How Appointments Work in Nexora
An appointment is a dated and timed work record in Nexora that the business creates for a customer, or that the customer books through the business's online booking link.
The problem an appointment solves
An appointment puts an agreed piece of work on the business calendar. It keeps the customer, assigned staff member, selected service or package, time, optional room and payment information together, so the business can follow the work from planning to its final outcome.
Who uses appointments?
- The business owner can create, edit and cancel appointments.
- Staff can manage appointments when their access level and assignment allow the action.
- Customers can view their own appointments. If the business has turned on online booking, they can book from the free times the business opens, and cancel or change an appointment they booked online until the time the business sets. They cannot change appointments the business entered.
How an appointment works
The business chooses a customer, date, start time and staff member, then selects either one or more services or a package. A room can also be added as a named location. The appointment keeps the duration from the selected service or package when it is saved.
A new future appointment normally waits for its outcome. When its saved duration is over, the system can complete it during routine processing or when the record is read. This means completion follows the end of the work, but is not promised at an exact minute.
A package-linked appointment connects the work to that customer's package. A future appointment that is still waiting does not reserve or use a package right. Payment information is kept as a follow-up record; Nexora does not charge the customer or move money.
Nexora turns appointment details into a ready WhatsApp message. The business reviews the message and sends it from WhatsApp. In-app and device notifications can be prepared automatically; SMS and email are not sent on their own. For a customer who books through the online booking link, Nexora writes the confirmation and a link to change or cancel the appointment in the WhatsApp chat the customer started.
Appointment rules
These rules describe the behavior the current product follows.
The business controls changes
The owner and staff whose access allows it create, edit and cancel appointments. The selected record stays within that business.
Customers book only under the business's rules
Customers see their own appointment information. If online booking is on, they book only from the services and free times the business opens, and can cancel or change an appointment they booked online until the time the business sets. They cannot change an appointment the business entered.
The business sends the WhatsApp message
Nexora prepares a WhatsApp message from the appointment details and opens it for review. The business decides when to press Send; the message is not sent on its own.
There are four appointment outcomes
An appointment is Waiting, Completed, Cancelled or Paid cancellation. Attendance and no-show are not separate outcomes.
A past start completes a new single appointment
When the business creates one appointment whose start time is already past in the business's time zone, it is saved as Completed.
An ended waiting appointment completes
A filled appointment that is still Waiting becomes Completed after its saved duration has ended. Routine processing can apply the change later, so there is no exact-minute promise.
A paid service cancellation requires a choice
If a service appointment has any received amount, cancelling asks the business to choose Paid cancellation (keep payment) or Cancel and refund. Planned amounts do not trigger the choice. A package appointment cancels plainly because its money belongs to the package.
Package use follows the outcome
Completed and Paid cancellation count as one package use. Waiting and Cancelled do not reserve or deduct a package use.
The staff warning checks the same start time
For a standard appointment, Nexora warns when the selected staff member already has another Waiting or Completed standard appointment on the same date at the same start time. Cancelled and Paid cancellation do not hold the slot. The business can confirm and place it anyway.
A group move has two choices
When the date or time of one group member's appointment changes, the business chooses whether to move only that member or every member in that group session.
Single and recurring deletions have different reach
The normal delete action removes only the selected appointment. Deleting a recurring plan removes every appointment that belongs to the same series, including records that are not in the future.
The business time zone decides the time
Past starts, appointment endings and calendar times are evaluated in the time zone saved for the business.
The saved duration stays with the appointment
The duration comes from the selected package or services when the appointment is saved. A later change to the catalogue does not change the duration of that existing appointment.
Real examples
- At 15:00, the owner enters a single appointment that started at 10:00 in the business's time zone. It is saved as Completed.
- A 50-minute service is used for Tuesday's appointment. The service is later changed to 60 minutes; Tuesday's saved appointment remains 50 minutes.
- A package appointment is cancelled after money was recorded on its package. The appointment stays Cancelled and keeps the package right; only an explicit Paid cancellation uses one right.
- A future package appointment remains Waiting. The customer's remaining package count does not change until the appointment reaches a counted outcome.
- A staff member already has a Waiting standard appointment at 14:00. Nexora warns about another standard appointment starting at 14:00, and the business can place it after confirming.
- One member of a group needs a different time. The business can move only that member; choosing the whole group moves every member in that group session.
Limits to know
- Customers book, cancel or change appointments only if the business has turned on online booking, and only under the business's rules; they cannot touch appointments the business entered.
- Nexora prepares appointment details as a WhatsApp message, but the business reviews and sends it. SMS and email are not sent on their own. A WhatsApp message is written on its own only to a customer who booked through the online booking link, in the chat the customer started.
- There is no separate attendance or no-show outcome and no automatic no-show penalty. The business has no cancellation deadline; the cancellation time applies only when a customer cancels an appointment they booked online.
- The staff warning does not promise to catch appointments that overlap but start at different times, or two appointments for the same customer.
- Room use is a named choice. Nexora does not block two appointments from using the same room and does not track room capacity.
- A conflict warning can be accepted by the business; it is not a hard block.
- Payment entries record planned or received amounts. For a paid service appointment, Cancel and refund can record the full refund. Nexora does not collect, send back or transfer the real money; the business does that.
Cases that need extra attention
- A planned amount does not trigger a cancellation choice. Any received amount greater than zero on a service appointment asks the business to choose Paid cancellation or Cancel and refund; package money never changes the package appointment's outcome.
- Moving one group member leaves the other members at their current time; moving the whole group changes the shared session for all members.
- Deleting one appointment affects that record. Deleting its recurring plan reaches every record in the same series, not only future ones.
- A package appointment that already counts as used can be protected from deletion after the customer package has closed, so its completed history stays consistent.
- A room can appear on two appointments at the same time because room conflicts are not prevented.
- A waiting appointment may remain visible briefly after its duration ends until routine processing or a later read completes it.
Frequently asked questions
- Can customers book or cancel their own appointments?
- Yes, if the business has turned on online booking. A customer books through the link the business shares or in the app, from the free times the business opens, and can cancel or change an appointment they booked online until the time the business sets. The business owner and staff with suitable access manage all other appointments.
- Does Nexora send the WhatsApp appointment message automatically?
- Not for appointments the business enters: Nexora prepares the message and opens WhatsApp, and the business reviews it and presses Send. For a customer who books through the online booking link, Nexora itself writes the confirmation and a link to change or cancel the appointment in the WhatsApp chat the customer started.
- What happens when an appointment ends?
- A filled appointment that is still Waiting becomes Completed after its saved duration is over. The update can happen during routine processing or when the record is read, so an exact minute is not promised.
- Does a future appointment use a package right?
- No. A Waiting appointment does not reserve or deduct a right. Completed and Paid cancellation count; Cancelled does not.
- What happens when I cancel an appointment that was already paid?
- For a service appointment, Nexora asks the business to choose Paid cancellation (keep payment) or Cancel and refund. The refund choice records the full refund but does not send money. A package appointment cancels plainly because its money belongs to the package.
- Does Nexora stop every calendar conflict?
- No. For standard appointments, it warns when the same staff member has another Waiting or Completed standard appointment at the same start time. Cancelled and Paid cancellation do not hold the slot. Different-time overlaps, customer conflicts and room conflicts are not guaranteed checks.
- What does deleting a recurring plan remove?
- It removes every appointment that belongs to that same series. The action is not limited to future appointments.
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