Bookings arriving later than their slot

When a member books a rink in the app they are asked what time will you be on the rink?. It is filled in with the session’s own start, so somebody arriving on time simply leaves it alone.

Where they set a later time, the club is told. Everybody who can manage bookings gets a notification, and the booking shows on the steward tablet’s diary with an amber on the rink at 15:00 against it.

That matters because a four booked for two who will not be there until three have left an hour of green that nobody knows is free. The steward is the only person who can do anything with it — offer it to somebody at the gate, or put the group on the later session instead.

The diary carries a + Also book the next slot button against those bookings. It copies the same players on to the following session on the same rink, so nobody retypes four names.

Common questions

Where do I see the ones that need checking?

An Arrival checks figure appears on the steward tablet whenever there is something to check, and a matching card on the Pavilion dashboard. Both are hidden entirely when there is nothing — an alert that is present and empty every day is one people stop reading. Tapping the figure lists the bookings; tapping one opens it, with the next session and the rinks free in it.

Their rink is taken in the next session.

Then the other free rinks are offered instead, with their own listed first whenever it is still available. The point is to get the group on a green, not to be precious about which one. If every rink is taken it says so plainly rather than offering something that would fail.

What happens to the players and notes?

Copied across, so nobody retypes four names. The new booking is marked as carried on from the earlier slot.

How do I stop one appearing without booking anything?

Leave it as it is on the booking. It has been looked at and a decision made, so it stops asking — that is the whole purpose of the check, rather than a list that nags until the day is over.

I pressed it twice and got an error.

Fixed in 9.99.254. The offer used to stay on screen after it had been taken, so a second press ran the whole thing again and failed against the very booking the first press had just made — an error about a clash with itself, over something that had actually worked. The two bookings are now tied together: the first knows it has been carried on, shows Carried on to the next slot instead of the button, and a second press is answered rather than refused.

What if the continuation is cancelled?

The first booking starts asking again, which is right — the group has nowhere to carry on to any more. The link is read from the bookings themselves rather than from a note kept to one side, so it cannot claim something that is no longer true.

Does it move the booking, or add one?

Adds one. Whether the group is arriving late and staying on, or should simply have had the later slot, is a judgement about that day — so the button does the part that is fiddly and leaves the decision to the steward. Cancel the earlier one afterwards if it is not wanted.

Can a member say they will arrive early?

No. The box will not accept a time before the session starts, because the rink is not theirs before then.

Can a steward set it when taking a booking on the phone?

Yes, from 9.99.250. Both the quick booking form and the booking wizard carry an On the rink at box, filled in with the session’s own start, so a booking for the usual time needs no thought. It is worth asking: somebody ringing to book two o’clock and mentioning they will not be along until three is exactly the case this exists for.

Nothing appears against a booking made on the portal.

The portal booking form does not ask yet, so those are treated as arriving at the start — which is what a booking has always meant. The app and both admin screens do ask.

The button says there is no later session.

The booking is already on the last session of the day, so there is nothing to carry them on to.