Set booking policies, confirmation modes and waitlists

These settings determine what the customer is agreeing to and whether a request becomes confirmed immediately or waits for the Partner. Configure them before advertising booking links.

Before you start

Sign in to the correct ShareDay account and, if you manage more than one business or event, check the name shown in the account switcher before making changes.

How to do it

1. Choose whether the offering uses automatic confirmation or a request that the Partner must approve. Use manual confirmation when staff, venue or quote checks are still required.
2. Set minimum booking notice and any future booking window so customers cannot select times the business cannot prepare for.
3. Write clear cancellation and rescheduling rules, including deadlines, fees or non-refundable amounts where lawful.
4. Set deposit and payment instructions consistently with the displayed price and the business’s actual payment process.
5. Enable a waitlist only when the business will monitor it and contact customers in a fair order when capacity opens.
6. Review required customer fields. Ask only for information needed to assess or deliver the service.
7. Preview the wording shown before submission and in the confirmation or request-received message.
8. Make a test request and confirm the correct status, notifications and attention item appear.

Important details

• A request-received message must not imply the booking is confirmed when manual approval is required.
• Consumer law can override a business policy. Avoid absolute no-refund wording where a legal remedy may apply.
• Joining a waitlist is not a confirmed booking and should be described that way.

If something does not look right

• If requests confirm unexpectedly, check the offering’s confirmation mode rather than only the business-wide booking switch.
• If a waitlist never appears, confirm the offering has a capacity limit and that the selected slot is actually full.

Need help? Use the Help Centre contact form and include the business or event name, the page you were using, and what you expected to happen. Do not send passwords or full payment-card details.