How to Implement Restaurant No-Show Deposits in Canada
Unfilled tables during peak dinner service are a major source of lost restaurant revenue. Here is a guide to protecting your seat inventory with modern deposits.
When a party books a table for Friday night and simply doesn't show up, it hurts. The food has been prepped, the staff scheduled, and other walk-in guests turned away. In today's economy, Canadian restaurant operators are increasingly turning to no-show protection features to safeguard their seat inventory.
Options for No-Show Protection
There are two primary ways to set up no-show protection in your reservation flow:
- Credit Card Pre-Authorization: Guests enter their credit card details to secure the booking. No charge is made unless they fail to show up, in which case a flat cancellation fee (typically $10–$25 per seat) is applied.
- Prepaid Deposits: For high-concept events, holidays (like Mother's Day or Valentine's Day), or large groups, the guest pays a deposit or purchase price upfront, which is then deducted from their final bill.
How Dashi Reserve protects your tables
Dashi Reserve includes card-on-file pre-authorizations and deposit collections natively. Because Dashi integrates with secure payment networks, guests can enter card details with complete confidence. Best of all, unlike competitors who take a percentage of your prepaid deposits, Dashi Reserve charges a flat subscription fee with $0 commission on deposit collections.
Protect Your Tables
Even a modest $10/person pre-authorization cancellation fee can reduce restaurant no-show rates to nearly zero, keeping your tables full and your kitchen busy.