Booking rules: prerequisites, eligibility, notice and cancellations

A prerequisite you set up a year ago and forgot is still locking people out, and the calendar will never mention it. Every rule about who can book, how far ahead, and what a late cancellation costs lives on the service itself.

Make them do the assessment first

The Initial service type is the blunt version of this: new clients book it before anything else. Service Prerequisite is the precise one, and it sits on Who Can Book, under Advanced options.

1. Open Services, then Manage on the service you are gating and Manage Service.
2. On Who Can Book, switch on Advanced options.
3. Under Service Prerequisite, switch on Require Prerequisite Service and choose the service that has to come first.
4. Under What counts as met, choose Completed or Booked.
5. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Any service type can carry a prerequisite, so a Regular service can gate another Regular service. Add a second service to the picker and How they combine appears, which is how two different assessments each unlock the same boarding stay. What counts as met decides whether the assessment has to have happened, or only to have been booked.

Pet sitting and concierge: the meet and greet is usually the Initial service rather than a prerequisite on one, because it is the first thing anybody books and nobody hands over a key without it.

Only small dogs, and only over 14 weeks

1. Open Services, then Manage on the service and Manage Service.
2. On Who Can Book, set Weight Restrictions (kg).
3. For an age or breed rule, switch on Advanced options and use Age Restrictions or Included Breeds and Excluded Breeds.
4. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Weight Restrictions (kg) sits at the top of Who Can Book because it is the rule most catalogues are built on. Age and breed are below it, behind Advanced options. Read the amber callout twice: these rules fail closed, so a pet with no birthday on file cannot book an age-restricted service at all, and a pet with no weight may be blocked the same way.

Puppy school: an age window needs both ends, so set Maximum Age beside Minimum Age. A minimum on its own lets a nine-month-old into a class built for twelve-week-olds.

How far ahead, and how late

1. Open Services, then Manage on the service and Manage Service.
2. On Policies & Paperwork, under Change & Cancellation Policy, switch on Allow changes & cancellations.
3. Set Cancellation Fee Percentage and Notice Period.
4. For the advance notice a booking needs, open Duration & Timing and set Booking Notice Period.
5. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Cancellation Fee Percentage and Notice Period only appear while Allow changes & cancellations is on. Turn that switch off and the client is told the booking cannot be changed or cancelled without contacting you. An untouched service shows one radio, Set Custom Duration, carrying a blue Override business default badge, because until you choose, the service is taking the account setting.