# Cancellations, no-shows, and deposits > What happens to a deposit when an appointment is cancelled or missed, how to cancel so the client gets it back, and why there's no cancellation fee. Source: https://heylilo.co/help/payments/cancellations-and-deposits Lilo doesn't charge cancellation or no-show fees. Instead, you keep the client's deposit when they cancel late or don't show up. Lilo refunds anything they paid on top. What happens depends on when the appointment is cancelled and why. ## Cancel an appointment that has a deposit 1. Open the appointment on the [**Calendar**](https://app.heylilo.co/dashboard/calendar) and select **Cancel**. 2. The **Cancel Appointment** box opens. If the client paid a deposit, it tells you whether Lilo will keep it or refund it. 3. Choose a **Reason for cancellation**. When Lilo would keep a deposit, you have to choose one, because it decides the deposit: - **Client requested** or **Other**: you keep the deposit. - **Provider unavailable** or **Schedule conflict**: your business is cancelling, so the client gets back everything they paid. 4. Check that **Notify client** is on, so the client gets an email about their money. After the start time, it's off until you turn it on. 5. Select **Cancel Appointment**. In the Lilo app, open the appointment, tap **⋯**, then tap **Cancel appointment**. If Lilo would keep a deposit, tap **Continue**. Then choose **Client asked to cancel** or **The business or provider is cancelling**. **If your business is cancelling, use the calendar or the Lilo app.** Three other places always count a cancellation as the client's request. Inside the cancellation window, that means you keep the deposit: - the [**Appointments**](https://app.heylilo.co/dashboard/bookings) list - the next-client card on your [home screen](https://heylilo.co/help/home-and-reports/home-screen) - asking [Lilo AI](https://heylilo.co/help/lilo-ai/what-lilo-ai-can-do) to cancel They also don't show you what happens to the deposit first. When you cancel one visit from **Manage series**, only **Provider unavailable** counts as your business cancelling. ## Mark a no-show Open the appointment on the **Calendar** and select **No Show**. The button shows up after the start time, or once the client is checked in. It takes effect right away, and you can't undo it. In the Lilo app, open the appointment, tap **⋯**, then tap **Mark as no-show**. If there's a deposit, Lilo shows you what happens to it before you confirm. When you mark a no-show: - You keep the deposit. Lilo refunds anything else the client paid, including tips. - If the client gets appointment emails from you, Lilo emails them about the missed appointment, with a link to book again. If they paid, the email says what happens to their money. - It's added to the client's no-show count. If [no-show protection](https://heylilo.co/help/payments/no-show-protection) is on, they may need to pay a deposit the next time they book online. ## Give a kept deposit back **Applies to:** Owners, admins and location managers Lilo never refunds a kept deposit by itself. To give it back: 1. Go to [**Operations** → **Invoices**](https://app.heylilo.co/dashboard/invoices) and select the appointment's invoice. 2. Select **Refund** next to the payment. 3. Choose **Full refund** or **Partial refund**. 4. Add a **Reason for Refund** and select **Process Refund**. ## How it works ### The cancellation window The cancellation window is the last few hours before an appointment. You set it with **Cancellation Policy** in **Settings** → **Booking Page** (see [Booking page settings](https://heylilo.co/help/booking/booking-page-settings)). Until the window starts, clients can cancel online and get their deposit back. - **No restrictions**: there's no window. When an appointment is cancelled, the client always gets their deposit back. - **Notice required**: the window is the **Required Notice** (12, 24, 48 or 72 hours) before the appointment. - **Contact to cancel**: clients can't cancel online. When you cancel for them, the window is the last **Required Notice** you saved, or 24 hours if you never saved one. If you've never saved a policy, Lilo uses **Notice required** with 24 hours. | Cancelled | Counts as | The deposit | |---|---|---| | Before the window starts | Either | Refunded | | Inside the window | The client's request | You keep it | | Inside the window | Your business cancelling | Refunded | Lilo checks the window when the appointment is cancelled, using its current start time. A moved appointment gets a new window. Rescheduling never costs the client anything. ### What Lilo keeps and what it refunds - Lilo keeps only the deposit. That's the services' deposits or the client's own deposit requirement, whichever is bigger. With **Require Payment on Booking** on, the whole service price is the deposit. - Lilo works out the deposit when the appointment is cancelled or marked a no-show, not when it was booked. So a deposit requirement added after they booked counts, like one from no-show protection. - Lilo refunds anything above the deposit. Tips are always refunded, since the service never happened. - If nothing requires a deposit at that point, Lilo refunds everything the client paid, even for a late cancellation or a no-show. - Refunds go back to the client's original payment method. Lilo starts them shortly after the cancellation or no-show. - The deposit you keep shows on the appointment's invoice as **Deposit retained**. It's credited to the provider who would have done the service. - If the client paid nothing, there's nothing to refund or keep. ### What your client sees - Clients who need a deposit pay it when they book online. - When they cancel in the client portal, they see whether they'll get their deposit back before they confirm. - Inside the window, clients who paid a deposit can still cancel in the portal, after a warning that they won't get it back. Other clients see **Cancel appointment** grayed out and a note to contact you. - With **Contact to cancel**, the portal has no cancel button and asks clients to contact you. - Their cancellation and missed-appointment emails say what's refunded and what you kept. ## Common questions ### Is there a cancellation or no-show fee? No. Lilo never charges a fee or a saved card when a client cancels late or doesn't show up. You keep the deposit they paid when they booked. To ask every client for a deposit, turn on **Require deposit** on your services in **Services**, or turn on **Require Payment on Booking** in **Settings** → **Booking Page**. ### Can I undo a no-show? No. Once you mark a no-show, you can only change the appointment's notes. To return the deposit, refund it from the invoice (see **Give a kept deposit back**). ### We cancelled because the provider was sick. Why was the deposit kept? Lilo recorded it as the client's request. That happens when: - the reason wasn't **Provider unavailable** or **Schedule conflict** - it was cancelled from the **Appointments** list, the home screen card or Lilo AI - it was one visit cancelled in **Manage series**, and the reason wasn't **Provider unavailable** You can't change a cancelled appointment, so refund the deposit from the invoice (see **Give a kept deposit back**).