# Keeping the deposit on a late cancel or no-show

> Decide whether you keep the deposit when a customer cancels late or doesn't show.

Checked 9 November 2026 · https://docs.seascape.bz/payments/keep-the-deposit

You decide whether a customer gets their deposit back. Go to **Settings** → **Deposits and cancellations** and turn on **Keep the deposit**, then tick when:

- **When the customer doesn't show up**
- **When they cancel less than** a number of hours before the trip (48 to start with)

The switch and the ticks save the moment you change them; the hours save with the **Save** button in the bar at the top. The box **What customers read** shows the sentence that goes into their emails, so they know the rule before they book.

This setting doesn't move money by itself. It decides what the cancel dialog shows as **Deposit kept** and what it shows as **Refundable**. If your shop cancels, for weather or the boat, the deposit is always refundable.

Two hour boxes: **Saved cards and card charges**, in **Settings** → **Payments**, has its own **Free cancellation until** box, which the late-cancellation fee uses. Set both to the same number of hours, or the deposit rule and the fee will disagree.