{"id":49280,"date":"2026-11-04T22:05:22","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T22:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alteg.io\/?p=49280"},"modified":"2026-11-05T10:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T10:43:23","slug":"prepaid-appointments-salon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/blog\/prepaid-appointments-salon\/","title":{"rendered":"Prepaid appointments and deposits: a fair-practice checklist for salons in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Prepaid appointments work best as a targeted rule, not a blanket one. Ask for a <strong>deposit<\/strong> on long or expensive services, consider <strong>full prepayment<\/strong> for first visits or promotional slots, and use a <strong>card guarantee<\/strong> where you want booking to stay free of any upfront payment. Keep the amount proportionate, state the terms plainly before the client pays, and no-shows get cheaper without pushing good clients away.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>TL;DR:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A deposit or cancellation charge should reflect what a no-show really costs you, because EU unfair-terms rules target compensation that is disproportionately high.<\/li>\n<li>Use prepayment selectively: long, high-value and first-time appointments carry the most risk.<\/li>\n<li>Show the amount, the free cancellation window and what happens to the money before the client pays, and repeat it in the confirmation.<\/li>\n<li>In the EU you generally can&#8217;t add a surcharge for paying a deposit with a consumer card.<\/li>\n<li>Pilot the policy on one service category and expand it only if no-shows fall without losing clients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 id=\"what-prepaid-appointments-mean\" tabindex=\"-1\">What prepaid appointments mean in practice<\/h2>\n<p>Prepaid appointments cover three models, and most businesses end up running two of them side by side.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Full prepayment.<\/strong> The client pays the whole service price when booking. It suits first visits, promotional slots and events where an empty chair can&#8217;t be refilled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Deposit.<\/strong> The client pays part of the price upfront, and it is set against the bill at checkout. It suits long or expensive services such as colour correction, extensions or bridal appointments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Card guarantee.<\/strong> The client links a card at booking but pays nothing upfront. The card is charged only if they cancel late or don&#8217;t show up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each model earns its place for a different reason:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clients who have already committed money are less likely to skip the appointment.<\/li>\n<li>Money taken at booking protects cash flow on services booked weeks ahead.<\/li>\n<li>A deposit on a three-hour appointment covers part of a gap that would otherwise cost you several shorter appointments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The trade-off is real. Any payment step at booking adds friction, and some clients will book elsewhere rather than pay in advance. Refunds and disputed charges also become a small but constant admin task, so weigh that against your actual no-show losses before you roll prepayment out across every service.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-a-prepaid-appointment-works\" tabindex=\"-1\">How a prepaid appointment works from booking to checkout<\/h2>\n<p>The client side is simple. What happens behind the reception desk is where a badly set-up system causes trouble.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The client picks a service and a time online and reaches a payment step before the appointment is confirmed. Full prepayment takes the whole price, a deposit takes only the set amount, and a card guarantee only links the card.<\/li>\n<li>The appointment is marked as paid or guaranteed in the calendar, so nobody charges the client twice on arrival.<\/li>\n<li>A confirmation goes out straight away, stating what was paid, what is still due and the cancellation terms in plain language.<\/li>\n<li>On the day, any extra services are added to the bill and the amount already paid is deducted at checkout.<\/li>\n<li>If a refund is due, the money goes back through the payment provider that took it, and the books show both the payment and the refund.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Whichever provider you use, check that your reports separate deposits and prepayments from same-day takings. If they don&#8217;t, your month-end figures will need untangling by hand.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"setup-checklist-for-deposits-and-prepayment\" tabindex=\"-1\">Setup checklist for deposits and prepayment<\/h2>\n<p>Rolling this out doesn&#8217;t need to disrupt a working diary. Work through it in this order.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Decide the scope first.<\/strong> Not every service needs prepayment. Start with colour work, extensions, bridal parties, long appointments and first-time clients, where the no-show risk and the cost of a gap are highest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Work out the amount before you touch the software.<\/strong> Start from what a no-show actually costs you: the chair time you can&#8217;t resell at short notice, plus any preparation. A percentage of the price is easy to explain. For example, 20\u201330% of a \u20ac180 colour correction is \u20ac36\u201354. Treat that range as an example, not a rule, and keep a short note of how you arrived at your own figure.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Set a free cancellation window.<\/strong> Decide how far ahead a client can cancel or move the appointment without losing anything, and what happens to the money after that.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Configure it in your booking software<\/strong>, not as a manual workaround. Rules by service, team member and client type mean the payment step appears only where you want it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Write the confirmation text<\/strong> so it states, in one short paragraph, what was paid, what is due and when free cancellation ends. Vague wording is where most disputes start.