Common questions: deposits, late fees and cancellation policy

Quick answers about security deposits, the refund delay, how rental days are counted, the cancellation policy, late fees, early pickup and fee display. A security deposit is a hold on the customer's card (an authorization, money reserved but not taken) that the shop can take (capture) only if something goes wrong.

Finding the settings

Where do I find the deposit, rental day counting and cancellation policy settings?

Hover Pricing in the left sidebar and click Payment & policies. The page, headed Payment & Policies, holds three groups in this order: Deposit / percentage down, Rental day counting, then the cancellation policy (Policy name, Tiers and What your guests will read). The same cards also appear on Pricing rules under the Universal Rules tab, below the Early pickup, Late return fee, Renta fee and Fee display cards. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

Why don't I see Payment & policies in the Pricing menu?

The menu entry and the page both need the settings:write permission. Renta's role table gives it to owner, manager and staff today, so a role without it will not see the entry, will not get the cards on the Universal Rules tab, and is sent to the dashboard if it opens the page directly. See Universal Rules and the other Pricing tabs.

Where did the Late fees, Fee display and Cancellation pages go?

Late fees in the Pricing menu now opens Pricing rules, Universal Rules tab, at the Late return fee card. Fee display lives on Pricing, then Fees, and the Payment & Policies page carries a note saying fee settings moved there. The old standalone cancellation page redirects to Payment & policies. See Universal Rules and the other Pricing tabs.

Why won't my changes save on Payment & policies?

The deposit and day-counting cards each have a Save button, the cancellation policy has Save policy, and each shows a green Saved when it works. Red text next to the button is the reason, for example "Could not save settings. Try again.", a message starting "Tenant mismatch" that asks you to reload, or "demo_expired: Your demo has expired. Go live to keep using your account, or contact team@rentalabs.io to request an extension." Save policy is greyed out until its red problem list is empty (see the cancellation questions below). See How and when you collect a security deposit.

Setting up deposits

How do I set how much deposit each item takes?

Open the item in Fleet, go to its Pricing step, type the Hold Amount under Security Deposit and save the item. The amount is per unit and is multiplied by the number of units booked, and 0.00 means that item takes no deposit. See How security deposits are billed and returned.

Why can't I find the Security Deposit section on an item?

It was removed with Remove section in the section's three-dot menu, or renamed with Rename section, so look for the new name. Removed sections are listed under Removed sections at the bottom of the Pricing step, each with a + Restore button, and this choice is remembered in that browser for your business. Removing the Security Deposit section also sets the item's hold amount to 0.00 in the editor, so enter the amount again after restoring it. See How security deposits are billed and returned.

What does the Deposit / percentage down card control?

Only how a deposit hold behaves: when it goes on the card, when it ends, and how long a refund waits before it is sent. The deposit amount is set per item (see above), and a percentage down is a separate per-item setting called Payment Due at Checkout. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

How do I take only a percentage down at booking instead of full payment?

1. Open the item in Fleet and go to its Pricing step. 2. Find Payment Due at Checkout. 3. Under What customers pay at booking, choose Percentage down (or Fixed down payment for a dollar amount per unit). 4. Enter the Down payment percentage and save the item.

Anything not paid at booking stays on the booking as a balance due, and add-ons, delivery, fees and tax are always collected at checkout. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

What does Deposit Hold Duration mean?

It is how long after the rental's return Renta keeps the hold before releasing it by itself: Release at rental return, 24 hours after return, 48 hours after return, 72 hours after return or 7 days after return. The clock starts at the booking's scheduled return time (or the later end of a line that was extended), not when staff press Finish, and the release job runs every 15 minutes. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

What does "When the deposit hold ends" do, and how do I stop taking deposits?

Card holds expire at the card processor after about 7 days, so this menu decides what happens as a hold ages. Re-up the hold automatically (keep it active) places a fresh hold before the old one expires, Let it release at the hold window above does not renew it, and Don't hold a security deposit stops Renta from queuing or placing deposit holds for every item. Even then, staff can still place a one-off hold by hand from a booking's payment screen. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

When is the deposit hold placed on the card, and can I change it?

The When to place the hold menu (the one marked online bookings) offers When the booking is made, 1 day before pickup and 3 days before pickup. The first two both place the hold 24 hours before pickup, or right away if pickup is already closer than that; the third places it 3 days before. If you did not choose re-up, a hold may go on a little later than asked so its roughly 7-day authorization is still alive at release. Bookings you create yourself in the admin choose their own hold and release timing in the payment step, starting at pickup for the hold and 7 days after return for the release. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

What are the default deposit settings?

