How to set up No-Show fees and charge for no-Shows or last-minute cancellations

Requiring prepayment or saving card details helps minimize no-shows and late cancellations, allowing your restaurant to plan more efficiently - especially during peak hours. It also encourages guests to take responsibility for their reservations.

The card-saving option is available only inside the booking widget, ensuring a safe and secure process for both restaurants and guests. This built-in security feature helps prevent fraud and protects guests from being asked for payment details outside the Tablein system.

 

How to Set Up Prepayments & Secure Bookings

1) Integrate a Payment Provider

To enable deposits or no-show fees, you must connect a supported payment provider.

1. Go to Settings

2. Open 3rd Party Integrations

3. Connect Stripe to your Tablein account

 

2) Access Prepayments & No-Show Fees

1. Go to Settings

2. Navigate to Payments and no-show fee

3. Click Create New

 

3) Choose How You Want to Protect the Reservation

Under How do you want to protect this reservation?, select one of the following options:

- Deposit required

Guests must pay a deposit to confirm the reservation.

- No-show fee

Guests enter their card details as a guarantee and are charged only if they don’t show up or cancel too late.
Note: No-show fees are available with Stripe only.

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4) Choose How the Amount Should Be Calculated

Under How should the amount be calculated?, choose one of the following:

Per person

The total amount is automatically multiplied by the number of guests.

Per reservation

A fixed amount is applied to the reservation regardless of group size.

Then enter the amount and select the currency.

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5) Set the Free Cancellation Window

Under Free cancellation until (hours before reservation), choose how many hours before the reservation guests can cancel without being charged.

If the guest cancels after this deadline (or does not show up), the deposit or no-show fee may apply.

 

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6) Add a Cancellation Policy (Shown to Guests)

Under Cancellation policy (shown to guests), write the policy guests must agree to during booking.

This text is:

• shown during the booking flow as: “I agree with the cancellation policy”

• included in the reservation confirmation email

If you support multiple languages, choose a language from the dropdown and add translations for each version.

Example cancellation policy text:

You can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before your reservation. Cancellations made after this time or no-shows may be charged a fee according to our reservation policy.

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7) Choose When the No-Show Fee Applies

Under Date or period when to apply this no-show fee, choose when guests can book using this protection, and when the fee should apply.

Repeating schedule

Use this option when the same rules apply every week.

1. Set Available from (start date)

2. Choose Available until:

   • Ongoing, or

   • set an end date

3. Select weekdays and the time range

Best for consistent weekly coverage (example: every Friday and Saturday evening).

 

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Different rules for different days or times

If you want different no-show fee rules (example - different amounts for weekdays vs weekends), create multiple no-show fee rules.

Important: Make sure the schedules do not overlap.

Example setup:

• Rule 1: Monday-Thursday (lower fee)

• Rule 2: Friday-Sunday (higher fee)

You can also split by time, for example:

• no-show fee only for evening bookings

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8) Set Unavailable Dates (Optional)

Use Unavailable dates to hide this offer on specific days.

Example: Valentine’s Day may require a special deposit or higher fee, so the standard rule should not be available.

 

Additional settings

Use this section if you want the fee to apply only for specific group sizes or charge different amounts depending on the number of guests.

✅ Example: different fees for small vs large parties

Rule 1: €10 no-show fee

• Min guests: 1

• Max guests: 4

Duplicate the rule and create:

Rule 2: €20 no-show fee

• Min guests: 5

• Max guests: (leave empty)

This way, reservations with 5+ guests require a higher no-show fee.

 

Where can this offer be selected?

Choose where this no-show fee offer should be available (for example, specific dining areas or rooms).

This is useful if you want to apply a higher fee only in high-demand areas, such as a VIP room or a premium hall.

After saving,  We strongly recommend performing a test transaction to ensure that card details are saved correctly and charges can be processed successfully. This will help you verify the entire process and avoid potential issues with payments. 

 

How to Charge a Card in Case of a No-Show

1) Open the Reservation and Update the Status

1. Locate the guest’s reservation in Tablein

2. Change the reservation status to Cancelled or No-Show, depending on the situation

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2) Check the Cancellation Time Warning

If the cancellation happens inside the restricted timeframe (less than the allowed hours), Tablein will display a warning confirming whether a fee can be applied.

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3) Choose Whether to Charge the Card

Select one of the following actions:

✅ Charge Card

A new window will open where you can:

• Enter the fee amount (cannot exceed the preset maximum)

• Specify the reason for the charge

If the amount entered is too high, Tablein will show a warning. You can still charge a lower amount if needed.

✅ Cancel Without Charging

If you decide not to apply a fee, click Cancel and save the reservation.

No charge will be made, and the reservation status will still be updated.

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