GoalMate

A Cancellation Policy for Personal Trainers

Copy the template, set your notice period, and get to the part most guides leave out: making it stick without falling out with anybody.

Late cancellations are the biggest unpaid cost in personal training, and almost every trainer handles them the same way: a rule they have never written down, applied differently depending on how the week has gone.

The template

Take the whole thing and change the values in brackets. Yours to use anywhere, including somewhere that is not GoalMate. It is a starting point rather than legal advice.

Notice period. Sessions may be cancelled or rescheduled free of charge up to [24] hours before the scheduled start time. Cancellations made within [24] hours are charged in full.
Missed sessions. A session where the client does not attend, and no notice has been given, is charged in full.
Late arrival. Sessions start and finish at the booked time. Arriving late shortens the session and does not reduce the fee.
Rescheduling. A session cancelled with the required notice may be moved to any available slot within [4] weeks at no extra cost.
Blocks and packages. Sessions bought as a block are subject to the same notice period. A session cancelled inside the notice period is deducted from the block.
Illness and emergencies. Where a session is missed through genuine illness or an emergency, the charge may be waived at my discretion. This is not automatic and should not be assumed.
Cancellation by me. If I cancel a session for any reason, you will be offered an alternative slot or a full refund, whichever you prefer.
How to cancel. Cancellations must be sent to [your email or booking link]. A cancellation is effective when I receive it, not when it is sent.

Choosing your notice period

12 hours. For trainers with a waiting list. Generous to the client, and workable only if you can genuinely refill a slot at short notice. Most cannot.
24 hours. The UK standard and what most clients expect. Long enough to refill an evening slot, short enough that nobody argues it is unreasonable. Start here unless you have a reason not to.
48 hours. Defensible when a cancellation costs you a pitch booking or an hour of driving, particularly if you travel to the client. Say why in the policy, because otherwise it reads as harsh.

On GoalMate the number is 24 and you do not have to set it. Cancel outside 24 hours and the client is refunded automatically. Inside it, the session is yours.

Why cancellation policies fail

Almost never because of the wording.

You have to ask for the money. A policy enforced by invoicing after a no show is one you will stop enforcing by about the third time. Take payment when the session is booked and there is nothing to chase.
Nobody can prove what was agreed. A policy mentioned once in a message eight months ago is not something you can point at during a dispute. Have it accepted at the point of booking.
You make exceptions until it means nothing. One waived charge is goodwill, four is a new policy, and the clients who never cancel end up subsidising the ones who always do. Write the discretion into the policy instead.
You never wrote it down. By far the most common. Two paragraphs beat nothing.

Three of those four come down to the same thing: whether the money moved before the session or after it. A policy enforced by invoice depends on you being willing to send the invoice. A policy enforced at the point of booking does not depend on you at all.

A policy you do not have to enforce

Every session booked through GoalMate is paid for by card at the point of booking, and every client agrees to the 24 hour policy before that happens. So the two questions that sink most policies, whether they agreed and whether you will chase it, are both settled before anybody turns up.

Cancel outside 24 hours and the client is refunded automatically, with no action from you. Inside 24 hours the session is yours and the money has already arrived. Sessions paid for with credits return the credit on a free cancellation. You keep 100% of your session price on all of it, with no commission and no subscription.

Read what free actually gets you, or booking software for personal trainers.

Questions

What is a reasonable cancellation notice period for a personal trainer?

24 hours is the UK norm and the one clients expect. 48 is defensible if a cancellation costs you a venue booking or significant travel, as long as you say why. Under 12 hours is rarely worth writing, because a slot you cannot refill is a slot you have lost either way.

Can I charge a client who does not turn up?

Yes, provided the policy was agreed before the session was booked. What makes a no show charge stick is not the wording, it is being able to show the client accepted it in advance. Collecting payment at the point of booking settles both questions at once.

Is a cancellation policy legally binding in the UK?

It forms part of your contract with the client if they agreed to it before booking, so how and when they agreed matters more than how firmly it is worded. This is a starting template rather than legal advice, and it is worth a solicitor eye if you are handling large blocks or corporate clients.

Should I make exceptions?

Sometimes, and the template has a discretion clause so you can without undermining everything else. The trap is the unwritten exception, because that is the one clients compare notes about.

How does GoalMate handle cancellations?

On a flat 24 hours. A client cancelling more than 24 hours before the session is refunded automatically, and inside 24 hours the session is yours. Because the card is charged when the booking is made rather than on the day, a late cancellation needs no conversation and no invoice. Sessions paid for with credits return the credit on a free cancellation.

Do I still need my own policy if I use GoalMate?

For sessions booked through GoalMate the 24 hour rule applies and is enforced for you. If you also take clients directly, outside any platform, you need your own written policy for those, and the template above covers it.

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