Protect Your Revenue with No-Show Policies

No-shows are a significant source of lost revenue for restaurants. The No-Show Policy feature helps you reduce no-shows and protect your business by requiring guests to provide a credit card to secure their online reservation.

Key Benefits

• Reduce No-Shows: Requiring a credit card encourages guests to commit to their reservation or cancel in a timely manner.
• Recoup Lost Revenue: If a guest doesn't show up, you can charge a pre-determined fee to compensate for the empty table.
• Simple and Secure: The system only validates the credit card and securely stores the information. It is not a deposit, so no funds are captured or held on the guest's card at the time of booking. The fee is only charged if you manually trigger it after a no-show.

Getting Started: Setup in 3 Steps

Step 1: Connect Your Payment Processor

To use No-Show Policies and collect fees, you must first connect a payment processor to your Libro account. This allows for the secure validation of credit cards and the transfer of funds to your bank.

• Learn how to connect Stripe
• Learn how to connect Moneris

Step 2: Create Your No-Show Policies

1. Navigate to your Libro Back Office

2. Under My Restaurants, click on Settings 

3. In the sub-menu, go to No-Show Policies

You can create two types of policies to fit your restaurant's needs:

• Base Policy: This is your standard, everyday rule. It serves as your default policy to reduce no-shows by requiring a credit card for certain reservations. Think of it as your general house rule.
• Exception Policy: This is a temporary rule that overrides your Base Policy for a specific period, like a holiday, special event, or a busy weekend. For example, you could set a higher no-show fee for Valentine's Day.

How to Create a Base Policy

1. Click Create a Base Policy.
2. Name your policy (this is for internal use only).
3. Define the fee:
   • Choose whether the amount is per guest or per reservation.
   • Enter the amount (e.g., $25 per guest).
4. Set the minimum party size that requires a credit card. For example, if you select 4, parties of 1-3 people will not be asked for a card.
5. Create a schedule for when the policy is active:
   • Select the day(s) of the week.
   • Select a start and end time.
   • Select a start date. The end date is optional; leave it blank for an ongoing policy.

Note: You can create up to 4 different Base Policies, but their schedules cannot overlap. Also, setting a policy schedule does not automatically create online availability; ensure you have a corresponding reservation schedule active.

How to Create an Exception Policy

After creating at least one Base Policy, you can create an Exception Policy for special events.

The setup is the same as a Base Policy, but with one key difference: an Exception Policy's schedule can overlap with a Base Policy. When it does, the Exception Policy will temporarily take priority.

Step 3: Configure Policy Settings

Within the No-Show Policies section, you can configure two important time-based settings that apply to all your policies. To do so, click on "Settings" at the top of the No Show Policies page. 

• Cancellation Policy Window: This sets the deadline for guests to cancel their reservation without penalty. For example, setting it to 12 hours means a guest must cancel at least 12 hours before their reservation time to avoid being charged a no-show fee. This policy is clearly displayed to guests during booking.
• Deposit Request Grace Period: This setting is crucial when using the "Send a Secure Link" feature for internal bookings. It defines how long the guest has to enter their credit card information before the pending reservation is automatically cancelled. While the default is 30 minutes, you can adjust it to be shorter or longer based on your needs.

The Guest and Staff Experience

What Your Guests See

When a guest makes an online reservation that meets your policy criteria, they will be prompted to enter their credit card details to confirm the booking.

What Your Staff Sees

Reservations secured with a credit card will be clearly marked with a "No-Show fee" tag in the reservation details.

Adding a Credit Card to an Internal Reservation

When a no-show policy is active, staff will be required to secure the booking. After clicking Next: No-Show Fee, you have two options:

Option 1: Send a Secure Link to the Guest. This allows the guest to enter their credit card information themselves.

• Select Send the guest a link to the payment page.
• Choose to send by Email or SMS.
• Click Save & send payment link.

The reservation will be added to your reservation list on your dahsboard, with a yellow credit card icon indicating that the reservation is waiting for the guest to provide their credit card details. 

Once the guest adds their credit card details, the credit card icon will disappear and you will see the mention "Authorized" in the reservation details. 

If a client fails to add their credit card details within the allotted time period, the reservation will be automatically cancelled and the guest will be notified. 

Option 2: Manually Add a Credit or Debit Card. Use this when taking a guest's card details directly over the phone.

• Select Use a credit or debit card.
• Enter the payment details, click Authorize, then Save Reservation.

Waiving the Fee

You can bypass the credit card requirement for specific guests, such as regulars.

• In the authorization form, select the Waive Fee option.

Tip: To prevent misuse, you can require a staff code to waive a fee. This adds a layer of control and ensures only authorized team members can bypass the no-show policy. Learn how to activate staff codes.

Adding an Authorization After Booking

If a reservation was saved without a credit card (e.g., the fee was waived), you can add one later.

1. Open the reservation.
2. Click Authorize a No-show fee.
3. Enter the payment details and click Authorize.

Understanding the Secure Payment Link Process

When your staff sends a secure link, the guest must complete the authorization within a set time frame to confirm their spot.

What the Guest Experiences

1. The guest receives a link via email or SMS.
2. Clicking the link opens a secure page displaying their reservation details.
3. A prominent message shows the exact deadline by which they must enter their card information.
4. The guest securely enters their payment details to finalize the booking.

The Authorization Time Limit: Grace Period

To prevent tables from being held indefinitely, the secure link is only valid for a limited time, as configured in your Deposit Request Grace Period setting.

• Automatic Cancellation: If the guest does not enter their card details before the time expires, the reservation will be automatically cancelled, and the table will be released in your system.

How to Charge a Guest for a No-Show

If a guest does not show up for their reservation, you can charge the authorized fee.

1. First, update the reservation status to No-Show.
2. Open the reservation window and click the Charge no-show fee button.

Note: The fee will be captured and deposited into your connected Stripe or Moneris account, then transferred to your bank account, typically within 3 business days.