Alaska
In Alaska the word “non-refundable” decides nothing; a court decides whether a kept deposit holds. It holds when the loss from a missed appointment is hard to work out in advance and the amount is a reasonable forecast of it, because an agreed amount may compensate the shop but may never punish the client. The Alaska Supreme Court has faulted a clause that charges the same high amount for a minor breach as for a major one, so a policy that treats a late arrival, a short-notice reschedule and a no-show differently is on firmer ground than one that keeps the whole deposit for all 3.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Alaska?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
The rule comes from the Alaska Supreme Court. In Carr-Gottstein Properties v. Benedict (2003), it held that an agreed amount may only compensate for a breach, never punish, and is proper where actual damages would be hard to work out and the amount is a reasonable forecast of them; it upheld a $25-a-day charge partly because it tracked the size of the breach. In Wenzell v. Ingrim (2010), it added that a court decides whether such a clause is valid, and called a clause flawed that charges the same high penalty for a partial or minor breach as for a total or major one.
“may not serve as a penalty that punishes the breaching party. ... Liquidated damages clauses are proper ... where 'it would be difficult to ascertain actual damages,' and where the liquidated amount [is] 'a reasonable forecast of the damages likely to occur in the event of breach'” Carr-Gottstein Properties, Ltd. Partnership v. Benedict, 72 P.3d 308 (Alaska 2003) · Dominic Wenzell, D.M.D. P.C. v. Ingrim, 228 P.3d 103 (Alaska 2010)
Showing your refund policy
No refund-policy disclosure law was found. All 1,229 sections of Title 45 of the Alaska Statutes (Trade and Commerce) were searched for “refund policy”, “return policy”, “refund or exchange”, “exchange policy”, “cancellation policy” and “no refund”. The only hit is a refund-credit rule inside a retail installment contract section, which is not a duty to post or disclose a policy.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about client deposits or refunds in the licensing law and rules for tattooing, permanent cosmetic coloring and body piercing (AS 08.13 and 12 AAC 09) or in the Department of Environmental Conservation’s sanitation rules for shops (18 AAC 23). The only money in them is license and permit fees.
Read: AS 08.13 and 12 AAC 09 (July 2026 compilation) · 18 AAC 23
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.