A client can’t book online: reasons and fixes

Usually a Basic salon has used its 30 bookings this month, booking is paused, the widget is missing the service or specialist, or there is no free time. Sometimes the time was just taken, the client already booked twice in a day, or the SMS code fails.

Ask the client for a screenshot or the exact text the widget shows, then find that text in the sections below: each one says what to do.

Who can do what

Only the owner can change the widget and the plan. A staff member can add the client’s booking by hand in the CRM calendar: a “Master” only in their own column, and a “Viewer” can’t create bookings.

How to find the cause

1. Find out what exactly the client sees, or open your page and go through a booking yourself. On Basic, remember that a test booking also counts towards the 30 bookings a month.
2. Find that text in the sections below.
3. Do what the section says. If the client needs a booking right now, add it by hand: CRM → “Calendar” → “Add event”.

If something goes wrong: what the client sees

First come the causes you fix in your settings, then the ones that depend on the client or the connection.

“Online booking is temporarily unavailable. Please call or message the salon.”

On Basic you can create 30 bookings per calendar month. Once they are used up, the widget closes straight away: the client sees this text and a “Call” button. If the CRM has no salon phone number, the text is “Online booking is temporarily unavailable. Please contact the salon.”

• Every booking created this month counts — online and in the CRM, cancelled ones included.
• The counter resets on the 1st.
• You get a “The limit of 30 bookings is used up” notification, at most once a day.

What to do: upgrade to Pro, which has no booking limit, or wait for the 1st. So that clients can call you, add the salon’s phone number: CRM → “Workspace” → “General” → “Phone numbers”. How the limit is counted: 30 bookings a month on Basic.

“Online booking is paused — contact the salon directly”

“Accept bookings” is switched off in the widget settings.

What to do: in Multilink, open the “Booking” tab of your page, click “Settings” on the widget card and switch on “Accept bookings” on the “Settings” tab.

“No services are selected yet”, or a specialist is missing

• A specialist is missing from the widget if they aren’t selected in the widget settings (“Details” → “Staff members”), if “Make available for online booking” or “Show in the timetable” is off in their CRM card, if they are archived, or if they are over your plan’s limit.
• A service is missing if it isn’t selected in the widget (“Details” → “Services”), if “Available for booking” is off in the CRM, or if no specialist available online is assigned to it.
• If the widget has no services left at all, the client sees “No services are selected yet”.

What to do: check these switches in the CRM and the selection in the widget settings. Changes reach the widget within 2 minutes.

“No free time on this day”

Other variants: “No specialists work on this day”, “No free time in the coming weeks”.

What to do: in the CRM, open “Workspace” → “Working Hours” and check the specialist’s schedule, specific dates, breaks, time off and sick leave (a pending request blocks days too). Check the existing bookings in the calendar as well. Online booking offers only time that is free under all of these.

“Sample services — booking is not connected yet.”

The widget is showing a sample, not your services, so bookings go nowhere. How to fix it: What “Sample services — booking is not connected yet” means.

“This time was just taken — pick another one”

While the client was filling in the form, someone else took that time — online, or you in the CRM. Bookly checks the time again at the moment of booking, so two bookings never land on the same slot.

What to do: nothing — the widget takes the client back to the times. They just pick another free one.

“This time has already passed — pick another one”

The chosen time has already started or passed in the salon’s time zone. The widget doesn’t offer today’s hours that have started anyway. Bookings can be made up to 365 days ahead.

What to do: if the client sees this for a time that hasn’t come yet, check the salon’s time zone: CRM → “Workspace” → “General” → “Timezone”.

“You have already booked today. To book again, please contact the salon.”

On Basic, one phone number or one internet connection can make no more than 2 online bookings with your salon in 24 hours. This stops a stranger from using up the salon’s monthly limit. Your own test bookings from one phone count too. Pro and Team have no such limit.

What to do: add the client’s booking by hand in the CRM calendar.

The client can’t confirm their number with the SMS code

Before booking, the client confirms their number with a 4-digit code. What they may see:

• “Incorrect code. Attempts left: …” — a typo in the code. Each code allows 3 attempts.
• “Too many wrong attempts. Request a new code” — the attempts are used up; a new code is needed.
• “The code has expired. Request a new one” — a code works for 5 minutes.
• “If the code does not arrive within a minute, request a new one.” — a new code can be requested after 30 seconds with “Resend code”.
• “Too many codes requested. Try again in …” or “Too many codes requested. Try again later” — one number can request no more than 3 codes an hour and 6 a day.
• “Could not send the SMS — please call the salon” — the SMS didn’t go out: the SMS service is unavailable or the number isn’t Ukrainian. Codes go to +380 numbers only.
• “Check the phone number” — the number has a typo. To fix it, the client taps “Change it” under the code fields.
• “Could not confirm you are not a robot. Try again” — the automatic bot check failed. The client can try again or open the page in another browser.
• “Confirm your phone number with the SMS code.” — the confirmation was already used or has expired; a new code is needed.

What to do: ask the client to check the number and wait a minute. If the code still doesn’t come, or the number is foreign, add the booking by hand in the CRM calendar. One salon can send no more than 100 codes a day to all its clients.

“Please fill in the required fields.” or “Could not complete the booking. Try again”

• “Please fill in the required fields.” — the client skipped a field you made required in the “Client form”.
• “Could not complete the booking. Try again” — the connection dropped or something failed on our side. The client can try again in a minute. One connection can send no more than 10 booking attempts a minute.

If the error keeps coming back for different clients, write to us. Write any time — we reply during working hours.

Related articles

• How a client books online and what they see
• Booking widget: services, specialists, fields and confirmation
• 30 bookings a month on Basic: how they are counted
• Working hours, breaks and specific dates
• The calendar: views, new bookings and edits
• The SMS code or reminder didn’t arrive (for clients)