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brief your team<\/strong> on what to do when a client wants to cancel, arrives late or disputes a charge. They need a script, not a shrug.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Pro Tip:<\/strong> <em>Run the new policy on one service category for a month before you roll it out everywhere. You&#8217;ll catch the awkward edge cases, like a client who has paid a deposit but wants to switch to another stylist, while the stakes are still small.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re still comparing platforms, <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/blog\/how-to-choose-salon-booking-system\/\">our guide to choosing a salon booking system<\/a> covers the criteria worth checking before you commit.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"eu-consumer-law-deposits-cancellation-fees\" tabindex=\"-1\">What EU consumer law expects from deposits and cancellation fees<\/h2>\n<p>Deposits and cancellation fees are allowed, but EU consumer law limits how they are written and how high they can go. Three pieces of EU law matter most here. Each country applies them through its own national law, so the details differ.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"unfair-contract-terms-directive\" tabindex=\"-1\">Unfair Contract Terms Directive 93\/13\/EEC<\/h3>\n<p>Standard booking terms are not individually negotiated, so they fall under this Directive. A term is unfair if, contrary to good faith, it causes a significant imbalance between your rights and the client&#8217;s (Art. 3(1)), and unfair terms don&#8217;t bind the consumer (Art. 6). The Annex gives an indicative, non-exhaustive list of terms that may be unfair, and two of them read like a description of a badly written cancellation policy:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Requiring a consumer who fails to fulfil their obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation (point 1(e)).<\/li>\n<li>Letting the business keep money the client paid when the client cancels, without the client getting equivalent compensation when the business is the one cancelling (point 1(d)).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In practice, keep the charge proportionate to your real loss, return the full amount when you cancel or move the appointment yourself, and write the terms in plain, intelligible language. Where a written term is unclear, the interpretation most favourable to the consumer prevails (Art. 5).<\/p>\n<p>Keep the words straight too. A deposit set against the final bill is not the same thing as a cancellation fee, and national contract law can attach different consequences to different kinds of advance payment. Use one term consistently and explain what happens to the money in each case.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"consumer-rights-directive\" tabindex=\"-1\">Consumer Rights Directive 2011\/83\/EU<\/h3>\n<p>An appointment booked online is usually a distance contract (Art. 2(7)), and the Directive sets out what the client must know before they are bound:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The total price including taxes, and the arrangements for payment and performance (Art. 6(1)(e) and (g)). For a prepaid appointment, that means the deposit, the balance and the cancellation terms.<\/li>\n<li>If placing the order means paying, the button must say so, for example &#8220;order with obligation to pay&#8221; or an equally unambiguous wording (Art. 8(2)).<\/li>\n<li>Any payment beyond the main price needs the client&#8217;s express consent, and a pre-ticked box doesn&#8217;t count (Art. 22).<\/li>\n<li>A fee for using a particular means of payment can&#8217;t exceed what that means of payment costs you (Art. 19).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Directive also gives consumers 14 days to withdraw from a distance service contract (Art. 9), with exceptions listed in Art. 16. One of them, Art. 16(l), covers accommodation, transport of goods, car rental, catering and services related to leisure activities when the contract sets a specific date or period of performance. The Directive doesn&#8217;t say whether a hair or beauty appointment counts as a leisure service, so check how your country applies it before you rely on that exception. Where the right of withdrawal does apply and the client wants the service to start within those 14 days, you need their express request first (Art. 8(8)).<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"psd2-surcharge-ban\" tabindex=\"-1\">PSD2, Directive 2015\/2366<\/h3>\n<p>A business can&#8217;t charge clients for using payment instruments whose interchange fees are regulated under Regulation (EU) 2015\/751, which in practice covers most consumer cards, or for euro transfers and direct debits covered by Regulation (EU) No 260\/2012 (Art. 62(4)). Member States can restrict surcharges further (Art. 62(5)). So a &#8220;card fee&#8221; added on top of a deposit is, in most cases, not an option.<\/p>\n<p>If a client disputes a charge, they can complain to your national consumer protection authority or, for card payments, ask their bank for a chargeback. A policy that can&#8217;t survive that scrutiny costs more in refunds and admin than it ever saves.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"cut-no-shows-with-clear-communication\" tabindex=\"-1\">Cut no-shows with clear communication<\/h2>\n<p>A deposit does the heavy lifting, but reminders and clear confirmations do the rest of the work.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Send a reminder the day before the appointment. Combined with a deposit, it reinforces the client&#8217;s commitment instead of relying on payment alone.<\/li>\n<li>State the payment and cancellation terms plainly in every confirmation, not in small print at the bottom.<\/li>\n<li>Give the team a simple script for cancellations, late arrivals and genuine emergencies. A client who is ill deserves different treatment from one who has simply forgotten twice in a row.