What clients see on the waiting list

Once the waiting list is enabled, your public booking page grows a safety net: instead of a dead end when a day is full, clients can leave their preferences and get first dibs on cancellations. Here's the whole journey from their side — useful for explaining it at the front desk, and for understanding what the notifications you're configuring actually look like.

Joining the list

When a client picks a day with no availability, the booking page shows "No openings on this day — yet" with a Join the waiting list button. Tapping it opens a short form:

• Which dates work — a from/until range, with one-tap presets: Next 2 weeks, This month, Next 3 months.
• Preferred times — optional Morning / Afternoon / Evening chips. Selecting none means any time is fine.
• Preferred days — optional, with Weekdays / Weekends / Any day shortcuts.
• Stylist — their originally chosen professional, plus an "I'm open to anyone available" toggle. The form nudges them toward flexibility: "Get notified sooner — any qualified professional can take you."
• Contact — name and email. The email is verified with a one-time code before they can join, so offers never go to a typo. A phone number is optional, and SMS offers only go to clients who opt in.

Joining is free — no payment, no card, no account. The form says it plainly: "No charge until you book."

After submitting they see "You're on the list", get a confirmation email, and receive a personal link to their waiting-list page.

While they wait

The link opens a small status page showing exactly what they're waiting for — services, date range, preferred times and days, and stylist preference — with a status badge: On the list, Booked, Expired, or Left.

From there they can leave the waiting list at any time (with a confirmation step), which stops all notifications. They can rejoin later from the booking page. Entries also expire on their own once the requested date range has passed — nobody gets offers for dates they no longer want.

Getting an offer

When a matching slot frees up, the client gets a notification on your enabled channels: "A slot just opened." The link leads to a claim page showing the date and time, the professional, the services — and a countdown: "Offer expires in 29:54." That's your configured claim window ticking.

Two buttons:

• Book this slot — the appointment is created instantly. "You're booked!", confirmation email, done. It lands on your calendar like any other booking.
• No thanks, keep me on the list — declines this particular slot but keeps them waiting for the next one. Declining never removes anyone from the list.

If they're too slow, the page says "This offer has expired" — they're still on the list, and the slot has moved on to the next person. If a batch offer went to several clients and someone else was faster, they see "This slot was just taken" — again, still on the list.

The earlier-slot upgrade

There's a second way onto the waiting list that doesn't involve a full day: clients who already have a booking are offered a "Want an earlier appointment?" toggle when they book. Switching it on quietly watches for cancellations before their current appointment time — these clients show up on your staff view with an Earlier slot badge.

When an earlier slot opens, their claim page shows Move my appointment here instead of the regular booking button. Claiming reschedules their existing appointment automatically — no double booking, no phone call — and their now-vacant original slot is immediately offered to the rest of the waiting list. One cancellation can ripple into several happy clients.