In this article:
- Cancelling a reservation (tutor & student)
- No-show reservation (tutor & student)
- Rescheduling
- Late rescheduling
- Redirected student calls and reservations
- Starting a reservation late or ending early
- Dropping/missing a priority hour
- Returning student lessons
Cancelling a reservation
Tutor
If you as the tutor cannot make the reservation, we highly suggest canceling or declining it, even if it's less than 12 hours in advance. This will allow some time for the student to find another tutor. If you are unable to cancel and are a no-show, as soon as you are able, please notify your students and clear your schedule until you can return. If you face an emergency that affects your ability to attend your reservations, please also notify Tutor Support so we can internally log your absence and prevent a loss in your ability to tutor due to frequent no shows or late cancels.
If you have not confirmed your reservation within 12 hours of the start time, we automatically cancel it. We do this because we want to give the student enough time to find an available tutor. Our system promotes reliable tutors to students.
To prevent students from waiting, unconfirmed reservations are automatically cancelled a certain number of hours before their start time. These auto-cancellations happen:
- 1 hour before the start time if the reservation is made less than 12 hours in advance
- 4 hours before the start time if the reservation is made 12 - 24 hours in advance
- 12 hours before the start time if the reservation is made more than 24 hours in advance
- Also, all Priority Hour reservations will be automatically confirmed
You can set how much advance notice you require for reservations under “Reservation Settings”.
What if I need to cancel last minute?
If you as the tutor cannot make the reservation, we highly suggest canceling it, even if it's less than 12 hours in advance. This will allow some time for the student to find another tutor.
What if my student asks me to cancel the lesson?
A student might ask the tutor if they can cancel the class. The tutor can cancel the class if the student requests another time. As long as the tutor cancels more than 12 hours before the start time, there is no penalty, however we do encourage the tutor to let the student cancel the class if the student is not able to make it. If the student requests that you cancel the class last-minute and wants to change the time of the lesson, you can select "My student requested another time" and simply reschedule the lesson with them.
I need to cancel last minute but I want to re-book the lesson with my student. What do I do?
We highly suggest you to cancel reservations sooner rather than later, but we understand that emergencies happen! Students have the option to uphold their original booking with another tutor or reschedule their booking with you. If you'd like to reschedule the lesson with your student, we recommend communicating as soon as possible with them to let them know, so that you may rearrange your lesson.
Will I still be penalized if I late cancel and my student opts to have the lesson with another tutor?
The late cancellation and no-show policies still apply for tutors in this situation.
Student
Students are also allowed to cancel just as tutors are, and are encouraged to cancel with plenty of notice for the tutor. Sometimes, things come up and a student may cancel their reservation at the last minute! We completely understand that this makes it difficult for you to find a replacement lesson on such short notice. We recognize that your time is valuable, so Cambly will add a $2 payment directly to your account for every late cancellation by a student.
Please note that tutors are not given a credit if the student cannot stay connected. If you would still like to have a lesson during that slot of time, we recommend you switch to "visible" and take any incoming calls!
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Students are offered a 10-minute grace period to cancel a lesson without penalty. This means that if a student books a lesson, they can cancel it within 10 minutes of booking with no repurcussions. Tutors will not receive the $2 payment if a student cancels within their 10-minute grace period. |
What qualifies as a late cancellation?
If you are tutoring adults on Cambly and the student cancels 12 hours or less before the start time of the scheduled reservation, Cambly will add a $2 payment to your account. If you are tutoring kids on Cambly Kids and the student cancels 12 hours or less before the start time of the scheduled reservation, Cambly will add a $2 payment to your account.
Please note that if a student books a lesson but cancels that lesson within 10 minutes of when they booked it, you will not receive the $2 payment.
How will I know I received the $2 late cancellation payment?
If a student cancels for what qualifies as a 'late cancellation', you will be automatically credited the $2 payment. This payment will be added to your Pay History page. If you do not receive this payment for some reason, please submit a request to Tutor Support for assistance.
Will I still receive the $2 payment if a student cancels late but I take other calls during that time slot?
Yes! You will automatically be credited the $2 payment upon the student's late cancellation, even if you choose to log on at the time their reservation would have been to take other calls. Don't forget you can always set yourself as 'visible' and take calls that way if you are unable to book another reservation during that slot!