Until you change them: 48 hours after return, Let it release at the hold window above, When the booking is made, and a Refund Delay (minutes) of 15. An item takes no deposit until its Hold Amount is above $0.00. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

What does Refund Delay (minutes) do, and why did my number change to 10080?

It is the wait between staff issuing a refund and the refund being sent to the card processor (Stripe). During the wait, staff can open the booking's Cancel refund menu item (it appears while a refund is waiting) and press Execute now to send it at once or Cancel to stop it. The default is 15 minutes, 0 sends it on the next refund run (the job runs every 15 minutes), and the box takes 0 to 10080 minutes (7 days): as you type, a larger number is replaced with 10080 and a blank box becomes 0. Behind the box the settings save also refuses anything above 10080 with "Refund delay can be at most 10080 minutes (7 days).", which you would only see if a connected tool sends such a value directly. See Refunding or cancelling a booking.

Deposits on a booking

What do the deposit labels Scheduled, Awaiting customer, Held and the others mean?

Scheduled means nothing is on the card yet because the hold is set for later, and Awaiting customer means the customer still has to approve it with their bank. Held is a live hold on the card and Renewing is that hold being re-authorized on a fresh one, still the customer's money. Captured or Partially captured means the shop took some or all of it, Released means it was given back, Returned and Kept are the cash or other-method versions, and Failed means the hold could not be placed or can no longer be acted on. See Releasing vs. capturing a deposit hold.

Why is a deposit still Scheduled, or marked Failed, after pickup?

A scheduled hold is placed by a job that runs every 15 minutes once its time arrives. If the customer has no card on file it stays Scheduled and is tried again on later runs; if the card is declined during the attempt it is marked Failed and is not retried. In the Deposit step of the return checkout, Capture from deposit is greyed out for a deposit that was never placed ("This deposit was never placed on the customer's card, so there's nothing to capture.") or one being re-authorized, and Place hold now can place a Scheduled or Failed card deposit while the booking is active. See Releasing vs. capturing a deposit hold.

Why can't I finish a rental, and what does "Decide what happens to the security deposit" mean?

Finish rental is blocked while a deposit hold on the booking is undecided and the Deposit step is switched on in your return flow. Pick Capture from deposit, Release the full deposit or Keep the hold open, then finish; if a new deposit appears after you chose, the message says so and you choose again. See Finishing a rental: the return checkout.

What happens to the deposit when I cancel a booking?

If a hold is open, the cancel window asks. Release the hold now (the default) drops the card hold or returns the cash deposit immediately, and Keep it held leaves it open so you can capture or release it from Payment History later. A customer's own online cancellation releases open holds automatically. See Refunding or cancelling a booking.

What customers ask about deposits

Why was I charged a deposit?

It is a hold, not a charge: the shop reserves an amount on your card in case of damage or extra charges, and the receipt says it is an authorization only, released automatically if no damage is reported. The amount is the item's Hold Amount times the number of units, shown as "security deposit" on the item page and in the cart, and checkout asks you to agree to it. It becomes a real charge only if the shop captures it, and the receipt then shows it as charged. See How security deposits are billed and returned.

When do I get my deposit back?

When the shop releases the hold, which staff can do with Release the full deposit when they finish the return. Renta also releases it by itself at the booking's scheduled return time plus the shop's Deposit Hold Duration (48 hours after return unless the shop changed it), and a cancelled booking's hold is released right away unless staff chose to keep it. Finishing a rental does not release or capture the deposit by itself: staff have to choose first. See Releasing vs. capturing a deposit hold.

Why does my deposit show pending or not taken at checkout?

If the hold is due straight away because pickup is already inside the hold timing, checkout says a hold "will be placed on my card at booking time" (or at pickup time). Otherwise it says your card will be saved and the hold placed before pickup, so nothing is on the card yet, and staff see it as Scheduled (or Awaiting customer while a bank approval is pending). Either way a hold is an authorization, not a charge. See How and when you collect a security deposit.

Rental day counting

How are billable rental days counted?

Calendar dates (inclusive) - default counts both the pickup day and the return day, so Monday to Wednesday is 3 days. Calendar span (difference only) counts only the days between, so the same rental is 2. Either way a rental is at least 1 day, and the count feeds the price of multi-day bookings. See How your billable rental days are counted.

