Cancellation and no-show messages

When an appointment falls through, the system follows up automatically so the patient does not drift away.

Cancellation notice

When an appointment is cancelled, the patient can receive an email confirming the cancellation, with a Rebook online button linking straight to your booking page. The cancellation notice is sent by email only.

One deliberate exception: bookings that were cancelled because the deposit was never paid do not get the cancellation notice. Those patients get the separate booking recovery message instead, which is written for that situation.

No-show follow-up

Once you have marked an appointment as a no-show, the patient receives a warm "sorry we missed you" message by email and text, with a link to get back in the diary. It goes out from about two hours after the appointment time: mark the no-show straight away and the patient hears from you the same day; mark it the next morning and it goes then. The tone matters here: a friendly nudge recovers far more patients than silence or a telling-off, and the default wording is written accordingly.

The follow-up only sends for appointments you actually mark as no-show, so it is always under your control. It also has a cut-off: an appointment marked as a no-show more than about a day (26 hours) after its start time is not followed up, so mark no-shows promptly.

Editing and switching off

Both templates live under Settings > Messaging in the Cancellations and no-shows section. Edit the wording, or untick Send automatically on either card to stop it for your clinic. Cancellation notices and no-show follow-ups are grouped by visit, so a visit with several treatments gets one relevant notice. Delivery needs contact details and enabled channels, and respects the patient's automated-message preferences. Texts also need enough SMS credits.