No-show reservation
Tutor
If you as the tutor cannot make the reservation, we highly suggest cancelling it, even if it's less than 12 hours in advance. This will allow some time for the student to find another tutor. If you are unable to cancel and are a no-show, as soon as you are able, please notify your students and clear your schedule until you can return.
In the event of a no-show, students may opt to be redirected to another tutor, or receive a refund for their minutes.
If a tutor misses or cancels a few reservations, their reservations will be restricted to Regulars Only for 7 days. If your reservations have been restricted, it will be wise to make sure your regulars are actually categorized as regulars on the system. To make a student a regular, please go to the student's homepage (for example, click on their username in your Call Log) and click on the switch next to "Regular Student." Check out this article for more information.
To learn more about missed reservations, visit this Help Center article.
Will I be penalized if I don't show up to my reservation and my student opts to have the lesson with another tutor?
The late cancellation and no-show policies still apply for tutors in this situation.
Student
You are paid to wait for 10 minutes after the scheduled start time. If your reserved student doesn't show up after 10 minutes of waiting, the Cambly classroom will alert you that you are no longer receiving late student pay, and prompt you to end the call. You will see the minutes paid in your Call Log.
Note: you must wait until the 10 minute mark to be paid for wait time
Why am I not paid if I extend my lesson before or after the requested time?
As part of the new Cambly Classroom, we want tutors to only be responsible for tutoring within the boundaries of their requested lesson, whether on demand or reserved. Out of respect for your time (and your upcoming students’ time!), we don’t want any student hiccups that affect the duration of the call (tardiness, connectivity issues, etc.) to impact you and your schedule!
This means, if you have a reservation from 1-1:30, you are only expected to be there at those times, regardless of student tardiness or connectivity issues. For on demand, if a student calls with a 15 minute lesson, that lesson begins when you and the student first connect, and does not pause simply because the student has tech issues or leaves the classroom for other reasons.
The hope is that this change allows you to have more autonomy over your schedule, while also paving the way toward a classroom that supports upcoming improvements, such as scheduling, connecting with students, pay, and more!
I received a call that says it is "redirected from a last min cancellation". What does this mean?
In the event of a no-show, students can opt to uphold their lesson time with another tutor. This means that their call will be redirected to a tutor who is online at the time. If you notice your incoming call says "redirected from a last min cancellation", it means that the student's original tutor did not show up for their lesson, and they chose to connect with you instead.
Rescheduling
Both tutors and students have the option to reschedule lessons. Keep reading to see how to reschedule a lesson and what to expect when your student reschedules!
Tutor rescheduling
Proposed lesson
If a student proposes a lesson and you are unable to make the time they requested, you can reschedule for a time that works better for you, rather than declining it. You can reschedule a lesson 12 hours or more before the start time. To reschedule a proposed lesson, click on the lesson from your calendar, then select "propose a new time".
You will then be able to select a new day and time to propose a rescheduling for your student. You are required to send a message to your student when rescheduling a lesson. If the student does not accept or decline the proposed rescheduled lesson, you can cancel anytime without penalty.
Please note that you will not be able to reschedule a lesson more than 14 days from the original booking.
Confirmed lessons
If you need to reschedule a lesson that has already been confirmed, click on the lesson from your schedule and select "Reschedule". You can reschedule a lesson 12 hours or more before the start time.
Then, choose the day and time you'd like to reschedule for. Your original lesson will be cancelled upon clicking the "Propose" button. Please note that you will not be able to reschedule a lesson more than 14 days from the original booking. You will be required to send a message when rescheduling your lesson. If the student does not accept or decline the proposed rescheduled lesson, you can cancel anytime without penalty.
Student rescheduling
Students now have the option to reschedule a lesson with their tutor if they are unable to attend the original lesson. Depending on your advanced notice settings, a student can reschedule a lesson between 12 or 24 hours before the start time. A student will not be able to reschedule a lesson less than 12 hours before the start time. If the student reschedules, you will see the following:
If you cannot make the reschedule time, please decline the rescheduled proposal. If neither declined or accepted, the lesson will be auto-canceled within 12 hours of the start time.
FAQs
Why can't I reschedule a lesson with my student?
