Cancellation Policies automate how your service tracks and responds to rider no-shows and late cancellations. Once configured, Spare monitors cancellations, counts infractions per rider, and takes action — a warning message, a formal letter, or a suspension — when a threshold is crossed.
This replaces manual tracking in spreadsheets or custom workflows and gives you a consistent, auditable process across your service.
How It Works
When a trip is cancelled, Spare checks whether it matches your policy's infraction criteria. If it does, an infraction is recorded against the rider. The system counts each rider's infractions every 10 minutes and checks them against your escalation rules. When a threshold is crossed, Spare creates an enforcement and triggers the configured actions — automatically, or queued for your review depending on how you've set things up.
Setting Up a Cancellation Policy
Step 1: Define your infraction criteria
Infraction criteria control which cancellations count toward a rider's total. You can create different rules for each of the three fault types independently (rider fault, driver fault, and no fault).
For each fault type you enable, select which cancellation reasons count (for example, no show, rider cancelled, or any custom reasons you've created). You can also enable late cancellations and define how far in advance a cancellation must be made to avoid counting as late — for example, within 2 hours of pickup.
Step 2: Set your counting window
The counting window defines the period over which infractions accumulate. Choose the option that matches how your service tracks behaviour:
Rolling X days — a sliding window that starts from a rider's first infraction. As earlier infractions age out, the window re-anchors at the next one.
Calendar period — resets for all riders at the start of each week, month, quarter, or year.
Step 3: Configure your escalation rules
Escalation rules define what happens when a rider reaches a certain infraction threshold. Each rule has two parts: a threshold and one or more actions.
Thresholds can be based on infraction count, cancellation percentage, prior bans, prior enforcements, or combinations of these. Each rule fires only when its threshold is first crossed — a rider going from 2 to 3 infractions triggers the rule for 3, not the rules for 1 and 2.
For each rule, add one or more actions:
Action | Immediate | Draft (requires admin approval) |
Notify the rider | Send Rider Notification | Create Draft Notification |
Send a formal letter | Send Letter | Create Draft Letter |
Suspend the rider | Suspend Rider | Create Draft Suspension |
When suspending a rider, set a Delay Days value to give riders advance notice before access is removed. Notification templates also support dynamic variables — use {{{violationCount}}} to include the rider's current infraction count in the message body.
💡 If you want to confirm infraction counts are correct before the policy runs automatically, create draft actions instead of immediate. Admins will monitor the Enforcements view to review and approve pending enforcements.
Step 4: Set up letter templates (if needed)
If any escalation rules use letter actions, create the letter templates before enabling the policy. The policy can't send or draft letters without them.
Step 5: Enable the policy on your service
Once your criteria, counting window, and escalation rules are configured, enable the policy on the relevant service. Spare will begin evaluating cancellations against the policy immediately.
Step 6: Verify with live data
After enabling, identify a few riders with known no-shows and confirm their infraction counts match what you'd expect. If something looks off, adjust your infraction criteria or counting window before switching to immediate actions.
Managing Enforcements
When a threshold is met, Spare creates an enforcement record visible in the Enforcements view. Each enforcement moves through three stages:
Pending — awaiting admin review. Verify the infraction count and decide whether to proceed.
Active — approved; actions have been applied (notification sent, suspension activated, or letter issued).
Resolved — closed; associated infractions are excused and removed from the rider's count.
Resolving an enforcement is useful when a rider had a legitimate reason for a no-show and you don't want it to affect future escalations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I track late cancellations separately from no-shows?
Yes. Within each fault type, select which cancellation reasons count and whether to include late cancellations. You can also define what "late" means — for example, cancellations made within 2 hours of the scheduled pickup.
What's the difference between a rolling window and a calendar period?
A rolling window slides forward continuously based on when a rider's first infraction occurred. A calendar period (week, month, quarter, or year) resets for all riders at the same time, regardless of when individual infractions occurred.
Will admins receive an email when an enforcement is created?
No — admin email notifications aren't a built-in action in Cancellation Policies. Admins should monitor the Enforcements view for pending enforcements. You can set up a companion workflow if email alerts are important to your team.
What if I want the same action at multiple thresholds?
Create a separate escalation rule for each threshold. Each rule fires independently when its threshold is first reached. Use "Count is exactly N" for precise thresholds or "Count is greater than or equal to N" for open-ended ones.
Can I delay a suspension so riders have warning before it activates?
Yes. Each Suspend Rider action has a Delay Days field. Set it to the number of days between when the enforcement is triggered and when the suspension takes effect.
Do Cancellation Policies apply across all services, or per service?
Policies are configured and activated at the service level. Each service can have its own policy with different infraction criteria, counting windows, and escalation rules or can share the same cancellation policy.