Book the next one

Step 4 of Finish up. The visit is done and the customer is still in front of you — which is the easiest moment there will ever be to get the next one in the diary.

Where the date comes from

The app works out when the pet is next due and shows real free times around that date, not the next gap in the diary. Three things are asked in turn, and the first one with an answer wins:

• the pet’s own Rebook every, on its record — a wiry terrier at eight weeks and a poodle at four are the same treatment;
• the treatment’s Weeks between appointments, on the service itself;
• your usual gap, or six weeks.

The same three answer the rebooking emails and the Rebooking prompts screen, so the date you are offered at the desk is the date the rest of the software believes in.

What you are offered

The step names the nearest free time and the date the pet is due. Find a time opens the diary picker on that week, with that day already open — so the day before and the day after are one tap away, you can see what is already booked above the free times, and Showing switches between one member of staff and anyone.

Every treatment on today’s visit is a tick, including the one it was booked under. That one starts ticked and the rest start off — whether the nails need doing in six weeks is a decision for six weeks’ time — but all of them turn on and off, so a visit filed under the wrong treatment does not have to be repeated wrongly. Whichever ticked treatment is longest is the one the new booking is filed under, marked · main; a tie goes to the dearer. Ticking updates the price and the length, and the length is what decides which times are wide enough, so choose before you go looking.

With nothing ticked there is nothing to book, and Find a time will not open the diary.

Tapping a time

Makes an ordinary confirmed booking — the same as one made any other way, so deposits, confirmations and the diary all behave normally. It also stops the automatic rebooking email, because the pet now has a future booking and nobody chases a customer who has already booked.

Example

A groom finishes at 11:40. The owner is putting the lead on. Step 4 says “Duke is due again in 6 weeks”; the groomer taps Find a time, sees the whole of that week with Saturday already open, and books 09:00 before the dog is out of the door.

FAQ

It says nothing is free around then.
There genuinely are no open slots within a fortnight either side of the due date — usually because rotas or opening hours have not been set that far ahead. Set them, or open the diary and pick a time by hand.

It refused the booking.
It will tell you why, in the same words you would get anywhere else in the app: a meet & greet not done, a breed or size rule on the treatment, or the slot filling up while the sheet was open. A meet & greet or a size warning can be overridden from the message if you have permission; a full slot is re-checked and fresh times offered.

It says the visit has no treatment on it.
The booking was saved without a service, so there is nothing to repeat. Add the treatment to the booking and step 4 will fill in.

The treatment I need is not in the list.
The list is what was on today’s visit, because a rebook repeats a visit. To book something else entirely, close Finish up and use + on the diary — the booking wizard offers your whole price list.

Find a time is greyed out.
Nothing is ticked. A booking with no treatment on it is worth nothing and still takes up the slot, so the diary will not open for one — tick at least one treatment and the button comes back.

Where do I set how often a pet comes in?
Two places, and either works. On the pet’s record, Rebook every sets it for that animal — in weeks or months. On the treatment, Weeks between appointments sets it for everyone having that treatment. The pet’s own setting wins where both are filled in.

If you have the Rebooking prompts screen, its per-treatment list is the same box as the one on the treatment — it is there so you can set them all in one sitting. Changing it in either place changes it in both.

Can I offer a different member of staff?
Yes. The picker opens on the person who did today’s visit; the Showing box at the top switches to anyone, or to somebody specific, and the times redraw. Whoever is showing when you tap a time is who the booking is assigned to.

Does this send the customer anything?
No. It makes the booking; whatever you normally send on a confirmed booking is what goes out. The separate automatic rebooking emails are a different feature, and this one switches them off for that pet by giving them a future booking.

Is it on the free plugin?
Yes. Asking for the next appointment at the desk is part of the app on every plan. The automatic email that chases people who left without booking is the paid part.