Alabama
In Alabama a kept deposit holds only if it passes all 3 of the state Supreme Court’s tests: the loss from a broken booking is hard to estimate, both sides meant the deposit to cover that loss and not to punish, and the amount is a reasonable estimate made in advance. Failing any one makes it a penalty, and a doubtful clause is read as one. So a policy that says what the deposit covers, such as the held time and the drawing work, and sizes it to what a missed appointment costs is on firmer ground than one written as a guarantee that the client shows up.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Alabama?
Alabama’s rule comes from its Supreme Court, not a statute. In Camelot Music v. Marx Realty (1987), restated in Milton Construction (1990), the court set 3 tests: the injury must be hard or impossible to estimate, the parties must mean to provide for damages and not a penalty, and the amount must be a reasonable estimate of the probable loss made before any breach; if one fails, the clause fails as a penalty. Camelot calls a penalty money held to make sure a deal is carried out, or a punishment for breaking it, and reads a clause of doubtful intent as a penalty. The court still quoted the same test in 2026, in Weaver v. Frios Gourmet Pops.
“First, the injury caused by the breach must be difficult or impossible to accurately estimate; second, the parties must intend to provide for the damages rather than for a penalty; and, third, the sum stipulated must be a reasonable pre-breach estimate of the probable loss.” Camelot Music, Inc. v. Marx Realty & Improvement Co., 514 So. 2d 987 (Ala. 1987) · Milton Construction Co. v. State Highway Department, 568 So. 2d 784 (Ala. 1990) · Weaver v. Frios Gourmet Pops, LLC, No. SC-2024-0713 (Ala. Feb. 20, 2026)
Showing your refund policy
No refund-policy disclosure law was found. The full text of the Code of Alabama was searched, through the Legislature’s own search service, for “refund policy”, “return policy”, “refund or exchange”, “exchange policy” and “cancellation policy”. “Refund policy” turns up only in a cryptocurrency kiosk law and a private school licensing law; the other phrases appear nowhere.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about deposits or refunds in the Body Art Practice and Facilities rules (Ala. Admin. Code ch. 420-3-23) or the tattoo facility licensing law (Ala. Code §§ 22-17A-1 to 22-17A-7). The only money in either is the facility license fee. Jefferson County’s local act says nothing about money either.
Read: Ala. Admin. Code ch. 420-3-23 · Ala. Code §§ 22-17A-1 to 22-17A-7
What reaches your deposit page
When the shop cannot keep the date
Alabama’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act makes it deceptive, after taking payment for a service, to miss the time promised, or 30 days when none was promised, unless within that time the seller offers the buyer the choice of a refund of everything paid or a new, specific date. A refund the buyer asks for in writing goes out within 10 business days.
“failing to ... furnish such services within the time advertised or otherwise represented ... unless within the applicable time period the seller provides the buyer with the option to either cancel the sales agreement and receive a refund of all previous payments to the seller or to extend the date to a specific date” Ala. Code § 8-19-5(17)
- The default deposit policy says your client gets the whole deposit back if you have to cancel, and a full refund from your dashboard returns everything they paid, the fee included when they paid it.
This page summarizes public law in plain language, with the source each point comes from, read at the source on 2026-09-23. It is not legal advice.