Managing the Waitlist

The Waitlist is a running list of clients who want an appointment but couldn't get a time — or a person — that worked for them. Instead of turning them away, you keep what they told you: the service, who they'd like to see, and when they're free. When a cancellation opens up a matching slot, BukaTime finds them for you.

Losing a client because you were fully booked is frustrating, but it happens. The waitlist gives that client somewhere to land instead of walking away, and gives you a warm lead the moment a slot frees up — no digging through notes or trying to remember who called last week.

Joining the Waitlist — What the Client Sees

On your booking page, once a client has picked a service and nothing on the calendar works for them, they see "Don't see a time that works?" with a Join the waitlist button. This opens a short form:

Who would you like to see? Each staff member who can perform the service is listed by name, alongside Any provider. This is the most important question on the form, and it changes what the client gets:
- Choosing a specific person means BukaTime only reaches out to them when that person's calendar opens up — never about someone else's cancellation they didn't ask for. This is the right choice for a client loyal to one stylist.
- Choosing Any provider means they'll hear about the soonest opening with anyone on your team — faster, but not tied to one person.
Dates that work for you. A date range the client would accept, with one-click shortcuts — Next 7 days, Next 2 weeks, Next month — or they can pick exact dates. Leaving it empty means any date works.
Times that suit you. Optional — narrows further within the date range by day and time (for example, weekday mornings only). A client can add more than one window, or leave this blank too.
A free-text note for anything else worth knowing.

Once submitted, they see "You're on the waitlist," followed by a plain statement of what to expect: that they'll hear as soon as a matching time opens with their chosen provider, or with anyone, depending on what they picked.

Why the provider question matters. Before this, the waitlist form never asked who the client wanted — it silently assumed "anyone," even for a client who'd only see one stylist. Asking outright means a client waiting for their regular stylist isn't bothered about openings with someone else, and you're not chasing a match that was never going to book.

The Waitlist Page

Go to Waitlist in the left sidebar to see everyone currently waiting.

Each row shows:

Column	What it means
Client	Name, email, or phone of the waiting client
Services	The service (and variant, if applicable) they want
Provider	Who they'd like to see, or Any provider if they have no preference
Availability	The dates and time windows they told you work for them

The page header shows how many clients are actively waiting, and a Search clients bar filters the list by name, email, or phone.

Adding a Client Yourself

Not every waiting client comes through the booking page — a call-in or a walk-in works too.

Click Add to waitlist (top right).
Fill in the client, one or more services, a provider (or leave it as First available), dates that work, times that work, and any notes.
Click Add to waitlist to save.

What You Can Do With a Waiting Client

Click anywhere on a client's row — or the Actions button on it — to open their actions panel. It shows everything about them (who they're waiting for, their services and total time, the dates and times they're free, and any notes) plus a set of actions:

Action	What it does
Book now	Opens the calendar with the appointment form already filled in — client, services, and their chosen provider — ready to save. A successful booking takes them off the waitlist automatically.
Offer a time	Texts this client a specific slot to confirm, without waiting for a cancellation. You pick the provider (locked to the person they named, if they named one), date, and start time — BukaTime works out the end time from their services and only lets you offer a slot that provider can actually work.
Message	Opens a message to this client with them already selected, so you can send an SMS or email directly.
Edit entry	Change their provider, services, dates, or times.
Client profile	Jumps to their full client record.
Offer history	Shows every slot ever offered to this client, when it was sent, and what happened to it.

Two more actions sit apart at the bottom of the panel:

Already booked elsewhere — takes them off the list without creating an appointment, for when a client found a slot another way.
Remove from waitlist — takes them off the list entirely.

You can't edit a client while an offer is out to them. If a client currently has a text sitting in their pocket with a slot on it, Edit entry and Offer a time are both blocked until they confirm it or it expires. This keeps the offer they're looking at from quietly changing underneath them.

When a Cancellation Opens a Slot

You don't have to remember who was waiting — BukaTime does the matching for you.

When a booked appointment is cancelled, BukaTime looks for waiting clients who fit the newly open slot: right service, right provider (or no preference stated), and it falls inside the dates and times they said work for them.
A banner appears at the top of the Waitlist page: "N openings have clients ready to book" with a Review matches button.
Click it to open Clients for this opening — a ranked list of matching clients with a Send offer button next to each one. Nothing goes out automatically; you choose who gets the offer.
That client gets a text with a link and a countdown. Whoever confirms first gets the slot — the appointment books itself the moment they tap Book this appointment on their end.
If nobody confirms in time, the offer expires and the slot is free to offer to someone else.

Setting How Long an Offer Stays Open

How long a client has to claim an opening — before it expires and goes back into the pool — is a studio-wide setting, not something you choose per offer.

Go to Studio Configuration → Waitlist.
Under Waitlist offers, you'll see three time bands based on how soon the appointment itself is: Under 24 hours, 24–48 hours, and Over 48 hours. Each has its own dropdown, from 15 minutes up to a couple of days.
Click Save changes.

A short claim window makes sense for a slot happening very soon — a 24-hour window on an opening starting in 20 minutes could never expire in time to free the slot back up. A slot further in the future can afford a longer one.

Tips

Ask "who would you like to see?" like you mean it — a waiting client with no one named will only ever be offered the soonest opening with anyone, which isn't always what they actually wanted.
Check the Review matches banner after any cancellation before you rebook the slot yourself — a waiting client may already be a match.
Use Offer a time to reach out proactively when you notice an opening coming up, rather than waiting on a cancellation to trigger a match.

Common Mistakes

Treating the provider question as optional. It's the reason the waitlist works for a client loyal to one stylist — skipping it means they'll only ever hear about openings with anyone, which may not be a match they want.
Trying to edit a client mid-offer. If a text is currently out to them, editing is blocked until they confirm or the offer expires — this isn't a bug, it's there so the offer never changes on them mid-read.
Assuming offer timing can be set per client. It can't — how long an offer stays open is one studio-wide setting under Studio Configuration → Waitlist, based on how soon the slot itself is.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I be told automatically when a spot opens up for someone on the waitlist? Yes — a banner appears on the Waitlist page after a cancellation with matching clients ready to review. You still choose who to send the offer to; nothing is texted automatically.

Can a client change their mind about who they want to see? Yes — open their actions panel and use Edit entry to change their provider, services, dates, or times, as long as they don't currently have an offer out.

What happens if two waiting clients could both take the same opening? You'll see all of them ranked in the Clients for this opening list and choose who to send the offer to. If that offer isn't confirmed before it expires, the slot reopens so you can offer it to the next person.

Does the waitlist cost extra? No. The waitlist is included with every BukaTime plan and is on for every studio — you'll find Waitlist in the left sidebar.