Deposits
Deposits let the AI take money before it commits your calendar. During the call, it texts the caller a payment link and holds the slot until the payment clears. If it doesn’t clear, the slot goes back on the board automatically.
This is the feature that kills no-shows on long jobs — one saved three-hour bay slot pays for the month.
How a deposit call goes
Section titled “How a deposit call goes”-
The caller agrees to a job that has a deposit configured.
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The AI holds the slot and texts a payment link to the caller’s phone. It tells them the slot is held for a set number of minutes and that the booking isn’t confirmed until they pay — then wraps up the call rather than waiting on the line.
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The caller pays on their phone, usually within a minute or two.
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On payment, the appointment is confirmed, the caller gets a confirmation text with their portal link, and you get a text saying who booked and that the deposit is in.
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If the hold window passes without payment, the hold expires, the slot is released, the payment link is deactivated, and the caller is texted that the slot went back on the board. Anyone on the waitlist for that day is offered it.
Every state is visible in the dashboard, so you always know whether a booking is paid or still pending.
A payment that lands after the hold expired is handled rather than lost: if the slot is still free the appointment comes back confirmed, and if someone else has taken it in the meantime the deposit is refunded automatically. Money is never held against a booking that no longer exists.
When the caller says no
Section titled “When the caller says no”Two refusals, two different outcomes:
- They decline the deposit. The slot is not booked — a deposit-required job without a deposit is not a booking.
- They can’t receive texts at all. The AI doesn’t offer the waitlist or pretend the link will arrive; it takes a message so you can arrange payment directly.
The waitlist
Section titled “The waitlist”Turning deposits on also gives the AI a waitlist. When a caller wants a day that is full — or a slot that is currently held by someone else’s unpaid deposit — it offers to put them on the list for that date, and StrandCalls texts them if something opens up. An expired hold is the most common thing that opens one.
Settings
Section titled “Settings”Settings → Deposits:
- Default deposit amount — used for any service that doesn’t override it.
- Hold window (minutes) — how long a slot stays reserved awaiting payment. 30 minutes by default: short enough that dead holds don’t block your calendar, long enough that someone can put down a wrench and pay.
- Refund policy and refund cutoff (hours before appointment) — the policy the AI states and the point after which a deposit is no longer refundable. The AI reads your policy text word for word; leave it blank and it declines to answer refund questions and takes a message instead, which is a good reason to fill it in.
- No-show threshold — after this many no-shows, that customer is required to pay a deposit on every future booking, whether or not the service normally asks for one. Two by default.
Per-service deposit amounts live on the service itself in Services & prices, so a $50 hold on a detail job and a $200 hold on a charter can coexist.
What the caller sees
Section titled “What the caller sees”A text with a payment link from your business name. Payments are processed by Stripe — card details never touch StrandCalls, and never touch you.
Cancelling is a text away: a customer who replies CANCEL releases the appointment, and a deposit still inside your refund window is refunded on the spot. See Texting consent and opt-outs.
When not to use deposits
Section titled “When not to use deposits”Deposits add friction. They earn their keep when a no-show costs you a block of time you can’t refill. They cost you bookings on quick, high-volume, low-value jobs. Start by putting deposits only on your longest or most-flaked services and watch what happens to your booking rate.
Availability
Section titled “Availability”Deposits are available on every plan — turn them on in Settings → Deposits. They’re off until you enable them. See Plans and billing.