How do I change how rental days are counted?

1. Hover Pricing and click Payment & policies. 2. In Rental day counting, open Counting rule. 3. Pick Calendar dates (inclusive) - default or Calendar span (difference only). 4. Click Save.

It is one setting for the whole business, not per item. See How your billable rental days are counted.

Cancellation policy and refunds

How do I set up a cancellation policy?

1. Hover Pricing, click Payment & policies and scroll to the cancellation policy. 2. Enter a Policy name and leave Use this policy ticked. 3. Fill each row under Tiers (Hours before pickup, Refund %, Fee kept ($)) and use Add tier for more rows. 4. Read What your guests will read to check the wording. 5. Click Save policy.

A shop with no saved policy sees a suggestion of 72 hours at 100%, 24 hours at 50% and 0 hours at 0%, and nothing applies until you click Save policy. See Your cancellation and refund policy.

What do Hours before pickup, Refund % and Fee kept ($) mean?

A tier applies when the guest cancels that many hours or more before pickup, counted from the booking's start time in your own timezone, so a guest cancelling exactly 48 hours out gets the 48-hour tier. Refund % is the share of what was paid that is suggested back, and Fee kept ($) is a flat amount subtracted from that refund, never below zero. For example, $400 paid, a 50% tier and a $20 fee gives a $180 refund and $220 kept. See Your cancellation and refund policy.

Does the cancellation policy refund money automatically?

No. Cancelling never refunds by itself: Renta works out the suggested refund, records it on the booking and in its change log, and staff apply it from Resolve payment. In that window staff can pick Use a different amount instead, which needs a reason. See Refunding or cancelling a booking.

What does "Use this policy" do, and what happens if I untick it?

Ticked, the policy is live. Unticked, Renta behaves as if you had no policy: no suggested refund is written on cancelled bookings, guests get no policy wording in their emails, and a customer cancelling online is held to a flat 24-hour cutoff instead of your tiers, so every cancellation is settled by hand. See Your cancellation and refund policy.

Why is the Save policy button greyed out?

It stays greyed out while the policy has a problem, shown in a red list, and the preview reads "Fix the problems below to see the wording your guests will get." The messages are: "Give the policy a name."; "Policy name must be 120 characters or fewer."; "Policy description must be 2000 characters or fewer." (the Extra note for guests); "A policy can have at most 12 tiers."; "Tier N: hours before start must be a whole number."; "Tier N: hours before start must be between 0 and 8760."; "Tier N: refund must be between 0% and 100%."; "Tier N: cancellation fee cannot be negative."; "Tier N: refund percentage must be a whole number of basis points." (hundredths of a percent) or "Tier N: cancellation fee must be a whole number of cents." when those boxes hold something that is not a number; and "Add at least one cancellation tier" if the tier list is ever empty. Two tiers on the same hour give "Tier N: two tiers both start at H hours", and each tier needs its own number of hours. See Your cancellation and refund policy.

Why do I see a warning that cancellations less than a number of hours before pickup match no tier?

It is a warning, not an error, and you can still save. It appears when your lowest tier starts above 0 hours: cancellations later than that match no tier, are handed to staff to settle by hand, and the guest's cancellation email says the cancellation falls outside the standard tiers. Add a tier at 0 hours to cover them. See Your cancellation and refund policy.

Why can't I click Remove or Add tier?

Remove is greyed out when only one tier is left, because a policy needs at least one. Add tier is greyed out at 12 tiers, the most a policy can have. See Your cancellation and refund policy.

What do guests see about my cancellation policy?

With a live policy, the booking confirmation email gets an "IF YOU NEED TO CANCEL" block with one line per tier, most generous first, such as "Cancel 72 hours or more before pickup: full refund.", followed by your Extra note for guests. Checkout asks guests to agree to the operator's cancellation policy. When a booking is cancelled, the guest gets an email with a "Your refund" block showing You paid, Refund and "Kept under the policy". See Your cancellation and refund policy.

Why was a customer refused when cancelling online with "within 24 hours of pickup"?

With no live policy, a customer cancelling online (through the marketplace or Renta's API) is stopped inside 24 hours of pickup with "This booking is within 24 hours of pickup and can no longer be cancelled online. Please contact us directly to cancel." With a live policy the tiers replace that cutoff, and the only block is a booking that has already started: "This booking has already started and can no longer be cancelled online. Please contact us directly to cancel." Staff cancelling from the admin are never blocked by either rule. See Refunding or cancelling a booking.

