Card on File + No-show Protection + Appointments - how do they work together?

[HollyA]

Hi im in the salon & spa industry & we deal with no-shows quite often & currently use square invoice to collect no-show fees. however clients can choose not to pay so its really not the best way to protect your business against no-shows. I am interested in the Card on File feature but i am wondering about gratuity and no-show protection 

The title of this post has been edited from the original: "Card on file" for no-show protection?

[#2]

Hi there @helenabrooke78 and @RMConsultingLLC 👋 Thanks for reaching out to us here on the Seller Community. I consulted with our Appointments Team to help answer your questions. Here's the information they've provided me:
 

With Square Appointments, your client has the option to add a Card on File for future appointments, as well as providing their card information for No-Show Protection. While these options are similar, it’s important to understand the differences between the two.

Card on File: This is an optional selection that your client can make when booking an appointment that will allow them to save their card for future purchases. Card on File saves the card to the customer’s profile in your Customer Directory and allows you to charge it whenever you want. This is always optional to the customer and they can unlink their card at any time.

No-Show Protection: This requires clients to provide the card information to book appointments so that you can determine whether or not to charge them based on your cancellation policy. Card information provided through No-Show Protection can only be used for cancellations up to 14 days after the appointment and isn’t applicable on separate purchases or appointments.

A client can not remove the card from No-Show Protection, but they can, however, remove their Card on File from the Customer Directory.

For more information on No-Show Protection, please visit this section of our Support Center.

I hope this information is helpful but please do let us know if you have any additional questions.
 

[Tom · Accepted solution]

Hey @HollyA, thanks for bringing this up!

My best suggestion for no-shows is to go with Square Appointments and set up a cancellation policy. When you create your cancellation policy, you can require that a credit card be used to book online and set the expectation that your customer will be charged a cancelation fee if they do not show up.

Check out our Support Center for specifics, and let us know if you have any other questions! Hope this helps. 🙂

[Valentina · Accepted solution]

I wanted to drop into this thread to clarify a bit more! ✨ 

No-show Protection and Card on File are different features. A client does have the option to remove a Card on Fiile for future purchases, which is typically done when the appointment is booked and they select the Card on Fiile opt-in check box. However, a card cannot be removed from an appointment, as it is saved to that specific appointment for no-show protection.

We store the information we need to charge the card for a no-show fee with the appointment details, not a direct reference to the Card on File, exactly for this reason. Even if a client unlinks a card, we still have the information on hand in order for you to charge a no-show fee to that card if necessary.

You may think that your client unlinked their no-show card because you are unable to charge the no-show fee. What is most likely happening here is that you have selected Fee for each service within the Cancellation Fee settings section, and never assigned a cancellation fee to the particular service being booked. In this case, the booking system will not ask for a credit card:

[_Violet · Accepted solution]

Hi there @helenabrooke78 and @RMConsultingLLC 👋 Thanks for reaching out to us here on the Seller Community. I consulted with our Appointments Team to help answer your questions. Here's the information they've provided me:
 

With Square Appointments, your client has the option to add a Card on File for future appointments, as well as providing their card information for No-Show Protection. While these options are similar, it’s important to understand the differences between the two.

Card on File: This is an optional selection that your client can make when booking an appointment that will allow them to save their card for future purchases. Card on File saves the card to the customer’s profile in your Customer Directory and allows you to charge it whenever you want. This is always optional to the customer and they can unlink their card at any time.

No-Show Protection: This requires clients to provide the card information to book appointments so that you can determine whether or not to charge them based on your cancellation policy. Card information provided through No-Show Protection can only be used for cancellations up to 14 days after the appointment and isn’t applicable on separate purchases or appointments.

A client can not remove the card from No-Show Protection, but they can, however, remove their Card on File from the Customer Directory.

For more information on No-Show Protection, please visit this section of our Support Center.

I hope this information is helpful but please do let us know if you have any additional questions.
 

[TGR22]

I have no show protection on, however, customers are going in and unlinking their card. Therefore, I can't get paid when someone no shows for an appointment. I am considering moving to a more salon friendly appointment booking system. HELP!! 

[ashc]

Hey @TGR22,

I moved your post to an existing thread where this same question was asked and one of our team members went over how it works.

Check out @isabelle's answer above. 

[svlashes]

This is happening to me as well. Customers unlink their card when know that they will be a no-show and I am unable to charge them. So basically your no-show protection is completely useless. Customers should not be allowed to remove their card while their is an active booking!!!! Their is no protection for merchants in this case. REALLY starting to get tired of the lack of functionality for merchants!!!

[Jakegriego23]

My settings are set up to require a card in case of no shows. But I have had customers book and are able to bypass the card on file section. How do I change that? I would like the appt to not get booked without the card. 

thanks so much 

[ashc]

Heya @Jakegriego23 and welcome to the Community.

I moved your post to an existing thread where this issue has been addressed already.

Check out the Best Answer and answers above for more details.

[jtalavera97]

Hello! 

Before the pandemic, my business- Tacoma's Best Piercing- was mostly appointments with walk ins where we could fit them in. Since the pandemic, we feel better being appointment only to avoid crowding.

We are having an issue though- Square allows clients to remove their card info before their appointment (we choose to use the collateral system) and when they no show/no call we are not able to charge them the fee. Additionally, sometimes client's cards do not process/decline. Would it be possible to change from card info being held as collateral to bank accounts? 

