Unpaid bookings

If a service takes payment at the point of booking, CoreHue holds the slot until the money lands and releases it automatically if it doesn't. That behaviour comes with collecting payment. There's no separate switch to turn it on.

Two different holds

CoreHue holds a slot at two separate moments, and they're easy to confuse.

While the client is filling in the flow. As soon as someone picks a time and continues, they're offered a 30-minute hold. The clock starts when they press Continue in that prompt. A Slot held pill counts it down. If they wander off, the hold lapses and the time goes back on your page. This is automatic and there's nothing to set up.

After the booking is made but before it's paid. This is the one you control, and it's what the rest of this page is about.

The payment deadline

Open a direct booking or mini session service, go to the Booking flow tab, expand step 4 Payment, and open More payment settings. There you'll find Expire unpaid bookings after, a number plus a unit of Minutes, Hours or Days.

It defaults to 24 hours, and can be set anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 days.

The clock starts when the client commits to paying. The field says so itself: "Unpaid bookings expire after this time, making the slot available again. Starts when a client opens online checkout or reports a manual payment." It does not start when they first landed on your page.

Until that deadline the booking sits as Pending with its slot reserved, so nobody else can take it. When the payment is recorded, it confirms itself and the client gets their confirmation. If the deadline passes first, the booking moves to Expired and the slot goes back on your booking page.

Choosing a window

Match it to how people are actually paying you.

Card payments settle in seconds, so a short window is fine. A few hours is generous.

Bank transfers take time, and longer across borders or over a weekend. A 24-hour window on a transfer will expire bookings from people who did nothing wrong. Give it two or three days.

Any manual method also needs enough room for you to see the payment and record it. Allow for the days you're shooting and nowhere near your desk.

Changing a deadline on one booking

A pending booking held for payment carries Edit payment deadline in its three-dot menu. The dialog explains itself: "If payment isn't received by this date, the booking is released." The button reads Update deadline.

Use it when a client tells you the transfer is on its way and you'd rather not lose the booking over a weekend.

What the client sees

Their booking page is headed Complete your booking, with a line telling them when to finish by: "Complete your steps by July 14, 3:45 PM GMT+1. Your selected time is held until then."

If they've filed a manual payment and it's waiting on you, it reads Awaiting confirmation instead, with "Your payment is awaiting confirmation by" and your name.

If the deadline passes, the page reads This booking has expired, with "The selected time was released because the required steps were not completed."

If they pay after the deadline

The awkward case, and it does happen. A client leaves checkout open, the deadline runs out, and they pay anyway.

They are charged, and the booking stays expired. A notice at the top of the booking reads Payment received after expiry, followed by the amount, "was received after this booking expired. The booking remains expired, and the original slot is not reserved." A Review payment button sits beside it. You get the same news by email.

Their page tells them the same thing: their payment arrived after the deadline, it does not confirm the original booking, and you'll review availability and contact them about the next step.

You then have a decision, and CoreHue won't make it for you:

• Reinstate them with Create replacement booking on the expired one. It starts a new booking with the same contact and service already selected. You set the dates, the price, and what the client has to do. The expired booking itself can never be confirmed.
• Offer another time, if you've since resold it.
• Refund them if neither works.

Whichever you choose, contact them quickly. From their side they have paid and heard nothing.

A longer deadline makes this rarer.

Confirming without the money

If you'd rather take the booking anyway, open it and choose Confirm before payment from the three-dot menu. It asks for a reason and warns you plainly: "This booking will be confirmed while the required payment remains outstanding."

The payment stays outstanding, so the invoice still shows the balance owed.

Watching for problems

Bookings waiting on money show as Pending in your booking list with a payment badge, and the booking itself tells you what it's waiting for. See Why a booking is pending.

If a client tells you they've paid but the booking is still pending, they've most likely used a manual method that needs you to confirm receipt. See Reviewing payment proof.