DEPOSITS & CANCELLATIONS
How should a fishing guide handle deposits and cancellations?
Take a real deposit at booking, put your cancellation window and weather rule in writing before anyone pays, and apply them the same way every time. The deposit is what makes the policy real — a policy without money behind it is a suggestion.
The working version looks like this. Every booking pays a deposit when the date is confirmed — a percentage of the trip, set per trip, big enough that a no-show costs the client something and covers your lost morning. The cancellation terms ride with the payment: a cutoff date (commonly measured in days before the trip) inside which the client's cancellation forfeits the deposit or converts it to a credit, and outside which they can move or refund freely. And a weather rule that draws the one line clients respect most: if the captain calls it, the client gets a full refund or a reschedule, no argument; if the client just doesn't want to go, the window applies.
The mechanics matter as much as the numbers. Collect the deposit at booking, not the week of the trip — a date held without money is a date held on hope. Put the terms where the client agrees to them at payment, not in a text thread you'd have to dig up. And be consistent: the guide who waives the policy for whoever pushes hardest ends up with a policy that only binds the polite.
Whether you run that through a payment app and a note, or through booking software that attaches the terms automatically, the policy is the same — the software just enforces it without you having to be the bad guy. On a Timber & Tackle site, each trip carries its own deposit percentage, the client pays it to your own Stripe account when you accept the booking, the terms are on the confirmation, and the balance is tracked for the trip. Flat fee, no commission on any of it.
The weather question, specifically
Weather is where deposit policies earn their keep or blow up. The standard that keeps clients happy and guides sane: the captain's call is sacred — if you cancel for weather or safety, the client gets a clean reschedule or a full deposit refund, and you say so proudly on the site, because it signals professionalism. What the policy protects against is the other direction: the client who looks at a 30% chance of rain and wants their Saturday back on Friday night. That's what the cancellation window is for.
Spell out who makes the call and when — “we make the weather call by 8 pm the night before” reads like a guide who's done this a thousand times, because it is.
Why the deposit and the policy have to travel together
A cancellation policy with no deposit has no teeth — there's nothing to forfeit. A deposit with no written policy breeds disputes — the client thought it was refundable, you didn't. Attached at the moment of payment, they reinforce each other: the client committed real money under clear terms, no-shows drop, and the awkward conversation mostly never happens. That's the whole design of deposit-then-balance booking: the policy enforces itself.
Straight answers.
What's a reasonable deposit amount?
Set it per trip — a half-day and a three-day package shouldn't carry the same number. The test: would losing it make a client think twice about no-showing, and would keeping it roughly cover the morning you lost? Whatever percentage you run today, run it consistently.
Should the deposit be refundable?
Outside your cancellation window, yes — refundable or freely movable, which keeps bookings friendly. Inside the window, forfeited or converted to a credit toward a rebooked date. Many guides prefer the credit: it keeps the money and the client.
Who decides whether weather cancels the trip?
You do — always. Safety is the guide's call, and a client-friendly rule (captain cancels = full refund or reschedule) costs you little and reads as professionalism. The policy exists for client-initiated cancellations, not your own.
How does Timber & Tackle handle all this?
Each trip has its own deposit percentage; the client pays it to your own Stripe account when you accept the booking; your terms ride on the confirmation; and the balance is tracked to the trip. Zero commission on deposits or balances — a flat $29 a month is the whole cost.
Related: How guides take deposits online · Deposits & balance · Online booking
A policy that enforces itself.
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