How to Cut No-Shows at Your Restaurant (Without Scaring Guests Off)

A no-show is a table you turned away

When a party of eight books for Saturday at 7 and never comes, you did not just lose their check. You held the table, staffed for them, maybe told a walk-in there was no room. Most no-shows are not mean. People forget, plans change, and an online booking feels like nothing to cancel. Your job is to make the booking feel real.

Confirm, and make cancelling easy

A reminder the day before cuts a lot of no-shows on its own. Keep it short: the day, the time, how many, and an easy way to say they cannot make it. A guest who cancels the day before gave you a table back. Thank them for it.

Hold a card for the big tables and the busy nights

For a big party, or a night like New Year's Eve or Valentine's Day, ask for a card on file when they book. Nothing is charged. Say it plainly before they agree: how much a person, and only if they do not come and do not cancel in time.

• Pick a size: parties of six or more is a common place to start. Small tables book as before.
• Pick a fair amount: enough that the booking feels real, not so much it scares people off.
• Give a cancel window: 24 hours is easy to explain and easy to keep.

Charge the no-show, and remember it

If they never come and never call, charge the hold the next morning, the amount they agreed to and no more. Then note it on the guest. The next time that name books a big table, you will know. Most guests never get charged. The few who would have cost you a Saturday are the ones the hold is for.

Jetsy can ask for a card on file when a big table or a busy date books online, charge only a no-show, and count no-shows on the guest. Cards go through your own Stripe.