Deposits, holds and card on file: which one do you want

The first thing everyone asks about deposits is which one they want. There are three answers, and a fourth switch sitting beside them that looks like a deposit and is not one.

Which of the three you want

1. Open Services, then Manage on the service and Manage Service.
2. On Pricing & Payments, switch on Deposit to override the business default for this service.
3. Choose Pre-pay in Full, Partial deposit or No deposit. For a partial deposit, set the Deposit type and the amount.
4. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

The business default is Require a deposit at booking, on the Deposits card of Settings > Pricing & Payments. The row on top is the one people miss. Matches Default on the Deposit row means this service is following the business rule and there is nothing to set here; switch the row on and you are overriding the default for this service alone. No deposit only appears on a service, and only while the business default takes a deposit, because opting out of the default is the only thing it can mean.

The percentage list stops at 95%, because 100% is Pre-pay in Full.

Pet boarding: the same percentage against a fortnight is a far larger number than against a visit, so the deposit usually goes on the Stay service alone rather than on the business default. Dog daycare: a regular does not need a deposit every visit, because a pass or a plan has already taken the money. A hold is the setting that fits the casual days. Dog training: the money is committed at enrolment rather than per session, so the deposit belongs on the course and not on the weekly booking it creates. Dog walking: a card on file is what commits a weekly round. A deposit would be charged again every week, which is not what anybody meant by taking one.

A card on file is a separate decision

1. Open Settings, then Pricing & Payments.
2. Under Card on file, to let clients finish an online booking without a card, switch on Allow booking without card.
3. To hold the booking total on the card 72 hours before, switch on Pre-hold funds.
4. Select Publish Changes, tick the box in Before You Publish, then select Publish Changes.

Allow booking without card decides whether a card is optional or required to finish an online booking. A configured deposit overrides it either way, because a client cannot pay a deposit without saving a card.

Pre-hold funds is the other switch, and it is not a deposit. 72 hours before the appointment the card is held for the booking total, the client gets an SMS and an email, and their bank shows a pending line that becomes a real charge after the appointment.

Release it, retry it, or let checkout take it

1. Open the booking from Appointments.
2. To hand a hold back, select Release on the green banner, then Release hold.
3. To place a hold again, select the Retry or Re-auth button on the amber banner, which carries the current total.

One banner on the appointment carries all of it, and the colour is the state: blue before, green while the money is held, amber for a decline or a hold that is gone. Release hands it back, and it clears on the client's card within 1-24 hours depending on their bank. Retry and Re-auth both place the hold again at the current total, so a booking whose price changed is held at the new number.

A hold also expires on its own. The chip says when, and that window belongs to the card network rather than to us: about five days on a Visa, about seven on the rest. Charge after it has gone and there is nothing to capture, so the card is charged fresh instead.