<\/li>\n<li>For clients who have missed appointments before, ask for a deposit or a card guarantee on the next appointment rather than repeating the same conversation each time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In Altegio, automatic reminders go out up to 24 hours before the visit, by email for free or by SMS and messengers through a connected provider. Booking emails for appointments covered by a payment policy include the policy information.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how-altegio-handles-deposits-and-prepayment\" tabindex=\"-1\">How Altegio handles deposits, prepayment and card guarantees<\/h2>\n<p>Altegio is booking and management software for appointment-based businesses: beauty, wellness, clinics, auto services, fitness and more. Your client base stays yours under Altegio&#8217;s Zero-Competition Policy: there is no marketplace listing rival businesses next to yours, clients book through your own links, and client data is never resold. Prepaid appointments are set up in <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/payment-policy-no-show-protection\/\">payment policies<\/a>, which have two active modes.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Deposit mode<\/strong> takes an upfront amount when the client books online, either a percentage of the visit cost or a fixed sum. The deposit is held against the appointment and applied first when the visit is closed at checkout. It works with any payment provider available in your region, such as Stripe.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Card guarantee mode<\/strong> links the client&#8217;s card at booking without charging it. The card is charged off-session only for a no-show or a cancellation after the free cancellation window, and only for the fees the client agreed to. It works only with <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/adyen\/\">Adyen<\/a>, and only in EU countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Without Adyen, the no-show fee always equals the deposit. With Adyen connected, you can set a no-show fee above the deposit: the client also links a card at booking, and on a no-show the difference is charged from it. For example, with a \u20ac40 deposit and an \u20ac80 no-show fee, the deposit is kept and another \u20ac40 is charged from the card.<\/p>\n<p>You choose which appointments a policy covers: by service or category, by team member and by client type (all, new or existing clients). You can also apply it to clients with a negative balance and set a minimum visit amount below which no payment is asked. Individual services can have their own deposit amount and cancellation rules. In the online booking widget the client sees the deposit as a concrete sum, the no-show fee and the free cancellation window, with a link to your full cancellation policy, and ticks the consent checkboxes before paying. If the payment isn&#8217;t completed before the deadline, 15 minutes by default, the appointment is cancelled automatically.<\/p>\n<p>For full prepayment, Altegio&#8217;s online prepayment setting lets you take a fixed sum or a percentage from 1% to 100% in the booking widget and make it optional or mandatory. Group events can only be fully prepaid. Once a payment policy is active, the older per-service prepayment toggles are hidden and coverage is managed in the policy instead.<\/p>\n<p>When a client books by phone or in a messenger, the administrator adds the policy to the appointment in the calendar. Altegio calculates the deposit or the card guarantee terms and creates a payment link with a deadline, which you send to the client. If the client doesn&#8217;t pay or link a card in time, the appointment is deleted from the calendar, so mention the deadline when you send the link.<\/p>\n<p>While a policy is active, clients can always cancel or reschedule online, and the policy decides what happens to the money:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cancelled inside the free window.<\/strong> Nothing is charged. In Deposit mode the deposit is released to the client&#8217;s balance at your business for their next appointment, and in Card guarantee mode the card isn&#8217;t touched.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cancelled late.<\/strong> In Deposit mode the deposit goes to the business. In Card guarantee mode the late cancellation fee is charged from the linked card.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No-show.<\/strong> The administrator decides in the visit window whether to take the fee or the deposit or, where your settings allow it, to waive the fee or keep the deposit on the client&#8217;s balance. With a card guarantee, a no-show left undecided by the end of the day is charged automatically.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A deposit released after a timely cancellation stays on the client&#8217;s balance rather than going back to their card. If a client would rather have the money back, refund it, and say in your terms that you will. It keeps the policy easy to defend.<\/p>\n<p>Altegio doesn&#8217;t charge its own commission on online payments; the payment provider&#8217;s fees apply. Through Altegio, Adyen charges 0.99% + \u20ac0.20 on EEA consumer cards, so processing a \u20ac45 deposit costs \u20ac0.65. With a card guarantee, the provider&#8217;s fee applies to actual charges, not to linking the card. For a closer look at the card guarantee, read <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/blog\/payment-policy-card-guarantee-adyen\/\">how payment policies and Adyen protect your most expensive slots<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"refunds-and-reconciliation\" tabindex=\"-1\">Refunds and reconciliation<\/h2>\n<p>Refunds are where a fair policy proves itself. In Altegio&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/support\/knowledge-base\/7676690403741\/\">Client Refunds<\/a> procedure, a full refund covers cases such as a prepaid appointment cancelled through the business&#8217;s fault, for example when a team member falls ill. You cancel the payment in the appointment&#8217;s Payment tab or in Finance > Financial Transactions. The cancelled payment stays visible there under the &#8220;Canceled&#8221; filter, and the Data Changes report shows who changed it and when. For a partial refund, you cancel the payment, set the discount or the amount that should remain paid, and take the payment again. The same article covers client account deposits, memberships and gift cards.