Charge Cancellation and No-Show Fees
Setting the fees, deciding which card they hit, requiring a card from repeat offenders, and making them stick.
Fees only work if three things are true: the money is reachable, the amount is set, and the client was told. Perceny handles all three, in different places.
1. Make the money reachable
A fee is charged to a card. So a client with no card on file cannot be charged, no matter what you configure.
- Always Require Card on File (Payment Settings) — a card before booking, for everyone.
- Require Card After No Show (Appointment Settings) — a card before booking again, for anyone who has missed one.
- Require Card After Cancellation — the same, after a late cancellation.
- Cancellation Window (Minutes) — how many minutes before the start a cancellation counts as late.
0means every cancellation counts.
The pair of "after" settings is the gentler policy: regulars book freely, and only people who have actually cost you money are asked for a card.
2. Set the amounts
Features Configuration → Payment Settings:
- No-Show Fee (Fixed) / No-Show Fee (Percentage)
- Cancellation Fee Fixed / Cancellation Fee Percentage
Fixed or percentage, per fee. A percentage scales with the appointment, which is fairer on a menu that runs from $20 to $300.
Two fallbacks decide which card is hit when the booking itself had no card attached:
- Charge Default Card on File for No-Shows
- Charge Default Card on File for Cancellations
Leave these on. Without them, a client who booked before you required cards, but who has a card saved from a previous visit, cannot be charged.
3. Tell the client
Custom policy text (Appointment Settings) is shown on the booking policy screen and included in appointment reminders. Write it in plain language, with the actual numbers in it.
A reminder is also a fee-prevention tool. Most no-shows are forgetfulness rather than indifference, and the reminder is cheaper than the fee.
Walk-ins have their own set
Everything above is for appointments. The kiosk mirrors it:
- Walk-in no-show fee / percentage
- Walk-in cancellation fee / percentage
- Charge Default Card on File for Walk-In No-Shows / … Cancellations
- Require Card After Walk-In No-Show / … Cancellation
- Walk-In Cancellation Window (Minutes)
- Show No-Show Policy For Pay-In-Person Walk-Ins — disclose the policy even when no card was taken
Note that a walk-in no-show includes a client choosing "I'm not coming" or declining arrival at the kiosk, not just silence.
Charging one
Mark the appointment as a no-show, or cancel it. Perceny applies your rules and charges the card.
Mark it correctly: a no-show and a cancellation are different in your reports, and only one of them tells you anything about the client.
When a fee is disputed
Expect it occasionally. What wins a dispute is evidence that the client agreed to the policy: the booking record, the policy they were shown, the reminder they received, and a fee that matches what the policy said. See Handle a payment dispute.
Which is the real argument for writing the policy properly: not so you can charge the fee, but so you can keep it.
A word on judgement
Charge fees consistently or not at all. A fee applied to some clients and waived for others is worse than no fee: it teaches your team that the policy is negotiable and your clients that it depends who is on the desk.