There are a few reasons you may not be able to reschedule a lesson with your student:
- It's less than 12 hours before the start time
- You're trying to schedule a lesson more than 14 days from the original booking
- Your student does not have the available minutes for the proposed rescheduling
Will rescheduling my lesson be counted as a late cancellation?
No, you won't be able to reschedule a lesson less than 12 hours in advance. Rescheduling will not be counted as a late cancellation and you will not be penalized for it.
What if my student asks me to reschedule the lesson for them?
You can reschedule a lesson at the student's request, as long as it's more than 12 hours before the start time of the original booking.
Can I reschedule a Cambly Kids lesson?
Yes, Cambly Kids lessons can be rescheduled.
Late rescheduling
You can reschedule lessons up to 10 minutes before the start time, giving you the opportunity to make a last minute change to your schedule without receiving a late cancellation. You can also give your regular students the ability to reschedule lessons within this last-minute window. Here's everything you need to know:
How it works for tutors
The rescheduling option will appear when you go to cancel a lesson within 12 hours of the lesson start time. You have the ability to reschedule your lesson up to 10 minutes before the scheduled start time of the original lesson. Simply select "Propose a new time" instead of "Cancel lesson".
It is important to note that the student must confirm your reschedule proposal or show up to the proposed rescheduled lesson to avoid it being marked as a tutor late cancellation. We suggest communicating upfront with your student to ensure you agree on the new time whenever possible. You will know it's a late reschedule when the red banner appears, as pictured above.
Select the new proposed time for your lesson and include a message to your student before clicking "Reschedule."
Once you propose the rescheduled lesson to your student, it is in a pending state until they confirm the rescheduled time.
When your student confirms the proposed rescheduled lesson, it is now a new lesson and functions as any other lesson would. Students are also able to respond with an alternative day and time reschedule proposal of their own.
If your student declines the rescheduled proposed time, it counts as a tutor late cancellation. If your student does not respond to the proposed new time, whether or not you receive a late cancellation depends on whether the student arrives to the unconfirmed lesson. See the late rescheduling scenarios section of this article for more details.
How it works for students (regulars only)
You have an option to allow your regulars to reschedule a lesson with you less than 12 hours in advance. The rescheduled lesson must fall within your availability and honor your minimum advance notice settings. If your student late reschedules your lesson and you need to decline the proposal, you will still receive the $2 cancellation payment.
To turn this option on, go to your Schedule tab and scroll down in the left column of your screen and toggle "Allow regulars to reschedule within 12 hours" on. Non-regulars are not able to reschedule within 12 hours of the lesson start time regardless of the toggle.
While this does grant students the ability to reschedule the lesson up until 10 minutes of the lesson start time, the proposed new-time must fit your availability and your advanced notice requirement.
Late rescheduling scenarios
For your convenience, we've included scenarios to ensure you understand the late rescheduling feature.
Scenario 1: You propose a late reschedule lesson to a student
If the student confirms your proposed rescheduled lesson: the lesson is treated like any other confirmed lesson. For example, you are expected to begin the lesson on time, you receive late student pay, and you can leave after 10 minutes if your student has not arrived.
If the student does not confirm or decline the rescheduled lesson: you are still committed to attending the lesson. However, similar to an unconfirmed tutor-proposed reservation, you do not receive late student pay for an unconfirmed lesson. If the student arrives for the lesson at any time, then the lesson is carried out with no penalty. If the student does not arrive to the unconfirmed lesson, then the tutor receives a late cancellation.
If the student declines your proposed rescheduled lesson: You receive a tutor late cancellation.
Scenario 2: You propose a late reschedule lesson to a student, and they respond with a new lesson proposal
If you confirm the new proposal: the lesson is treated as a new confirmed lesson and all of the typical lesson pay and expectations applies.
If you decline (or do not respond to) the new proposal: this is counted as a late tutor cancellation because you initiated the late reschedule.
If you respond with a new proposed lesson time: The student must accept the proposal or show up to the lesson, otherwise this counts as a tutor late cancellation.
Scenario 3: Your regular student proposes a late reschedule lesson to you
As a reminder, regular students can only late reschedule a lesson with you if you have toggled this option on. The newly proposed lesson must fit within your availability and adhere to your minimum advanced notice settings.
