Do you want customers to be able to submit enquiries for dates that are currently full?
You can use the Appointment Enquiries feature for that!
To do this head to Settings > Site > Appointment enquiries > here you can choose whether to enable appointment enquiries. This will mean if there is no availability for an appointment, customers will be able to add enquiries that will be confirmed if you later have availability.
The options to set up are...
Enable - if toggled on customers and users will be able to add enquiries for appointments where there is no availability.
Automatically confirm - If toggled on when availability is found Trybe will attempt to automatically confirm the appointment. If this is not toggled on then where there is availability you will have to head to the order to manually confirm
Automatically charge - if 'Automatically confirm' is toggled on then this option will appear. Here you can choose whether to attempt to automatically charge the customer's saved card if their enquiry gets confirmed. If this is not toggled on then when the appointment is confirmed you will have to head to the order to manually charge the card.
Latest enquiry - enter the value for the latest enquiry can take place. You can choose from days/ hours/ minutes i.e. 2 hours before/ 3 days before etc. You can leave this blank if you do not want to set a latest enquiry. If you do set a latest enquiry and then want to remove it you can select the 'Clear' option.
Remember to press 'Save' to save any changes made!
Adding an enquiry on the shop front
If the 'Enable' toggle is toggled on in the 'Appointment enquiries' settings then when a guest is making a booking for an appointment online and a specific time doesn't have availability they can make an enquiry.
When they select on an Appointment > select a date > there will be the option of 'Make an enquiry' where the guest can enquire for a time that is not currently available.
Once 'Make an enquiry' is selected, the customer will be able to enter in a 'From time' and 'To time' as to when they are free if a space becomes available > continue.
The 'From' and 'To' times must be enough duration for the appointment to take place. i.e. if the appointment is 60 mins you must have at least 60 mins set as the From and To time.
If the enquiry can be accepted it will state "Your enquiry can be accepted at this time." and they can then select 'Add enquiry'. The enquiry is then added to the basket.
If an enquiry is made then when you go to 'Check out' on the shop front a payment will not be made but a card auth will. The payment will then only be taken if the enquiry is later confirmed and a slot becomes available. The payment will automatically be taken if 'Automatically charge' is toggled on in the Appointment enquiries settings.
On the email the customer receives, there are two places where the customer is made aware that items within their basket are not yet confirmed - see below:
Adding an enquiry in the app
To add an enquiry in the app head to an order select 'Add appointment' or on the Calendar select a blank space > Add appointment.
Here you will see the option to 'Add enquiry'.
This should be used if a slot that the guest wanted to book is no longer available. If you select 'Add enquiry' you can then enter the 'Time from' and 'Time to' that the customer is enquiring for > Done.
The 'Time from' and 'Time to' must be enough duration for the appointment to take place. i.e. if the appointment is 60 mins you must have at least 60 mins set as the Time from and Time to options.
Once done the enquiry will be added to the order and you will then have to 'Confirm' the order so the enquiry is then 'Received'.
Keeping track of enquiries
To keep track of your enquiries you can use the 'Enquiries' dashboard. To access this head to Orders tab > Enquiries.
Here you will be able to see the collection of Enquiries.
It will list...
Order ref - Select on the order ref to take you directly to the order containing the enquiry
Status - can be 'Received', 'Cancelled' or 'Confirmed'
Appointment type - name of the appointment
Date - the date and time of the enquiry. You can select on the date to take you straight to the calendar
Customer - name of the customer who the enquiry is for
Received - the date and time the enquiry was received
You can filter the list by selecting the pre-set filters of 'Recently received' or 'Can be confirmed'. Or you can select 'Add filter' and toggle on any of the following...
Date - Displays enquiries for a date between these dates.
Received date - Display enquiries received between these dates.
Can be confirmed - Displays enquiries which are able to be confirmed.
Status - Filter enquiries by their status i.e. Confirmed, Received or Cancelled
How to manually confirm an enquiry?
To manually confirm an enquiry you can use the Enquiries dashboard to see which ones can be confirmed. You can then head to the order, select the three dots next to the enquiry in the order > 'Confirm'.
When you select 'Confirm' a 'Check enquiry' pop up will appear where the system will check the availability to see if it can now be confirmed. If it can be confirmed the available slots will appear, these can then be selected and press 'Done' to add the actual appointment to the order.
If there is no availability, it will let you know the enquiry cannot be confirmed.
Example of an order where an enquiry has been confirmed
As you can see in the screenshot once the enquiry has been confirmed, the enquiry will remain on the order and the price of the enquiry will update to £0, the actual appointment will then be added to the order with the correct price.
If 'Automatically confirm' was toggled on, this will automatically happen when the space becomes available.
If 'Automatically charge' was toggled on, then the card that was authorised for the enquiry will automatically be charged.
Appointment enquiries Video overview
This video will run you through all you need to know about appointment enquiries.
Below are a few time stamps you can skip to on the video to head straight to to see the info you require...
Start of video - Setting up Appointment enquiries
2:50 - Making an enquiry on the shop front
5:22 - Making an enquiry via the app
6:55 - How an enquiry drops into Trybe
7:35 - Keeping track of Enquiries
9:18 - Confirming an appointment enquiry
10:45 - Manually confirming an enquiry