Online booking rules: notice, booking ahead and cancellations

Your online booking rules decide which times your booking page offers and what clients can change themselves. They only apply to online bookings: your team can still book anything in the calendar. You'll find them in Settings → Online booking, under Rules and Wording. Changes apply as soon as you press Save changes.

#Your online booking rules at a glance

Approving bookings first has a page of its own: approving online bookings first.

#Setting a minimum notice for online bookings

Minimum notice stops last-minute online bookings you can't prepare for. With 2 hours, a client booking at 10am can choose 12pm or later, but not 11am. "1 day" means at least 24 hours from now, not "from tomorrow". The notice is counted in your salon's time.

Clients who want something sooner can call you: the booking page shows your phone number.

#Choosing how far ahead clients can book online

Book up to is how far into the future your booking page offers times, counted from today. With 2 months, the last day clients can book is 60 days away. The same limit applies when a client moves their appointment online.

Keep it to as far ahead as your rosters are reliable. If you plan rosters a month at a time, a longer window lets clients book days you might change later.

#Choosing how often start times are offered

Start times every sets the steps between times on your booking page. Times sit on the clock: with 15 minutes, clients see 9:00, 9:15, 9:30 and so on, whenever the whole visit fits. With 30 minutes, only times on the hour and half hour.

Shorter steps fill the day more tightly; longer steps keep your book tidy. With Reduce gaps on, times can fall off these steps (see below).

#Setting a cutoff for changes and cancellations

Changes & cancellations online is how close to the appointment a client can still move or cancel it from their booking link. With 24 hours, a client booked for Saturday at 10am can change it online until Friday at 10am.

• Inside the cutoff, the booking link tells them to call you, and offers Ask to change or cancel: a short message to you that leaves the appointment as it is until you get back to them (your clients' booking link).
• Any time lets clients change or cancel online right up to the appointment.
• The booking page tells clients the rule before they book: "You can reschedule or cancel online up to 24 hours before."
• It only limits clients. Your team can move or cancel appointments in the calendar at any time, and no-show and late cancellation fees are yours to charge.

#Limiting services in one online booking

Max services per booking stops one online booking from filling a whole day. A bundle counts as one choice, and so does an add-on. However the choices add up, one online booking can hold at most 12 services. When a client tries to pick one more, the page says "You can book up to 4 services at once" (or your number).

#Reducing gaps in the day

Reduce gaps only offers times that start or finish right next to something already in the stylist's day: another appointment (or the end of its processing time), a break or blocked time, or the start or end of their shift. The first time your minimum notice allows counts too. That way online bookings sit snugly together and the day doesn't fill up with 15 to 30 minute gaps nobody can book.

• Quiet days still offer times at the start and end of the day and around breaks.
• Times are on whole 5 minutes and can fall between your usual start times, such as 9:35 straight after a 9:00 appointment that's 35 minutes long.
• If nothing lines up on a day, the page shows every free time that day rather than none.

#Letting clients choose their stylist

With Let clients choose their stylist on, clients see Who would you like? after picking their services:

• Anyone (Earliest available) shows times with everyone who does all the services picked. Each time goes to whoever has the least booked that day, spreading work evenly.
• Each team member who does every service picked, with their job title and Short bio from Settings → Team & roster, and their price when prices differ between stylists.
• If only one person does them all, the page skips this step.

With it off, clients go straight to the times and FullColumn picks whoever's free, again spreading work evenly. Their confirmation still says who they're booked with.

Show each stylist's price level appears when you use price levels and clients choose their stylist. It puts their level (Senior, say) under their name, unless their job title already says it. Their prices show either way.

#Requiring a mobile number

With Require a mobile number on, clients must give a mobile to book online, so they get text reminders. With it off, the mobile is optional. The booking page always asks for an email address.

#Adding a welcome message and an after-booking message

Under Wording in Settings → Online booking:

• Welcome message shows at the top of your booking page, under Choose your services. Use it for what every client should know before choosing, such as "New clients: please book a free consultation before any colour service."
• After booking shows on the screen clients see once they've booked (or sent a request). Use it for parking, what to bring, or arriving early.

Both keep your line breaks. They're only on the booking page: the wording of your confirmations and reminders is in message wording.

#How the booking page works out which times to offer

A time is offered when the client's whole visit fits:

• Inside the team member's hours that day, from their regular hours and any roster changes (team hours and the roster). Your salon's opening hours don't add times: each person's own hours do.
• Clear of everything in their column: appointments (including booking requests and online bookings waiting for payment), breaks, blocked time and salon closures (blocked time and closures).
• At their own lengths, with the services back to back. A stylist on a price level with different times gets their own lengths.
• Around processing time and padding: another client's processing time counts as free when the new visit's hands-on time fits inside it, and padding before and after a service counts as busy (processing time and gaps).
• Within your rules: after the minimum notice, no later than Book up to, and, for a special, only on its days (specials).

#Common questions

#Do these rules stop my team booking appointments?

No. They only apply to your booking page and clients' booking links. In the calendar your team can book any time, any distance ahead, and change or cancel appointments whenever they need to.

#I changed the cancellation cutoff. Does it apply to appointments already booked?

Yes. A client's booking link always follows your current setting, whenever they booked.

#Why does my booking page offer odd times like 9:35?

Reduce gaps is on. It offers times right next to existing appointments, which can fall between your usual start times.

#Why can't a client book the last hour of the day?

The whole visit, including any padding after it, has to finish inside the stylist's hours. A 90-minute colour can't start an hour before they finish.