Waitlist refill: how niia fills a cancelled slot on WhatsApp

How a client gets on the waitlist

niia checks your real availability before she asks for anyone's details. If the time a client wants is already booked, she says so, offers the closest free times that day, and asks whether they'd like to join the waitlist for the time they wanted.

• One exact slot. A place on the waitlist is for that service, date and time (and branch, if you have more than one).
• First come, first offered. Clients waiting for the same slot are offered it in the order they joined.
• Only times that can open up. niia doesn't offer the waitlist for a time outside your opening hours, because that slot can never free up.
• Clients can check. If someone asks "Am I still on the waitlist?", niia tells them their place, for example "you're 2nd in line".

What happens when someone cancels

1. A booking is cancelled or moved, and its slot frees up.
2. niia checks that a staff member is actually free to take it.
3. She messages the first person in line for that slot:

"Good news! Your requested blowdry slot tomorrow at 4:30 pm just opened up. Reply YES within 30 minutes to claim it."

4. They reply YES within 30 minutes: niia books the appointment and confirms it in the same chat.
5. No reply in 30 minutes: the offer expires and niia offers the slot to the next person in line. You get a notification in the dashboard.

Nobody on your team has to watch the diary or make calls. The whole exchange is logged in the client's conversation, so you can read exactly what was said.

Seeing it in the dashboard

The Waitlist page, under Manage, lists everyone waiting, the service and time they want, and where their place stands:

• Waiting: still waiting for the slot to open.
• Offered: the slot opened and niia has asked them to confirm.
• Fulfilled: they said yes and the booking was made.
• Expired: they didn't reply in time, so the offer moved on.
• Removed: taken off the list by your team.

Filter the list by status. If a client no longer wants to wait, remove them with the trash icon.

If an offer can't be sent

Sometimes a WhatsApp message can't go out, for example if your credits have run out or WhatsApp isn't connected. In that case niia doesn't hold the slot for someone who never heard about it. The client keeps their place, and their entry shows Offer not delivered, so you know to contact them yourself.

Good to know

• Each waitlist message uses 5 credits from your plan's shared credit pool.
• A slot claimed from the waitlist is booked to be paid at the salon, even if you offer WhatsApp payments for other bookings.
• Waitlist refills work best alongside reminders. A reminder 24 or 48 hours before gives clients time to cancel early, which gives the waitlist time to fill the gap.