Feature · No-shows
Restaurant no-shows, counted against the guest who did not come
Before any money changes hands, a restaurant needs to know who the no-shows are. Slotora records every one on the guest's card and puts that history in front of whoever takes their next booking.
Card guarantees, deposits and no-show fees are available, charged through your own Stripe account once you have connected it.
Three outcomes that used to be one crossed-out line
In a paper diary a cancelled table and an empty table look the same the next morning. They are not.
Cancelled by the guest
They rang, or used the link on their booking. Counted on their card, and late cancellations counted as late.
Cancelled by you
The kitchen flooded, the room was closed for a private matter. A separate button, so it never lands on the guest's record as if it were theirs.
Did not come
Marked as a no-show from the host stand. Late arrivals are marked too, which is fairer to the regular who is always twenty minutes behind but always comes — and if the party walks in after you marked them, the no-show can be undone until their booking would have ended.
Where the record shows up
- On the guest card at the host stand, beside their visits.
- When a phone booking finds a returning guest by name or number — before the table is promised.
- In the pre-service briefing, which names first-time guests, so the unknowns are not a surprise.
- In the reports, as a no-show rate across weeks, months and the year.
A count on a card is a fact, not a verdict. What you do with a guest who has missed three bookings is your call; the system just makes sure the person on the phone knows. It also keeps the count honest: half a table waiting at the bar can be marked arrived before anyone sits down, and an arrived party is never offered to you as a no-show.
Fewer seats at risk in the first place
Large parties ask before they book
Above a party size you set, an online booking is a request holding no table until you confirm it. The most expensive no-show — the empty table of twelve — is the one you get to look at first.
Guests who move instead of vanishing
The link a guest gets on screen after booking lets them cancel, change the numbers or move to another time themselves. Someone who can no longer make eight o'clock has an easier way out than simply not turning up. Inside your late window a move is handed back to you: the page asks them to ring.
Card guarantees and deposits
Ask for a card or a deposit by party size, day, service, date or event, and set a no-show or late-cancellation fee. The money goes through your own Stripe account once you have connected it, and is settled after the visit: refunds, fees and released holds.
Questions about no-shows
Can I charge a no-show fee through Slotora?
Yes, once you have connected your own Stripe account and set the rule: which bookings need a card or a deposit, and what a no-show or a late cancellation costs. Fees are settled after the visit, and a refund can be made by hand.
Is it legal to charge a no-show fee in the UK?
It can be, if the guest agreed to it when booking and it reflects your real loss. Our guide sets out what that means, with its sources, and the Irish position is different.
Will guests see their own no-show count?
No. The count is for your staff, at the stand and on the phone. A guest who asks for the data you hold on them can have it exported in one go.
Know your no-shows from the first evening
One e-mail on the day Slotora for restaurants opens in the UK or Ireland.
Tell me when it opens