SlotTurn doesn't take deposits, and it doesn't charge no-show fees. That's not a feature we haven't built yet. It's a choice. Here is why we made it, and what we do about missed appointments instead.

Most no-shows are forgotten, not skipped

A deposit treats a missed appointment like a broken promise. Most of the time it isn't one. When a US community health clinic called patients who had missed their visit, the two most common answers were “I forgot” (35.5%) and a mix-up about the time or the booking (31.5%). That's two in three of the people they reached.

That study is from a clinic, not a salon, so the exact numbers will be different in your chair. The pattern is familiar, though. The client who misses a Tuesday trim usually isn't trying to cost you money. They lost track of the day.

Source: Kaplan-Lewis & Percac-Lima, “No-Show to Primary Care Appointments”, Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 2013. The percentages are of the 273 patients the clinic reached by phone.

Reminders fix forgetting

If the problem is forgetting, the fix is remembering. A review of eight trials by Cochrane found that a text reminder raised attendance from 67.8% to 78.6% compared with no reminder. The researchers rated the evidence low to moderate quality, which is honest: these were healthcare appointments, and results vary. Still, it is the best evidence there is, and no money changed hands.

Source: Gurol-Urganci et al., “Mobile phone messaging reminders for attendance at healthcare appointments”, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2013.

What a deposit costs you

A deposit can stop some no-shows. It also costs things that are harder to see:

  • Bookings you never get. Every extra step before a client is booked loses some people. A card form is a big step, especially for someone booking you for the first time.
  • How your regulars feel. A client who has sat in your chair twenty times gets the same “pay up front” message as a stranger. Being treated like a risk doesn't make anyone more loyal.
  • Arguments at the desk. Someone has to decide whether a sick child or a flat tyre counts. Refunds, exceptions and disputes land on you, not on the software.
  • Rules that change by country. What you may keep from a cancelled booking depends on where you work. Getting it wrong is your problem.

What SlotTurn does instead

  • A reminder the day before. By email on every plan, and by text or WhatsApp with message credits. It asks clients to change the time if they can't make it, so someone else can come in.
  • An easy way to change the time. Every confirmation and reminder has a link to reschedule or cancel. A client who can move a booking in ten seconds is less likely to just not turn up.
  • A calendar link. Clients can add the visit to their own calendar when they book.
  • You decide who gets booked. Turn on owner approval and every request waits for you to confirm it.
  • You can see who keeps missing. Mark a missed visit as a no-show and it shows on that client's profile. The few people who miss again and again stand out, and you can decide what to do about them, person to person.

“But I already take deposits”

Then keep doing it. Some work really can't be resold at short notice: a custom tattoo design, a colour correction that takes the whole afternoon. If you take a deposit for that through the payment app you already use, SlotTurn won't get in the way. Turn on owner approval, confirm the booking once the deposit is in, and let the reminders handle everyone else.

What we won't do is put a card form in front of every client by default. Most people who miss an appointment just forgot. They need a reminder, not a penalty.