The problem
In small reformer or yoga classes, a late cancellation or no-show leaves a place empty that someone on the waiting list would have taken. A studio with 8-bed reformer classes at $29£22€26A$42C$41 that has 10 late cancellations or no-shows a week leaves $293£220€262A$422C$414 a week of places empty, about $1,258£946€1,126A$1,816C$1,778 a month.
What the AI does
TeamUp is booking and membership software for fitness studios. Its penalty system page says it automatically charges members a fee once they meet your late cancellation or no-show criteria. You choose late cancellations, no-shows or both, the number of strikes, the time window and the fee. It applies to recurring memberships and needs a GoCardless or Stripe integration to take the payment. Fees are scheduled three to seven days after the trigger, so you can skip one you want to waive. TeamUp says the feature is included on every price plan. Publish the rule before you switch it on, so members know when a fee applies.
A worked example
A reformer Pilates studio in Cheltenham with about 90 active members runs 8-bed classes at $29£22€26A$42C$41. It turns on TeamUp's penalty system with a fee after repeated late cancellations within a month, set and published by the owner.
Before
About 10 late cancellations or no-shows a week, most places left empty
After
About half as many late cancellations, with 5 places a week released early enough for waitlisted members
What it's worth
About $567£426€507A$818C$801 a month in profit, at an assumed 90% margin on $629£473€563A$908C$889 a month of places now filled (5 places a week at $29£22€26A$42C$41 times 4.3), assuming half of the late cancellations now come early enough to re-book. For a studio already on TeamUp, the penalty system costs nothing extra; moving to TeamUp is $119 (about $118£89€106A$171C$167) a month for up to 100 active customers. Any fees collected are on top and aren't counted here.
How to set it up
- If you're not on TeamUp, check its price for your number of active customers and pick your currency on its pricing page.
- Connect GoCardless or Stripe so fees can be collected from members' stored payment details.
- Decide your rule: late cancellations, no-shows or both, the number of strikes, the time window and the fee.
- Publish the rule in your terms and on the booking page, and email members before it starts.
- Review fees before they process each week and skip any you want to waive, such as illness.
What goes wrong
- The fee rule must be in your membership terms and clear before people book; consumer law requires fair terms, so take advice if unsure.
- If a member is marked as a no-show by mistake after being charged, you must refund or credit them by hand.
- The pricing page shows dollars and only the 0 to 100 and 101 to 200 customer bands; a bigger studio must ask for its price.
- Waitlisted members only get a place if cancellations are early enough. Set your cut-off time with that in mind.