No-show fees
The fee you hope you never charge
A no-show fee policy isn’t about extracting money from customers who disappear: it’s about signaling to everyone else that your time has value. Set it correctly and you almost never use it; the policy itself does the work of changing behavior.
Three patterns
Pick by where you are
Starter artist
$25 flat, repeats onlyBuilding a book. Don't fee first-time no-shows; the cost of acquiring that customer was likely higher than $25 anyway. Only charge on the second no-show. Earns goodwill on the first.
Established solo
50% of service total, every timeBooked 4+ weeks out. Your time is fully sold; a no-show is a real revenue hit. Charge 50% automatically; waive case-by-case for long-term clients with a real reason.
Premium / booked-out
100% of service total, first time inclusive8+ week wait. Every slot has a waiting client behind it; no-shows lose two bookings, not one. Charge full price; the cost of softer enforcement is real revenue from the waitlist client you couldn't reach.
Set it up
Three steps
- 01In Settings set
No-show feeto the dollar amount or percentage of service. - 02Add a sentence to your cancellation policy so the customer reads it before checking out: “If you don’t show up to your appointment and we don’t hear from you, we’ll charge $50of the service total to the card on file.”
- 03Turn on Stripe’s “save card for future charges” at checkout. Goldenhour stores the card-on-file via Stripe Setup Intent; charging it later for a no-show fee is a single button on the appointment detail page.
Defending a dispute
Your three documents
- The booking confirmation.Includes the policy text at the time of booking + the customer’s consent timestamp.
- The appointment record.Includes the no-show flag + a timestamp showing when the service window was open + the customer didn’t arrive.
- The audit log. Goldenhour records every state change (when the fee was assessed, who triggered the charge, what the policy text was at the time).
Export all three from /help/data-export and upload to Stripe’s dispute portal. Most chargebacks resolve in your favor when the policy was visibly displayed at booking.
When NOT to charge
Five situations where the fee costs you more than it’s worth
- A long-term client with a clean record who texts to apologize within 24 hours of the missed appointment.
- Severe weather event or local emergency that reasonably prevented travel.
- Genuine medical emergency (the client doesn’t have to prove it: your judgment call).
- First-time client whose phone-number prefix tells you they typo’d the booking and got a confirmation they probably never saw.
- Anyone who could become a chargeback dispute that consumes more time than the fee’s worth. The fee is a tool, not a moral judgment.
FAQ
- Can I charge a customer for a missed appointment?
- Yes, if you've disclosed the policy in writing before booking. The customer must have consented to the policy at the time of booking: which is exactly what the goldenhour booking flow does. Once consented, you can charge a card-on-file no-show fee per your policy. Without that prior consent + a card on file, you have no enforceable claim.
- What's a fair no-show fee in 2026?
- Common patterns: 50% of the service total for first-time no-shows, 100% for repeats. Some artists charge a flat fee ($25-$75) regardless of service. The fee should map to your real loss: the unused appointment slot plus any prep you'd done.
- What if a customer disputes the charge?
- Your defense is the consent record + policy text shown at booking. Goldenhour keeps both: the appointment row stores the policy version + the customer's intake submission timestamp. Provide these to your payment processor's dispute portal and the chargeback typically resolves in your favor.
- Should I always charge the fee when someone no-shows?
- No. Long-term clients dealing with a real emergency, weather events, or anyone who reaches out to apologize within 24h of the missed appointment: waive the fee. The policy exists to protect against habitual no-shows, not to punish honest mistakes. Charging in good-faith situations costs more in lost LTV than the fee recovers.