Set Online Appointment Rules - Web version

The Online Appointment Rules feature allows you to set the online booking rules, including automated waitlist options, refund policies for customers prepaying online as well as the cancellation, no-show, and rescheduling policies. You can also set a requirement to accept or deny a customer's request to book online. This is especially helpful if you have clients who don't adhere to your cancellation policies and cancel bookings frequently.

To learn more about this feature, follow the steps below.

Related Article: Setting Online Appointment Rules - Vagaro Pro

1. Click Settings at the top of the screen once you log in.
   
2. Click Online Appointment Rules on the left side of the screen.
   
3. Enter the Appointment Lead Time for the services you offer. Then enter the Class Lead Time if you provide classes. This allows you to limit how soon a customer can book an online appointment or a class, giving you enough time to respond to a request.
   
4. Enter the Appointment Search Limit. This allows you to set the number of available appointment times for your customers to book online.
5. Enter the Search Appointment Interval. Use this feature to set the time intervals between available appointment options online.
   
6. Click Show Number of Seats Remaining in Classes to allow customers to see the number of seats available in a class when booking online.
   
7. Display Business Phone Number When Appointments are Unavailable defaults to being Off. With the option on (green), when a customer tries to book an appointment or class that is either within the set Lead Time or outside of the Advanced booking limit (see step #9), they see a message that displays the business's phone number asking them to Call to Book.
   The customer can click the phone number displayed to initiate a call to the business.
   
8. Click on the drop-down under Service Provider Order to set how your employees are ordered on your Vagaro booking page. You can set the order by service providers who are First Available or by the Website Employee Line Up, found in your Settings in Vagaro. You can also set the order by service providers who are Best Reviewed or by Alphabetical Order.
   
9. Select Require Acceptance for Online Booking option to give your business the ability to deny or approve a customer's request to book your business online. You can require acceptance for:
   
   
   • New customer appointments.
   • Old customer appointments.
   • Outcall service appointments.
   • Customers with a specific number of no-shows or cancellations.
   
   Once you select the Customer with no-shows or cancellations option, you will be prompted to enter a minimum number. For example, if you enter "5," this will require acceptance for clients who have at least five no-shows or cancellations.
   
10. To limit how far in advance a customer can book a service online, enter the number of days in the field corresponding to this option.
    
    Note: Remember, the limit can range from 1 day to 3 years.
    
11. You can also restrict when a customer can book a class online. Enter the number of days.
    
    Note: Remember, the limit can range from 1 day to 3 years.
    
12. To create a Waitlist, select from the four options below.
    
    • You Pick: This allows you to manually select a client from a waitlist and add them to an opening slot on the calendar from your Notification Panel when your schedule is full and a customer cancels. 
    • Money Maker: An automatic notification is sent to the customer with the highest-paid appointment on the waitlist. If a customer does not respond within the time frame (Time to Respond) you set, the opening is offered to the next highest paid appointment.
    • First in Line: An automatic notification is sent to the first client on the waitlist. If the customer does not respond within the time frame you set, a notification is sent to the client who is next in line. 
    • Instant Book: An automatic notification is sent to all clients on the waitlist. The first to book gets the appointment. 
    Click this link for more information on how to create a Waitlist in Vagaro: Create a Waitlist - Web Version.
13. Select Customers Can Add to Waitlist to allow customers to add themselves to the waitlist when they book online.
    

14. Select Customers Can Cancel to allow customers to cancel an appointment. Then enter the minimum hours required before canceling or rescheduling. Select Automatically Refund Prepaid Appointments to refund customers who prepay for appointments. A green color means that the option has been turned on. 
    
15. Enter the Refund Policy.
    
16. Select Customers Can Reschedule to allow clients to reschedule an appointment. Then enter the minimum number of hours clients can reschedule before an appointment. 
    
17. Enter the Appointment Cancellation Policy. 
    
18. Select Accept American Express to allow clients to book online appointments using an American Express card.
    
19. Select Only Allow Reviews from Verified Customers to allow only verified customers to leave reviews. Verified Customers are clients whose appointments have been marked as Completed. Once you're finished, click Save.