Can a fee automatically be added for late bookings?
Yes! 🥳
You can do so on the Policies & fees tab in your Category Settings page to set up your late bookings policy. Double check that you've selected the category that you'd like to apply late booking fees for — in the screenshot below, we've selected the "Dog Walking" category for example.
Turn on the Set late booking policy toggle to set up an automated fee for last-minute requests. You'll then be able to set a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of the service cost for the fee as well as when late booking applies — either within a certain number of hours or days of the appointment or after a certain time and day relative to the appointment date. You can also set a fixed dollar amount or percentage of the fee to go to the staff member completing the appointment. In our example below, we set up our late booking policy to charge $5 for each appointment requested after 8:00 AM on the day of the appointment, with 50% of the fee going to the staff member assigned to the appointment.
Once you hit add, you'll see your policy appear below the late booking policy toggle under the last-minute requests section of the Policies & fees tab. If you need to make any changes, just tap the update button corresponding to your policy!
⚠️ Your policy comes into effect immediately upon setup.
How will my clients know about my late booking policy?
When your clients request last-minute, they'll be notified that a late booking fee will apply both after selecting their desired appointment date & time and when reviewing their booking summary before confirming their request.
On the booking summary page, pet parents will see an Estimated cost section that itemizes any automated surcharges & fees (including sales tax, if applicable) so that they have an idea for the total cost of their requested services. Hovering or tapping on the information icon next to the late booking fee will give them more information about your policy for last-minute requests.
What if I wanted to make an exception for a client?
No problem! Late booking fees are added to your client's draft invoices when the requested appointment is completed. At that point, the fee appears on the draft invoice just like any other additional charge adjustment that you might manually add to a bill. You can then remove that adjustment when editing the draft. 😎