Smart Booking — fixes for common issues

Almost always a calendar-sync issue. Things to check:

• Calendar connection — is Google Calendar still connected? See calendar connect.
• Calendar ID mismatch — does the provider point to the right calendar (not a subscribed shared calendar)?
• Timezone — business timezone must match the Google Calendar timezone.
• Buffer — did you leave the right buffer on this service? Back-to-back appointments without a buffer can feel "not free" even though the calendar itself allows them.

If the Appointments page shows a conflict, the slot will automatically be flagged — use that as a starting point.

Check the Appointments page first — filter by pending_deposit and look for their phone number. If the booking is there:

• It probably flipped to confirmed automatically — the status column will show which.
• If it's still pending_deposit, Stripe may have delayed the webhook. Wait ~60 seconds and refresh. If still stuck, check Stripe Dashboard → Events → the most recent checkout.session.completed for the customer.

If the booking isn't there at all, the deposit may have completed after the 2-hour hold expired. The caller will have received an apology SMS with a link to rebook — direct them back to that flow.

Open the appointment and check the Booking trace section. You'll see whether the AI picked auto-assignment or matched a name. Common fixes:

• Missing alias — the caller said "Dr Steve" but the provider is named "Steven Smith" without "Steve" as an alias. Add it.
• Auto mode set when you wanted caller-led — see multi-staff routing and switch modes.
• Preferred provider unavailable — the AI fell back to whoever was free. Check the trace for the fallback reason.

Open Settings → Smart Booking → Home-visit routing and tweak:

• Too tight — increase the per-job buffer by 10–15 min, or switch from per-job to per-suburb mode.
• Too slack — decrease the buffer, or ensure your home-base suburb is correct (an off-base depot inflates every trip).

Change applies to future bookings. Existing appointments keep their original padding.

Check the class schedule's Waitlist toggle — it's off by default. Also check that the class has deposits or cancellations that would trigger a waitlist promotion (an always-100%-full class with no churn never fires the waitlist, so you won't see promotions even when the queue is long).

Every booking call has a full trace under Calls → [the call] → Booking. It shows:

• Which tools the AI called and in what order
• What the AI asked the caller and what the caller said
• Slot-selection reasoning (why these options, this provider, this duration)
• Deposit + payment state transitions
• Routing decisions (suburb, travel-time estimate)

When you contact support, paste the call ID from this page — it tells us exactly what happened without any back-and-forth.