Approve or decline online booking requests

When you require manual approval, online bookings are created as pending instead of confirmed. You receive a New booking request email, you approve or decline the request in the dashboard, and the customer is told at every step: when the request arrives, when you confirm it, and when you decline it.

Turn on manual approval

The setting sits with the other booking controls in Settings.

1. Open Settings from the admin navigation.

2. In the booking controls, turn on the option to require manual approval for new bookings.

From now on, a customer who books online creates a pending booking instead of an immediate one. Turn the setting off to return to instant confirmations.

Decide a booking request

You receive a New booking request email each time a customer books while approval is required. Approve or decline the request in the dashboard.

1. Open the pending request from your dashboard.

2. Approve or decline it.

Approving confirms the booking, and the customer receives the Booking confirmed notification. Declining sends the Declined notification instead. Approvals are recorded in the booking's activity history; see View a booking's activity history.

What customers see while a booking is pending

The customer's booking details page shows Booking is pending approval, and My bookings lists the booking with a Pending status badge. The main action row is disabled while the booking is pending. See How customers use My bookings.

Messages customers receive

Three notification types cover the approval flow. You configure them in Settings > Notification Settings; see Email and SMS appointment notifications.

• Pending request, sent immediately when a booking awaits your approval. The email preview is labeled Booking request received.

• Booking confirmed, sent immediately when a booking is confirmed, including when you approve a pending one.

• Declined, sent immediately when you decline a pending booking. The email preview is labeled Booking request declined.

Email is always enabled for each type. Each type has its own SMS checkbox in Notification Settings, and SMS defaults to on. Reminders for a pending booking are not sent until you approve it. To read the exact wording customers receive, use Settings > Notification Settings > Preview notifications.

Manual approval with prepayment

When both settings apply, the customer pays first. The booking is created only after the payment succeeds, and it then waits for your approval like any other online booking. See Require prepayment for online bookings.