OCTOBER 7, 2026

6 min read

Can I charge a no-show fee for dog grooming?

Photo: Ikusuki, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped)

Yes, if the client agreed before booking

In most cases, yes. A fee the client agreed to in writing before they booked is an ordinary term for an appointment business, and Stripe's own dispute guidance says a cancellation policy can be material evidence when a client disputes a pre-booked service. Charging the card takes a minute; the risk is the client calling their bank, which under the dispute fees Stripe set in June 2025 costs you $15 before anyone reads your side.

This guide covers what has to be in place before the fee can hold up, a check to run before you charge the card, what a chargeback costs, the evidence to keep, and when waiving earns you more. Fee and deposit rules vary by state and this isn't legal advice, so if you're charging a large fee or you're unsure about yours, have a local attorney read your policy.

Three conditions a no-show fee needs

All three have to be in place before the appointment, since you can't add them after a miss.

• A written policy the client saw before booking. Put it on your booking page or form, next to the book button. You can't show the bank an agreement to a policy the client first read in your fee text. For the wording itself, see real cancellation policies from working groomers.
• A stated amount. "$40 for a no-show" holds up, while "a fee may apply" leaves the client's bank nothing to measure your charge against. A charge that matches no number the client saw looks like a mistake.
• Permission to charge the card later. Stripe's page on saving cards, as it read in September 2026, says your terms need the customer's agreement to you starting a payment on their behalf for specified transactions, when that might happen, and how you work out the amount. It also says to keep a record of that written agreement. You can do this in one sentence that names the fee and says it goes on the card saved at booking.

In FurSlot, a client can't book until they tick a box agreeing to your fee and your window, in your own numbers (how the saved card works).

Keep the amount close to what the slot was worth: a fee at or under the price of the groom is easy to defend, while $150 for a missed $55 bath looks punitive. Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute, in an entry last reviewed in 2023, says courts won't impose liquidated damages, a pre-agreed amount owed for breaking a contract, when the clause is punitive. Each state's courts apply that rule their own way.

The two-minute check before you charge the card

Run it before each charge, including for clients you're sure about:

1. Find the agreement. Open the booking and confirm the policy and the amount were on screen when they booked. For a booking made by text or phone, find the message where you sent the policy and they said yes.
2. Check your texts, voicemail, DMs and email. A 7am cancel text to your personal number makes this a late cancel under your policy, or no fee at all.
3. Confirm it's a no-show by your own definition. If your policy starts the clock at 15 minutes late, don't charge at 10.
4. Log your attempts to reach them. Call and text once the grace period ends, and write the times on the appointment.
5. Match the amount to the policy, to the dollar. Subtract any deposit the client already paid, and don't add anything for card processing.
6. Check the name on their statement. Stripe's dispute guidance says to use a statement descriptor customers recognize as your business. If it still shows your personal name or an old shop name, change it in your Stripe settings.
7. Tell them in writing as you charge. "Hi [name], I had [dog's name] booked for [time] today and couldn't reach you. Under the policy you agreed to when you booked, I've charged the $[fee] no-show fee to the card ending [last four]. If something serious happened, reply and let me know."

You send that last text as a courtesy, and it doubles as evidence. If any step fails, don't charge; fix the gap before the next booking.

What a chargeback costs on Stripe

If a client disputes the fee, their bank pulls the money back. Stripe's disputes docs, checked in September 2026, say Stripe then takes the disputed amount plus a dispute fee out of your balance. While the dispute is open you can't refund the charge yourself, and the client's bank alone decides who wins. Under the dispute pricing Stripe introduced in June 2025, a dispute costs you $15 in the US, and Stripe keeps that fee whatever the outcome. Countering it costs another $15, which Stripe returns if you win.

Against not charging at all, a $60 no-show fee works out like this:

Card networks give cardholders 120 days after a payment to dispute it in most cases, according to the same docs, so a fee you charge in June can come back in September. Expect 7 to 21 days to respond once a dispute opens, with one submission and no edits, and the bank tends to take another 60 to 75 days to decide.

Evidence to save the day you charge

Stripe keeps an evidence list for disputed offline services, which it describes as purchases made in advance like tickets and reservations, and a missed groom fits it. Build the file while the texts are still on your phone:

• The policy text. Copy the exact wording the client saw from your booking page or form.
• Proof of where and when they saw it. A screenshot of the booking page with the policy next to the book button, plus the confirmation message that repeated it.
• Their agreement. The ticked box, the signed intake form, or the text where they wrote "yes" to your terms.
• All messages, with times. The reminder, your no-show call and text, the fee notice, and anything they sent back. If the client didn't contact you before disputing, Stripe asks you to say so in plain words.
• The appointment record. Date, time, service, price, and your note that the grace period passed.
• Proof it's their card. Earlier payments on the same card that the client didn't dispute. Stripe lists these for claims where the cardholder says they don't recognize the charge.

Add a short paragraph in plain words explaining why you keep the fee: what the client agreed to and what happened. Stripe's form accepts one file per type of evidence and 4.5 MB in total, and banks won't open links or play audio, so type up any voicemail as a transcript with its date. Respond even if the client tells you they've withdrawn the dispute, because Stripe's docs say you can only win it by submitting evidence.

Cases where waiving the fee pays better

Waiving a fee you're allowed to charge earns you more in four cases:

• A regular misses for the first time. Years of bookings are worth more than $40. State the policy and waive it once; the wording for that message is in what to say when a client cancels last minute.
• It's a real emergency, such as a hospital visit or a car in a ditch. Clients remember who charged them on a day like that.
• Your file is thin. Without a written agreement or a stated amount, you'd likely lose a dispute. If you've already charged, refund the client before they call their bank and you won't pay the $15 dispute fee.
• The fee is small and the client has already threatened to dispute. On a $25 fee, winning a counter nets you $10 and losing costs you $30.

Charge it when the agreement is on file, you tried to reach the client, and it's either their second miss or a new client who didn't show. Next time, book that client with a deposit or prepayment; there's more on that side in how to stop no-shows.

Write the policy your no-show fee depends on