Reducing no-shows with confirmations and deposits
“We lose a few tables every weekend to people who just don’t turn up. What can we do?”
An empty table on a busy night costs you twice: the spend you planned for, and the walk-in or waitlist guest you turned away. A late cancellation does the same, just with a little more warning. Sidedoor gives you three tools to cut both, and you can use them together:
- Reservation confirmation asks the guest to confirm they’re still coming, and frees the table if they don’t.
- A saved card or a deposit gives the guest a reason to turn up or cancel in time.
- A deposit policy chases a deposit you’ve asked for, and frees the table if it’s never paid.
Pick your level of protection
Section titled “Pick your level of protection”Start at the bottom of the ladder and move up only where you need to. Each step protects you more, and asks a little more of the guest.
| Confirmation only | Card on file | Deposit charged upfront (Capture) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The guest | Taps one link to confirm | Saves a card. Nothing is charged | Pays the deposit when booking |
| Friction | Very low | Low | Highest |
| Forgotten bookings | Freed before service, so you can rebook them | Not freed, unless you also ask for confirmation | Rarely happen: the guest has paid |
| A no-show costs you | The table. You collect nothing | The no-show fee, if the card can be charged | Nothing. You keep the deposit |
| The catch | No money for a no-show | The card can be declined when you charge it, for example for insufficient funds. Sidedoor doesn’t try again | Some guests won’t pay upfront, and a cancellation in time means a refund |
| Best for | Quiet nights, regulars, small tables | Most restaurants and bars, most nights | Peak nights, large groups, set menus, minimum spends |
The building blocks
Section titled “The building blocks”When to ask the guest to confirm, and when to free the table if they don’t.
Settings → Policies → GeneralWhen an unpaid deposit request is due, the reminder, and whether to free the table.
Settings → Policies → GeneralCard on file or Capture, the cancellation cutoff, and the no-show charge and its delay.
Settings → Policies → GeneralPicks one of each policy, the minimum spend (the amount), and the late and no-show timings.
Settings → Policies → Access ProfilesEach policy is a named, reusable set of rules. You build it once and pick it on a table access profile. An access rule that names no profile uses your Default table profile. A rule that names a profile uses only that profile’s policies, even if the profile leaves one empty.
1. Reservation confirmation
Section titled “1. Reservation confirmation”A confirmation policy asks the guest to confirm with one tap. If they don’t by your deadline, the reservation is cancelled and the table goes back on sale.
Build it under Settings → Policies → General → Reservation Confirmation → + Add Confirmation Policy:
| Setting | What it does | New policy default |
|---|---|---|
| Policy name | How it appears in the profile’s drop-down | - |
| Automatically release unconfirmed reservations | On: cancel the reservation at the release time if the guest hasn’t confirmed. Off: only ask, and leave unconfirmed bookings for your team | On |
| Release the reservation | How long before the reservation to release it | 24 hours |
| Warn the guest | How long before the reservation to ask the guest to confirm. Must be earlier than the release time | 48 hours |
Then pick it in the Reservation Confirmation tile of the table profile.
Who gets asked, and when
Section titled “Who gets asked, and when”- Booked too late to be asked? A guest who books after the release time (for example the same evening) is never asked, so they’re confirmed automatically, never released.
- Released bookings and money. A card-on-file booking that’s released is never charged. A deposit already paid upfront isn’t refunded by the release, so refund it from the reservation’s Payment tab if you want to. Only an older booking still on a card hold follows the payment policy’s Unconfirmed deposits setting (Release by default).
- Channels and wording are set once for the venue, in the Confirmation request row of Settings → Notifications. Email and app push are on by default, text is off. Use the gear icon on the row to write your own message.
2. Deposit requests and deposit policies
Section titled “2. Deposit requests and deposit policies”When a guest books online under a profile with a minimum spend, they save a card or pay as part of booking. When your team takes a booking by phone, it can’t take a card there and then, so staff send a deposit request instead: tick Request a deposit when adding the reservation (shown when the booking’s rule carries a deposit), or use Request deposit on its Payment tab. The guest gets a payment link and pays, or saves their card, depending on the payment policy.
A deposit policy makes sure those requests don’t hold a table forever. It only acts on a reservation with an open deposit request. A guest who has saved a card or paid is never touched.
Build it under Settings → Policies → General → Deposit Policies → + Add Deposit Policy:
| Setting | What it does | New policy default |
|---|---|---|
| Unpaid deposit deadline | When an unpaid deposit is due: A set time before the reservation, A set time after the deposit is requested, or Both, whichever comes first | Before the reservation |
| Automatically release unpaid reservations | On: cancel the reservation and free the table at the deadline. Off: only send the warning, and your team follows up | On |
| Cancel the reservation | The time before the reservation, or after the request, for the deadline you chose | 24 hours |
| Warn the guest | One reminder with a fresh payment link. Before the reservation for the first option, before the deadline for the other two | 48 hours |
Then pick it in the Deposit Policy tile of the table profile.
What happens to a deposit request
Section titled “What happens to a deposit request”- The reminder carries the amount still owed and a payment link that doesn’t expire. It goes out over the channels in the Deposit reminder row of Settings → Notifications.
- At the deadline, Sidedoor first checks with the card processor that the guest hasn’t just paid. If not, the reservation is cancelled, the payment link stops working and the guest is emailed.
- Requests made late are treated fairly. If a booking is made after the “before the reservation” deadline has passed, that deadline isn’t applied. An “after the request” deadline that would land on or after the reservation start is skipped too.
- “After the request” suits bookings made weeks ahead: for example, pay within 24 hours of the request, rather than waiting until the day before.
