Straight answers for
venues & guests.

This is exactly what Toadee's tab system is built to prevent. With Require Tab for Orders on (the default), a guest can't place an order until they've opened a tab — which puts a saved card on file and places a pre-authorization hold on it for an amount you set. So there's a valid card with funds already held before a single drink or plate goes out.

When the guest leaves, you close their tab and the card is charged automatically — no chasing anyone down, no cash-less dine-and-dash. Every order is also tied to an authenticated, age-verified (21+) account, so there's a real person behind each tab.

Tip: raise the pre-auth hold amount and turn on auto-gratuity in Settings to cover larger tabs.

Straight answer: a pre-authorization is a temporary hold, not a guarantee of future funds — and prepaid/gift cards are the least reliable of all (they can release holds early, may not support the hold-then-charge flow, or the balance gets spent elsewhere before you close the tab). Toadee gives you several levers to close that gap:

• Set a pre-auth hold that covers a typical tab. You choose the hold amount in Settings. The card is authorized for that amount up front, and you capture up to it at close — so set it high enough for how your guests actually spend.
• Keep "Require Tab for Orders" on so nothing is served without a card and an active hold behind it.
• Close tabs promptly. Authorization holds expire (typically within about a week), so capturing sooner is far more reliable than letting a tab sit open for days.
• Refuse the card or block the guest. If a particular card won't hold or a guest keeps causing problems, decline it at the point of service or block that patron (see the next question).

Honest note: like any bar tab, a charge above the amount you held on a card that's since been drained can't be fully guaranteed — that's true of every POS. Requiring a tab, holding an adequate amount, and closing promptly eliminates almost all of that risk. (If you use in-person card-reader hardware on Pro, the hold can also be raised as the tab grows.)

Yes. From Admin → Blocked Patrons, you can block a specific customer from checking in, opening a tab, or ordering at your venue — on any plan, including Free. Once blocked, they simply can't start a tab with you.

The block is per-venue (it applies only to your venue, not the whole platform) and you can unblock anytime. It's the same right of refusal you'd exercise at the door — enforced automatically in the app.

Opening a tab places a hold on the guest's card for the pre-auth amount you set. The card is charged when the tab is closed and the tip is added — you capture the real total (up to the held amount). The guest sees the itemized tab and their tip before it's finalized.

There's a Free plan ($0/mo), Basic ($19.99/mo annual or $24.99 monthly), and Pro ($29.99/mo annual or $36.99 monthly). See Pricing for what each unlocks.

On Free, patrons pay a small App Service Charge (2.0% + $0.30 per closed tab; 1.0% for your first 14 days) — it's charged to the patron as a line on their tab, only on the subtotal, and your venue still receives its full subtotal, tax, and tips. On Basic/Pro the App Service Charge is 0%.

Card-processing fees are Stripe's own (Stripe's standard pricing, e.g. ~2.9% + $0.30 for online card payments in the US) and are billed on your connected Stripe account — Toadee doesn't set or mark them up.

You connect your own Stripe account during setup. Sales (subtotal, tax, and tips) go to you, and Stripe pays out to your bank on its normal schedule. Toadee never holds your funds or sees your bank details. You can open your Stripe dashboard and see pending/past payouts right from Admin → Settings.