What happens to a client's deposit after a cancel or no-show

A deposit that a client paid always ends up somewhere you and the client can see. It is applied to the visit, kept as a cancellation or no-show fee, refunded, turned into account credit, or handed back in cash at your desk. Nothing stays on hold with no rule.

What decides it is who cancelled and how close to the start it happened. When the business cancels, the whole deposit goes back to the client to choose. When the client cancels in time, the same. When the client cancels late or does not come, the fee from your cancel policy is taken from the deposit first, up to what the deposit covers, and only what is left over is the client's to take back. If the deposit is smaller than the fee, the rest is recorded as owed (see the article on saved cards).

When an amount is the client's to take back, we tell them once, with the amount, what they can choose and the date by which they should choose. They pick on their personal booking page, or with a button on the WhatsApp message when that is how they hear from you. They can choose a refund to the way they paid, or to keep the money as account credit with you. If they do not choose in time, the money is returned to them automatically. You cannot set the default to "keep it": the client's money is returned unless they decide otherwise.

Card deposits are collected when the client books, so a fee can still be charged for a visit booked weeks ahead. Zelun does not hold your funds: deposits go through your connected payout account, the platform fee applies to captured payments, and a refund does not give back the card processor's own fee.

1. Connect payouts for the location and turn on a deposit. See the article on payouts and deposits.
2. Set your late-cancel tiers and no-show fee under Cancel policy. They decide what is taken from a deposit. See the article on cancellation and no-show fees.
3. Decide three numbers for the location: the credit bonus you want to offer, how many days a client has to choose, and whether a bonus should expire.
4. If you take OXXO deposits, know that they cannot be refunded to the client's payment. For those the client can keep the money as credit or take it in cash at your desk.

Set the choice window and the bonus

1. Open My business and find Payments under Billing. On the location's card, scroll to Deposits, saved cards and credit.
2. In Days to choose, enter how long a client has to pick, from 1 to 30 days. The default is 7.
3. In Credit bonus (%), enter the extra you add when a client keeps a returned deposit as credit, from 0 to 50. Zero turns it off. You pay the bonus, not the client.
4. In Bonus expires after (days), enter from 30 to 365 days, or leave it empty so the bonus never expires. Only the bonus can expire. The client's own money never does.
5. Press Save.

Make a late move cost a fee, or not

1. Open Setup → Branches, click the location and find Cancel policy.
2. Tick or untick A late move costs the same as a late cancel. It is on unless you turn it off. When it is on, a client who moves a visit inside a late-cancel tier sees the amount first and has to confirm it. The fee is taken from the deposit and the rest of the deposit stays with the new time.
3. Press Save policy.

See where a deposit stands

1. Open the appointment in the appointment book and find Deposit.
2. It shows the state in words, such as waiting for the client to choose, refund on its way, refunded, added to account credit, or refunded in cash at the desk. It shows the amount the client may take back and the date they can choose until, and any amount kept as a fee.

Hand back cash at the desk

1. When a client chose cash, or the payment was OXXO or too old to refund, Deposit shows Cash handed back.
2. Give the client the cash, then press Cash handed back. This records the amount, who recorded it and when. No money moves through the card processor.
3. A card deposit that can still be refunded to the card is the client's choice. The desk cannot record cash for it.

Read the totals

1. Open Reports for the location and find Deposits and credit. It shows what was kept as fees, what is waiting for a choice, what was refunded, turned into credit or handed back in cash, and the card fees that a refund did not return.

On the personal booking page, a cancelled visit still opens so the client can reach their deposit. Under Your deposit they read how much is theirs, then choose Refund, Keep as credit (with the bonus named when you offer one) or cash at the desk when that applies. For a refund by bank transfer they are told it can take about five business days. After the date, they are told the deposit was returned to them.

If a refund by bank transfer fails, the amount is added to their account credit without a bonus, and both you and the client are told.

• Expecting the deposit to be kept after a cancel in time. Only a late cancel or a no-show by the client keeps part of it, and only up to the fee.
• Setting a bonus and expecting clients to see it as a discount. It is a reward for keeping money with you, and you pay for it when they spend it.
• Trying to record cash for a card deposit that can be refunded. That is the client's choice. Ask them to choose on their booking page.
• Leaving the window very short. Clients who miss the message are refunded automatically, so a short window mostly means refunds you hoped to keep as credit.
• Expecting a refund to return the processor's fee. It does not, and the report shows that cost.

The linked articles cover payouts and deposits, the cancel policy, account credit, saved cards and recording who cancelled at the desk.