Booking FAQ

Common questions about the Booking plugin, with the possible causes listed in the order to check them.

Also see

General FAQ for cache, email and sign-in questions that apply to the whole site.

Times and availability

Customers see “no available times”

A time is offered only when everything lines up. Check in this order:

Possible cause	What to do
The staff member has no working hours	Open Staff & Availability and set the weekly schedule for the days and locations you expect.
The staff member is not linked to the service	Open the service and make sure the staff member is assigned to it, and the service is active.
The service is longer than the free time	A 3-hour service needs a 3-hour gap (plus any buffer) inside the working hours.
Minimum notice	In Booking Settings the Minimum Notice (in minutes) hides times that start too soon. Lower it if you accept last-minute bookings.
Time off or holidays	A day off or a closed day hides all times of that day.
The day is already full	Existing appointments and holds take the time. A customer in the middle of an unpaid online payment holds a slot for a short time.
The location does not match	The customer chose a location where the staff member does not work.
Time zone	Check the time zone in Settings → General.
Booking is switched off	Enable Booking in Booking Settings must be on.

A time slot is still blocked after an unpaid payment attempt

Unfinished online payment attempts are cleaned up every hour by the scheduler. Make sure the cron job runs (see Scheduled Tasks).

Two customers booked the same time

This should not happen for the same staff member. Check whether the bookings are for different staff members or different services that allow overlap, and whether the calendar sync (below) recently updated.

What customers see on the site

A service does not appear on the public site

Possible cause	What to do
It is inactive	Switch the service on.
It has no category, or the category is inactive	Assign an active category.
It is hidden by a filter in the page-builder block	Check the block’s category and location filters. See Page Builder Components.
The page is cached	Clear the cache (Settings → Cache).
The Booking pages are not assigned	Choose the services, providers and booking pages in Settings → Page Setup.

I changed the Booking design but the page looks the same

Possible cause	What to do
The page is cached	Clear the cache and hard-refresh.
The block has its own layout	A page-builder block with a layout of its own ignores the global design. Set it to Use Booking settings.
You changed another page type	Each page type has its own setting (services list, service detail, form…). See Frontend Designs.
You are looking at the preview address	`?booking_design=` overrides the setting for you only.

The booking form is blue and does not match my colours

The booking form has its own accent colour in Booking Forms. Change it there.

The staff photos or service pictures look empty in the Photo design

Add pictures to staff profiles, services and locations. The Photo design needs them.

Emails, SMS and reminders

Customers or staff are not getting booking emails

Possible cause	What to do
Mail is not set up	Check Settings → Mail and send a test.
The notification is switched off or empty	Open Notifications and check the template for that event is active.
The customer address is wrong	Check the customer’s email on the appointment.
Messages go to spam	Set up SPF and DKIM for your sending domain.
A queue worker is not running	If notifications are queued, a worker must run. See Queue & Background Jobs.

SMS messages are not sent

In Booking Settings → Notifications check the SMS provider (Twilio, Vonage or custom), its credentials and the sender. Make sure the customer entered a phone number with the country code.

The administrator does not get an email for new bookings

Fill in the administrator email in Booking Settings → Notifications.

Payments, deposits and refunds

The customer cannot pay online

Possible cause	What to do
No payment method is enabled for Booking	In TruPayments → Payment Methods enable a method whose scope includes Booking and whose currency matches.
A billing zone excludes the customer	See Billing Zones.
The gateway is in the wrong mode or has wrong keys	See the Payments FAQ.
Payment is not required for this service	Check the service price and the payment settings of the service.

The booking says unpaid although the customer paid

Possible cause	What to do
The gateway notification (webhook) did not arrive	Check the webhook address in the gateway dashboard, and see the Payments FAQ.
The payment is pending	Some methods confirm later. Check the transaction in Transactions.
The customer left before returning to the site	The booking is completed when the gateway confirms; wait a moment, then reload the appointment.

How do deposits work?

When Deposit payments are on in Booking Settings, the customer pays a percentage (with a minimum) now and the rest later. The remaining balance shows as unpaid on the appointment until you record or collect it.

A refund did not happen

Possible cause	What to do
Refund processing is manual	In Booking Settings the refund processing can be manual. Approve the request in Refund Requests.
The refund failed at the gateway	Open the refund request and choose Retry after checking the gateway dashboard.
The cancellation was outside the refund policy	Check the refund type (full or partial) and the cancel notice in settings.
Missing permission	Approving, declining, retrying and changing refund amounts are separate permissions. See Roles.

Calendars and meetings

Appointments do not appear in Google or Outlook calendar

Possible cause	What to do
The calendar connection is not set up	Check the Integrations tab of Booking Settings: client ID, secret, refresh token and calendar ID.
The connection expired	The scheduler renews calendar connections daily. Check the cron job.
The staff member is not linked	Each provider must connect their own calendar where the module asks for it.

Changes in my Google calendar do not block times in TruCMS

Calendar changes reach TruCMS through a subscription that is renewed daily by the scheduler. Check the cron job and the connection.

Customers and staff

A customer cannot see their bookings

Possible cause	What to do
They are signed in with another account	Bookings belong to the email used when booking.
The My Booking page is not assigned	Choose it in Page Setup.
The account lacks the customer role	Give the user the booking-customer role.

A staff member cannot see their calendar

They need the booking-provider role and a staff profile; the Staff and Calendar pages must be assigned in Page Setup.

How do I stop a customer from cancelling at the last minute?

Set Cancel Notice (in minutes) in Booking Settings. For example 120 blocks customer cancellation within two hours of the start time; you can still cancel from the admin.

Booking Settings · Frontend Designs · Payments FAQ · General FAQ