Hi @AAInstalls. Allow me to apologize for what is going to be a long reply. You brought up a number of issues in this post, and I need to address each one of them separately — with explanations, etc.
Customize SMS?
I have included a screen shot at the bottom of this post. This is the screen where you can customize communications. You can see, circled in red, that SMS messages can not be customized at this time. Also, you CAN customize all of the email notifications received by customers here, to say whatever you want each of them to say.
You don’t want to collect emails, etc…
Unfortunately, at this time, except for the initial “appointment accepted” email, Square Appointments uses email notifications, period. This is where things get complicated.
Based upon what I am reading in other posts on this topic, Square might be (but I can’t guarantee) working on SMS communication. Even if they are, they won’t confirm that at this time. Here’s the issue.
There are LOTS of federal and state regulations regarding us texting our customers. Many businesses ignore these and go about doing what they want, not caring that they are violating federal laws. Square obviously won’t give us tools to get ourselves in legal trouble.
Based upon what I know about federal laws in this area, initial one-time SMS confirmation messages are always allowed, as well as one text reminder. Any further messages require that the customer opt-in, have a way to opt-out, and that we are clearly communicating how we will use SMS to communicate with them. Hopefully Square is working on giving us the tools to do this soon. But it’s not a quick or easy task.
I understand you don’t want to collect email addresses and send emails. But you’re going to have to bite the bullet and use these emails. Maybe when a new customer books an appointment, you can see your notification and call them to remind them that all communications will be via email and that they should pay attention to their inboxes for those messages.
My barber uses a different appointment system that also is email-based. I get everything from him via email, and so do all of his customers. He’s told me that once people know, they are ok with it.
Customizing Email Notifications
Like I said earlier, you can customize all email notifications using the screen shown below. You can get to this screen from your dashboard by going to Appointments -> Settings -> Communications.
I think that this answers all of your questions. I’ll add one more things. You can, and should, make a feature request to Square to add fully legal/compliant/customizable text communications in Appointments, as an alternative to email. You can go here to submit a feature request. When you do, let us know. I will upvote it, and I’m sure others will too.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Regards,
