Client-facing Online Booking Tool Monthly View

[TandE]

I am inquiring about the recent change to the Client-facing Online Booking Tool that Square made whereas clients cannot see the calendar for more than one week at a time.  Previously, you could see the full month in advance, which clients and I really liked.  I have already received complaints asking for the old format which allowed one to see at least a month in advance when trying to schedule.  Because I am booked up 4 – 5 months in advance, having only one week at a time is very inconvenient, burdensome, and annoying, as well as confusing to try and find an opening to book.  The way it is now, a client has to click week after week after week to get to within 30 days before a notification pops up allowing one to click to find an opening.

One positive aspect of the recent change is showing a client when the next available opening occurs, although you have to be viewing within 30 days of the opening to have this feature show up.  If it were available at the start, that would definitely be of help.

How can I reset the format to allow clients to be able to view the calendar the way it was before?  The way it is now is not acceptable for my booking needs. I have been satisfied with the Square services so far, but if this feature cannot be changed, I will have to consider another billing/appointment application.

[RobynR · Accepted solution]

Hey @TandE & @TheRealChipA,

I've checked with our Appointments team, and it turns out the new booking flow is the current option available. Unfortunately, there's no way to switch back to the monthly display on the new booking flow.

They've heard your feedback, and we really appreciate your understanding. If you have more questions or need assistance, feel free to let us know!

[TandE]

@RobynR I tried both from phone and laptop. My clients reported that they even tried to restart their phones and computers in the hope of seeing the full monthly view.

[TheRealChipA]

@RobynR Both.  If you want to see for yourself, go to my test appointments page here.  It shows the monthly calendar on all devices I open that page with.

[CiaoBellaCafe]

Hi Robyn,

We'll jump in - for us this change is COMPLETELY unacceptable!

We're a MICRO WEDDING service and not everyone books for next week, in fact THE VAST MAJORITY DO NOT and we allow booking up to a year in advance.

The other changes to appointment flow are a real improvement, but forcing this weekly view KILLS our ability to offer online booking by making customers' ability to easily check availability into the summer or fall next to impossible. Online booking is a major differentiator in our market, and it's been more or less ruined.  

PLEASE escalate this and make an option for monthly view as soon as possible, or just let us know if after 15 years, we need to find another provider. For the life of me I can't understand why Square would do this.

[DreamyPMU]

Add my negative feedback also. I am extremely upset with this change. Clients are now complaining of how complicated it is, and not being able to see the entire month. 

[modernbouquet]

Square is going to lose clients like this... it's such a pain for my clients to book an appointment 6 months out.  I'm now looking into a completely new website that's not square....

[TandE]

After reply to Luigi's email, he got back to me requesting my appointment booking link so he can look further into the issue. In the meantime I posted this to my site to let the clients know: 

"Important note when booking an appointment:

The service provider that we use for my online booking, Square, recently made a change that allows you to look at the calendar only one week at a time.  This change has made it very inconvenient for clients in that you must click ahead many, many times to find an available opening since I am booked out 4-6 months in advance.  We are working with Square to resolve this issue and go back to a month by month view.  We apologize for the inconvenience at this time until Square can fix the problem or until we find a new provider"

[CiaoBellaCafe]

We shouldn't have to do this !!!

Last time I requested an adjustment Square sat on it for over a year, then promised a change for six months later, then never deployed the change I asked for and never offered an explanation.

[Summer2024]

I totally hear you @CiaoBellaCafe. We are working with the Appointments team regarding this feedback from our sellers. 

[TandE]

@TheRealChipA @F3_Swanson 

Do you mind if I ask what Square plan you subscribe to?  I subscribe to Square Plus and Square Message and am wondering if maybe I need to upgrade in order to get the month to month option now?

[TheRealChipA]

@TandE I’m not sure what “Square Plus” is.  But I subscribe, among other things, to:

Square for Restaurants Plus

Square Online Plus

Square Messages

Square Appointments Free

Since I’m pretty sure that the Appointments subscription would be the driving force in this instance, the fact I have the Free version seems to indicate that you shouldn’t be having this issue solely because of an insufficient subscription.

