Guide

Customer Journey

Cancellation Journey

When a booking is cancelled, by your team or by the customer in their app, Petboost emails and texts the customer a fixed cancellation message. You choose whether each message sends, and your team writes any follow-up.

Updated 27 September 2026 - 5 min read
Open in Petboost

Petboost sends one cancellation email and one cancellation text when a booking is cancelled, and nothing else. There are no refund status emails, recovery messages or scheduled follow-ups. Petboost sends the message when the cancellation happens, with no delay to configure.

What the customer receives

Which email the customer gets depends on who cancelled.

Who cancelsMessageFollows
Your team, choosing Send notificationCancelled by Business emailEmail the customer: booking updates
The customer, in their appCancelled by Pet Owner emailEmail the customer: booking updates
EitherCancellation SMSText the customer: booking changes

A customer who phones to cancel is cancelled by your team, so they get the Cancelled by Business email. A customer can cancel in their app only before your Change & Cancellation Notice Period has passed, and only while Allow changes and cancellations is on. See Returning Customer Journey.

The cancellation SMS is a fixed template. It carries the pet's first name, the service, the date range, the cancellation reason where there is one, and your business name. See Notifications for the exact wording. You cannot rewrite it. You control whether it sends, and when your team cancels, the reason is the message they write.

What your business receives

  • When a customer cancels in their app, your business email gets a copy of their cancellation email from Email you: new booking copy, as long as Email the customer: booking updates is on
  • With Email assigned team members on, each team member assigned to the booking gets an email when it is cancelled
  • Petboost sends your business no text when a booking is cancelled

Refunds

A refund is a separate step from the cancellation. When your team refunds a payment with Issue refund and chooses Send notification, the customer gets the Refund Issued email, which follows Email the customer: booking updates. Refund silently sends nothing. Petboost sends no message when a refund starts, and none when a refund fails. See Refunds after a cancellation.

Cancel a booking and choose what the customer hears

Do this when your team cancels a booking, including when a customer phones to cancel.

  1. Open Appointments and select the booking.
  2. Select Manage, then Cancel.
  3. If a cancellation fee applies, answer Charge customer a cancellation fee? with Charge Cancellation Fee or Waive Cancellation Fee.
  4. Under Notify customer?, choose Send notification, or Cancel silently to send nothing.
  5. With Send notification, write the reason under Write a message for and the customer's name. It appears in the cancellation text.
  6. Select Cancel Appointment.

With Cancel silently, a cancellation fee collected by payment link is still texted to the customer. Ending a recurring series, or skipping a range of dates, sends the customer a single notification rather than one per appointment, so confirm a change that large with them directly as well. See Managing Appointments for the package credit and recurring series choices on the same form.

Choose whether customers get cancellation emails

One switch sends both cancellation emails and every other customer email, so turning it off stops them all.

  1. Open Settings, then Notifications.
  2. Under Booking Created, switch Email the customer: booking updates on or off.
  3. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Choose whether customers get the cancellation text

The same switch sends the texts for a reschedule, a price change, and a request you accept or decline.

  1. Open Settings, then Notifications.
  2. Under Booking Updates, switch Text the customer: booking changes on or off.
  3. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Read the cancellation messages

Preview a message to read it as the customer receives it, filled in from a pet and service you choose.

  1. Open Settings, then Notifications.
  2. If Booking Cancelled is not showing, switch on Advanced options.
  3. Under Booking Cancelled, select Preview on Cancelled by Business, Cancelled by Pet Owner or Cancellation SMS.

Change cancellation messages for one service

Every switch on Notifications is a default. Change a service's own copy when that service should handle cancellations differently.

  1. Open Services, select Manage on the service, then Manage Service.
  2. Choose Notifications.
  3. Under Appointment Updates, switch Text the customer: booking changes or Email the customer: booking updates the way this service needs it.
  4. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Each switch shows Matches Default when the service does what the business does, and Different to Default when it has its own value. One customer can also have their own setting on the Settings & Overrides tab of their profile.

Follow up after a cancellation

Anything after the cancellation message is one your team writes. Send it through Messages, or select Message owner in the booking's Manage menu, so the conversation stays on the customer's record.

Tip

When your team cancels, say why in the message, offer another time, and tell the customer what happens to anything they have already paid.

Troubleshooting

The customer got no cancellation message

  • Check whether your team chose Cancel silently
  • Check Email the customer: booking updates and Text the customer: booking changes, and the service's own Notifications tab
  • Open the customer's Settings & Overrides tab and read What they receive today
  • The text needs a mobile number on the customer, and the email needs an email address

A customer cannot cancel in their app

  • Check Change & Cancellation Notice Period and Allow changes and cancellations on Policies & Paperwork