# Troubleshooting Scheduling & Availability ### ⚡ Quick checklist * **Is the service Active?**\ If the service is Draft/Inactive, customers won’t be able to book it. * **Is at least 1 team member assigned to the service?**\ No assigned team member = no availability to show. * **Does the team member have availability for that day/time?**\ If there are no working hours set, customers won’t see slots. * **Is the date blocked off?**\ Blocked dates/times override normal availability. * **Are you restricting the booking window?**\ Rules like *booking date range*, *max days ahead*, or *last-minute cutoff* can hide slots. 1. Rules like *booking date range*, *max days ahead*, or *last-minute cutoff* can hide slots. *** ### 🔍 Common problems & fixes #### 1) “No available time slots” on the storefront **Most likely causes** * No team members assigned to the service * Team member has no availability set * Date range/booking window is too narrow * The day is blocked off **Fix** * Open the service → **Availability** tab → confirm at least one team member is assigned * Open the team member calendar → set working hours (try **Set all day** to test quickly) * Check **Booking date range / max days ahead / cutoff** settings * Remove or adjust blocks for that period #### Example Case: Staff availability is shorter than service duration **What’s happening** A time slot can only be shown if the **entire service duration fits inside the staff’s available time**. If the service takes **longer** than the available window, **no slots will appear**, even though the staff looks “available”. **Service settings** * Service duration: **1 hour**
**Team member availability** * Available time: **11:00 – 11:30** (30 minutes)
#### ❌ Result on storefront * No available time slots shown #### 🤔 Why? * The service needs **60 minutes** * The staff is only available for **30 minutes** * There is **no continuous 1-hour window**, so the system cannot create a valid booking slot **How the system checks availability** > **Available time ≥ Service duration** If this rule is not met → **no slots are shown** **How to fix it** Choose **one** of the following: **Option 1: Extend staff availability** Example: * Change availability from `11:00 – 11:30` * To `11:00 – 12:00` (or longer) ⇒ A **1-hour slot** can now be created **Option 2: Shorten the service duration** Example: * Change service duration from **1 hour** * To **30 minutes** ✅ The `11:00 – 11:30` slot will now appear *** **Option 3: Use buffers carefully** If you have: * Time needed **before** or **after** appointment Make sure availability is **long enough to cover:** ``` Service duration + buffer before + buffer after ``` *** #### 2) Customers only see a few dates (or only this week/month) **Most likely causes** * **Booking date range** is limited (ex: Dec 1–Dec 31) * **Maximum days customers can book ahead** is set low **Fix** * Increase your booking date range * Raise “maximum days ahead” to match your policy (ex: 60–90 days) *** #### 3) Customers can book too soon / too late **Most likely causes** * **Time needed before appointment starts** is 0 (allows last-minute bookings) * **Last-minute booking cutoff** is too small
**Fix** * Add preparation time (ex: 2–24 hours) * Increase last-minute cutoff if you need more lead time *** #### 4) Overlapping bookings happen (double-booking) **Most likely causes** * **Allow overlapping time slots** is enabled * Capacity is set higher than intended **Fix** * Disable “Allow overlapping time slots” if you want one booking per slot * Set **Capacity = 1** for 1:1 services
*** #### 5) Slots look wrong (spacing, length, or start times) **Most likely causes** * Service duration doesn’t match your intended session length * Buffer time before/after appointment changes slot spacing **Fix** * Confirm **Duration** in the service settings * Check **Time needed before/after** to ensure buffers aren’t creating gaps *** #### 6) A staff member is “available” but customers still can’t book them **Most likely causes** * Staff is not assigned to the service * Staff availability exists, but the specific date is blocked * Time zone mismatch (store vs staff/customer expectation)
**Fix** * Service → Availability → assign the staff member * Staff calendar → remove “Unavailable” blocks on that date * Double-check time zone settings and location time zone (if used) *** #### 7) Customer can’t choose Pay now / Pay later **Most likely causes** * Service is not set to **Pay to book** * “Allow customer to choose pay now or pay later” is not selected
**Fix** * Service → **Choose payment type** → select **Pay to book** * Select **Allow customer to choose pay now or pay later** * Test on storefront booking popup to confirm the “Payment method” options appear *** ### 🧷 What to include when contacting support Copy/paste this info to speed things up: * Service name + link/screenshot of its settings (Duration, Capacity, Payment type) * Team member name + screenshot of their availability week * Exact date/time you expected to be bookable * Storefront link + screenshot of the booking popup result *** **🙋 Still need support?** If you still need help, please feel free to contact us at . We’ll be happy to assist you further. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.tipo.io/tipo-appointment-booking/availability-team-members/troubleshooting-scheduling-and-availability.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.