[kinseyroehm]

You all changed the calendar view for clients on the booking site.  It now only shows a week at a time vs. previously it would show the whole month.  The week view is counter to our whole business!  we were not notified of a change and I have spent time on the whole with a customer representative who also was given no knowledge of the change.  I should be able to change how our availability is given to clients.  Our business (as well as many others) book our appointments months out and this weekly model is counter productive to our booking process.  Can you please give us an option to change the calendar view.  I am annoyed that this change was made without any notice and is negatively impacting my business.

[DreamyPMU]

I called and complained also. This is exactly why I left vagaro. My clients need to see the monthly calendar since we are booking months in advance. I agree, at least give us the option!! I cant believe they didn’t notify us either!!

[CiaoBellaCafe]

@kinseyroehm @DreamyPMU

I called too, after getting no response in the seller forum and a non-answer on their Facebook page. The agent said my feature request was escalated, but I don't see a status update to indicate that anything is happening with either my request or this one.

I can understand why they would not want to roll back all the changes to Appointments, but correcting the calendar view should be a simple fix. I'm certain it would be more involved if they were to offer a real solution, such as ability to select the client calendar view as weekly or monthly, for now I'm begging them as I look for a solution to please just FIX THE VIEW or at the very least offer a real explanation of what's going on, a timeline for a fix or a viable alternative.

[mongiovi]

This is a major detriment to my business. I book sessions months in advance. Now customers have to scroll many times to find an appointment. To make matters worse, Square did not give any notice of the change, so I have had customers contact me to tell me that 'there's something wrong with your website." If an option for monthly view is not provided I will have to leave Square. This is URGENT for my business. Please help.

[BernadetteA]

Thank you all for your feedback. I am merging this thread with another post with similar comments to make it easier for the product teams to see this valuable input. 

Myself, or another moderator will make sure to post any updates we hear from the team. 

[kinseyroehm]

I was on the phone with a rep this morning who didn't know about this update.  they told me to file a complaint and they could not fix it.

[TandE]

@kinseyroehm  This is what they responded my email, too.

"Sorry about the inconvenience, I spoke with my team about it and Square appointments is currently updating its system for everyone that is using it, so this would apply to everyone that's subscribed to square appointments. it's a new change that we'll be implementing in our software. I'll make sure I'll pass along your feedback to our product team. Thank you!"

Sadly, this is not what I want and that's why I have to leave. I'm grateful for Square Appointment in the past but the change is unacceptable for me need. Good luck!

[CTrueLMT]

This is quite frustrating. Mine started to show week only yesterday as well. I allow clients to book out 60 days. Not having a full month calendar view of appointments for clients to see is a not a good option. How can we get the full month back?  I was not made aware that this change was happening. This needs to be fixed asap. 

[MayaP]

Hey there @CTrueLMT @TandE @TheRealChipA, our team did confirm the change, and they are taking feedback on this right now. Your input was passed along to the team. If anything changes with this I will let you know. Thanks again for flagging this! 

[CiaoBellaCafe]

Hi,

We're a MICRO WEDDING service and not everyone books for next week, in fact THE VAST MAJORITY DO NOT and we allow booking up to ONE YEAR in advance. 

Other changes to appointment flow are a real improvement, but forcing this weekly view KILLS our ability to offer online booking by making customers' ability to easily check availability into the summer or fall next to impossible. Online booking is a major differentiator in our market, and now it's more or less ruined.  

PLEASE escalate this and make an option for monthly view as soon as possible, or just let us know if after 15 years, we need to find another provider.

[DreamyPMU]

THIS IS LITERALLY LIKE VAGARO AND MY CLIENTS HATED VAGARO. Change it back!!! My clients need to see the entire month!! Not this weekly low highlighted availability dates. It’s hard to distinguish what days are available and what days aren’t. This is ridiculous. This is exactly why I left vagaro.