# Approving requests

> Approve, decline or release a customer's request for a date, book them in or send a link to pay online, and hold the date until they pay.

Who can do this: admins only.

Requests come from a [By request session](/docs/booking-requests). Each one is a customer asking for one of up to 3 dates, at one time and length.

## Open a request

<Steps>
<Step>Go to [Bookings](/go/admin/home) and select **Requests** beside the search box. Its first number, also on **Bookings** in the menu, is new requests waiting for an answer. The amber one is approved requests waiting for payment.</Step>
<Step>Select a request to see who sent it, how many past bookings they have, what they asked for - their dates in order, the time, guests, price, any add-ons and the total - and their message.</Step>
<Step>Select **Reply** to email the customer, or **Decline** to say no. You can add a note, which goes in the email they get.</Step>
</Steps>

Older requests - declined, withdrawn, expired and booked - are folded under **Past requests**. The bottom of **Requests** names your By request sessions, with **Settings** to change them; one that isn't taking requests shows **Paused**. If you don't have one yet, **Requests** explains them and offers **Set up a By request session**. Staff see the requests for their locations; only admins can approve or decline them.

## Approve a request

Each date shows what else is on at that time: "2 sessions · 3 booked", or "2 sessions in the evening" for a time of day. With **Show prices** off, the request says the price is set when you approve. Your price for that length is filled in. If the length has no price, the price starts empty: type what they'll pay (0 for free) before you continue.

<Steps>
<Step>Open the request and select **Approve**.</Step>
<Step>Pick one of their dates. Set the start you agreed, and change the length, price or location if needed.</Step>
<Step>Change any [add-ons](#change-add-ons).</Step>
<Step>Under **Hide sessions at this time**, tick the sessions to take off sale. Sessions at the same location are ticked for you.</Step>
<Step>Under **How will they pay?**, choose **Online, with a link** (you can add a note for them), or **You take payment** and then **Paid** or **Pay later**.</Step>
<Step>Select **Continue** and check what approving will do.</Step>
<Step>Select **Approve and email** them, or **Approve and book**.</Step>
</Steps>

Either way this adds the date and hides the sessions you ticked. The date stays off your public calendar but always shows in Bookings. A time another request holds, even one whose hold has just ended, says **Reserved for** that customer and can't be approved again. To offer a different date, reply by email.

With **You take payment**, the customer is booked in now and gets the normal booking confirmation. If the booking doesn't go through, the request shows **Not booked yet**: book them in again, or select **Release now** to remove the date and put the hidden sessions back on sale. We email the customer to say you can't take their request this time.

### Change add-ons

The add-ons they picked are added at today's prices; one you no longer offer is crossed out. You can't change an add-on's price here - to give a discount, lower the **Session price**. The **Total** is what they pay, even if you change an add-on later.

## Let them pay online

With **Online, with a link**, the customer gets an email saying you can do the date, with a **Book and pay** button. It opens their request page, where they pay the agreed total, including any add-ons, through your normal checkout. The link only works for them, for that date and price - no discount codes, vouchers or memberships apply.

The date is held for the days you set under **After you approve** in **When to take requests** (3 by default), and never past your [minimum booking notice](/docs/booking-window#when-bookings-close) before it starts. If the date is already inside that notice, choose **You take payment**. Online payment also needs the session's price to be a whole session price.

While it's held, the date shows as a dashed amber **Held** session in Bookings with the customer's name. Select it to see who it's held for, what they owe and by when, how many guests, and the sessions it hid. From there, or from the request in **Requests**, you can:

- **Open request** - see the whole request in **Requests**,
- **Copy pay link** - send the customer their request page yourself, for example if the email didn't arrive,
- **Extend** - give them longer to pay, up to your minimum booking notice before the date,
- **Release** - stop the link working straight away,
- **Book them in** (it shows their name) - if they pay you another way. Choose **Paid** and how, or **Pay later**. This closes their payment link first, so they can't pay online as well. If they've just paid online, it says so instead - their booking is on its way.

A held date has no **Show** or **Edit**, so it keeps matching what you emailed. To change the time, release it and approve again.

When they pay, they're booked and get the normal confirmation. If they don't pay in time, the link stops working at once. A few hours later the date is removed, the sessions you hid go back on sale, and you and the customer get an email. Until then you can still **Extend**. A session someone has hidden or changed since you approved stays as it is, and the email lists it.

## Common questions

1. **Why is the date I approved hidden?** So nobody else can book it. Don't show it: anyone with the session link could then book it. To give the time back, use **Release now**.

2. **What if they pay just after the hold ends?** A checkout started in time can still finish. They're booked and you get an email, so you can keep or refund it.

3. **Can I change the price for one customer?** Yes. Change the price when you approve. Online, they pay exactly that amount, plus any add-ons.

4. **Does approving cancel bookings on the sessions I hide?** No. Hiding a session takes it off sale and keeps its bookings. Move those people first, or untick that session.