Too vague and nobody takes your policy seriously. Too strict and it might not stand up. Here's wording that sits in the sensible middle, plus a deposit size the UK guidance supports.
You've blocked out two hours for a full head of colour, the gown's on the chair, and the client simply doesn't arrive. No message, and no answer when you ring. A clear salon no-show policy won't stop that ever happening, but it does mean you both know exactly what happens next. The good ones answer four things in plain words: how much notice you need, what deposit you take, the exact point it stops being refundable, and what happens if you're the one who has to cancel. If a client can read yours in thirty seconds and know where they stand, you've got it right.
On the money side, keep the deposit modest. Government guidance for UK businesses says you can usually keep a deposit in full when it's no more than a small percentage of the price, and that whatever you hold on to should take account of what you actually lose. We've written a version you can copy further down, so you're not starting from a blank page.
What should a salon no-show policy include?
When we run our free check on a salon, one of the first things we look for is whether the booking page says anything at all about what happens when someone doesn't turn up. If yours doesn't, start there, because you can't expect a client to stick to a rule they never saw, and you'd struggle to hold them to it fairly. Make sure it covers these six things:
- How many hours' notice someone needs to give to cancel or move without losing anything.
- How much the deposit is, and that it comes off the bill on the day.
- The exact moment it stops being refundable, in hours, because "late notice" means something different to everyone.
- What happens if they're running late, how long you can wait for them, and what a shortened appointment looks like.
- What you'll do if you have to cancel or move them (they get their deposit back).
- How to let you know, whether that's a link, a number or WhatsApp, so cancelling is easier than quietly not turning up.
A couple of those probably feel obvious, and we get that. Write them down anyway. Disagreements with clients nearly always start in the gap between what you assumed and what they assumed, and a written line closes that gap before anyone gets cross.
How big can a salon deposit be?
There isn't a fixed legal number, which is a bit annoying if you were hoping for one. What the government's guide to writing a fair contract does say is that you can keep a deposit in full if it's no more than a small percentage of the price, and that terms making prepayments non-refundable whatever the reason someone cancels are unlikely to be fair.
So the pattern that holds up is a modest deposit that you keep when someone cancels late or doesn't arrive, and refund whenever they give the notice you asked for. If you'd like more up front for a long colour correction or a bridal trial, that's reasonable, but be ready to show the bigger sum matches what an empty chair would genuinely cost you for that slot.
Real loss is the thread running through all of this. The same guidance says a cancellation charge should reflect the steps you can take to keep your losses down, and Which?'s advice on non-refundable deposits makes the same point from the customer's side. So if someone cancels late and you fill the gap from your waiting list that afternoon, you've lost far less than the full appointment, and your policy should allow for that.
A quick way to sense-check your figure is to think about what you'd really be out of pocket if that chair sat empty. Count the time you'd blocked out and any colour you'd already mixed, then weigh it against how likely you are to get someone else in at short notice. If your deposit sits comfortably inside that for most of your menu, you're on sensible ground. If it's well over, it's the sort of term a client could reasonably push back on, and you'd have a hard time arguing otherwise.
Wording that holds up, and wording that doesn't
A lot of the trouble comes from one line written in a hurry. These are the usual suspects, with what we'd put instead and why:
| Instead of | Try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "All deposits are non-refundable." | "Cancel or move at least 48 hours before and your deposit comes back in full." | A blanket no-refund rule is unlikely to be fair, and a clear cut-off shows the client exactly how to get their money back. |
| "Late cancellations will be charged." | "With less than 48 hours' notice, or if you don't arrive, we keep your deposit." | They know the exact point and the exact amount, so there's nothing left to argue about. |
| "No-shows pay the full price." | Keep the deposit. For someone who keeps missing appointments, ask them to pay in full when they next book, but only keep what the missed slot really cost you. | Charging a disproportionate sum for a service you never gave is on the law's list of potentially unfair terms. |
| "We may cancel at any time." | "If we have to cancel, you choose: a full refund or a new date." | The guidance expects a refund when the client isn't the one at fault. |
| The policy tucked away in the small print | The policy right beside the Book button and in the confirmation | Important terms need to be prominent and shown to the client early. |
The full list of terms that may be unfair is in Schedule 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if you'd like to read it yourself. Paragraphs 5 and 6 are the ones to look at, covering what happens when a customer is made to pay a disproportionately high sum for backing out or not holding up their end of the deal.
A no-show policy you can copy
We've used a £10 deposit, a 48-hour cut-off and 15 minutes' grace for late arrivals as examples, not as advice for every service. £10 barely registers on a £150 colour and it's a big ask on a £15 brow tidy, so change all three to suit your own menu.
Booking and cancellations. We take a £10 deposit to book, and it comes off the price of your appointment on the day.
Need to cancel or change your time? Tell us at least 48 hours before and we'll refund the deposit in full or carry it over to your new date.
With less than 48 hours' notice, or if you don't arrive, we keep the deposit. It pays for the time we set aside for you. If we manage to fill your slot, we'll refund it or carry it over to your next booking.