Why did I get only a partial refund?

The usual reasons are the cancellation tier you fell into (a percentage back, less any flat fee, which the cancellation email lists as You paid, Refund and "Kept under the policy"), and Renta's booking fee, which checkout says "is not refunded if you cancel". Staff may also have chosen a different amount in Resolve payment, which requires a written reason, and a refund can never be more than what was paid for the rental after any captured deposit. If no tier fits, the email says the shop is reviewing the cancellation by hand. See Refunding or cancelling a booking.

When will my refund arrive?

A refund started from the booking's Refund action waits out the shop's Refund Delay (15 minutes unless changed) and then goes out on the next run of the refund job, which runs every 15 minutes. A policy refund is applied by staff in Resolve payment and goes out when they apply it. The cancellation email says refunds are reviewed by the team before they are issued and can take a few business days to reach your card. See Refunding or cancelling a booking.

Late return fees

How do I charge a late return fee?

1. Hover Pricing and click Late fees, which opens the Late return fee card. 2. Tick Charge late fees. 3. Pick a Fee basis (Flat, once per rental or Per hour late) and enter the Fee amount ($); per-hour fees can also have a Maximum total ($). 4. Set the Grace period (minutes), the extra time before a fee starts, and whether the fee is Taxable. 5. Click Save late fee settings.

It is off until you tick Charge late fees, and a fee amount of $0 charges nothing. The amount tops out at $100,000.00 and the grace period at 1440 minutes (24 hours). See Charging a late return fee.

When does a rental count as late, and how is the fee worked out?

A rental is late once it passes the later of its scheduled return and the store's closing time that day (closing time counts only for items that follow store hours), plus the grace period. A flat fee is charged once, while a per-hour fee counts every started hour as a full hour, capped at the Maximum total ($) if you set one. For example, $25 per hour with a 15-minute grace, due 4:00 PM, store closing 6:00 PM (for an item that follows store hours) and returned 8:10 PM gives a 6:15 PM deadline, 2 hours late, and a $50 fee. A booking with dates but no times of day never gets a late fee. See Charging a late return fee.

Is the late fee charged automatically?

No. When staff open the return checkout, Renta adds a draft line such as "Late return fee (2 hr)" to the Additional Charges step, where staff can change the amount or remove it, and a removed fee does not come back for that return. If the screen was opened before the customer became late, pressing Finish rental stops with a message that a late fee was added and should be reviewed in Additional Charges. The fee stays on the booking as an amount owed, which staff can cover with Capture from deposit or collect afterward with Collect payment. See Charging a late return fee.

Can one vehicle have its own late fee, or none, and what if several come back late?

Open the item, go to its Pricing step and find Late return fee: Late fee rule offers Use the business default, Custom for this vehicle or No late fee for this vehicle, and Save late fee stores it (a new item must be saved first). When several vehicles on one booking are late, the setting When several vehicles come back late decides between Charge each late vehicle its own fee, the default, and Charge one fee per rental (the largest). See Charging a late return fee.

Why are the late fee fields greyed out or missing?

The business-wide card disables its fields while saving or for a role without settings:write, and then says "Only an owner or manager with settings access can change this." Maximum total ($) only appears once Fee basis is Per hour late. On an item, the custom fields only show when Custom for this vehicle is chosen, and Save late fee stays greyed on an item that has not been saved yet. See Charging a late return fee.

Early pickup and fee display

Does the Early pickup setting work?

Not yet. The card saves your rules, and its own text says they "are not applied at checkout yet": nothing in checkout or the return flow reads them, so ticking Allow early pickup neither lets customers collect early nor adds a fee. Until you change it the card is off, set to 60 minutes early, 0 free minutes, a flat $0 fee and not taxable. See Early pickup settings (saved, not yet in use) and, for free evening-before pickups that do work, Letting customers pick up equipment the evening before.

What does "Show tax and the Renta fee only at checkout" do, and where is it?

It is the checkbox in the Fee display card on Pricing, then Fees (not on Payment & policies), and it saves the moment you tick it. Off, the default, means fleet cards already include the Renta fee in the advertised price; on means fleet cards show the bare rental rate and tax and the Renta fee appear as separate lines at checkout. It never changes what a customer pays, it is greyed while saving or without settings:write, and the Renta fee card above it shows what Renta charges per booking. See Showing fees and tax as separate line items and, for plans and the fee percentage, Renta's fee vs. your subscription plan.