The Availability Troubleshooter shows why the booking engine produced its result: why no times are available, or why times appeared that you did not expect. Use it when:
- No times are found, and you want to know exactly why the booking is not possible
- Times show when you expected the day to be full
- The team member you want is not offered
- A pet or service rule is stopping the booking
- You want to understand notice periods, booking intervals and padding
Tip
If a customer reports a problem, try Simulation Mode first to see exactly what they see. Then use the troubleshooter to dig deeper.
Open the troubleshooter from a booking
The troubleshooter opens from the booking form once Petboost has checked the times.
- Open Appointments and create or edit an appointment.
- Leave Magic Availability Check on, and choose the pet, the service and, if you want one, the team member. The available times load.
- Select See Availability Reasons under the calendar.
When no times are found, Troubleshoot beside Set exact time manually opens the same dialog. With Magic Availability Check off, a time that is not normally available shows an amber message with See availability reasons.
The troubleshooter opens full screen, titled Why No Availability? or Availability Found, with everything the booking engine used. Close leaves it, and so does Try Again or Got It.
Open the breakdown from a simulation
A customer's simulation opens the same dialog for the day they are looking at.
- Open Customers & Pets and select Manage on the pet.
- On the pet summary card, open Simulate, then Booking Experience.
- Choose the services, then pick a date on Availability.
- When the day has no times, select See Full Breakdown.
From a simulation, Why No Availability? shows one card, The Problem, with the kind of blocker, such as Service Not Included or Pet Not Eligible, a plain sentence about it and a button to fix it, such as Edit Schedule Services or Update Pet Weight. Try Different Time takes you back to the dates.
Check a service on the Availability Debugger
The Availability Debugger page runs the same check without a booking form. Search for Availability Debugger to find it.
- Open Availability Debugger.
- Under What do you want to check?, choose the Service, the Pet, a Team Member (optional) and the Date.
- Select Check Availability.
The result shows how many time slots were found, or No availability and how many reasons Petboost identified. Below it, What's happening explains the result in plain words, What to check (in order) lists what to fix, Day at a glance shows open hours, appointments and blocked time, and How long this booking actually blocks shows the padding when you use it.
When no times are found
Opened from a booking, Why No Availability? shows the day as it really is:
- A headline and a status, such as Not working, On leave, Closed, Fully booked, Blocked, Room taken, Already booked, Class on, Not eligible or Too soon
- Up to six of the bookings that fill the day
- The schedule for up to four of the team members or rooms that could take the booking, with their working hours, special hours and blocked time. It is left out when the problem is the pet's eligibility or the notice period
- A button to act, such as Find the next open time, Try another team member or Pick a later date, which closes the dialog so you can change the booking
- A link to the setting, such as See service rules or Edit notice period, which opens in a new tab
If your booking interval is what hides the times, a card reading Your booking interval is shortening this session comes first. Start times can only land on the booking interval, so a session that starts between two intervals loses time and can end up too short for the service. The card offers two fixes: set the booking interval it suggests, or change the session so it still fits.
Show More Details opens the detailed breakdown. If the booking engine returned no reasons, the dialog shows No availability details for this date: close it and run Magic Availability Check again, or try another date.
When you check a range of dates, a summary counts the days with and without times, and a date strip lets you look at each day.
When times are found
Availability Found shows All Checks Passed and how many time slots are available. Below that:
- The verdict: a quick summary of the result, with suggestions for reading it
- Service: Pet Eligibility, how many Team Members can provide the service and whether it needs one, and how many Resources it uses and whether it needs one, with View Service Settings and View Eligibility
- Team member, when you chose one: Available, Not Working or Unavailable, the issues found, and View Working Hours and View Leaves & Restrictions
- Booking Settings: Notice Period, Booking Interval, Padding Before, Padding After and Sibling Pets Gap, with Open Booking Settings
- Booking Requirements: the chain the engine checked, from the date to the pet, the service and the team member, plus working hours or leave when they block. A green border passed, a red border failed and pulses, and a grey border does not apply. Select a step to open its settings
- Over several days, Why Some Times Are Unavailable lists up to five reasons some times were not offered, and how many slots each one affected
On the service, one team member means the service is assigned to one person. If that person is full, raise Pets at a Time on their Capacity tab. Do not add staff, and do not send them to a resource for a team-member block. When a resource is full or has blocked times, fix the resource: it is not a team-member problem.
