TTo avoid double bookings, consider the following points regarding your settings, team understanding and system setup.
Ensure your booking settings are correct
Go to Settings > Services and review the settings under ‘How would you like to take online bookings?’
Confirm if all services should be available for online bookings and what your settings are for booking confirmations in General preferences.
Go to Settings > General Preferences and verify the following:
Minimum and maximum lead time for bookings: Make sure team members understand these lead times to avoid conflicts between online and manual bookings. Ignoring them can lead to overlapping bookings due to unexpected online bookings made without adequate notice.. How would this cause conflict?
Unconfirmed booking reservation duration: This duration blocks the slot until it ends, then the slot becomes available again. Be aware of these durations.
Default status for bookings created by team members: If set to ‘awaiting payment’, bookings can expire, reopening the slot and potentially causing a double booking.
Track changes retrospectively
If it is unclear who made changes to the bookings involved in the double booking, review the 'Booking history' within each booking. This section provides a detailed record of all changes, including the team member responsible and the corresponding time stamps.
If notifications are not sent to clients, unconfirmed bookings may expire and become hidden. This can result in double bookings, where one client mistakenly believes their booking is confirmed while another client books the now-available slot.
Ensure team members understand booking preferences and settings
When using your online booking page, it’s important that all team members understand your Bookem settings and how to use them. Appropriate on-boarding is required for any team member using Bookem. Our help section is a good place to start.
Verify client notifications for bookings
Automated messages: Ensure appropriate automated messages are set up to notify clients that bookings marked as 'pencilled in,' 'awaiting payment,' or 'booking requested' are not immediately confirmed. These messages should explain that final confirmation requires either payment or acceptance by a team member.
Notification content: Clients should receive automated messages detailing the status of their booking. It’s important to set up reminders for unconfirmed bookings and include instructions to take like submitting proof of payment (POP) if needed.
Booking requests: Closely monitor booking requests to avoid no-shows or clients assuming confirmation. If team members need to accept bookings, use an automated message to inform clients to await confirmation.
Payment failures: If a payment fails, the booking may remain awaiting payment’ and expire, freeing the slot for another booking. Ensure clients are prompted to complete or confirm payment.
Using an external calendar alongside Bookem is not recommended due to syncing delays and the need to check two calendars which can lead to double bookings