The waitlist

When a day is full, your booking page doesn't stop at "No open times". Clients join a waitlist for the days and times of day that suit them, and when a time frees up, the people waiting for it hear first, by email, with a link that opens that exact time, ready to confirm. Whoever confirms first books it. You see everyone waiting on your calendar's home (Today, or Upcoming if you have no front desk), and can send a free time yourself in one tap.

Turn it on

It's in Calendar → Settings → Waitlist: "Offer a waitlist when you're fully booked". It starts on for salons, spas and clinics, and off for other kinds of business; switched on, it works the same for every kind. It works while online booking is live: paused, nobody can join, and nobody is offered a time.

What clients see

Under a day with no open times, the booking page offers "Join the waitlist for Thu 10 Jan"; when nothing is open in the fortnight shown, "Join the waitlist". A day you're closed, or that nobody who does the service works, doesn't offer it. When the person they chose is full but someone else who does it has times that day, "Book Women's haircut with anyone at Glow Studio" comes first. The client keeps the services they picked, and when they chose someone and others do the same service, picks "Only Priya" or any stylist (in your calendar's word); the form names the days others have times ("Marcus has times on Wed 21 Oct: book one instead of waiting"). Then:

• The days. The fortnight they were looking at, up to 14 days. Days you're closed, or nobody who does it works, show but can't be picked; days that still have open times say "Has times", with a link to book one instead.
• The times of day. Morning (before 12 PM), afternoon (12–5 PM) and evening (after 5 PM), all ticked to begin with; with none ticked, the form asks for one. Phone and video meetings read in the client's own time zone, as the booking page does, and your calendar says so ("evenings (London time)").
• Their details. A name, and a mobile number or an email, by your rules in Settings → What you ask for. Without an email they get no automatic message: a time that frees up for them waits on your calendar for you to send on WhatsApp, and the booking page promises an email only where you ask everyone for one.

Joining leads to their own waitlist page: what they're waiting for, how they'll hear, and "Leave the waitlist". A client you've blocked from booking online can't join, and nobody waits for more times than they may have upcoming bookings.

When a time frees up

A cancellation, a request you decline or that runs out, a visit moved away or made shorter, blocked time or time off removed or cut short, and longer weekly or special hours all free time. The calendar then looks for people waiting for that day, that time of day and that person (or anyone), in the order they joined, and offers each the time your booking page would: their services' length, your notice and booking window, with the freed start first.

• Five people at most are emailed about any moment of the freed time, and up to five more who gave only a phone number are listed on your calendar for you to send on WhatsApp: they never take the emails' places. Nobody hears twice about the same slot, and one freed visit, processing time and all, is one offer each. A whole day back offers five people per visit that fits.
• The email says "A time you're waiting for opened up", with "Book this time": your booking page at that time, their details filled in, one tap to confirm.
• The time isn't held. The first to confirm books it. Anyone who taps later is told why it went (someone else booked it first, it has passed, it's too close to book online, so they should call you, or it isn't available any more), sees what else is open on their days, and stays on the waitlist.

On your calendar

The line under the date counts "2 waiting", and "1 offer to send on WhatsApp" when a freed time is waiting for you to send. The panel "Waiting for a time" shows the three you can act on first (an offer to send, then someone a free time suits now), and "See all 10 waiting" opens everyone, in the order they joined; on a phone it comes after the day's appointments. For each person: who, what and with whom, their times of day and when they joined; the first free time that suits them, with WhatsApp (your phone opens WhatsApp with the message and the link typed; you press send) and Email (the same link by email). What they were offered shows too: when it was emailed or sent, whether they opened it or booked, and when someone else booked it or it's no longer free. An offer no email reaches says "Not sent: Farah gave no email", with "Send on WhatsApp". "Their days and times" opens a sheet with the free times on each of their days, "Book them yourself" and "Remove from the waitlist".

Without a front desk (consultants, home services, tutors and the rest), the same panel sits on Upcoming, for everyone waiting on any day ahead, counted on its summary line. With notifications on and set to everything, your phone tells you when an offer is waiting to be sent, and the morning summary names who's waiting for today.

Starting from a gap works too: tap an empty time in someone's column, and when people are waiting for that day the sheet says so, with "Offer 4:00 PM to the waitlist". It lists who wants that time and can book it online then, each a tap from WhatsApp or email.

On a client's record, "Waitlist" adds them for a caller who wants a time that's full: the services, with whom, the days (any day your booking page takes bookings for) and the times of day, and a note for your team. Their record shows what they're waiting for, with "Remove". Front-desk logins work the waitlist as admins do; staff logins don't see it.

When it ends

A client comes off the waitlist when they book: through the link, or a booking you make for them, a walk-in included, on one of their days that covers what they waited for. They also come off when they press "Leave the waitlist" (on their page, or in any email), when you remove them, or once their last day has passed. If they booked a service you approve first and you decline the request, they're back on the waitlist while their days last.

Open your calendar →