This is the most common booking problem, and it almost always comes down to one missing link in the setup chain. Work through this guide top to bottom. It is ordered from "the page is not live at all" down to "a specific day or time is empty."
First: is the page live at all?
If your booking page says something like "isn't currently accepting online bookings" or "isn't taking online bookings yet," it is not a slot problem, it is a setup gate. Two master conditions:
- Public bookings must be turned on. The switch is in Settings, then Business. This is separate from the per-service "Show on booking page" switch, and it is the single most common cause of "the whole page says we are closed."
- You must have at least one active branch, one active staff member, and one active service that is set to show on the booking page.
The dashboard booking readiness card checks all ten setup gates and links you straight to whatever is missing. Start there.
Then: the page loads but a day shows no times
If the page works but a given day is empty, walk this list. These are in rough order of how often they are the cause.
- The branch has no hours for that day. No opening hours means no times, on that day of the week. Fix it on the branch's Hours tab. See branches and hours.
- A staff member has no working hours. Each person needs their own hours on their Schedule tab. A service with five eligible staff but no hours on any of them offers nothing.
- Staff are not assigned to the branch. Open the staff member and confirm the booking's branch is listed under "Works at branches."
- The service is not offered at the branch. Open the service and confirm the branch is under "Offered at branches." A service with no branch never appears.
- No staff can perform the service. The service needs at least one person under "Staff who perform this."
- Staff hours do not overlap the branch hours. This is the sneaky one. A time is only offered when it sits inside both the branch's open hours and the staff member's hours. If the branch opens 09:00 to 18:00 but the only person working is set 07:00 to 09:00, the overlap is empty and you get a generic "no times fit" message with no specific reason.
- Everyone is on time off, or there is a closure. A branch closure blocks every staff member that day. All-staff time off does the same. The page will usually say "Branch is closed" or "all eligible staff are off."
- The day is fully booked. Every fitting slot is taken.
The settings that quietly hide times
Even with setup correct, two booking preferences (in Settings, then Business) remove times:
- Minimum notice (lead time). Slots starting within the next N hours are hidden. If this is set to 48 hours, today and tomorrow can look empty even though you are open. This is the usual answer to "I can see the day but there are no times."
- How far ahead bookings open. Defaults to around 90 days. Dates past the window return nothing, with no specific explanation to the customer.
And one service-level effect: buffer-after time means the appointment plus its padding has to finish before closing, so the last start of the day is earlier than your closing time.
The reasons the page shows the customer
When a day has no times, Flowesce tries to tell the customer why. The messages you might see, and what each means:
- "This date has already passed." The day is in the past.
- "Branch is closed" (sometimes with a reason). A closure covers that date.
- "Branch isn't open on this day of the week." No opening hours for that weekday.
- "No staff are assigned to this service at this branch." Missing staff link.
- "All eligible staff are off on this date." Time off covers everyone who could do it.
- "All slots on this date are booked." Genuinely full.
- "No times fit on this date, try a different day." The catch-all. This is what you see when staff hours do not overlap branch hours, or a variant was not selected, so if you get this and the day looks like it should be open, check the overlap first.
"A slot was free, then it said it was taken"
If a customer picks a time and gets "that slot was just taken, please pick another," that is working as designed. Flowesce prevents two clients from grabbing the same staff member or room at the same time, right at the database, so the rare simultaneous booking is caught at the last moment rather than double-booking your day.
What can go wrong (quick recap)
- Whole page says you are closed: turn on public bookings in Settings, then Business, and confirm you have an active branch, staff, and a bookable service.
- A day is empty: branch hours, then staff hours, then the branch and service links, then the hours overlap, then closures and time off.
- Near-term days are empty but later ones work: your minimum-notice setting is too high.
- Far-future days are empty: you are past the advance window.
- One staff member never appears: that person is missing hours, a branch, or a service link.
What's next
If you are still stuck after this, the underlying setup guides go deeper: branches and hours, staff and roles, and services. If something still looks wrong, email hello@flowesce.com and we will look at your specific setup.