I'm asking square to hold the card (or bank account info) for at least the 14 days that we are allowed to charge them their no show/no call fee. 

Thanks! 

-Jessica

[nika]

Hey @jtalavera97- Have a look at Isabelle and Justin's replies here. Hopefully this helps clear a few things up!

[Poplashandbrows]

The title of this thread has been changed from: How to save credit card from someone book online?

I can not save card with someone they booking online. When they fill out their information they add credit card . But they can delete the card and we couldn’t found credit card information to charge cancellation fee. How can we hold and save card when they add it online to make sure they can not remove it. That is my question please reply me here or poplashandbrows@gmail.com

[Valentina]

Hi there @Poplashandbrows! 

Your customers always have the option to save their card to their profile by using our Customer Account Card on File feature. Once they have a Customer Account set up and have saved their card information there, they can select their saved card next time they book! This product update explains how the feature works in more detail - and also includes some helpful links to our Support Center. 

Just as your customers are able to save a card of file, they can also unlink their card from Square sellers, at any time. By clicking the link at the bottom of one of their digital card on file receipts, they can remove payment cards linked to a Square seller from their Card on File Dashboard. There is not a way to prevent your customers from editing or removing the card that they choose to keep on file.

[SheilaN]

 A customer has put his gift card as "card on file"  with his profile for some months, using it frequently.  Today he finds the card is no longer associated with his profile.   I can re-associate it but would like to know how this happened as the access rights do not allow for deleting a card on file as the terminal is currently set.

Is there an audit trail available for customer profile changes?

[ashc]

Hey @SheilaN,

I merged your post with an existing thread that goes over card on file and how customers can link/unlink their card at any time.

There's not an audit or history to see when they've done this though since it's done on their end. 

[Poplashandbrows]

This reply was created from merging an existing thread: Booking online cancellation

I already set up booking online protection cancellation. But somehow somebody can book through to it without card on file. I don't understand why can they do that? Can you give me an answer. I had a picture to prove that she book by herself online and she didn't add card but system still let her process her appointment 

[Screenshots including personal customer information have been redacted]

[Valentina]

@Poplashandbrows - I've moved your post to this thread, as the Best Answer here should provide some clarity around why you are seeing a Card on File attached to this customer's appointment.

Your customers can link and unlink their card at their discretion - in addition, you always have the option to cancel an appointment if the Card on File is unlinked by the cardholder.

[monet_obree]

If a client remove credit card on file but still have an appointment, How is this beneficial to the service provider. Here is the thing, the client can book an appointment , hold a spot , and then do a no call no show for their appointment. It should be an automatic option that if a client removes their credit card from their profile, it automatically removes all upcoming appointments in the system. I mean seriously, who has time to comb through all booked appointments to ensure there is  a card on file after its so easily removed from their account.

[monet_obree]

If a client remove credit card on file but still have an appointment, How is this beneficial to the service provider?  Here is the thing, the client can book an appointment , hold a spot , and then do a no call no show for their appointment. It completely makes the credit card protection feature extremely bogus on the behalf of the service provider.  It should be an automatic option that if a client removes their credit card from their profile, it automatically removes all upcoming appointments in the system. I mean seriously, who has time to comb through all booked appointments to ensure there is a card on file after its so easily removed from their account.

[ashchirostjoekh]

We have no-show protection turned on, but somehow some clients are scheduling appointments without entering their card info. How are they doing that, and how can we stop them?? These are usually the ones that don't show, then we have no recourse.

[Valentina]

Hi there, @ashchirostjoekh and welcome to the Seller Community 👋

It's possible that your client booked an appointment, then unlinked their card information afterwards. I've merged your post into this thread, where you can read up on this a bit more. If it doesn't sound like this is what happened, be sure to contact our team directly so we can take a peek at your account with you.

[truemassage]

Hello, I have an issue with requiring clients to put their card on file for no show protection then un checking the box that says "you give permission for (my business) to authorize using this card for future purchases". With this option, clients are able to make an appointment with Square appointments, put card on file, then immediately take it off! Is there a way to prevent this? I'd like it to be where they cannot book an appointment unless a card is on file. Please offer some guidance on this. Also, is there another way to phrase "you give permission for (my  business) to authorize future purchases" most clients do not feel comfortable with this statement and I'd like to change it to a different disclaimer. 

[JustinC]

Hi there. Hopefully I can draw some distinctions between Card on file and No Show Protection since they're two different features @truemassage

When the client makes an appointment while No Show protection is enabled, there is a second box that they can click to save their card on file for future services rendered or to purchase retail products. The card they save for no show protection is ONLY for that purpose. 

With that said, a customer is free to remove their card on file if they don't want to use it for future purchases, but their card is still accessible to charge a cancellation fee for 14 calendar days after the scheduled appointment. 

Here's a thread with steps to properly set up No Show. 

[truemassage]

Thank you that makes sense! So to be clear, if they choose not to keep a card on file, I can still charge them if they no show the appointment. Thank you for your help. 

[Joe]

Hi there, @truemassage 👋 I can step in here for Justin in his absence. Yes! - that is correct. If you customer chooses not to add their Card on File, you will still be able to charge them a no-show fee for the appointment.

Let us know if anything else comes up! We are here to help.