Set a different deposit for each service

This guide shows you how to charge a deposit on one service and not on another. It assumes you already know how to switch a deposit on, which is covered in how to set up the deposit feature.

Before you start

Deposits need an active paid plan and the Online payment add-on connected to Stripe. Online payment cannot be activated on the Free plan, so deposits cannot be taken on it either. Which paid tier you are on does not matter, any of them will do. On top of that, the Prepayment add-on has to be active: if Require prepayment is greyed out on the opening hour, activate it at Menu → Settings & add-ons → Payment → Prepayment. Prepayment only becomes available once Online payment is active and connected to Stripe.

Many restaurants serve more than one thing: a fixed-menu High Tea in the afternoon alongside regular dining in the evening, for example. In Resos each of those is its own opening hour, and every opening hour is configured on its own. A second opening hour therefore gets:

• Its own deposit. The Payment tab belongs to that one opening hour, so the fixed-menu service can require a prepayment while regular dining requires nothing. Amount, Per guest or Per booking, Min. guests requiring payment and Cancellation policy are all set there, and none of it affects your other opening hours.
• Its own capacity. On the Limits tab you set Max bookings and Max guests for that period, plus Max bookings per interval and Max guests per interval. Limits within opening hours explains what each field counts.
• Its own name. Fill in Title on the General tab, for example “High Tea”. The title is shown above the available times for that period in the booking flow, so guests can tell your two services apart.
• Its own seating settings. The Seatings tab on the same opening hour sets that service’s time interval and booking duration. See how to set up different seatings.

You add and edit opening hours at Menu → Settings & add-ons → General → Opening hours. Default and special opening hours walks through creating one. A one-off or dated event is usually better as an experience, which carries its own payment settings the same way.

For a one-off event on a day you are otherwise open as usual, shorten the regular opening hour so it ends when normal service ends, then add a second opening hour for the event with its own Title and Payment settings. Special opening hours carry the same Payment tab too, as long as they are set to Open, so you can put a deposit on one specific date without touching your weekly setup.

Each opening hour holds one payment type at a time, so a service can ask for a prepayment or a no-show fee, never both. Different services can make different choices. Reserve with Google does not support either payment type: bookings that arrive through Google skip the payment.

Note: How far ahead guests must book is not part of this. Minimum time in advance is a single setting for the whole restaurant, under Menu → Settings & add-ons → Bookings → Limits in the New online bookings section, and it applies to every online booking. You cannot ask for a day’s notice on a fixed-menu service and an hour on regular dining. See how far in advance guests can book.

If you are not sure which of your opening hours a deposit is live on, write to us at hi@resos.com and we will check it with you.