Reducing no-shows: reminders, deposits and cancellation rules for studios and salons

You avoid no-shows most effectively by reminding clients in good time, making it easy to cancel, and securing long appointments with a deposit or card guarantee. In Austria and Germany you may in principle charge for a missed appointment, but only what matches your actual loss and what the client could see when booking. This article outlines the legal position and is not legal advice.

What may you charge for a missed appointment in Austria?

The Lower Austrian chamber of commerce describes two routes for hairdressers. The first is an agreement: you give the client the right to withdraw from the appointment up to a certain time in return for a cancellation fee. Legally this fee is called Reugeld. In a dispute you have to prove that it was agreed, which is why the WKO recommends putting it in writing.

The second route needs no agreement. Under § 1168 ABGB you are entitled to the agreed fee if you were ready to perform and the appointment did not happen for reasons on the client's side. You have to deduct what you saved, such as colour and care products, and what you earned elsewhere in that time or deliberately failed to earn. If you were able to fill the slot, little or nothing remains.

For consumers, a court can reduce a cancellation fee under § 7 KSchG. The WKO also points out that, according to recent case law, an excessive cancellation fee in standard terms can be void against consumers. The WKO does not name fixed percentages for salons.

What applies in Germany?

Under § 615 BGB, someone who owes services can claim the agreed remuneration if the other side does not accept them. Here too, whatever was saved or earned elsewhere is deducted. Whether this rule fits every salon appointment has not been decided uniformly.

The consumer advice centre of Lower Saxony (as of 22 July 2026) considers no-show fees permissible in principle if they are validly agreed in the terms and conditions and were expressly pointed out at booking. The amount depends on the time reserved and the preparation involved. The earlier the cancellation, the smaller the loss. Flat fees in standard terms fall under § 309 no. 5 BGB: they must not exceed the loss to be expected in the normal course of events, and the client must expressly be allowed to prove that no loss or a much smaller one occurred.

When should the reminder arrive?

There is no law on this, and we found no robust figures for salons. The logic of the cancellation deadline gives a clear rule, though: the reminder has to arrive before the free period ends, otherwise nobody can cancel in time.

1. Straight after booking: a confirmation with date, time, price, cancellation deadline and a link to cancel or reschedule.
2. About a day before the cancellation deadline: a reminder with the same link. With a 24-hour deadline that means roughly 48 hours before the appointment.
3. For long or expensive appointments, an additional short message the day before, by text message if you like.

Deposit, prepayment or card guarantee?

Worked example: a colour treatment takes 90 minutes and costs € 120. The materials cost you € 15. If the client does not turn up and the slot stays empty, your loss is € 105. If you fill 45 minutes of it with a € 40 haircut, it falls to € 65. A 30 % deposit is € 36. It does not cover the whole loss, but it makes most people cancel in time.

How do you word cancellation rules?

Keep it short and concrete, and use figures. Show the rule before the booking is completed and repeat it in the confirmation. The following texts are examples, not legally checked contract clauses. Have your version checked, in Austria for instance through the legal service of your chamber of commerce.

• Free cancellation: “You can cancel or reschedule your appointment free of charge up to 24 hours before it starts, most easily through the link in your confirmation.”
• Late cancellation: “If you cancel later or do not turn up, we charge 50 % of the price of the booked service. If we can fill the appointment, the fee is waived. You may show that we suffered no loss or a smaller one.”
• Deposit: “For this treatment you pay a deposit of € 36 when booking. If you cancel up to 24 hours beforehand, you get the amount back. After that we keep it as a cancellation fee.”
• Lateness: “If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, we shorten the treatment or offer a new appointment so that the next clients do not have to wait.”

Stay accommodating in cases of illness and emergencies. A fee you enforce brings you money once. A client who stays brings it many times over.

How this works in EachVisit

EachVisit sends the confirmation at once and an email reminder before the appointment. Clients cancel or reschedule themselves through the link in the email, within your deadlines. For each offer you decide whether payment is on site, by deposit or in advance, until when cancellation is free and which fee applies afterwards. A card guarantee is possible too. The no-show fee is never charged automatically: you see the amount in a preview and release it deliberately.

Deposits, card guarantee and no-show fee are available from the Klein plan at € 69 a month; the Solo plan at € 19 sends reminders by email. Text messages are available from the Mittel plan, billed by usage. Payments run through your own Stripe account, EachVisit takes 0 % commission, and Stripe's fees apply. One limit: if a client reschedules, the payment stays unchanged and currently no new cancellation fee is triggered.