What is no-show handling?
No-shows happen when a customer books a table and does not turn up. Spatula has two ways to reduce and recover from no-shows. The first is a deposit, charged at booking. The second is card-verify, which saves the customer's card at booking and only charges if they fail to show.
Choosing your approach
Deposit — a flat fee charged when the customer books. The deposit is refunded when they arrive (or applied to their bill, depending on your setup).
Card-verify — the customer's card details are saved without taking any payment. If you mark the booking as a no-show, a charge is taken automatically. If they arrive, no charge is made.
Off — no deposit and no card-verify. Suitable for casual venues where no-shows are rare.
Setting up no-show charges
Open Bookings settings in your dashboard.
Choose No-Show Handling.
Pick the mode that suits your venue.
Set the charge amount.
Update your booking terms and conditions to clearly explain the policy.
Save your changes.
Marking a booking as a no-show
Open the booking in your dashboard.
Click Mark as No-Show.
Confirm the charge if you are using card-verify.
If you are using deposits, missed bookings keep the deposit. If you are using card-verify, the saved card is charged at the moment you confirm the no-show.
Tips
Be clear in your terms and confirmation messages — customers should never be surprised by a charge.
Send reminder messages before the booking to reduce no-shows in the first place.
Review your no-show rate in the bookings reports each month and adjust your policy if needed.