Empty sunbeds = lost money: no-shows and the waitlist in high season
August, the weekend, everything booked. By noon, one of the best sunbeds is still empty: someone reserved it and hasn't shown up. Meanwhile, you've turned away several customers who would have happily paid for it. That sunbed isn't free… it's losing you money.
No-shows —bookings that never turn up— are the silent leak of high season. Charging in advance helps keep people from flaking, but there will always be someone who books and doesn't come. The key is two moves: recover the spot and fill it again.
A no-show isn't a free sunbed, it's a lost sale
The problem isn't just that the customer is missing; it's that their booking keeps the sunbed blocked. As far as the system is concerned it's still taken, so no one else can grab it until someone frees it up. On a slow day it doesn't matter; in August, every hour that spot sits dead is money walking out the door.
Recovering the spot: by hand or automatically
You have two ways, and you pick whichever suits you:
- By hand (always available, your call): when your attendant sees that a booking isn't going to turn up, they free the sunbed from their panel with one tap and pick the reason —"no-show"—. The spot is available again instantly.
- Automatically (optional): you switch on auto-release, set a time per zone —say, 12:30— and, once that time passes, no-show bookings free themselves up. How does the system know they haven't come? Simple: by that time, nobody has checked that booking in.
And one important nuance: automatic isn't always best. Sometimes it pays to give a latecomer some leeway rather than freeing the spot blindly. That's why it's optional: you turn it on if it suits you, and if not, your team handles it as always, with a single tap.
And the money from an already-paid booking?
It's the logical question: if someone paid online and doesn't show, do they get a refund? It depends on the refund policy you set:
- If you have refunds switched on, freeing the spot refunds the money automatically.
- If you have them switched off, there's no refund —in which case it's worth making that clear in your booking terms—.
You set the rule once and the system applies it on its own, with no need to decide case by case.
Every sunbed taken: the waitlist
Recovering the spot is half the battle; the other half is filling it again with no effort.
With the waitlist, when there are no free sunbeds left the customer doesn't leave empty-handed: they sign up and leave their contact details. And here's the important part: when a spot opens up for that day —for whatever reason: a no-show, a cancellation, someone leaving early— the system automatically notifies the first person on the list, in order of arrival.
The time and the reason don't matter: if a gap opens and someone is waiting, they get notified. The spot that had been left empty fills itself again, without you calling anyone.
What you gain on the busy days
- Fewer empty spots exactly when demand is highest.
- More revenue from the same sunbeds: each spot gets used over and over.
- Zero calls and zero notes by hand: the system sends the alert to the next person.
- Control stays yours: you free spots yourself or automate it, and the money is handled according to your policy.
How to start
The waitlist is included from the paid plans up; automatic release, in the plans that build it in. You can see what each one brings in the plans, and how it fits your case for beach businesses and beach bars.
In high season not a single sunbed goes spare. Recovering the ones that sit empty and filling them again on their own is, often, the difference between a good weekend and a perfect one.
