Take bookings | Tavvi Guides

Before you start: A mobile or by-appointment business (page booking is built for setups without a storefront), store hours set, hours ARE your availability, and your page link shared where customers can find it.

The night-DM problem this kills

Service businesses run on "are you free Thursday?" messages answered at midnight. Online booking flips that: your page shows the open times, the customer picks one, and you wake up to a filled slot instead of a negotiation. No back-and-forth, no double-booking, no "I thought we said 3."

Where the open slots come from

There's no separate availability calendar to babysit. Your store hours are your bookable hours. The app takes your open days and hours, subtracts what's already booked, and shows the rest as open slots. Set the hours honestly (the set-your-hours guide), and availability maintains itself:

Closed Mondays? No Monday slots exist.
Booked 2-3pm? That slot disappears for everyone else.
Change your hours? The bookable window moves with them, immediately.

What the customer sees

On your public page they tap Book a slot. They sign in, pick a date (Pick a date to see open slots.), tap an open time, leave a name and phone number, and confirm. Then they see the promise you should know about: "The merchant will reach out to confirm any details.", the app tells them you'll reach out. A same-day text ("Confirmed for Thursday 2pm, see you then.") is what makes the whole system feel professional.

Two people race for the same slot? The second one gets an honest "Slot just taken" and picks another time. Double-booking is handled by the machine, not by your apologies.

Where bookings land on your side

Everything arrives in Appointments on your POS, each booking with its client name, phone, and time. Day-of, the walk-in world and the booking world share one workflow: Walk-In Queue (Manage walk-ins alongside booked appointments.), so a New Walk-In at the counter queues up alongside the 2 o'clock who booked last week.

Good to know: Check tomorrow's calendar at close, every day. Thirty seconds. The difference between "right this way" and visible surprise when a booked client walks in is the difference between a pro and an amateur, and it's free.

No-shows

It happens. No Show keeps the record honest, your calendar history stays a truthful account of who actually showed, which you'll want the third time the same name flakes.

If something's off

"No openings on this day." That's your hours talking: the day is set closed, or every slot is taken. Fix the hours if they're wrong; celebrate if they're full.
No booking section on your page. Page booking shows for mobile / by-appointment businesses (no storefront premises) that have open days set. If you registered with a physical storefront, bookings run through your in-store flow instead, and if your open days are empty, set your hours and check the page again.
A customer says they booked, but you see nothing. Ask for the confirmation screen. If they got the confirmed message, it's on your Appointments, check you're looking at the right day and the right store.