In the dining room, a prepayment comes in when the risk goes up: groups of six or more, business dinners, events and tastings, where an absence can't be fixed by turning one table. The mechanism is simple: at confirmation you ask for €10 per person with a payment link, and the sum is deducted from the bill. The customer who shows up pays nothing extra; the customer who vanishes has left a sign of seriousness, or at least covered part of the damage. Putting it in writing in one line — amount, when, how it's recovered — avoids misunderstandings at the end of the night.
The difference from a deposit is the purpose: a deposit exists to guarantee the damage if the customer backs out, a prepayment as an advance on the service. In Italy, under the civil code, a sum given as a true guarantee requires an explicit intention of both parties; that's why dining-room practice almost always uses the deducted prepayment, simpler to explain and easier to stand behind. Whichever route you choose, the point is one: write down, in the chat or the confirmation, what happens to the sum in the three possible cases — shows up, cancels with notice, doesn't show up. One clear message before prevents nine arguments out of ten after.
Frequently asked questions
- Are a prepayment and a deposit the same thing?
- In everyday speech often yes, but legally no: a prepayment is an advance that's deducted from the final bill, a deposit is a guarantee that's lost if the customer backs out. In the dining room it's worth using the right word for what you actually do: usually a prepayment deducted from the bill.
- How much prepayment should you ask for a group?
- A practical reference is €10-20 per person, never a figure that scares: the goal is to create commitment, not to collect. For events and tastings you can go up to 20-30% of the estimated bill, with automatic refund if the cancellation comes with notice within a written deadline.