Reservations, deposits and the waitlist
Reservations with deposits and a waitlist, built for Canadian rules
Mosey takes bookings from the app, your website and the phone, asks for a deposit when it matters and sends the reminders that get people to the door. Every deposit is paid under terms the guest has read and ticked, and a copy arrives by email.
Free to list: your menu, replies and photos.
What does an empty table cost on a Friday?
A booking for six that does not turn up is the table, the walk-ins you turned away and a kitchen that prepped for covers that never came. Most no-shows are people who forgot. A few book three restaurants and choose at six.
What changes behaviour is a small commitment at the moment of booking, a reminder, and an easy way to cancel.
How do you set the rules once?
In the reservation settings you choose booking hours, party sizes, the gaps between sittings and closed days, and you hold back a walk-in reserve. Then you decide when a deposit applies: every booking, large parties, peak nights or particular slots, per person or a flat sum.
Before a guest pays, they see the amount, the free cancellation window, the part-refund window if you set one, and what the restaurant keeps. They tick to accept those terms, and the exact words and their version are saved with the booking. The email confirmation repeats them in full.
What happens to the tax on a kept deposit?
When a Canadian restaurant keeps a deposit, in full or in part, or charges a held card for a no-show, the GST/HST due is inside that amount and is recorded with it. If a forfeited deposit is given back, the tax is reversed. The no-show terms say so in one line: the restaurant keeps the deposit, which includes any GST/HST due.
A deposit that fully prepays a set menu or a ticket is taxed at payment, and its tax is shown by name inside the amount.
How do cancellations and no-shows work?
Inside the free window the deposit comes back. After it, your rule applies. Cancelling in time never counts as a no-show, however late. Only a booking you mark as a no-show does, and you can undo it for 48 hours. A card hold saves the guest's card and charges the fee only if they do not arrive.
A group can split the deposit, each guest paying their share. If the booking does not go ahead, everyone gets a full refund.
How does the walk-in line work?
A QR code on the door lets a guest join the line from their phone, with no app and no account. You see the line live and call the next party. A waitlist takes names for a fully booked date and offers a table to a guest for 24 hours when one opens.
Where the rules differ
Deposits follow the province, and Quebec is different.
- Quebec
- Quebec bans restaurant deposits. Since July 2025 only a $10 a head no-show fee is allowed, and only when nobody in the group turns up. Mosey does not build that fee while Quebec is closed.
- Saskatchewan and Manitoba
- Sales are refused, but booking holds and deposits are allowed.
- British Columbia
- Booking holds and deposits are allowed, and are treated as a security for the booking, not a sale of food through the marketplace. That reading is the owner's and has not been confirmed with counsel.
- Ontario
- The deposit terms and an emailed copy follow Ontario's rule for online purchases over $50, and Mosey applies them in every province.
Rules change. Check any rule that matters to you with your accountant or adviser.
What Mosey is about
Affordable tools for food businesses
Tools priced for independents and small chains, not for the big groups.
A full suite, in one login
The tools a restaurant, café or bar needs sit together, so you are not paying for a stack of separate subscriptions.
You keep more of your revenue
Mosey is built so that more of every sale stays with the business that made it.
Free to list and claim
Your menu, your replies to guests and your photos cost nothing to put on Mosey.
No hidden fees
What Mosey charges is published, in full, so nothing arrives as a surprise on a statement.
Made for local food businesses
Mosey helps diners find independent food businesses by dish and mood, and lets people rate what they actually ate.
Questions owners ask
Does Mosey take a cut of reservation deposits?
No. A reservation deposit carries no Mosey fee. It goes to your Stripe account, and Stripe's card fee applies as usual.
Can guests book without a Mosey account?
Yes, through the booking widget on your website. They pick a time, leave a name and number, tick the deposit terms and pay.
What reminders go out?
A reminder a day ahead on every booking. The paid reservation plans add a two-hour reminder, a two-week reminder and attendance confirmation.
Can I add a phone booking myself?
Yes. Add the guest and the source, so your numbers show where bookings come from.
What if a party is too big for my rules?
It goes to a large-group request, where you quote it and take a deposit before the date is held.
Can a Quebec restaurant ask for a deposit?
No. Quebec bans restaurant deposits, so they are not part of what Mosey offers there.
Does a guest who cancels in time lose anything?
No. Inside your free window the deposit comes back and the cancellation is not recorded as a no-show.
More for your business
Events and tickets
Ticketed tasting nights and supper clubs, with a capacity, a waitlist, door scanning and tax at purchase.
Loyalty and Mosey Tap
A stamp card or points program that guests join in the app, with consent asked in the Canadian way.
Marketing and your customer list
Customer groups, win-back offers and member letters, sent only with express consent.
Put your menu, your replies and your photos in front of diners
Claim your free listing and decide how your business looks to the people searching for a good dish near them.
Free to list: your menu, replies and photos.