My company takes 50% up to $250 for deposits up to 3 weeks in advance, but they are fully refundable unless they cancel within 72 hours or reschedule within 24 hours. Our CRM software takes care of this by invoicing the customer. We clearly state we do not take checks by mail for deposit though. That gets way too old checking the PO box for checks. We also don't pick up checks for deposits. They must pay using the link we send where they can choose CC or ACH. We do not charge the fee because we have that price built into our jobs. Also, we get lots of tips when people use CC's. Makes up for the 3.5% anyway. We also take Zelle if you really want to dial back the cost. They only charge 1% I think.