3. Putting it together on a table profile
Section titled “3. Putting it together on a table profile”The table profile ties everything together. Open it under Settings → Policies → Access Profiles and use these tiles:
| Tile | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Minimum Spend | The amount: a price list per cover. Tick Only apply to larger parties to secure only bigger groups |
| Payment & Policy | The payment policy: Card on file or Capture, the cancellation cutoff, and the no-show charge |
| Deposit Policy | The deposit policy that chases staff deposit requests |
| Reservation Confirmation | The confirmation policy |
| Late / No-Show | When a late booking is flagged Late, and when it’s marked a no-show automatically |
To treat peak nights or large parties differently, give them their own profile and point the access rule for those days at it. Automatic deposits for larger groups walks through splitting a rule by day.
The payment policy settings that matter here
Section titled “The payment policy settings that matter here”Under Settings → Policies → General → Payment Policies:
| Setting | What it does | New policy default |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | Card on file: save the card, charge only for a no-show or late cancel. Capture: charge the minimum spend now, off the bill | Card on file |
| Customer modify / cancel | Any time, Never, or Up to a cutoff (for example 24 hours before). After the cutoff a guest can’t cancel online, unless they accept the charge on a card or deposit | Any time |
| No-show deposits | Capture charges the no-show fee to the saved card, Release doesn’t | Capture |
| Charge … after the reservation start time | The delay before a no-show is charged, up to a week | 30 minutes |
Worked example: a neighbourhood restaurant
Section titled “Worked example: a neighbourhood restaurant”A 70-cover restaurant loses two or three tables most Fridays and Saturdays, and the odd forgotten booking midweek. It wants low friction on quiet nights and real protection at the weekend.
- Policy name
- Confirm 24h
- Automatically release unconfirmed reservations
- On
- Release the reservation
- 6 hours before
- Warn the guest
- 24 hours before
- Policy name
- Weekend card on file
- Payment
- Card on file
- Customer modify / cancel
- Up to a cutoff, 24 hours before
- No-show deposits
- Capture, charged 60 minutes after the reservation start time
- Policy name
- Pay within a day
- Unpaid deposit deadline
- Both, whichever comes first
- Automatically release unpaid reservations
- On
- Cancel the reservation
- 24 hours after the request, and 24 hours before the reservation
- Warn the guest
- 6 hours before the deadline
- Reservation Confirmation
- Confirm 24h
- Minimum Spend
- None, so guests book without a card
- Late / No-Show
- Late after 15 minutes
- Profile name
- Weekend dinner
- Minimum Spend
- £15 a head. Tick Only apply to larger parties, larger than 5 (groups of 6 or more)
- Payment & Policy
- Weekend card on file
- Deposit Policy
- Pay within a day
- Reservation Confirmation
- Confirm 24h
- Late / No-Show
- Late after 15 minutes. Tick Automatically mark as a no-show after 30 minutes
Then set the Friday and Saturday access rule’s Table Access Profile to Weekend dinner.
Result: every online guest is asked to confirm 24 hours ahead, and a forgotten table goes back on sale 6 hours before service. At the weekend, a party of 6 also saves a card. If they don’t show, the card is charged £90 an hour after their booking time. A group of 8 who phone on Monday for Saturday have until Tuesday to pay the deposit link.
How guests experience it
Section titled “How guests experience it”A guest who gets a deposit request sees Pay now on the booking in the app, as well as the link in their message. The reminder before the deadline says how much is owed and by when.
On the night and after
Section titled “On the night and after”Marking a no-show
Section titled “Marking a no-show”A guest who hasn’t been checked in shows as Late once the late threshold passes. They’re marked a no-show either automatically (if Automatically mark as a no-show is on in the profile’s Late / No-Show tile) or by staff with No show on the reservation. Either way the table is freed, and the money follows the payment policy:
- The guest turns up after all? Press Undo no show before the charge time and nothing is charged. If the charge has already gone through, check the Payment tab and refund it if needed.
- A late cancellation on a card-on-file booking is charged when the guest accepts it to cancel.
When the card is declined
Section titled “When the card is declined”A saved card is charged once. If the bank declines it (for example for insufficient funds, or a cancelled card), the Payment tab shows Declined and the booking’s History records the reason. Sidedoor never tries the card again.
To follow up, send the guest a payment link instead: open the reservation’s Payment tab, enter the amount and use Request deposit. The guest is charged when they pay. With Notify guest ticked, the link goes out over the channels in the Deposit request row of Settings → Notifications. A cancelled booking has to be reinstated before you can request a payment. See Charging a Card on file booking for the other actions on that tab.
Checklist
Section titled “Checklist”| Check | Why |
|---|---|
| Your Default table profile’s policies | New venues start with Default policies already set, so know what guests get before you change anything |
| Warn the guest is earlier than the release or deadline | The policy won’t save otherwise. A gap of a day suits most venues |
| Release time leaves you time to rebook | Releasing 1 hour before service frees a table nobody can book |
| Confirmation request channels | Email and push are on by default. Turn on text in Settings → Notifications if guests don’t use the app |
| No-show delay longer than your auto no-show time | Gives staff a window to undo a mistaken no-show before any money moves |
| A cancellation cutoff on card-on-file and Capture policies | Without one, guests can cancel right up to the booking and never be charged |
| One table rule per time slot | Otherwise a guest can pick the rule without a deposit |
| Deposit policy on the profiles staff book under | So unpaid phone-booking requests don’t hold tables up to service |
| Test it | Book online in your widget, then check the reservation shows the right payment and, later, Awaiting confirmation |