thread Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep in Appointments & Bookings

How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/deposit

mitin — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:52:44 GMT

Hello my fellow Square Appointments family,

I searched for this topic but didn't see any recent posts, so I decided to start a fresh thread.

I own a nail salon, and we’ve been dealing with an increasing number of last-minute cancellations (within 24 hours) and no-shows. Currently, we don't require a credit card when clients book online, so we don't have a cancellation or no-show fee in place. This ends up blocking my technicians' calendars, preventing other clients from booking, and leaving us with open slots when people don't show up.

I’m looking to get some ideas and recommendations on how you all manage this:

What strategies or policies have worked best for your salon to reduce no-shows?
How have you configured your Square Appointments to require a deposit or card on file?
Is there a way in Square to require a credit card/deposit only for new clients while letting returning regulars book as usual?

I’d love to hear how you handle this and any tips on transitioning to a stricter policy without upsetting regular clients. Thanks in advance for your insights!

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

CurlyDoodle — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:17:06 GMT

Hi! I have a dog grooming shop which is somewhat similar 😄. Many groomers reports similar problems to yours, being last minute cancellations and no-shows. I have to say both are rare for us, and I'm not sure why but I'll share our process. First, when clients book online -- either by themselves or by me or a staff person over the phone or in person -- they receive multiple push notifications: one at the time of booking, one a week before the appointment, and one an hour before the appointment. You can customize when these reminders are sent. I believe in both of these notifications they are prompted to click and confirm or request a change. Sometimes they cancel or reschedule which is fine, as it gives us time to accept another booking.

As I check the schedule each morning, I notice which clients haven't confirmed and I send them another text message. As the business grows, I have less tolerance for non confirmation, as I have other clients on a waiting list, or just clients out there who would take an earlier appointment if it showed as available. So recently I have started cancelling unconfirmed appointments, and amazingly that gets their attention! They either text right back to reschedule or, if they don't, I know I did the right thing in opening up that slot in the schedule.

I don't do deposits as they are tricky to collect and can cause complaints. I'd rather use the methods described to minimize last minute changes.

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

TCSlaguna — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:29:00 GMT

Hi @mitin

We require full pre-payment for online and phone bookings.

Even walk-ins we now require pre-payment because the client will either "forget" to pay and walk out or we get super busy and it falls through the cracks.

In the early days we tried deposits, card-on-file, and so much more. Legally the customer has the right to remove their card on file, so we had customers remove them right before their service time.

This obviously makes add-on services during the time of service more difficult to process, but at least it provides a layer of certainty for you and your service providers.

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

mitin — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 18:45:47 GMT

Thank you @CurlyDoodle & @TCSlaguna .
Appreciate your suggestions and ideas, this is definitely helpful.
I will start with a more stringent review of new clients and unconfirmed appointments, but just going to have to do something and see how it works,

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

MudFire_Dex — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 15:43:07 GMT

We refund deposits if an appointment is cancelled within 48 hours of the appointment. If it is cancelled day of we retain the deposit. We used to do the full appointment price but it was a lot of refunding where people don't fight the $10 deposit when they don't cancel within our rules.

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

Doran — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:57:49 GMT

Depending on the situation, I let it go or charge the fee. I make sure the cancellation policy is all over my site, booking and consult forms. If it is a long-time client and they have an emergency, I waive it. If the same client does it again, I charge. Again, I make them pay for the full service up front going forward. If it happens again, I fire them. If it is a first-time client, I charge a fee that time.

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

mitin — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 20:28:56 GMT

Thankyou @Doran . I am trying to tell my techs to actively monitor the bookings and every morning call the customer and confirm the large bookings and the new customers. Its not a perfect system but its a start. Appreciate the feedback

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

SiBellebeauty — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:05:07 GMT

Hiya,

Ahhhh dreaded cancellations. I think this is SO important to implement before we get to flaky season when as soon as people see rain, they don't want to leave the house so lets get a policy implemented.

The easiest way that works for my two salons that deals with a large influx of bookings is the card capture. If clients give less than 48 hours notice or no show they will be charged 50% of the appointment cost. When they put their details in online no money is ever taken unless they do this, you then still have the option to waiver it if you don't want to charge if they are a regular, have a genuine reason or manage to fill the slot but by having these boundaries in place it ensure a smooth running business and ensures that you don't miss out on as much as you may do with cancellations now.

Clients can't cancel online if less than 48 hours notice, thy have to call us, we then can charge at our own discretion. No shows and cancellations will show on your clients account too so it is easy to track.

A little tip if you are a bit nervous to charge, when clients call to cancel with less than your required notice, say to them if we manage to fill the slot we will not charge, but if we do unfortuantly we have to cover our costs. I really hope it helps and if you have any questions let me know!!

Lois x

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

essentialnails — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:08:15 GMT

As a nail salon that is appointment only with a 24hr cancellation policy. We take a card on file and charge 100% of the missed service. We know 100% is a lot but it's a pretty good deterrent for late cancellations.

We have some caveats to the policy:

- Emergency = waived

- Filled the spot = waived

- Non-emergency but 1st time offender = one time courtesy waived

- Tech Discretion (Since many of our techs are commission base, they get a say in whether or not the policy is enforced)

BUT we are very strict with repeated late cancellations, cancellations within 2hrs of appt, and no shows.

Re: How do you handle last-minute cancellations and no-shows? Looking for advice on Square setup/dep

essentialnails — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 00:08:58 GMT

- Emergency = waived

- Filled the spot = waived

- Non-emergency but 1st time offender = one time courtesy waived

- Tech Discretion (Since many of our techs are commission base, they get a say in whether or not the policy is enforced)

BUT we are very strict with repeated late cancellations, cancellations within 2hrs of appt, and no shows.