Mark, thats a staggering amount of no shows. I really am taken aback by how rife this is throughout the industry. Problem is there must be a small percentage of people who would not be prepared to give credit card details out and it could be equally costly in putting people off in the first place. It would certainly sort the wheat from the chaff if you did insist on a credit card, but would it work? From my experience of booking with you I know you take telephone numbers, I did not get a call pre arrival, could this help out a bit if your reception double checked in advance of arrival? I normally get a call in advance from most of the London restaurants. At the very least if you were full on the night it would perhaps forewarn you of a no show enabling you to sell on the table. BTW, I'm not after a job we do call to confirm 24hrs in advance for most services including all evening services, lunches arnt as much of a problem, but even when people confirm they still dont show sometime or they book within the 24 hour period then dont show!! it is not the cancelations that are the problem mostly just the no shows!! and we had a 2 more tables no show this lunch time which had booked this morning!!!!