Running late? Up to 15 minutes, we'll fit you in and finish on time. Any later and we may shorten the treatment or rebook you, and the deposit carries over.
If we ever have to cancel, you get the deposit back in full or a new date, whichever you'd rather. To cancel or move, use the link in your confirmation or reminder, or message us on WhatsApp.
Before you publish it, read it back as if you were the client. If any line makes you wince, or sounds like it came from a solicitor having a bad day, soften the words and keep the rule exactly as it is. People are much happier to go along with a policy that sounds like the person who'll be doing their hair.
Where should the policy go so clients see it?
The fair contracts guidance asks for important terms to be prominent, brought to the customer's attention as early as possible and easy to find on any device. For a salon, that comes down to four places:
- On the booking page, right next to the button that takes the deposit, rather than behind a link marked "terms".
- In the booking confirmation, word for word.
- In every reminder, with a one-tap way to cancel or move.
- Wherever most of your bookings start, like an Instagram highlight or your Google Business Profile.
If a client saw the rule when they booked, again in their confirmation and once more in the reminder, they'd find it pretty hard to claim anyone kept it from them.
Bringing in deposits when your regulars have never paid one
If you've run on goodwill for years, switching to deposits can feel awkward, especially with clients who were sitting in your chair long before you had a booking link. Give people a heads-up before it starts instead of springing it on them at the till. A short message or post with the date it begins, the deposit amount and a line on why you're doing it is usually plenty.
Be straight about the reason. Something like "missed appointments mean we can't offer those slots to anyone else" goes down much better than anything that reads like a telling-off, and your loyal clients will probably understand straight away, since they're not the ones leaving you with empty chairs. If you've decided regulars won't need a deposit, say so in the same message, so nobody spends the week wondering whether they've been singled out.
What do you do when someone still doesn't turn up?
Follow your own policy, every time, and be kind about it. A short message the same day does the job, something like "Sorry we missed you today, hope everything's OK. As our booking policy says, the deposit covers the slot, but here's the link whenever you'd like to rebook." It's friendly and still firm, and it leaves the door open. Letting it slide for one client and not the next is how arguments start, because sooner or later two of them will compare notes.
For the client who makes a habit of it, change the terms for their next booking, for example by asking them to pay in full when they book, rather than adding a charge after the event that they never agreed to. What you keep if they miss again still has to reflect what you actually lost, so a full prepayment doesn't automatically become a full forfeit. Keep a note of each missed visit against their name too, so you're working from facts rather than a hazy feeling that she's always doing this.
Reminders do the other half of the job
Your policy deals with the people who cancel late. Reminders deal with the ones who genuinely forget, and those are two separate problems with separate fixes. Our no-show reduction guide covers the reminder side properly, so we won't go over it again here.
How can a booking system enforce it for you?
Fair warning, this is the bit where we talk about something we sell, so read it with that in mind. Our booking systems come in two levels. With Booking Pro you pay £2,500 for the build and then £59 a month. It sends a confirmation and reminders for every appointment, with a dashboard where each booking and enquiry sits together, but it doesn't take payments. If you want the deposit taken the moment someone books, that's Elite, at £3,500 to build and £79 a month, which adds payments, deposits and a CRM holding each client's history. Both prices are plus VAT.
Taking money up front isn't the only way to protect a slot, either. Danielle Davies runs Derma Aesthetics in South Hiendley, and on the site we built for her, each booking request lands in her live diary and waits there for her to confirm it, so nothing's fixed until she's seen it. Whichever route suits you, the wording above still applies.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a deposit for every treatment?
No. You can save them for where an empty slot hurts most, like long appointments, new clients you haven't met yet, or your busiest evenings and Saturdays. Whatever you decide, write the rule down so every client can see, before they book, whether a deposit applies to the service they've picked.
Can new clients and regulars have different rules?
Yes, as long as everyone sees the terms that apply to them before they commit. You might skip the deposit for long-standing regulars and keep it for first visits, which is a perfectly reasonable split. Just put both versions in the written policy so nobody feels singled out when they're asked to pay up front.
What if a client cancels late because they are ill?
Decide before it happens and put it in the policy, so you're not working it out with a poorly client on the phone. The government guidance notes that a client who isn't at fault may well have a right to a refund, so the safer route is a refund or moving the deposit to a new date, whichever they'd prefer.
How much notice should I ask for?
Enough time for you to realistically fill the gap. Think about how far ahead your clients tend to book and how quickly your waiting list or a last-minute post fills an empty slot. A cut-off you could never refill in time only protects you on paper, and a really long one can put people off booking at all.
Can I take deposits by bank transfer over Instagram or WhatsApp?
You can, but it's all on you. You chase each payment, match it to the right booking, refund it when someone gives proper notice and keep track of who's paid. That's fine for a handful of bookings a week and gets messy fast beyond that, which is when a system that takes the deposit at booking earns its keep.
Getting your salon no-show policy in front of clients
Once your salon no-show policy is written, the hard part's done, and what's left is making sure nobody can miss it. If you'd like someone else to look over yours, our free check for salons will look at it alongside your booking page. And if you're weighing up a proper booking system, you can see everything we build for salons.
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