When a party pays and leaves, giving their booking a departed status tells NomNom the table is free, so you can seat someone else there straight away (see Marking guests as arrived, seated or left during service). Here’s exactly what changes, and how to undo it.
Which statuses count as departed
Any status with Counts as departed switched on. In most venues that’s Departed, but you can switch it on for your own statuses too, such as Left or Paid. Its description reads Frees the table from now by ending the booking’s turn early. and in your list of statuses it carries a small Departed badge. For how to set statuses up, see Creating your own booking statuses.
In NomNom Web: Settings → Reservation Statuses → click a status. In the phone app: Settings → Reservation Statuses → tap a status.
What happens when you mark a party departed
If the booking is under way — past its booked time, and before its turn was due to end — NomNom cuts it short so that it ends at that minute. Then:
- The table is free from that moment. You can give it to a walk-in or a new booking without a clash warning, and it can be offered to online bookings.
- The booking stays put. It keeps its table, stays in the day’s list, and its guests still count in your covers. A no-show is different: that takes the booking off its table and out of your covers.
- The chart shows what happened. The booking still covers the time it was booked for, with the part after they left hatched, and its times now run from the booking time to when they left, 19:00 to 19:52 for example.
- Guest limits don’t change. Marking a party departed frees their table, not their place in any guest limit for the time they booked.
When nothing is cut
- Marked before their booking time. Nothing is cut, and the table stays held for the whole booking.
- Marked after their turn has ended. There’s nothing to cut; the table was already free.
- A status that also counts as a no-show. If both switches are on, NomNom treats it as a no-show, not a departure.
One exception: a status named just Departed. NomNom treats that booking’s table as free for the whole of its booked time, whenever you mark it, and even if the status’s Counts as departed switch is off. So if a booking is marked Departed by mistake before the guests arrive, its table can be booked by someone else. Change it back as soon as you spot it.
Marked the wrong party?
Give the booking its proper status again, Arrived for example. If its time hasn’t run out, it gets a full turn back: your usual turn length for that party size (see Setting how long a table is held, including different times on certain days), not a one-off length you’d set on that booking. If the table has already gone to someone else, you’ll see a message that it’s already booked and the status stays as it was; move one of the bookings to another table first. If the booking’s time has already passed, it keeps the time the party actually sat.
Why did a table free up early?
Usually because someone gave the booking a departed status. An admin can check who, and when: open the booking’s Full details and choose Audit trail. You’ll see the Status change, who made it, and the Duration being shortened.
In NomNom Web: click the booking → Full details → Audit trail. In the phone app: tap the booking → View Details → Audit trail.
Good to know
- NomNom never marks a party departed by itself. When a booking reaches the end of its turn, the table frees anyway, with no status needed.
- Editing a departed booking later — to add a note, say — doesn’t stretch it back out or take the table back.
- Fading or hiding them. To make departed parties fade on the chart, or drop off it, see Chart display options: bold colours and fading or hiding parties who have left.