be negative. There is not a setting that requires clients to store a payment method on file when booking. Clients can book without storing a credit card.

If a client’s credit card fails when the system attempts to charge the card for the fee the fee will be converted to a negative account balance. Since the system converts the failed payment to an account balance the failed payment does not appear under financial reports or under their transactions tab. Currently, the client is not sent a failed transaction email when their credit card declines the no-show/late cancel charge attempt.

When a waitlist booking is made with a drop-in and the client is not added to the class, the system will refund the client back to the client's original payment method. This is not a setting that can be customized or changed, it is system functionality.