If you accept the reschedule proposal: it is treated as a new lesson and all of the typical lesson pay and expectations apply.
If you do not accept or decline the reschedule proposal: the system will automatically cancel this lesson and you will receive a late cancellation payment. The system automically wipes unconfirmed student-proposed lessons:
- 1 hour before the start time if the reservation is made less than 12 hours in advance
- 4 hours before the start time if the reservation is made 12 - 24 hours in advance
- 12 hours before the start time if the reservation is made more than 24 hours in advance
If you decline the proposal from the student: there are no consequences for you and you receive a late cancellation payment.
Late rescheduling repeat lessons
You can reschedule an individual lesson within a repeat series even if it is within 12 hours of the lesson time. However, to reschedule the entire repeat lesson series, you must select a lesson that is scheduled for a time outside of the 12-hour window. You cannot reschedule the entire series by clicking on a lesson that occurs within the next 12 hours.
FAQs
Is late rescheduling available on Cambly Kids?
This ability is slowly rolling out and not currently available on Cambly Kids. We will let you know when it's available!
What happens if the student doesn't respond to my reschedule proposal?
If a student does not accept or decline your reschedule proposal, you are committed to show up to the lesson and wait 10 minutes. If the student comes to the lesson, there is no penalty. If the student does not show up to the lesson, it will count as a tutor late cancellation because you initiated a late reschedule.
What happens if I don't respond to or decline a student's late reschedule request?
If you don't respond to a student's late reschedule request, it will follow the auto-cancel behavior:
- 1 hour before the start time if the reservation is made less than 12 hours in advance
- 4 hours before the start time if the reservation is made 12 - 24 hours in advance
- 12 hours before the start time if the reservation is made more than 24 hours in advance
If you decline the student's late reschedule request or are unable to respond, no problem! Because the student initiated the late reschedule, there are no consequences for the tutor and you receive a late cancellation payment.
Will I still receive the $2 cancellation payment if my student late reschedules?
If your student late reschedules and you cannot accept the rescheduled lesson proposal, you can decline it and will still receive the $2 cancellation payment.
Can I late reschedule my lesson for any time, even just pushing back 15 minutes?
Please note: even if you have 'Regulars only' toggled on to late reschedule, students cannot reschedule a lesson this close to the original one, as their rescheduled lessons have to fit within your availability and advanced notice.
Redirected student calls and reservations
Currently, the Cambly team is delving deeper into understanding how students can best connect with tutors who are the best match for their learning needs, including aligning schedules for optimal availability!
As a result, some students now have the option to be redirected to a different tutor if their scheduled tutor does not arrive to a scheduled lesson. If you are online and receive one of these calls, you will notice the details in the incoming call, as shown in the image below.
In the event of a last-minute cancellation, students also have the option to schedule a lesson with a different tutor at the originally planned time. This means you may notice more reservations pop up for your priority hours, even within the 2-hour window prior to your PH start time.
Why did I receive a reservation booking so close to the start of my priority hour?
In the event of a last-minute cancellation, students have the option to schedule a lesson with a different tutor at the originally planned time. This means you may notice more reservations pop up for your priority hours, even within the 2-hour window prior to your PH start time.
Will I still be penalized if I late cancel and my student opts to have the lesson with another tutor?
The late cancellation and no-show policies still apply for tutors in this situation.
Why don't all of my students see this?
Cambly is currently exploring whether this type of feature is helpful to align schedules for optimal availability. Not all students will have the option to be redirected while we are in this learning phase.
What if I want to rebook the reservation with my student?
No problem! Being redirected is optional for students, and they can still rebook their lesson with you. We highly suggest communicating with your student in the event of a late cancellation if you want to rebook their lesson.
In the event of a last-minute cancellation, students also have the option to schedule a lesson with a different tutor at the originally planned time. This means you may notice more reservations pop up for your priority hours, even within the 2-hour window prior to your PH start time.
Are Cambly Kids calls/reservations redirected?
Because this feature is currently in the early learning phase, Cambly Kids students will not have the option to be redirected to a different tutor in the event of a no-show or late cancellation.
