Rhode Island
Rhode Island has no statute on deposits for a personal service. Its Supreme Court’s opinions are old, from 1924 to 1968, but they speak to deposits directly. A court reads the whole agreement for what the parties meant the deposit to be, and enforces a set sum where the loss has no certain measure and the amount is not greatly out of proportion. A policy that says in plain words that the deposit is kept on a no-show, sized to the lost appointment, fits those opinions. The deposit cases that favor the party keeping the money are real-estate cases, so for a service a written term saying the deposit is kept is firmer ground.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Rhode Island?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court, in Wholey Boiler Works v. Lewis, decides whether a deposit is a penalty or liquidated damages by reading the whole agreement in its circumstances, with the parties’ intention as the decisive test; it enforced a per-day forfeiture where the damage could not be known in advance, the amount was not greatly out of proportion, and the parties stood on an equal footing. Muirhead v. Fairlawn Enterprise allows a sum set as compensation where the damages have no certain measure. Seekins v. King, a deposit on land, says a buyer who walks away without legal excuse generally cannot recover a payment made on the contract, and DiBiasio v. DiFazio let a buyer recover the payment when the seller defaulted.
“The question whether a deposit or other payment is to be regarded as a penalty or liquidated damages is to be decided upon consideration of the provisions of the whole agreement in view of the circumstances of each case; and the intention of the parties as thus disclosed is the decisive test.” Wholey Boiler Works v. Lewis, 45 R.I. 441 (1924) · Muirhead v. Fairlawn Enterprise, Inc., 72 R.I. 163 (1946) · Seekins v. King, 66 R.I. 105 (1941) · DiBiasio v. DiFazio, 103 R.I. 565 (1968)
Showing your refund policy
R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-9 gives a customer who paid cash a refund for an unused item returned within 10 business days with the sales slip, unless a poster or notice where the item is displayed, at the checkout or at the store entrance says all sales are final. Custom-made merchandise is excluded, and failing to post is a misdemeanor with a fine of $500 to $1,000. The statute is written for goods returned to a retail outlet and does not reach a tattoo deposit.
“Except where a customer has been clearly informed by either a poster or other appropriate notice ... that all sales are final and that the merchandise is not returnable ... returns the item, unused, within ten (10) business days from the date of purchase, he or she shall be entitled to a refund” R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-27-9
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about client deposits, refunds, prices or payment records in 216-RICR-40-10-15 (Tattoo Artists and Tattoo Parlors) or 216-RICR-40-10-14 (Body Piercing). The only money in them is registration fees, and the client record is the date, name, address, phone, age and proof of age, the tattoo’s location and design, and the artist.
Read: 216-RICR-40-10-15, Tattoo Artists and Tattoo Parlors · 216-RICR-40-10-14, Body Piercing
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.