Minimize no shows and increase customer commitment. Keep a deposit payment from your guests in order to confirm their reservation.
Worst-case situation: Some guests and larger groups reserve at peak times, only to not show up at all. You can’t find people to fill the empty tables spontaneously. This results in you having to shoulder the costs for staff and food. The financial losses are in the five-figure range per year!
Reserve for a deposit –
don’t let No Shows get you into trouble!
Save yourself the unnecessary hassle: By charging a deposit for reservations (“no show fee”) via resmio, you create more liability. Accept table bookings only against prepayment, give your seats a value!
Our restaurant deposit feature helps you dramatically reduce your no-show and cancellation rates. 365 days a year or only on selected days and times – it’s your choice!
All major payment methods already integrated
No show fee –
this is how the reservation guarantee works
Should your restaurant implement a no show fee?
Restaurant owners are sometimes concerned that requiring a deposit can be a turn-off for guests. On the other hand, the pressure to cut costs puts venues with limited seats and high costs for stock and staff under pressure.
With this in mind, resmio’s deposit feature is highly customizable.
You define the deposit policy according to your restaurant business and your general terms and conditions.
Deposits can be set for specific days and periods, along with a mandatory prepayment from a specific group size.
Make your cancellation rules transparent in the widget and reservation notifications. Use resmio to limit how many days before the start of a reservation guests can cancel their booking without paying a cancellation fee.
Prepayment reservation: Your guests pay a fixed amount directly when reserving a table by credit card, direct debit or via PayPal.
– OR –
Charge a deposit if required: Guests provide their payment details for the reservation. Only charge the fee if the guest has violated your cancellation policy.
Establish your cancellation guidelines: Collect the deposit in the event of a no-show or trigger a full / partial refund with just a few clicks.
Email notifications as an extra tool against No Shows
For even more reliable planning, we also send automated notifications. These are sent to guests by email and SMS 24 hours before the actual table reservation.
On average, you can expect greater commitment from your guests and thus optimize the utilization of your premises and your staff.
Frequently asked questions
and answers on deposits
Restaurants that ask guests to pay a deposit for a reservation can significantly lower their no-show rate. With a reservation fee, you can otherwise significantly reduce any potential loss of revenue for the purchase of stock and for staff planning.
You can decide for yourself whether the deposit amount is charged immediately or only when needed, for instance after a violation of your cancellation policy. In the latter case, you can choose to charge the deposit to the guest’s credit card no later than 14 days after the reservation.
Yes, it is possible to accept reservations against payment of a deposit on specific days and times of the week only. This might include busy evening hours on the weekend or holidays such as Christmas.
Reduce your guests’ concerns about a no-show fee with clear communication.
- We allow you to add a customized text to your reservation widget (e.g. for cancellation conditions and details on the reservation process when a deposit is enabled).
- In addition, you can also add a link to your cancellation policy (website, PDF), which every guest must agree to if they want to make an online reservation.
- If you have stored the latest possible cancellation time in the system, guests will see a specific date in the widget by which they can cancel their reservation free of charge.
- E-mail reservation notifications to your guests will again contain all the details relevant to the deposit.
Yes, the procedure differs from online reservations.
When making a reservation by phone, you ask for the guest’s e-mail address. This guest will then be sent a reservation notification with your account details, to which they will ultimately make a deposit.
Once a deposit has been received in your account, you can finally release / confirm the reservation.
We collaborate with the recognized payment service providers Stripe and PayPal. During setup, you will be asked to link your business account with the respective service provider to resmio or, if necessary, to open a new one. The “Debit on demand” down payment option is currently only possible with Stripe.
Your restaurant, your rules
What is a booking worth to you (per person)? And at what point do you pull the trigger on cancellations and no-shows? You have a variety of options for dealing with deposits. Decide for yourself whether you only want to keep the full amount for no-shows and very last-minute cancellations, for example, or only for missed reservations above a certain group size.
You have the following (refund) options:
- You can keep the full amount
- You offset the deposit against an invoice
- You have the amount transferred back to the account previously deposited by the guest.