<\/p>\n<p>These steps keep the books right, while the money itself goes back through your payment provider. With Adyen, refunds are issued from the Adyen Dashboard in Altegio.<\/p>\n<p>Every deposit movement is recorded on the client&#8217;s Payment Policy account and in Finance > Financial transactions, where you can filter by purpose or source, so deposits can be checked against appointments without a spreadsheet. Fees charged for no-shows or late cancellations go to the business&#8217;s revenue and aren&#8217;t counted towards team member payroll. See how this fits with the rest of your <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/finances-and-accounting\/\">finances and accounting<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping deposits, reminders and finance in one system removes the month-end matching that separate tools need.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/prepaid-appointments-salon-01.jpeg\" alt=\"Comparison of an all-in-one system, with deposit and prepayment setup, deposit rules, automated confirmations and finance reporting in one place, and stitched tools, with separate payment processors and reminder tools, spreadsheets and manual month-end matching\"><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"when-is-prepayment-the-right-call\" tabindex=\"-1\">When is prepayment the right call?<\/h2>\n<p>Start small. Pilot a deposit on your highest-value services or for new clients only, then track rebooking, cancellations and client feedback for four to six weeks. If no-shows drop without a rise in complaints or lost appointments, extend it. If clients push back hard, you&#8217;ve protected revenue on paper while quietly losing them elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>To try it on your own service list, start a <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/onboarding\/first\/\">7-day free trial<\/a>, set up a payment policy for one category and book a test appointment yourself. The price depends on the number of team members and the billing period, as shown on the <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/pricing\/\">pricing page<\/a>. Online booking itself is described on the <a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/online-booking\/\">online booking page<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"faq\" tabindex=\"-1\">FAQ<\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"do-salons-charge-for-missed-appointments\" tabindex=\"-1\">Do salons charge for missed appointments?<\/h3>\n<p>Many do, by keeping a deposit or charging a cancellation fee, especially for long or expensive services such as colour work. In the EU the charge shouldn&#8217;t be disproportionately high compared with your actual loss, and the terms must be clear before the client books.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"how-much-should-a-salon-deposit-be\" tabindex=\"-1\">How much should a salon deposit be?<\/h3>\n<p>There is no set legal percentage. Base it on what a no-show really costs you: 20\u201330% of the price is one example, and a fixed amount often works better for short services. Keep a note of how you calculated it in case a client challenges the charge.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"can-i-add-a-card-fee-to-a-deposit\" tabindex=\"-1\">Can I add a card fee to a deposit?<\/h3>\n<p>Usually not. Under PSD2, businesses in the EU can&#8217;t surcharge payments made with most consumer cards, and where a fee is allowed at all it can&#8217;t exceed your actual cost. Your country may restrict it further.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"do-clients-have-14-days-to-cancel-an-online-appointment\" tabindex=\"-1\">Do clients have 14 days to cancel an appointment booked online?<\/h3>\n<p>Possibly. The Consumer Rights Directive gives 14 days to withdraw from distance service contracts, with exceptions such as leisure services booked for a specific date. Whether a beauty or wellness appointment falls under an exception depends on how your country applies the rules, so check before you write your cancellation terms.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"does-altegio-support-prepaid-and-deposit-appointments\" tabindex=\"-1\">Does Altegio support prepaid and deposit appointments?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Deposit mode works with any payment provider available in your region, the card guarantee works with Adyen in EU countries, and online prepayment can cover part or all of the price. Policies can be set by service, team member and client type, and booking emails include the policy information.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"read-next\" tabindex=\"-1\">Read next<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/blog\/payment-policy-card-guarantee-adyen\/\">Protect your most expensive slots: payment policies, card guarantee and Adyen<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/blog\/how-to-reduce-no-shows\/\">Reminders and deposits: how to reduce no-shows<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/blog\/card-not-present-fees\/\">Card Not Present Fees: Appointment Businesses Pay Beyond the Rate<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/alteg.io\/en\/blog\/open-banking-payments\/\">Pay by bank in Europe: open banking for appointment businesses<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>This article is general information, not legal or tax advice; rules differ between EU countries.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to set fair deposits and prepayment for appointments in Europe: amounts, cancellation windows, refunds, EU consumer rules and setup in Altegio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":49253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[81,108],"tags":[974,78,286],"class_list":["post-49280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","category-legal","tag-card-payments","tag-finance","tag-online-booking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 5.0.2 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How to set fair deposits and prepayment for appointments in Europe: amounts, cancellation windows, refunds, EU consumer rules and setup in Altegio.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" 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