Find out why a service shows no free times
The board tells you the cause itself — where to look, the eight reasons in plain words, and the admin-has-times-but-clients-don't trap.
“A client rang to say there are no free times” is the most common support call there is. The good news: you don’t have to guess. The board checks every service through the same engine the client sees, and tells you the cause in words — which service is broken, why, and with a link to where you fix it.
This article shows where to look, what the eight reasons mean in plain language, and how to chase down the one case where the check just says “I can’t find any free times”.
1. How the check works
At regular intervals — and immediately after you change something — the system asks, for every service: “can a client find a free slot in the next 14 days?”
Crucially, it asks with customer eyes: resources hidden from the public site and deactivated ones don’t count, exactly as on the public page. That’s why the check catches cases you can’t see in the admin at all.
The result surfaces in four different places. All of them say the same thing, in varying detail.
2. The floating pill at the bottom
On every board page, bottom centre, sits a small pill with a red triangle:
Some services can’t be booked yet · 3
If the public page isn’t switched on at all, the title reads Your booking page isn’t live yet.
Click it and it expands into a list. Each row is one sentence plus a Fix link. If there are more rows than fit, the last one reads and N more services can’t be booked with a See why link back to Home.
Bottom right there is Don’t show these — it hides exactly those rows on this device. If they come back (or a new problem appears), the pill returns.
3. “Needs attention” on Home
Open the board (Home). The first card is Needs attention with a counter.
The row for our case looks like this:
“Ladies’ cut” can’t be booked — clients see an empty grid. Fix
What you can do with the row:
| Action | Available |
|---|---|
| Fix | Yes — straight into the service editor |
| Snooze → Until tomorrow / Until next week | Yes |
| Done | No for this row type. It mirrors a live condition — fix the cause and the row disappears by itself. |
Top right of the card sits Check now — it runs a full board sweep right away, without waiting for the nightly one.
The first five rows show immediately; if there are more, below them you get Show all N.
When there is nothing: Everything is fine — nothing needs your attention.
4. Catalog: the band and the filter
Open the Catalog hub. Under its header there is always a band — green or amber:
- Green: Everything in the catalog is bookable ✓ (12 services)
- Amber: 3 services can’t be booked + a Show them button
Show them opens the services list filtered down to the problem ones. An amber chip Only problem services sits on top; to clear it, press Show all.
Two extra signals in the hub’s own navigation:
- The Offerings row gets an amber dot and a subtitle like
12 services · ⚠ 3 problems. - The row of the resource kind that is the cause (say “Stylist”) gets an amber dot too. So you can see the guilty kind straight from the menu.
5. The check right after a save
The most useful place of all is directly under the editor you just used. A check runs automatically after a save in:
- Setup → Working hours — both for a branch’s hours and for a person’s;
- the resource editor (stylist, room, equipment);
- the service editor.
The states you’ll see:
| What it says | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Checking availability… | Running. Usually under a second. |
| Bookable — next free slot: Thu, 31 Jul · 10:00 | Green. One service was checked and it has a real free slot. |
| 5 services are bookable | Green, for several services at once. |
| Checked 15 of 22 services — no problems so far | The check stopped at a limit. Not “all fine”, but “fine as far as I got”. |
| 2 services will show clients “no available times” | Amber. Up to three services are listed below with a reason and a Fix link; beyond that, and N more services. |
| We couldn’t check availability. Try again | The check didn’t complete. It never blocks editing. |
6. The eight reasons in plain language
Each failing service gets exactly one reason — the first one that explains the problem. Here they all are, with the text you see and the real fix.
6.1. no active, client-visible “Stylist” exists
The resource kind the service requires has not one resource a client can see. Either there are none at all, or they’re all archived, deactivated or hidden from the public site.
Fix takes you to the resource kind’s page. Add a resource there, or switch an existing one back on.
6.2. the chosen “Stylist” for this service no longer work or are hidden
Resources do exist, but none of them qualifies for this service:
- the requirement names an explicit allowed list and every one on it is now hidden/deactivated; or
- the resources have specialities and this service isn’t among them.
Fix opens the service editor at the requirements section. Widen the list or fix the specialities — see Which services a resource can perform.
6.3. the service requires a resource type that was deleted
A requirement points at a kind that no longer exists. The service can never be booked. Fix opens the editor — repoint the requirement at a live kind.
6.4. the service’s locations are inactive
The service is pinned to specific branches and all of them are archived or deactivated (after a plan downgrade, for example). Fix opens the editor — choose a working branch, or leave all of them.
An empty location list means “at all active branches” and never produces this reason.
6.5. the class has no upcoming scheduled sessions
A group service with no future session at all. There is nothing to book. Fix takes you to Catalog → Programs — schedule a series.
