Your availability is the days and hours clients can book you online. RebookMedia combines it with the length of the services a client chooses, your booking settings and your Google Calendar to show clients only the times you are really free.
This article covers setting your weekly hours, your time zone, booking rules such as same-day bookings and buffers, blocking time with Google Calendar, and hours for team members.
Where to find it: In the left menu, click Availability. On a phone or in the RebookMedia app, tap the menu icon at the top left first to open the menu.
In this article
- Before you start
- Set your weekly hours
- Check your time zone
- Set your booking rules
- Block time with Google Calendar
- How clients see your available times
- Hours for team members
- Troubleshooting
- Related articles
Before you start
- You already have starting hours. New accounts start with Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Change them to match how you really work.
- Set your services first. The times clients see depend on how long the services they choose take, so check the Duration (minutes) of each service.
- Check your time zone. Your hours are always shown and used in the time zone saved in your profile.
Set your weekly hours
- Open Availability from the left menu. You will see Business Hours, with one row for each day from Sunday to Saturday.
- Tick the box next to each day you work. Untick a day to take it off; its times are hidden.
- For each working day, choose the start time and end time. Times are in 30-minute steps.
- Check that every end time is after its start time.
- Click Submit to save. Nothing is saved until you click Submit.
Each day has one start time and one end time. To keep a break free during the day, such as lunch, add it as an event in your Google Calendar (see below).
Tip: Your end time is the latest time a job can finish, not the latest time it can start. With hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, a 2-hour service and a 30-minute buffer, the last start time offered is 2:30 PM.
Check your time zone
Your hours are read in the time zone saved in your profile, and clients book in that time zone.
- Click Settings in the left menu and open the User Settings tab.
- In Language & Time, choose your Time Zone.
- Click Save. You will see "Your changes have been saved successfully!"
Set your booking rules
Booking rules are in Settings, on the Bookings tab. Each one saves as soon as you change it.
- Allow Bookings: turns online booking on or off. When it is off, your booking page shows "Booking Unavailable". To turn it on, your profile must be verified, your Terms of Service and Cancellation Policy added, and your Stripe account connected.
- Calendar Off-Set: how many days ahead clients must book, from 0 to 14 days. The default of 1 day stops same-day bookings; choose 0 days to allow them.
- Booking Buffer: extra minutes kept free after each booking, for example to pack up or edit. The default is 30 minutes.
- Driving Time: adds travel time to each booking, worked out from your business address to the client. Choose Off, One-Way or Round-Trip.
Good to know: Calendar Off-Set, Booking Buffer and Driving Time can be changed once your profile is verified and your Terms of Service, Cancellation Policy and Stripe connection are set up.
Block time with Google Calendar
Connect your Google Calendar so personal plans and other jobs block your booking times automatically.
- Click Connect in the left menu.
- Next to Google Calendar, click Connect and sign in to your Google account.
- You will see "Google Calendar Connected Successfully".
- Events in your main Google calendar block their time on your booking page.
- An all-day event blocks the whole day. Use one for vacations and days off.
- Every event blocks time, even ones marked "Free" or invitations you declined.
How clients see your available times
When a client books on your booking page:
- They choose services and enter the service address, which must be in your service areas.
- They choose a professional (you or a team member) and pick a date. The earliest date follows your Calendar Off-Set. If they pick a day you don't work, the date moves to your next working day.
- They see the start times that fit, every 30 minutes.
A start time is offered only when the whole job fits inside your hours and doesn't overlap anything already booked. The job length is the time for the services chosen, plus your Booking Buffer, plus driving time if it is turned on. Bookings already on your calendar in RebookMedia and events in your Google Calendar are left out.
Hours for team members
Each team member who provides services has their own hours, so clients see that person's free times when they choose them.
- Go to Team (Navigation Panel > Business > Team) and click Update on the team member.
- Open Business hours, tick each working day and choose the times. Changes save automatically.
When you invite someone new, their hours start as a copy of yours. After that, each person's hours are separate: changing your hours doesn't change theirs. Team members' own Google Calendars and bookings block their times; your Booking Buffer, Driving Time and Calendar Off-Set apply to everyone.
Troubleshooting
Clients see "No available times for this day"
- Check that the day is ticked and its end time is after its start time.
- Check that the services the client chose, plus your buffer and driving time, fit inside your hours.
- Check your Google Calendar for events covering that day, including all-day events.
- The day may already be full of bookings.
Clients can't book today
Your Calendar Off-Set is 1 day or more. Set it to 0 days in Settings, Bookings tab, to allow same-day bookings.
Clients see "We couldn't check this professional's calendar right now"
Your Google Calendar connection needs refreshing, so no times are shown to avoid double bookings. Go to Connect, click Disconnect next to Google Calendar, then Connect again.
The times are an hour or more off
Check the Time Zone in Settings, User Settings tab. For team members, check the time zone in their General information.
A team member has no times
Check their Business hours in the Team page. Their hours are separate from yours.
My booking settings are greyed out
Calendar Off-Set, Booking Buffer and Driving Time unlock once your profile is verified and your Terms of Service, Cancellation Policy and Stripe connection are set up.
Still stuck? Book a free 30-minute call with our support team and we will walk through it with you.