Starting a reservation late or ending early
The Cambly Classroom requires tutors to start the lesson within 2 minutes of the scheduled start time. It also requires tutors to wait a full 10 minutes past the scheduled start time for the student to arrive. If a tutor begins the lesson after the 2 minute window or ends the lesson before the 10 minute mark, the tutor will receive an automated Oh No! email. As a reminder, too many Oh No! emails can result in the tutor being restricted to Regulars Only for 7 days.
Dropping or missing a priority hour
Priority Hours must be cancelled over 12 hours in advance. This gives other tutors enough time to pick up the Priority Hour. However, if your Priority Hour is within 12 hours but you no longer can make it, it is better to drop your Priority Hour late than to simply miss that Hour. Dropping a Priority Hour late will hurt your Priority Hour access, but missing your Priority Hour will hurt your access significantly more.
If your PH was somehow released, you will still be paid for every minute you chatted with students on Cambly. However, you may miss out on the guaranteed minutes that we provide for tutors who complete PHs successfully. You can confirm this by checking out your Chat History.
Why was I blocked?
Cambly's system automatically blocks tutors from Priority Hours for a period of three days if they miss multiple recent PHs or release too many within 12 hours of their scheduled start time. We will email you directly if you are blocked (if you haven't been blocked but just don't see many PHs, then check out this article for more information). This temporary block isn't meant as a punishment, but rather a way to allow the system to adjust to the needs of our students.
We completely understand when even tutors with the best attendance miss Priority Hours due to things that are out of their control. That's why we bake in some leeway before the system blocks any tutors. Given that we do offer this leeway, it's our policy not to remove PH blocks for any reason.
Please note, in the event of a Cambly-wide outage (see Cambly's status page here: status.cambly.com), please do submit a request so we can restore any affected Priority Hours right away.
What do I do now?
After three days, PH access is automatically restored. In the meantime, you are welcome to tutor on-demand (that is, without a Priority Hour)!
For future reference, you can also drop Priority Hours from your phone or other device if you can't access your computer.
To learn more about missed Priority Hours, visit this help center article.
Returning student lessons
If for any reason you find yourself in a call that you are unable or unwilling to complete, you will be able to leave the lesson within the first two minutes without cost to the student.
To do this, click the End Lesson button. When this option is available, you will see the below options.
Selecting End lesson and return minutes will refund the entire lesson to the student. Prior to leaving the call, it is best practice to kindly let the student know you cannot complete the call, and that their lesson will be refunded to them. They will also receive an email letting them know the lesson was returned.
When tutors select the End lesson and return minutes option, tutors do not receive payment for those 0-2 minutes. If you know ahead of time that you will not be able to complete the call, please use the new “decline” button prior to answering the call. You can learn more about the new decline button in here.
If a tutor opts to return the lesson to the student, ratings will not be counted toward tutors’ overall rating.
When your call surpasses 2 minutes and this option is no longer available to you, you will no longer see the return lessons option when you click End Lesson.
In the rare case a student calls you with a 2 minute (or less) lesson and the lesson is completed, instead of returning the lesson to the student, you should select “End Lesson”.
I am receiving a 30-minute call, but I only have 20 minutes available, should I answer the call?
No, in this case, please click the “decline” button. You should only answer calls you intend to tutor fully. If you happen to answer the call out of habit or by accident, please kindly let the student know you are unable to complete the lesson request, and that their lesson will be refunded to them. Then, click the "end or return lesson" button and select "end lesson and return minutes.”
If a student hangs up after one minute, do I still get paid?
Yes, payment will work exactly as it always has if the student decides to end the call. The only change in tutor payment is specifically if the tutor chooses to select “End lesson and return minutes” within the first two minutes of the class.
How often can I end lessons within the first 2 minutes?
Try to use this new feature sparingly. In most cases, tutors should strive never to leave a call mid-lesson. Despite this, we understand things happen, and occasionally you may need to leave a lesson within the first 2 minutes.
I do not want to teach children on Classic Cambly, can I use this new “End lesson and return minutes” feature when a child calls me?
Yes. If you believe that the user is not mature enough for the product, it is acceptable in this situation to very tactfully let the student know you cannot complete the call, that Cambly will return their lesson, and to select “End lesson and return minutes”.
Pro Tip: To maximize your minutes chatting, we suggest having just one prepared child’s lesson on Classic Cambly. You can complete the lesson and then hide from the student if you don’t wish to receive more calls.