A missed appointment or a cancellation inside 24 hours at a 12-stylist salon is checked against the client's history. First misses get a friendly WhatsApp note, repeat misses are charged half the service price to the saved card, and regulars go to the owner first.
Typical results
≈90%
Of policy fees collected from the saved card
Under 1 min
From no-show mark to the client's message
≈2 hrs/wk
Reception time on missed appointments saved
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
The salon's policy says a no-show or a cancellation inside 24 hours costs half the service price, and clients save a card when they book. In practice it is rarely applied. Reception can't see who missed before, doesn't want to upset regulars and charges a few people by hand. Stylists lose about 30 booked appointments a month.
Before and after
No-shows and late cancellations per month
−33%Policy fees actually collected
6×Reception hours per week on missed appointments
−80%The automation
When an appointment is marked as a no-show or cancelled less than 24 hours ahead, an automation in Make checks the client's history in the booking system. A first miss in 12 months gets a friendly WhatsApp note about the policy and no charge. A repeat miss is charged 50% of the service price to the saved card, with a receipt. Clients with ten or more visits go to the owner for one-tap approval or a waiver first.
How it works
- 01
Missed or late-cancelled
Reception marks a no-show, or a client cancels less than 24 hours before the appointment in the booking system.
- 02
History checked
The automation counts the client's misses in the last 12 months and reads their visit count from the booking system.
- 03
First miss waived
A first miss gets a friendly WhatsApp note that explains the policy and confirms there is no charge this time.
- 04
Repeat miss charged
A repeat miss is charged 50% of the service price to the card saved at booking, with a WhatsApp receipt.
- 05
Regulars go to the owner
Clients with ten or more visits go to the owner first, who approves the fee or waives it with one tap.
Starts from
- No-show or late cancel
- Client visit history
Delivers
- WhatsApp policy note
- Fee charged to saved card
- Owner approval for regulars
The impact
The same rule applies to every missed appointment. Because clients know the policy is applied, no-shows and late cancellations fall by about a third, from roughly 30 a month to 20. Around 90% of eligible fees are collected, up from about 15%, and reception saves about 2 hours a week.
Questions about this automation
Is the card charged without anyone checking?
Only for repeat misses by clients who aren't marked as regulars, and only under the policy the client accepted when saving the card at booking. First misses are never charged, and clients with ten or more visits wait for the owner's decision. Every charge comes with a receipt that names the missed appointment.
What if the client had a real emergency?
The WhatsApp receipt invites a reply. A client who explains, for example illness or a family emergency, is passed to the owner with the message and visit history attached, and a refund or credit can be issued in one tap. Every waiver is recorded, so repeated excuses are easy to spot.
Can the salon change the rules?
Yes. The notice window, the fee percentage, how many misses are forgiven and the visit count that marks a regular all sit in a short settings table, and some salons use a flat fee for short services. This is a multi-step build, usually rolled out in stages, often starting with notices before charges are switched on.