Waitlist auto-fill and claim links

Waitlist auto-fill turns cancellations into filled appointments without a phone call. When a slot frees up, matching waitlist patients are offered it, and the first to claim gets it, while the slot is held so the public booking page cannot take it out from under them.

Turning it on

On the Waitlist page, the owner sees an auto-fill card:

1. Tick Automatically offer freed slots to the waitlist.
2. Set Offer expires after (hours): how long each claim link stays live. 1 to 168 hours; 24 if you leave it as it is.
3. Set Don't offer within (hours): slots starting sooner than this are not offered, so nobody is invited to an appointment starting in twenty minutes. 0 to 168 hours; 4 if you leave it as it is.
4. Optionally set Buffer before offering (minutes), so a slot freed by an accidental cancellation is not offered the instant it is cancelled. Up to 1440 minutes (a day). This buffer only delays cancellations. Staff moves wait through their separate 30-second Undo period and are checked by the job that runs every five minutes. No-show slots are still subject to the minimum notice.
5. Press Save.

What the patient receives

When an eligible appointment is cancelled, marked as a no-show or moved, up to ten matching open entries can be offered it with a claim link. The waitlist-offer automation and each sending channel must be enabled. Delivery also depends on contact details, patient messaging preferences, SMS credit and sending limits.

The claim page shows the treatment, practitioner and time. The patient follows the steps shown there to book. Once confirmed, the entry is marked Booked, with confirmation messages and pre-appointment forms sent when enabled. Cancellations made online by the patient and through the API can trigger offers too.

If another confirmed or pending appointment still occupies the practitioner's freed time, no offer is made. Slots already started or inside your minimum notice are skipped.

Offers take turns: patients who have waited longest since their last offer go first. To protect your SMS credit, one phone number gets at most three offer texts an hour and six a day across the platform; after that the offer goes by email only. Who gets offered a freed slot has the full rules.

The slot is held for the waitlist

While an offer is live, that slot is held back from your public booking page, embedded widget and API availability, so a passer-by cannot book it before your loyal waitlist patient taps their link. If the offer expires unclaimed, the slot reopens to everyone automatically.

First to claim wins

Everyone offered the slot can claim it; the first to claim books it and the rest see it is gone. Each waitlist entry shows a badge for where its offer stands: Offered, Claimed or Offer expired. Time without a treatment or practitioner is never offered, and auto-fill stays off until you switch it on.