Salon no-show policy template

The template

[Salon name] booking & cancellation policy • A deposit of [X% / $X] is required to book any service. It comes off your total on the day. • Need to move or cancel? Give us at least [48] hours’ notice and your deposit carries over or is refunded. • Cancelling with less than [48] hours’ notice: your deposit is kept. • No-show: your deposit is kept, and future bookings must be prepaid in full. • Running more than [15] minutes late may mean a shorter service or rebooking. • By booking you agree to this policy. Questions? Text us at [number].

Common structures (pick one)

• Card on file + fee: no money up front; you charge a late-cancel/no-show fee to the saved card. Lowest friction, but some owners report clients blocking cards after a no-show (r/Esthetics).
• Deposit credited to the service: paid at booking, kept if the client no-shows or cancels late. This is what owners in r/smallbusiness and r/Esthetics most often recommend.
• Tiered refund: e.g. full refund with 48h+ notice, 50% at 24–48h, deposit kept under 24h (example from ProperKind’s guide).
• Repeat no-shows: require full prepayment next time (an approach reported by several owners in this thread). Vagaro lets you set deposit rules specifically for “customers with no-shows or cancellations” (Vagaro).

Versions by salon type

• Hair salon (colour, extensions, long services)
• Nail salon
• Beauty salon, lash, brow & spa

Make it enforceable

1. Show it at booking and have clients tick to accept. Vagaro and GlossGenius both have a setting for this (Vagaro, GlossGenius).
2. Turn on deposits or card capture in your app: Fresha, Vagaro, Square, GlossGenius.
3. Tell existing clients before it starts: announcement scripts.
4. Actually charge it. A hands-on test found booking software often leaves the fee amount for the desk to work out (The Front Desk Report).

Templates, not legal advice. Fee levels are examples; pick your own and check local consumer and card-network rules. Platform steps were checked against each vendor’s help pages on 2026-10-16, not run in a live account; menus change.