New feature3 minute read
Deposits: the simplest way to stop no-shows
A no-show is an hour you cannot sell twice. With FullDiary, customers pay a deposit or the full price when they book, straight into your own Stripe account, and the slot is only confirmed once they have paid. It works on every plan, including the free one.
Director, DocMason and FullDiary
An empty chair costs the same rent as a full one. When somebody books and does not turn up, you lose the hour, and usually you turned somebody else away for it. Most no-shows are not malicious: people forget, or something else comes up. But when a booking costs nothing to make, it costs nothing to forget, and a deposit changes that.
FullDiary is the online booking system from DocMason for UK appointment businesses. Deposits are built into its booking page, so asking for money up front takes no awkward conversation at all.
How it works for your customers
They pick a service and a time on your booking page as usual. If that service asks for a deposit or the full price, they pay by card on a secure payment page from Stripe before the booking is made, and the slot is held for them for 30 minutes while they do. Once the payment clears, the booking is confirmed, and the confirmation email shows what they have paid and what is left to pay on the day.
How it works for you
Connect your own Stripe account under Settings, Card payments; if you do not have one, you can create it from there in a few minutes. Then choose what to ask for: nothing, a deposit or the full price, for the whole business or per service, so a quick trim can ask for nothing while a long colour appointment asks for money up front.
The money goes into your Stripe account and pays out to your bank on Stripe's normal schedule. We never hold it, and we take no cut of it. If a customer cancels, keeping or refunding the deposit is your decision, made in your own Stripe dashboard.
Taking the rest on the day
When they have been, mark the booking paid at the desk, by cash or card, and FullDiary takes off the deposit they already paid. Your takings then show what you actually collected, not just what was booked.
See the difference for yourself
The Analytics page puts a figure on what no-shows are costing you, and once you have enough bookings of each kind it compares how often deposit-paid bookings turn up against the rest. Your own numbers, not an industry average.
A few tips
- Start with your longest services. A missed two-hour appointment hurts far more than a missed quick trim, so ask for deposits there first.
- Say it before they book. Add a line about deposits and cancellations to the note customers see before booking, under Your shop, Booking rules, so nobody is surprised.
- Pair it with reminders. A reminder the day before, with a link to move the booking, turns a forgotten appointment into a cancellation you can still fill.
Questions people ask
- Do I need a Stripe account?
- Yes. You can create one from inside FullDiary in a few minutes, and the money goes into it, not to us.
- What does it cost?
- Deposits are free on every FullDiary plan. Stripe charges its usual card fee on each payment, which is between you and Stripe; we take nothing.
- What if they start paying and give up?
- The slot is held for 30 minutes and then released automatically, so an abandoned payment never blocks your diary.
- Can I refund a deposit?
- Yes, whenever you choose, from your own Stripe dashboard. FullDiary never refunds or keeps a deposit for you.
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Written by
Matt SucklingDirector, DocMason and FullDiary
Matt runs Cynical Software Ltd, the Perthshire company that makes DocMason and FullDiary, and builds both.