Online Repeat Booking Requests

Clients can request repeat bookings directly from your online booking page. Instead of going back and forth over text or email to figure out a recurring schedule, the client picks their preferred days, times, and frequency, and submits it for your review. You then approve or decline the request, keeping full control over your calendar.

This is especially useful when onboarding new regular clients. A new puppy owner reaches out wanting daily walks while they're at work, or a travel-heavy client needs a consistent Monday/Wednesday/Friday drop-in schedule for their cats. The client tells you exactly what they need, and you decide whether it fits before anything hits your calendar.

Enabling Repeat Bookings per Service

Clients can only request repeats for services you've explicitly enabled. By default, online repeat bookings are turned off.

To enable them:

1. Go to Services and open the service you want to allow repeats for (e.g., Dog Walk, Drop-In Visit)

2. Find the Client repeat bookings toggle

3. Turn it on

The toggle description reads: "Allow clients to request recurring bookings for this service through your online booking page."

You can enable this on some services and not others. For example, you might allow repeat requests for dog walks but not for one-off meet-and-greets.

What Clients See

When a client visits your online booking page and selects a service with repeat bookings enabled, they'll see two options after choosing their service: Individual dates and Repeating schedule.

If they choose Repeating schedule, the booking flow changes:

Weekly Schedule Builder. The client selects which days of the week they want visits and picks from your available time blocks for each day. This uses the same schedule blocks you've configured for your services, so clients only see times you're actually available.

Frequency. The client chooses how often: Every week, Every 2 weeks, or Every 3 weeks.

Start Date. A calendar picker lets the client choose when they'd like the repeat to begin. Your minimum advance notice settings are respected here, so clients can't request a start date that's too soon.

Review Your Request. The final step shows a summary of the pattern and a clear message: "[Your business name] will review your schedule and confirm within a few days. You'll receive an email once your repeat booking is confirmed." The client can add notes or special instructions before submitting.

This sets the right expectation: the client is requesting, not booking. No visits appear on your calendar until you approve.

Reviewing Requests

When a client submits a repeat booking request, two things happen:

1. You receive an email notification with the client's name, service, schedule pattern, frequency, pets, and requested start date.

2. The request appears on your Repeat Bookings page under the Pending Approval tab with a count badge.

Open the request to see the full detail page. At the top, you'll see a banner: "[Client name] requested this repeat booking" with the submission date and instructions: "Review and adjust the schedule, assign staff, and configure billing before approving."

Before approving, you can:

• Edit the pattern to adjust days, times, or services

• Assign preferred staff to each day's visits

• Configure billing (Per Visit, Weekly, or Monthly) and invoice date settings

• Set auto-confirm preferences

• Add internal notes

This means you can take a client's request and fine-tune it to fit your operations before any visits are created.

Approving a Request

When you're satisfied with the schedule, click Approve & Start. This:

1. Changes the repeat status from Pending Approval to Active

2. Generates the first few weeks of visits on your calendar

3. Sends the client an email confirming their repeat booking has been approved

From this point, the repeat works exactly like one you created yourself: visits keep appearing on your calendar, invoices follow your billing strategy, and you manage everything from the repeat detail page.

Declining a Request

If a request doesn't work for your schedule, click Decline. A dialog opens where you can provide an optional reason. For example, you might write: "We're fully booked on Mondays and Wednesdays, but we could accommodate a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. Feel free to submit a new request or give us a call to work something out."

The client receives an email letting them know the request was not approved, along with your reason if you provided one.

Declined requests appear under the Ended tab on your Repeat Bookings page for your records.

What Clients See in Their Portal

Clients can view their repeat bookings from their client portal under their bookings section. Each repeat shows:

• Status badge: Pending Review, Active, Paused, Ended, or Declined

• Service name and pattern (e.g., "Mon & Wed at 2:00 PM")

• Frequency (Weekly, Every 2 weeks, or Every 3 weeks)

• Pets included in the repeat

Depending on the status, clients see different messages:

Active and paused repeats show the next few upcoming visits with their confirmation status. Clients can also expand a Past visits section to see their visit history.

Email Notifications

Scritches sends four types of email notifications for repeat booking requests:

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a client request multiple repeat bookings? Yes. A client can submit separate requests for different services, like one for morning walks and another for evening drop-ins.

What if a client requests a service that doesn't have repeat bookings enabled? They won't see the "Repeating schedule" option for that service. The toggle only appears for services you've enabled.

Can I edit a client's request before approving? Yes. You have full control to adjust the pattern, assign staff, configure billing, and change any settings before clicking Approve & Start.

Do visits get created before I approve? No. While a request is in Pending Approval status, no bookings are generated. Visits only start appearing on your calendar after you approve.

What happens if I decline and the client wants to try again? The client can submit a new request through the booking page. There's no limit on resubmissions.

Can clients cancel their own repeat booking? Clients can view their repeat booking status in their portal, but cancellation and changes are managed by you from the Repeat Bookings page.