# Prepayment, Deposit & Cancellation Window No-shows and last-minute cancellations cost your restaurant real money — an empty table during peak hours is lost revenue. Oddle Reserve gives you several tools to reduce no-shows and protect your business, all configurable at the ticket level. *** ## Payment Types There are three ways to secure a booking with a financial commitment: ### Deposit A deposit is a partial payment collected at the time of booking. The deposit amount is applied toward the guest's final bill. For example, you might require a $20 deposit per person for your dinner service. When the guest dines, that $20 is deducted from their total bill. ### Prepayment A prepayment is the full amount collected upfront. This is commonly used for special experiences or set menus where the price is fixed — like a $150 per person wine pairing dinner. The guest pays in full when they book, and there's no additional payment required at the restaurant (unless they order extras). ### Card Guarantee A card guarantee collects the guest's card details at booking but doesn't charge them upfront. The card is only charged if the guest no-shows or cancels too late. You define how much the no-show fee is (e.g., $50 per person or a flat fee). This is a lighter-touch approach — guests aren't paying anything upfront, but they know there's a consequence for not showing up. {% hint style="info" %} While Oddle does its best to verify the card at the time of booking, there is a risk that the card may not be chargeable when you need to apply a no-show fee — for example, if the guest used a debit card that no longer has sufficient balance. Card guarantees are a strong deterrent, but they are not a guarantee of payment. {% endhint %} *** ## Cancellation Window When you enable any payment type on a ticket, you also configure a **cancellation window**. This is straightforward — you set how far in advance guests can cancel, and the rules depend on the payment type: **For deposits and prepayments**, the cancellation options are: * **Non-refundable** — the guest cannot cancel and receive a refund, regardless of timing * **Cancellable up to X before the reservation** — the guest can cancel and receive a refund if they cancel before the window closes (e.g., 48 hours before the reservation). After the window, the deposit or prepayment is forfeited. **For card guarantees**, the cancellation options are: * **Non-cancellable** — the guest's card will be charged the no-show fee if they cancel at any time * **Cancellable up to X before the reservation** — the guest can cancel without charge if they cancel before the window closes. After the window, the no-show fee applies. Guests see these terms clearly during the booking flow — before they confirm their reservation — so there are no surprises. *** ## Transactions & Refunds You can view all payment-related transactions in the Host App under the **Transactions** tab (`host.oddle.me/transactions`). This is where you see deposits collected, prepayments received, and card guarantee charges. If you need to issue a refund — for example, a guest who paid a deposit but had a legitimate reason for cancelling late — you can manage that from the Transactions tab. *** ## Payouts Payments collected through deposits, prepayments, and card guarantee charges are included in your Oddle payouts and are paid out on the Paid Reservation Tickets schedule — **4 calendar days (T+4)** after the payment date. You don't need to do anything extra. For the full payout schedule, see [What is the payout schedule?](https://oddle.gitbook.io/docs/help-center/payouts-and-billing/what-is-the-payout-schedule-sg-and-my). *** ## Setting It Up Payment settings are configured **per ticket** in the Host App under **Settings > Tickets**. This means: * Your standard "Restaurant Reservation" ticket can be free to book (no payment) * Your "Chef's Table" ticket can require a prepayment * Your "Friday Dinner" ticket can require a card guarantee This gives you the flexibility to match the payment requirement to the type of experience. High-value or limited-capacity experiences benefit most from deposits or prepayments, while everyday bookings might work better with just a card guarantee — or no payment at all. > **Note:** Tickets that require any form of payment cannot currently be shown on Reserve with Google. If you want a ticket to be bookable through Google, it must be a non-payment ticket. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://www.oddle.me/docs/new-guests/reserve/setting-up-reservations/prepayment-deposit-cancellation.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.