How do I stop customers booking online at the last minute? (lead time)

If you need notice before a booking starts — time to prepare bikes, or to make sure someone is there to hand them over — set an online lead time. Customers then can't choose a start time sooner than that from now.

Where to set it

Lead time is set per service offering, not once for the whole store. Go to Settings > Scheduling > Time rules, choose the offering you want, and set Online Lead Time.

It's a duration, so you can express it however suits — 30 minutes, 2 hours, 1 day. Set it to zero if you're happy to take bookings right up to the start time.

Set it on each offering

Because the setting belongs to the offering, different offerings can have different notice periods — which is usually what you want. A guided tour might need a day's notice while a standard bike hire needs an hour.

Changing it for one offering does not change it for the others, so check the value on each offering you sell online rather than assuming they match.

What the customer sees

Start times inside the lead-time window simply aren't offered, so the customer picks from what's genuinely bookable. They aren't shown an error after choosing.

Things to watch

• Lead time only affects online bookings. You can still take a booking in the Back Office for any time.
• A long lead time will lose you genuine last-minute bookings — set the shortest notice you can actually work with.
• Lead time is separate from your opening hours and from how far ahead customers can book. Those are also on Settings > Scheduling.