The detailed breakdown
The breakdown lists every rule the engine used, in five sections:
- How Slots Are Calculated: Advance notice required, Time between start times, Prep time before service, Cleanup time after service and Max gap between sibling pets
- Who Can Be Booked: for each service, Pet eligible?, Available team members, Available rooms/equipment, and whether it needs a team member or a room
- Date & Time Range Checked: Looking from, Looking to, Earliest bookable time, which comes from the notice period, Business time zone and Start time interval
- Why This Time is Blocked: every reason the engine found, with the pet's name in front when the booking has more than one pet
- Full System Log: the engine's step-by-step working, including durations, intervals and processing time
Common problems and fixes
| Status | What it means | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Not working | The team member has no working hours on that date | Add hours on their Working Hours, check their special hours and blocked time, try another date, or leave Magic Match selected |
| On leave | The team member is on leave that day | Check their Leaves & Restrictions, or try another team member |
| Closed | The room or other resource is not open that day | Add hours on the resource's Working Hours, or pick a later date |
| Fully booked | The team member is booked at the times you want | Try another time or team member, or raise their Pets at a Time if they can take more pets at once |
| Blocked or Blocked all day | Blocked time covers the team member or room | Check the blocked time on the calendar, or try another time |
| Room taken | The room is already in use | Try a time when it is free, choose another resource, or add more resources to the service |
| Already booked | The pet already has a booking that day | Find the next open time, or add the service to that booking |
| Class on | The team member is running a class | Try another team member |
| Not eligible | The pet does not meet the service's rules | Check weight, age, breed, vaccination and required first-service rules under the service's Who Can Book. Update the pet's profile, choose another service, or change the rule |
| Too soon | The time is inside your booking notice period | Pick a later date, change Booking Notice Period under Duration & Timing in Settings, or select Quick Force Create to set the time yourself |
When the day is simply full, check the dates and times searched under Date & Time Range Checked, then extend the dates, try other times, look for blocked time on the calendar, or raise the capacity of the team member or resource.
Where to fix each problem
| Problem | Where to fix it |
|---|---|
| Team member not working | Team Members, then Manage on the team member, Working Hours |
| Team member on leave | Team Members, then Manage on the team member, Leaves & Restrictions |
| Service eligibility | Services, then Manage on the service, Who Can Book |
| Notice period too long | Settings, Duration & Timing, Booking Notice Period |
| Booking interval wrong | Settings, Duration & Timing, Booking Interval |
| Resource unavailable | Resources, then Manage on the resource, Working Hours |
| Pet not eligible | The pet's profile, and the service's Who Can Book |
Tips for reading the troubleshooter
- Start with the headline. It names the main problem in one sentence, so if you read only one thing, read that
- Follow the red. Red badges and borders mark exactly where the booking failed
- Act from the dialog. The main button closes it so you can change the booking. Links such as See service rules open the settings in a new tab, so you keep your place. Links on the cards and the requirements chain open in the same tab
- Use the chain. Booking Requirements shows the exact step where the booking failed, so start there
- Leave the detail for later. Show More Details stays closed until you open it, and you rarely need it
FAQ
Why is See Availability Reasons not showing?
It shows when Magic Availability Check is on and the first service line has a pet and a service. For a new recurring series, it appears in the preview only when the check finds no times.
Can I use this for Quick Force bookings?
Yes. With Magic Availability Check off, if the time you set is not normally available, an amber message appears with See availability reasons.
The troubleshooter shows everything green, but no times appeared. Why?
Check:
- Date & Time Range Checked: is the search window right?
- Booking Interval: the times must fit inside the working hours, and a session that starts between intervals loses time
- Service duration: is the service longer than the free blocks of time?
- Capacity: a team member or resource can be at capacity even when they are available
Can customers see this troubleshooter?
No. It is a business tool only. Customers see a simpler message without the detail.
What if I cannot work out the problem?
- Take a screenshot of the troubleshooter.
- Select Get Help in the sidebar, then Speak with the team.
- Share the screenshot, and the team can help read the results.
Related articles
- Simulation Mode: see exactly what a customer sees when they book
- Getting Started with Appointments
- Managing Appointments
- Booking Settings & Availability
- Working Hours & Leave Management
- Resource Working Hours
- Appointments FAQ
Need help?
Our support team is here to help:
- In the app: select Get Help in the sidebar to ask Grazi AI, then Speak with the team in the same panel to reach a person
- Email: support@petboost.com.au
- Phone: 1800 291 005
When you contact support about availability, open the troubleshooter first and share a screenshot. It gives the team everything they need to help you quickly.