How do I cancel a service?
Short answerMark the visit as cancelled instead of deleting it, record who cancelled and the reason, tell the customer in writing, and release the crew slot. A deleted visit erases the evidence you need later for fees, patterns and disputes. A cancelled visit keeps that history while clearing the calendar.
The explanation
Deleting a visit feels tidy but it destroys information. If the customer disputes a late-cancel fee, or you want to see which weekday loses the most visits, a deleted record cannot help you. A cancelled status with a reason code keeps the visit searchable and takes the same two taps.
The reason matters as much as the status. Separate customer cancelled, you cancelled, weather, and no access. Each one has a different follow-up: a late customer cancel may trigger a fee, a weather cancel should trigger a reschedule offer, and your own cancel should trigger an apology and the first open slot.
Finish by freeing the route. If the stop is gone but the drive order still includes it, the next stops are timed wrong and the crew leaves late for jobs that are still on.
Steps
- Open the visit and set its status to cancelled instead of removing it from the calendar.
- Choose a reason: customer, you, weather, or no access, so reports can count each type later.
- Check the notice time against your cancellation policy and apply any fee or deposit rule right away.
- Send the customer a written confirmation of the cancellation, with a link or offer to rebook.
- Re-sort the day's route so the following arrival windows reflect the freed time.
What to watch for
- Cancelling by phone and forgetting to update the calendar, which sends a crew to an empty driveway.
- Using one generic reason for everything, which hides whether the problem is customers or your own scheduling.
How Apex does it
Built, rolling out
Built. A real server path exists; only setup steps remain before customers can use it. Status as of 2026-10-07; the badge shows the least-built feature involved.
Apex is designed to give customers a cancel and reschedule link, keep cancelled visits in a no-show and cancellation report, and re-order the day's route after a stop drops out.
- BK24Reschedule / cancel link for customer(Built, rolling out)
- RP12No-show / cancellation reports(Built)
- SC05Route optimization (daily)(Built)
Apex Flow Scheduler is in early access. See how we label status.
Where this question comes from: owners type it, or a close variant, into search boxes. It was returned by public search suggestions (Google, Bing or DuckDuckGo) when we collected them on 2026-10-06; the exact phrase seen was “how to cancel a service?”. We do not have search volumes.