What clients see when their favorite team member has no opening

When a client has marked a team member as a favorite and then books with them, the booking page normally offers that person's times. This article is about the moment when that person has no times to offer. Instead of showing an empty list, or quietly switching the client to someone else, the booking page tells the client plainly what is going on, by name, and gives them clear choices.

It applies only to clients who signed in on your booking page and saved a favorite. A client booking as a guest has no favorites, so it never appears for them. There is nothing for you to set up or switch on.

The page says one of three things:

• The favorite has a later opening. It names the person, says they have no opening in the next few days, and shows their next real opening with the day and time.
• The favorite has no opening at all in the next two weeks. It names the person and says they have no upcoming opening. It does not invent a time.
• The favorite no longer works at the location. It says the person is no longer at this branch.

1. Optional sign-in must be switched on for your booking page, because favorites need a signed-in client. The article on client sign-in and favorites explains how it works.
2. The team member needs to be bookable online for the service, as in any booking.
3. To see the message yourself, you need a signed-in test client with that person saved as a favorite, and a person who has no times in the days the page shows, for example because their days are full or blocked.

You do not do anything for this to work. To see it as a client would:

1. Open your booking page and sign in as a test client.
2. Choose a service and, at the With step, press the heart on the team member to add them to your favorites.
3. Choose a service that person does while they have no times in the days shown. The page picks them for you, and a message under the With step names them and explains what it found.
4. Try each choice described in the next section.

If a client tells you they were offered a different time or person than they expected, check that person's hours, blocks and time off in the appointment book. Those decide whether they have openings.

When the favorite has a later opening, the client sees a message such as "(Name) has no opening in the next few days. Their next opening is (day) at (time)." with two buttons:

• Use this opening picks that day and time, so the client can go straight on to their details.
• Choose someone else switches the booking to First available, so they see the earliest time with anyone. Nothing is chosen for them without a click.

When the favorite has no opening in the next two weeks, the client sees "(Name) has no upcoming opening in the next two weeks." with Choose someone else.

When the favorite has left the location, the client sees "(Name) is no longer at this branch." with Choose someone else. The message says the person has left, not just that they are busy.

Under the message, when the favorite is still at the location, the client is also asked "Want us to message you if an earlier spot with (Name) opens up?" with Notify me if a slot opens. If they use it, they fill in Your name and WhatsApp phone, tick Message me on WhatsApp when a slot opens, and press Join the waitlist. They then see "You're on the list for (Name). We'll message you on WhatsApp if a spot opens." This is an ordinary waitlist entry for that person and that service, with no preferred day. It does not book anything. The control is never offered for a person who has left.

Later, if a time with that person opens up and it suits the service, the client is offered it by WhatsApp, like any waitlist offer. Each offer is for one spot and is never sent to the same client twice for it. A time that opens with someone else is not offered to a client waiting for their favorite. The same goes for a client whose appointment was moved away from their favorite: if that person later has a matching opening, the client is offered it.

• Expecting guests to see it. Only signed-in clients with a saved favorite do.
• Expecting the message while the favorite has times. If they have openings in the days shown, the client simply sees them.
• Expecting the page to book another person on its own. It never switches the client without a click. The choice is theirs.
• Expecting the notify option for someone who left. It is not offered, and the page says the person is no longer at the location.
• Thinking joining the waitlist books a time. It only puts the client in line for an offer.
• Expecting a time beyond two weeks. The page looks ahead two weeks. If it finds nothing it says so, and does not make up a time.

The articles on client sign-in and favorites, the booking page and the staff directory cover the pieces around this one.