No-Show Fee

When a client books an appointment and simply does not arrive — without cancelling or rescheduling in advance — the salon loses the revenue from that slot. A no-show fee is a charge designed to compensate the business for that lost time and to deter the behaviour from happening again.

No-show fees are typically enforced in one of two ways. The most common method is to require a booking deposit at the time of booking: if the client does not attend, the deposit is forfeited rather than refunded. The second approach is to charge a fee after the fact — often used for regular clients who are trusted to book without a deposit.

Whether a no-show fee is enforceable depends on how clearly the policy was communicated before the client confirmed the booking. In Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, a pre-agreed cancellation policy is generally considered enforceable when the terms are visible at booking, the client has acknowledged them, and the fee is reasonable relative to the service value. Consult a legal adviser if you are unsure how consumer law applies in your jurisdiction.

Practically, many salons find that a clear, consistently applied policy — combined with pre-appointment reminders — reduces no-shows significantly without the need to frequently chase fees. The deterrent effect of a published policy is often as valuable as the fee itself.

On OpenChair, no-show protection works through the deposit system. If a client has paid a deposit and does not attend, the deposit can be automatically forfeited according to your policy. For clients without a deposit on file, you can manually record the no-show against their profile, which informs future decisions about whether to require a deposit from that client.