6.6. the class sessions are at a location where this service isn’t offered
Sessions exist, but every one of them is at a branch outside the service’s list. The client is refused when they try to join. Either widen the service’s locations or move the sessions.
6.7. the business is closed for the next 14 days
Every day of the window is closed at board level: blocked dates, a weekday switched off, or a date override. The classic case is a fully switched-off week, which the editor flags with The whole week is closed.
Fix takes you to Setup → Working hours.
6.8. no free times found in the next 14 days
Everything looks fine, but the grid comes back empty. There is no Fix link here — this is the reason that needs a manual pass. Section 8 is exactly for it.
7. What it checks (and what it doesn’t)
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Look-ahead window | 14 days from today in the board’s timezone |
| Eyes | Customer’s — hidden and deactivated resources don’t count |
| Max services in one live check | 15; the rest come back unchecked |
| Time budget for one live check | about 3 seconds; anything past it stays unchecked |
| Group classes | Looks at the first 10 upcoming sessions for a free seat |
| Rentals | Checked through their own calendar (daily, or a court × time grid), not the 15-minute grid |
So with a big catalog it is normal to see Checked 15 of 22 services — no problems so far. That is not a green light for the whole catalog; the full picture comes from the nightly sweep.
8. Manual diagnosis when the reason is “no free times found”
Work down this list. Stop at the first “yes”.
- Is the service restricted to a branch? Open its editor, the Locations section. Pinned to a branch with nobody in it — no times.
- Is anyone assigned to that branch on those days? Setup → Working hours → Staff schedule → the per-day location chip.
- Is there time off? Same page, Time off tab. Time off beats everything else.
- Is there a closure? The Holidays tab. Check Applies to as well — it may target only that branch.
- Does the service actually fit? A 120-minute service in a 10:00–16:00 window with a 13:00–14:00 lunch has exactly one possible start. Shorten the service or extend the day.
- Is everything simply booked? Open Schedule for those dates. Cancelled and no-show bookings release the hour immediately; everything else holds it.
- Do the specialities match? If the only free stylist doesn’t have this service in their specialities, they aren’t a candidate.
- Is anyone working in those 14 days at all? If the whole team is on holiday, that’s your reason.
The full mechanics are in How availability works.
9. The trap: the admin has times, clients don’t
This is the difference that confuses people most.
| Who asks | A hidden resource | A deactivated resource |
|---|---|---|
| The public page | Doesn’t count | Doesn’t count |
| You, in the new-booking panel | Counts | Counts |
So you can happily keep booking clients with a stylist who, for the public site, doesn’t exist. The two commonest ways a resource becomes invisible to clients:
- The Hide from the public site switch on the resource itself.
- The resource is deactivated because you’re over your plan’s bookable-spots limit — see Your plan’s bookable-spots limit.
That trap is precisely what the check sees and you don’t. If it says “no times” while your schedule looks full, look here first.
10. When the result refreshes
- Every night — a full sweep of every board (around 04:15).
- After every change — save anything that affects availability (hours, a resource, a service, a location, a closure) and the board is recomputed about 30 seconds later.
- On demand — the Check now button on the Needs attention card.
- On an editor save — the check under that editor starts immediately.
If you’ve just fixed something and the row is still there: wait about a minute, or press Check now.
11. What the diagnosis does NOT cover
- It doesn’t check whether the page is published. That’s a separate row: Online booking is turned off with a Turn on button. Your services can be perfectly bookable while the page is unreachable.
- It doesn’t look beyond 14 days. A service that only frees up in three weeks reads as unbookable.
- It ignores prices, deposits and payments. An empty grid has nothing to do with whether Stripe is connected.
- It doesn’t distinguish “today” from “ever”. It only answers “is there at least one slot in the window”.
- It notifies nobody. If you don’t open the board, nothing will tell you.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The check says “no times” but my schedule is full | The resources are hidden or deactivated for clients | Section 9 |
| I fixed it and the row is still there | Not recomputed yet | Check now, or wait a minute |
| The check says “no problems so far” | The 15-service or 3-second limit was reached | See the full list on Home |
| We couldn’t check availability. | The check didn’t complete | Try again; editing isn’t blocked |
| The pill at the bottom is gone but the problem isn’t | You pressed Don’t show these on this device | Open Home → Needs attention |
| I can’t clear the row with Done | This row type mirrors a live condition | Fix the cause, or use Snooze |
| The service books fine except at one branch | It isn’t offered there, or there’s no candidate there | The service’s Locations section |
| Every service is a problem at once | A closed week, or one single missing resource kind | Reasons 6.1 and 6.7 |
What’s next
- How availability works — the mechanics, layer by layer.
- Your board’s working hours — the frame and the three levels.
- Which services a resource can perform — the silent filter behind reason 6.2.
- Add-ons and extra resources — one more requirement that can lock a slot.