No-show protection
Require a deposit from clients who keep missing appointments, see who needs one, and set a deposit for one client.
No-show protection makes clients who keep missing appointments pay a deposit when they book online. You choose how many no-shows it takes. If they cancel late or miss again, you keep the deposit.
Cancellations, no-shows, and deposits explains when Lilo keeps a deposit and when it refunds it.
Owners, admins and location managers
Turn on no-show protection
You need payments set up first. Until then, Turn on No-show Protection is grayed out. The owner or an admin sets up payments in Settings → Payments.
- Go to Settings → No-show Protection.
- Select Turn on No-show Protection. Protection isn't on until you finish step 4.
- Under Deposit Policy, choose how the deposit works:
- Static deposit asks for one deposit once a client reaches your threshold. Choose the Deposit amount (25%, 50% or 100% of the booking) and the No-show threshold (1 to 5 no-shows). The default is a 50% deposit after 2 no-shows.
- Scaling deposit raises the deposit with each no-show. Under Scaling Ladder, choose one:
- Gentle: 25% after 2 no-shows, 50% after 3, 100% after 5.
- Standard: 25% after 1 no-show, 50% after 2, 100% after 4.
- Firm: 50% after 1 no-show, 100% after 2.
- Select Turn on Protection.
Lilo checks every client against your terms right away, including older no-shows. It tells you if anyone now needs a deposit.
In the Lilo app, go to More → Business Settings → No-Show Protection. The steps are the same.
Change your terms
- Go to Settings → No-show Protection.
- Change your terms and select Save Changes.
Lilo checks every client again. It raises, lowers or removes the deposits it added so they match your new terms.
Turn protection off
- Go to Settings → No-show Protection.
- Turn off No-show Protection is on.
- Select Turn off.
Lilo removes the deposits it added. Deposits you set on a client yourself stay.
See your no-show numbers
Once protection is on, Settings → No-show Protection shows No-show Metrics. These are all-time totals for your whole business:
- Total no-shows
- Clients with no-shows
- Under protection: clients who need a deposit because of protection
- Deposits kept
There's no list of which clients are under protection. To check one client, open their profile (see the next section).
See who needs a deposit
- Open the client from Clients.
- Select More, then choose Preferences. In a narrow browser window, select the Preferences tab instead.
- Look at Scheduling Restrictions.
A client under protection shows Deposit Required, the percentage, and a reason like No-show Protection: 2 no-shows.
Require a deposit from one client
- Open the client from Clients.
- Select More, then choose Preferences. In a narrow browser window, select the Preferences tab instead.
- On Scheduling Restrictions, select Edit.
- Turn on Requires Deposit.
- Choose the Deposit (% of booking total) and add a Reason.
- Select Save Restrictions.
This also needs payments set up. A deposit you set yourself works whether protection is on or off.
How it works
- Lilo counts every no-show a client has with your business, at any location. That includes no-shows from before you turned protection on. Cancellations don't count.
- When you save your settings, Lilo updates every client right away. After a new no-show, it updates that client shortly after you mark it.
- The deposit is a percentage of the booking total. If a service asks for a bigger deposit, the client pays the bigger one. At 100%, they pay in full when they book.
- Lilo only recognizes clients who book with the same email and phone number as their profile. If they use a different email or number, Lilo treats them as a new client and doesn't ask for the deposit.
- Only online bookings collect the deposit. When you or your team book a client in Lilo, there's no deposit, even if they're under protection.
- Reaching your terms doesn't add a deposit to appointments a client already booked. It applies the next time they book online.
- Protection never lowers or removes a deposit you set on a client yourself and never changes your reason. If their no-shows call for more, it raises the percentage. Turning protection off doesn't undo that.
Common questions
Why does a client who no-showed months ago need a deposit now?
Protection counts every no-show, even ones from before you turned it on.
Why wasn't a client under protection asked for a deposit?
Usually it's one of these:
- They booked with a different email or phone number than their profile.
- Someone on your team booked them. Only online bookings collect deposits.
- Your card payments aren't working, so Lilo can't collect deposits.
Can I let one client off?
Not while protection is on. You can turn off Requires Deposit on their profile, but Lilo turns it back on if they still meet your terms. That happens after their next no-show, or the next time anyone saves the no-show protection settings.
Why didn't turning protection off remove a client's deposit?
Turning protection off only removes deposits that protection added. Those have a reason that starts with No-show Protection. If someone set the deposit by hand, or changed its reason, it stays. To remove it, turn off Requires Deposit on that client.
Does protection cover every location?
Yes. There's one setting for your whole business, and no-shows at any location count.
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.
Connect payments and get paid out
Set up card payments with Stripe, check your payments status, finish setup when Stripe asks for more, and see your payouts.