Manage the Appointment Waitlist

Appointment Waitlist records customer demand when no suitable slot is available. A waitlist entry is not an appointment: a valid match must still be confirmed or converted.

Before you begin

The requested services must be active and bookable in the selected location. Exact staff service assignments, branch hours and staff working hours must support a slot before it can match.

Permission required

Owners can manage the waitlist. Managers and staff need Waitlist access and permission for the location. Creating entries and converting matches also require an active subscription.

Where to find it

Open Appointments → Waitlist. The page title is Appointment Waitlist.

Create a waitlist entry

Record a customer’s request

1. Select the location, then select New Waitlist.
2. Enter Customer Name and Phone. Add Email when a claim offer may be emailed.
3. Select one or more exact Services.
4. Enter a single Preferred Date, or use From Date and To Date for a range.
5. Choose Any time, Morning, Afternoon or Evening in Time Window.
6. Set Priority only when the business has an agreed priority process.
7. Add Customer Notes and private Internal Notes as required.
8. Select Save Waitlist.

The current waitlist form fixes the request to one location and does not expose a preferred-staff selector. Matching chooses staff who are eligible and available for each exact requested service.

Find matching slots manually

Find and review openings

1. In Waitlist Queue, find an active entry.
2. Select Find slots.
3. Review the returned date and time choices and the active matched slot.
4. Confirm that the requested services, customer preference and staff summary are suitable.
5. Either convert the match at the front desk or offer it to the customer.

Manual matching searches forward from the preferred date, respects the allowed date range and time window, builds the full service sequence, and checks exact service-line staff availability.

Matches created when availability opens

When an appointment is cancelled or rescheduled, Yepsta can check the released opening against active waitlist entries at that location. A new qualifying match may notify the business in Yepsta when that notification is available. This creates a match only—it does not book the customer.

The same entry and opening use one match record, so repeated matching does not create duplicate copies of that match. Separate waitlist entries are not automatically merged; search the queue before adding a customer again.

Send or share a claim offer

Let the customer claim a matched slot

1. Confirm the matched slot is active.
2. Select Send claim when the customer has a valid email and claim email delivery is available.
3. If email cannot be used, select Copy link and share it through the business’s approved channel.
4. Use Resend claim only after the displayed cooldown and within the shown send limit.
5. Watch the Claim status and displayed expiry time.
6. Use Revoke if the offer must be withdrawn, or Declined when the customer has declined outside the claim page.

Claim states shown in the queue include Not sent, Sent, Viewed, Confirmed, Declined, Expired and Revoked. A sent link has a visible expiry and is useful only while the match remains available.

Important information

Sending a claim can fail when customer claim email is unavailable, the email address is missing, delivery fails, the match is stale, the resend cooldown is active or the send limit has been reached. Use Copy link only after confirming the slot is still active.

Convert a match from the dashboard

Create the appointment

1. Select Convert on the active match, or select one of the slot previews returned by Find slots.
2. Wait while Yepsta rechecks the requested service set and staff availability.
3. When conversion succeeds, review the new appointment in Edit Appointment.
4. Confirm every service line, staff assignment, time and customer detail.

Conversion creates a normal Confirmed appointment with allocated service lines. It marks the entry and used match Converted, expires other open matches for that entry and refreshes Appointment Manager and Calendar. It does not charge the customer.

What happens next

Review the converted appointment before closing the customer interaction. If the customer confirms through a claim link, they are taken to the normal booking confirmation page; if the team converts from the queue, Yepsta opens the appointment editor for review.

Customer claim behaviour

The claim page shows services, date, time, location, customer and expiry. The customer can choose Confirm this slot or Decline.

• Confirmation performs a final availability check, creates the confirmed appointment and opens the booking confirmation page.
• Declining dismisses that offer while keeping an otherwise eligible request open for another match.
• An expired, revoked, stale or already-used link cannot create another appointment.

Waitlist and match statuses

Entry statuses:

• Waiting — active request without a current opening.
• Matched — a possible slot exists.
• Notified — the current match has entered a notification flow.
• Converted — the request became an appointment.
• Cancelled — request cancelled by the business.
• Closed — request closed without conversion.
• Expired — request is no longer active.

Match statuses include Matched, Notified, Stale, Converted, Dismissed and Expired. A stale or expired match must be replaced; it must not be forced into an appointment.

Manage the queue safely

Use filters for Location, entry Status, Claim Status, Service, Date and Customer Search. You can increase priority, update internal notes, cancel or close an active entry, and reopen an unconverted entry.

Warning

Before converting or sharing an old match, recheck its status. Another booking can consume the opening after the match was first found.

Troubleshooting

• If Find slots returns none, check the date window, time window, branch hours, exact service assignments, service duration/buffer and staff conflicts.
• If Convert says the slot is no longer available, find another slot; do not recreate the appointment manually at the occupied time.
• If Send claim fails, verify the customer email and use Copy link when appropriate.
• If the customer sees an expired, revoked or stale page, find a fresh match and generate a new claim.
• If no automatic match appears after cancellation, check Release cancelled slots to waitlist and whether the full request fits the released opening.

Tip

Use Internal Notes for staff-only follow-up. Customer Notes can carry the customer’s request into the waitlist record and eventual appointment context.

Related guides

• Configure Appointment Policies and Status Outcomes
• Create Multi-service Appointments and Allocate Staff
• Let Customers Book and Manage Appointments Online
• Fix Common Appointment and Calendar Problems

Last reviewed: 12 July 2026