Taking Deposits for Repairs: Why and How to Do It Properly

The Uncollected Device Problem Nobody Talks About#

In the back of most repair shops, there's a shelf. On that shelf are devices that have been repaired but never collected. In my shop, after six months of tracking, that shelf represented £4,200 in completed repairs that customers hadn't paid for. Some were genuinely forgotten. Some were customers who'd gotten their phone replaced under insurance and didn't bother collecting the repaired one. Some were devices where the repair cost had exceeded what the customer was willing to pay, and they'd ghosted us rather than having the conversation. In each case, we'd spent labour, consumed parts, and had nothing to show for it. A deposit policy would have either prevented these jobs being started or guaranteed we recovered costs. It took me three years to implement one — the fear of losing customers to competitors who didn't charge deposits. That fear was unfounded.

What a Deposit Policy Actually Covers#

A repair shop deposit serves two purposes. First, it commits the customer to the job — someone who's paid £30 upfront is far more likely to show up for collection than someone who paid nothing. Second, it covers your parts cost if the job is abandoned. For a screen replacement where the part costs £45, a £50 deposit means you're whole on parts even if the customer ghosts you. Most shops set deposits at 30-50% of the estimated job cost, with the deposit covering at minimum the cost of parts. For jobs where diagnosis precedes repair (water damage assessment, laptop motherboard faults), a separate diagnostic fee — typically £20-45 — serves as the deposit, often waived if the customer proceeds with the full repair. For expensive jobs over £150, a 50% deposit is reasonable and most customers who are serious about the repair will accept it.

Handling Pushback Without Losing the Customer#

The most common objection is: "The other shop doesn't charge a deposit." Your response: "We take a deposit because we order parts specifically for your device, and we want to make sure you're committed to the repair before we spend that money on your behalf. The deposit goes towards your total — you're not paying extra." Frame the deposit as protection for both parties, not as distrust of the customer. In my experience, fewer than 5% of customers walk out over a deposit policy. The ones who do are often the ones who would have abandoned the repair anyway. Since implementing our deposit policy, our uncollected repair rate dropped from 6% to under 0.5% — the remaining 0.5% are genuinely exceptional circumstances. Every customer who walks out over a £25 deposit was probably going to cost you more than £25 in wasted parts and labour.

Processing Deposits Through Your POS#

The mechanics of taking a deposit matter as much as the policy itself. The deposit needs to be recorded against the specific job so that at collection, the remaining balance is automatically calculated and the customer can see exactly what they've already paid. If your POS doesn't handle deposits natively, you end up with a confusing situation where the customer pays £50 at drop-off and then disputes the £120 balance at collection because the paperwork isn't clear. AskBiz handles deposits cleanly: at intake, you take the deposit via Stripe or Square (card, contactless, or Apple/Google Pay), the amount is recorded against the job, and at collection the system shows the original quote, the deposit paid, and the balance owed. The customer receipt at each stage shows the running balance. No disputes, no confusion, no awkward conversations about "I thought I already paid you."

Deposit Refund Policy for Uncompleted Repairs#

Your deposit policy also needs to cover what happens when a repair can't be completed — either because the device is beyond economical repair, or because the fault found is more expensive than initially quoted and the customer declines. For diagnostic situations, it's reasonable to keep the diagnostic fee (£20-45) as payment for the assessment work, and refund any remainder. For situations where you've already ordered specific parts, it depends on whether those parts can be returned or used for another job. Parts you can restock should result in a full refund minus any diagnostic time. Parts ordered specifically for one device that can't be reused (some OEM components) may justify keeping a portion of the deposit. Whatever your policy is, state it clearly at intake — ideally on a printed job receipt or intake form that the customer signs.

Deposits and Cash Flow Predictability#

Beyond protecting against abandoned jobs, deposits meaningfully improve cash flow. A busy repair shop taking 40 jobs per week at an average deposit of £35 collects £1,400 per week in deposits — cash that's in your account while the repairs are in progress. For a shop that runs tight on cash between supplier payment days, this float can make the difference between ordering parts smoothly and delaying orders because the account is low. In high-volume periods (post-Christmas device surge, back-to-school laptop season), deposit collection creates a cash buffer precisely when you need parts most. When synced to Xero via AskBiz, deposits are correctly treated as liabilities until the job completes, keeping your accounting accurate.

Implementing Tomorrow#

If you don't have a deposit policy, implement one this week. Start with jobs over £50 — these represent the highest abandoned-job risk and the most cash at stake. Set the deposit at 30% of the quoted repair cost. After one month, review whether any customers pushed back seriously (most won't) and whether your uncollected job rate has changed (it will drop dramatically). Then expand to all jobs. AskBiz manages repair jobs end-to-end including deposit tracking and Stripe/Square integration. Try free at askbiz.co

• Uncollected repairs represent 3-8% of jobs in most repair shops — real cash tied up in completed work that customers never collect.
• A structured deposit policy eliminates most of this and improves cash flow predictability.