Protect the diary without charging upfront
No charge is taken at booking. The customer's card is saved and only used if your policy applies.
Payments & no-shows
Protect the diary. Charge only when it is fair.
Booking Protection saves the customer's card with explicit consent. There is no charge today. The card is only used if your late-cancellation or no-show policy applies.
- No upfront charge
- Explicit consent
- Deposits credit the fee
- Stripe at cost
Booking Protection
No charge today. Your card is only used if you cancel late or do not show.
- Service total
- £32.00
- Deposit paid
- -£10.00
- Late cancel · 50%
- £16.00
- No-show · 100%
- £32.00
•••• 4242SAVED WITH CONSENT
How it works
Fewer empty chairs, without asking regulars to pay to book.
- 01
The customer books
At checkout their card is saved with explicit consent to your policy. Nothing is charged for Booking Protection at this point.
- 02
If plans change
When a booking is a late cancellation or no-show, your shop's policy decides whether a fee applies.
- 03
Charge or waive
Staff see the calculated fee and can charge or waive it. Any retained deposit credits against the fee first.
Explicit consent every time
Customers tick a dedicated consent box and see the late-cancellation and no-show amounts before the card is saved.
Stripe at cost, zero markup
Charges run through your connected Stripe account. Setora adds no commission, platform fee or markup on top of Stripe.
Deposits and policies
Deposits and Booking Protection do different jobs. They can work together.
No upfront Booking Protection charge
Booking Protection saves a card for later. It does not take money when the customer books unless you also require a separate deposit.
Sensible defaults you can adjust
Late cancellation defaults to 50% of the booking total. No-shows default to 100%. Change both in the Hub when your policy changes.
Deposits credit the fee
If a retained deposit already covers the fee, no further charge is made. Customers are not charged twice for the same missed booking.
Staff can waive when needed
With the right permission, staff can waive a fee for genuine situations while still keeping the booking status accurate.
Failed charges are visible
If Stripe cannot charge the card, Setora shows the failed charge on the booking so staff can follow up instead of missing it.
Check the cost before switching it on
If you want to see what missed bookings cost first, use the barbershop no-show calculator, or read why we built Booking Protection.
Questions
Good to know.
The questions shop owners ask us most about this.
Does Setora charge an extra fee for Booking Protection?
No. Booking Protection is included in your £39/month per location subscription. Setora adds no commission, no platform fee, and no markup on top of Stripe. You pay Stripe's standard processing fee at cost, and only when a card is actually charged.
Is the customer charged at the time of booking?
No, not for Booking Protection itself. The card is saved with the customer's consent and is only charged if a late-cancellation or no-show fee applies. A deposit, where required, is taken at booking and is a separate setting.
How is the fee calculated?
Fees are a percentage of the booking's service total. The defaults are 50% for late cancellations and 100% for no-shows, and you can change both for your business. The service price is saved when the booking is made, so later price changes do not affect existing bookings.
What happens if a deposit has already been taken?
A retained deposit is credited against the protection fee. If the deposit equals or exceeds the fee, no further charge is made to the saved card. If the deposit is refunded, it no longer counts toward the fee.
Can staff waive a protection fee?
Yes, with the right permission. Setora ships a dedicated waiver permission separate from the standard booking permission. Staff without the waiver permission see the calculated fee but cannot override it.
What if the protection charge fails?
The booking status still changes, so a no-show stays a no-show. The failed charge is surfaced on the booking with the Stripe failure reason so staff can follow up, and the customer is not silently re-billed.
Can I set different fees per location?
For now, fee percentages are set for the business, and locations can opt out of Booking Protection entirely. Per-location and per-service fee overrides are planned.
Is Booking Protection available through the REST API?
REST API v1 exposes booking protection state as read-only fields. Creating protected card setup flows from the API is not supported in v1. Customers complete the card setup on your Booking Page.