Restaurant no-shows: should you take deposits or card guarantees?

There are two standard ways to protect against restaurant no-shows. A deposit takes money when the guest books and holds it against the bill. A card guarantee saves the guest's card and charges an agreed fee only if they fail to turn up or cancel too late. For everyday bookings, a card guarantee gives guests a reason to cancel when their plans change, without asking them to pay up front. Deposits or full prepayment suit the bookings where an empty table costs you most, such as large groups, set menus, peak dates and private dining.

Whichever you choose, guests should see the amount, when it would be charged and how to cancel before they confirm. The charge should also bear a sensible relationship to what a no-show costs you, which matters under UK consumer law as well as for goodwill.

What is the difference between a deposit and a card guarantee?

A deposit is a payment taken at booking. When the guest arrives it comes off the final bill, and if they do not arrive you keep some or all of it under the terms they agreed to. Full prepayment works the same way for the whole price and is often used for tasting menus and ticketed dinners, where the price is fixed in advance.

A card guarantee takes no money up front. The guest enters card details when booking, and you charge the agreed no-show fee only if the policy is triggered. It is easier for guests to accept, because nothing leaves their account unless they break the terms.

A pre-authorisation hold sits between the two, and it rarely fits restaurant bookings made well in advance. Stripe's documentation says the amount on an online card payment is typically held for seven days, and funds that have not been captured when the authorisation expires are released. A standard hold placed when someone books a table three weeks out would lapse before the date. Stripe offers extended authorisations of up to 30 days in some cases, but they come with card network, business category and pricing conditions, so a saved card or a deposit is usually the more practical choice for bookings made weeks ahead.

When does a restaurant deposit make more sense?

Take a deposit when a no-show would leave you with costs you cannot recover by reseating the table. Typical cases include:

• Large tables, where one cancellation removes a big share of a sitting's covers
• Set menus and tasting menus, where the kitchen buys and preps for confirmed numbers
• Peak dates such as Christmas parties, Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, when you turn other bookings away to hold the table
• Private dining and exclusive hire, where the room is hard to resell at short notice

Deposits have a cost of their own. Some guests will book elsewhere rather than pay up front, and staff have to process refunds when guests cancel inside the policy. Each deposit also has to be matched to the final bill so the guest is not charged twice.

When is a card guarantee enough?

For regular covers on ordinary nights, a card guarantee usually strikes the better balance. Guests who know a fee applies have a reason to cancel when their plans change, which gives you time to fill the table from a waitlist, and you only process a charge when the policy applies.

A guarantee is a promise of payment, and collecting on it can fail. By the date of the booking the card may have expired, been cancelled or have insufficient funds, and the guest's bank can still decline the charge. Treat the guarantee as a deterrent first and a way to recover money second.

Leave room for staff judgement. A regular who rings at the last minute because of a family emergency is a different case from a party of eight who never answer the phone, and your process should let a manager record a no-show without charging.

How much should a no-show fee or deposit be?

Base the amount on what an empty table costs you, which is often less than the menu price of the meal. If you resell the table, the loss may be small. If the food was bought and prepped for a set menu, the loss is closer to the full price.

Take a hypothetical bistro with an average spend of £50 a head. A table of six that fails to show on a Saturday represents £300 of sales. A fee of £20 per person, £120 for the table, is well short of the full bill and easier to justify as compensation for an empty table. A £95 tasting menu that the kitchen has bought and prepped for is a bigger loss when nobody arrives, so a higher deposit is reasonable there.

UK consumer law gives you another reason to keep the amount proportionate. Under section 62 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, an unfair term in a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer. Schedule 2 to the Act lists terms that may be regarded as unfair. They include a term requiring a consumer who fails to fulfil their obligations to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation, and one letting a trader keep money the consumer has paid when the consumer cancels, without equivalent compensation for the consumer when the trader cancels.

Diners who book online or by phone also do not get the usual 14-day cancellation period. The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 exclude catering and leisure services booked for a specific date from those cancellation rights, so the cancellation terms come from your own policy, which still has to be fair under the 2015 Act. This is general information: check the CMA's guidance on unfair contract terms (CMA37) or take legal advice before you settle your wording.

What should a restaurant no-show policy include?

• The amount, and whether it applies per booking or per person
• What triggers it, such as not arriving or cancelling after a stated deadline
• The cancellation deadline and how guests can cancel or change the booking
• How long you hold a table for late arrivals
• For deposits, whether the amount comes off the bill and when it is refunded
• What happens if you cancel, in which case the guest should get their money back

Show the policy next to the payment step on the booking page, repeat it in the confirmation and reminder messages, and keep a record that the guest accepted it. Stripe's guidance on saving a card for later charges asks businesses to include in their terms the customer's agreement to be charged, when charges would happen and how the amount is set, and to keep a record of the customer's written agreement.

How to reduce no-shows before you charge anyone

A fee recovers part of the loss. A table released in time can be resold, so most of the effort belongs before the booking date.

• Send a reminder a day or two ahead with a simple link to cancel or change the booking
• Let guests manage their own booking online, within your cancellation rules
• Keep a waitlist for full sittings, so released tables go to people who want them
• Phone large or high-value bookings on the day to confirm numbers
• Note repeat no-shows on the guest's profile and ask for a deposit next time

How Tiquo handles deposits and no-show card guarantees

Tiquo's booking flows can collect a deposit or full payment as part of the booking. You set the deposit on each service as a fixed amount or a percentage of the price, and a configured deposit can confirm the booking while leaving the balance due at the venue. Each payment stays linked to the booking or order it belongs to, so the team can see what has been paid when the guest settles the bill.

For card guarantees, Simple Mode booking flows can save a card without taking a booking payment. You set a fee greater than zero and choose whether it applies once per booking or per person, and the policy is recorded with the booking at checkout. If the guest does not arrive, staff mark the booking as a no-show and either confirm the agreed charge or mark it without charging. A no-show without a valid guarantee does not create a fee.

Tiquo also runs waitlists for full slots, and joining costs the guest nothing. When capacity becomes available, Tiquo sends a temporary offer to a customer on the waitlist, who can accept it before it expires, and card guarantees can be configured on waitlist flows that need them. To get tables back in time, Tiquo can automate booking confirmations and reminders, and guests can cancel online within the cancellation rules you configure for the service.