Set cancellation and change rules for the guest app

Decide what guests may do themselves from their reservation link: cancel, change party size, change date and time, switch experience, and answer intake questions. Each option has its own cut-off.

Where to find it

Backoffice › Settings › Guest App Settings

What it does

• Feature Status – shows whether Guest Chat and Advanced Guest App are enabled (manage them under Go to Add-ons).
• Cancellation
  • Allow cancellation from the guest reservation link (on by default). When off, tapping cancel shows instructions to call the restaurant.
  • Cancellation cut-off – how long before the reservation guests can still cancel: No limit (until the reservation time), 1, 2, 4, 12, 24 or 48 hours, 3 days or 7 days.
• Guest Intake Questions – Ask for allergies, Ask for guest preferences and Ask for additional information in the guest app.
• Party Size Changes – Enable party-size changes and a Change cut-off. Needs the Advanced Guest App.
• Date/Time Changes – Enable date/time changes and a Change cut-off. Needs the Advanced Guest App.
• Experience Changes – Enable experience changes and a Change cut-off. Works without the Advanced Guest App, but only when experiences are enabled.

How to set it up

1. Select the location and go to Settings › Guest App Settings.
2. Set the Cancellation options.
3. Switch on the intake questions you want.
4. If the Advanced Guest App is enabled, switch on party-size and/or date/time changes and pick their cut-offs.
5. Switch on Experience Changes if you want guests to switch experience.
6. Click Save changes.

Good to know

• Party-size, date/time and experience changes are off by default.
• Party-size and experience changes are refused for bookings with a deposit.
• Experience changes only offer experiences that fit the booked date, time and party size, never ones that require a deposit, and never back to a regular booking. "The restaurant is notified of every change."
• Date/time changes only offer times that are really bookable.
• Without the Advanced Guest App, the party-size and date/time sections show Advanced Features Locked.

Troubleshooting

I enabled date/time changes but guests don't see the option The Advanced Guest App add-on is off; the switch has no effect without it. Also check the Change cut-off: inside that window the option is hidden.

Experience Changes says "Experiences are not enabled for this location" Turn on the Reservation experiences add-on first.

Guests can still cancel 2 hours before, but I want 24 hours Set Cancellation cut-off to 24 hours and click Save changes. The new rule applies to existing bookings too, because it is checked when the guest opens the link.

Guests call to cancel instead of using the link Check that Allow cancellation from the guest reservation link is on and the cut-off is not too strict.

"Failed to save guest app settings." Try again; if it continues, check you have the Owner or Admin role.