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How to prevent Customers from making same day bookings (Classic Items)

Set up a same-day booking restriction to prevent last-minute bookings and maintain better control over your schedule. This rule ensures customers can only book in advance while still allowing staff to make same-day bookings when needed, offering flexibility for internal operations without disrupting your booking policies.

 

Accessing the features mentioned in this article


Where can I find this feature using the top menu?

  • Inventory > Items > Item Rules/Item Events
     

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - Classic Items, Classic Products, or both?

  • Your account must have access to classic items (Inventory > Items), a key feature of our Classic Items version of Checkfront. 

 

How to prevent customers from making same-day bookings

 

You can use a cut-off rule in Checkfront to stop customers from booking on the same day while still allowing Staff to override the restriction. 

 

Step 1 - Go to the Rule Settings

  1. From your Checkfront dashboard, go to Manage > Layout > Rules.
  2. Locate your default rule set (or create a new one if you want to apply this only to certain items).

 

Step 2 - Add a Cut-off Rule

  1. Within the rule set, find the Cut-off rule type.
  2. Set the value to 1 day.
    1. This means bookings must be made at least one day in advance.
  3. Under Applies to, check Customers only.
  4. Leave Staff unchecked so Staff can still make same-day bookings.
  5. Click Save.

 

Step 3 - (Optional) Create a Dedicated Rule Set

If you don’t want this to apply to all items:

  1. Create a new Rule Set (e.g., Same-Day Block).
  2. Add the Cut-off (1 day) rule to it, applying only to Customers.
  3. Save the new rule set.

 

Step 4 - Apply the Rule Set to Specific Items

  1. Go to Inventory > Item Events.
  2. Create a New Event.
  3. Under Rules, select the Same-Day Block rule set you created.
  4. Choose which items or categories the rule should apply to.
  5. Click Create / Save.

 

Step 5 - Test the Behavior

  • Customer Booking Page:
    If you try to make a same-day booking, you’ll see that the system blocks it and asks you to choose a later date.
  • Staff Booking Page:
    Go to Booking > New Booking as Staff and try the same thing — the system allows Staff to book for the same day.