Booking a Pilates class always starts off with the best of intentions. Maybe you see a 9am window on a Saturday morning, and you want to start the weekend off well. Or maybe you book an after-work session, knowing it’d do you well to move your body after a day at a desk.
Inevitably, though, life happens. Whether it’s one too many wines on a Friday night, it’s dark and raining, or you’re simply not feeling it, there will be times when you need to admit defeat and cancel the booking.
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I’ve been hit with cancellation fees both small and large. Ranging anywhere from five to 20 dollars, some studios will let you rebook, while others will confiscate your class credit altogether.
Of course, I know cancelling a class with minimal notice isn’t ideal. There’s often a waitlist of people eager to take your spot, and the studio itself will be put out if you don’t give enough notice for them to fill it. And that’s not to mention the people who simply don’t turn up to class (which is, frankly, diabolical).
However, it’s a hard pill to swallow when events that feel out of your control sneak up. But like most things, there are two sides to every story. Eager to know the ins and outs of cancellation policies from a studio perspective, I turned to Cat Webb, the founder of Good Times Pilates and Chris Hole, the director of Peaches Pilates.
Breaking down common cancellation policies
Good Times Pilates, which has spaces in Fitzroy, Northcote and Brunswick, has several different cancellation tiers. As Cat explains, if someone cancels a class with more than six hours notice, they get their session back and can rebook whenever suits. If someone cancels within six hours, they forfeit the session. And if they’re a Club Member a member, the might have to pay a fee.
Essentially, a Good Times Pilates club membership operates on an automatic, weekly payment and members can book ahead without paying for classes and get additional perks, like gifted merchandise, discounted classes and more. This means they receive a fee if they cancel a class late or don’t show up, however they’re entitled to one waived fee per month.
Peaches Pilates, on the other hand, has multiple studios located across Sydney and Melbourne. “We have a four hour cancellation policy which is about as short as you’ll find in the our industry,” Chris explains.
Essentially, Peaches’ model is that if you cancel a class within four hours, you lose your pre-paid session. If you’re on a membership, a $10 fees applies. However, if you completely fail to turn up to class, you’ll be hit with a $20 ‘no show’ fee.
The main reason Pilates studios charge cancellation fees
Although some mornings it’s tough to pull yourself out of bed, last-minute cancellations, or ‘no shows’ creates a multitude of setbacks for studios. “We actually avoided charging these fees for years and it just didn’t work,” Chris tells me. “We’d have classes with 10 people on the waitlist and then eight empty mats because everyone would book and then just not show up if their plans changed.”
For Good Times Pilates, it’s a similar dilemma. “We keep our class sizes small, with only 10 people max for more personalised attention, so when someone cancels late, it often means an empty spot that someone else could’ve enjoyed. They’re also almost all waitlisted, so there are literally people waiting to get into class,” Cat says.
“Our no show fees are pretty significant, so they’re in place as a deterrent for our Club Members to just not show up for class without letting us know,” she tells me. The fees also in place help motivate our members to prioritise Pilates, Cat explains.
That’s also not to mention the costs of running a studio. “To keep our classes running, regardless of attendance fees help compensate for any potential losses, so that we can continue to offer high-quality classes and facilities.”
Chris echoes this. For Peaches, not having cancellation and no show deterrents has meant people on the waitlist aren’t able to be notified, the instructors have prepared the room for people who aren’t there and the business loses revenue for spots they could’ve filled otherwise.
“Of course, there are always circumstances when a no show or even a late cancel is unavoidable and we’re always happy to help our members out,” Cat adds.
How do Pilates studios typically land on an amount?
Considering each studio seems to range so much in cancellation fees, I’ve often wondered how exactly they land on an amount. Is it according to the class price, or something else?
“The dollar amount is something that we didn’t get right the first time and after some feedback we updated our fees so that they felt fairer,” Cat tells me. “Our late cancel fees for two and three class per week Club Members is five dollars, so it’s more of a nominal fee and Unlimited Club Members pay $10 for a late cancel fee because they can basically book any and every class they want and then, multiple a day they’d like, and then lots of people might miss out on coming to class if they late cancel or no show.”
For Peaches, it’s about finding the balance between an amount that acts as a deterrent, while also feeling fair. “We also don’t want to profit from these fees, we don’t want to charge them at all.”
The benefits of charging fees
It might seem like an oxymoron that a fine could be at all beneficial but both Cat and Chris make a fairly convincing case. “These fees are a funny part of our industry,” Chris concedes. “A lot of people don’t understand why we charge them and then a lot of our clients would love them to be higher. Everyone respects the studio and plans ahead.”
“Fees like this help keep meaningful third spaced like Good Times sustainable,” Cat adds, comparing Good Times Pilates to larger, multi-national franchises that she says tend to have stricter and more intense penalties.
At the end of the day, tapping onto your booking app and hitting a few buttons is easy enough (at least in theory).
For more on the benefits of Pilates, try this.
This article Why do Pilates studios charge cancellation fees for classes we’ve already paid for? appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-05-19 05:30:00
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