If a client says they haven't received a reminder, use this handy article to get to the bottom of it!
The first step is to check the client profile to ensure that the SMS reminder is listed there as being sent! If the SMS is marked as "delivered" in Slick, this indicates that the message was successfully handed to the mobile network provider.
You find it by clicking the appointment and selecting SMS.
If the reminder is showing here then this means we have sent it our on end. However, there are a number of cases where a 'sent' text doesn't always arrive.
Unfortunately this is down to the individual network provider. Slick can only guarantee the sending of the reminders and not the safe arrival. To further verify SMS delivery functionality, send a test message to the client's phone and confirm receipt.
Here's a list of reasons an SMS might not send to a client.
The number is incorrect.
They have SMS reminders disabled on the client profile.
They added the appointment within their SMS reminder timing, eg added today for tomorrow and reminders set to send 48 hours before.
The appointment was booked in a waitlist column.
The number might be on roaming mode or might not be connected to the network e.g mobile turned off, out of signal.
If they're having issues, some networks (Vodafone) are also known to re-route the message via another working route, which can cause temporary delivery issues.
The client might have put the number in the ‘Do Not Disturb’ list.
The network might have technical difficulties.
Check if the client's device has the sender's number blocked or if the SMS went to the spam folder. To re-start and blocked SMS from your Slick number ask the client to send 'START' to your Slick number.
IMPORTANT - SMS reminders will NOT send from Waitlist columns.
To check if your column is a waitlist, go to Staff & Business settings > Staff profiles and Logins. Waitlist columns have an X in the row called 'Bookable column'.
You can also identify a waitlist by the fact their header on the calender is Purple, not grey like others.
Managing Appointment Time Updates
When an appointment's time is changed after the original booking, Slick asks you to notify clients about the updated time. Make sure you do this to keep clients in the loop.
This helps if they have also received a digital appointment card with a different time on it. They may get confused ahead of the booking!