Pickup reminders are emails that tell a customer their pet is due to be collected tomorrow. KennelBooker can send a pickup reminder automatically the day before a boarding or homestay stay ends, and your staff can also send one by hand from the booking. Kennels that used to send a postcard or a manual message to remind customers about collection day can use pickup reminders instead.
Where to find pickup reminders
The automatic pickup reminder is set up in Settings > Email settings, in the section called Pickup reminders. There is a Pickup reminders link in the list of sections at the top of that page.
The Pickup reminders section only appears if your business offers boarding or homestay. A boarding-only business sees one switch, a business with both services sees two.
The button to send a pickup reminder by hand is on the boarding booking page and the homestay booking page, in the Customer Messages panel, on the row called Pickup reminder.
Pickup reminders are switched off until you turn them on. There is no extra charge for pickup reminders.
What pickup reminders do
Send one email per booking, the day before the booking's check-out date (boarding) or end date (homestay).
Send once a day, late morning in your own time zone, to every stay that is due to go home the next day.
Skip very short stays. By default a pet that checks in today and goes home tomorrow does not get a pickup reminder.
Use your own wording, from the Pickup Reminder email template.
Let staff send or resend the pickup reminder from the booking at any time.
Record on the booking that the pickup reminder was sent, with the date and time.
Send again automatically if the check-out date is changed after the reminder went out.
How to switch on automatic pickup reminders
Go to Settings > Email settings.
Click Pickup reminders in the section links, or scroll down to the Pickup reminders section.
Turn on Send pickup reminders for boarding, Send pickup reminders for homestay, or both. If you have renamed boarding or homestay in your settings, the switch shows your own name for the service.
Check Shortest stay that gets a reminder (nights). It starts at 2. Leave it at 2 to skip a pet that checks in today and goes home tomorrow, or change it to 1 to remind every stay. It accepts 1 to 30.
Click Save all email settings.
From then on, pickup reminders go out by themselves each day. If you switch pickup reminders on in the afternoon, that day's reminders go out within about 15 minutes, as long as it is before 11pm your time.
How to change the wording of the pickup reminder email
Go to Settings > Email settings and scroll to the templates section.
Open the template with the type Pickup Reminder. Every account has one, called Pickup Reminder Template.
Edit the subject and the message, and save.
The standard pickup reminder email has the subject "Pickup reminder for [pet_names] - tomorrow". It greets the customer by first name, says that pickup for their pet is tomorrow with the date, invites them to reply if their plans have changed or they want a different pickup time, and signs off with your business name.
The pickup reminder template uses the same fields as your other booking emails. The standard wording does not include a pickup time. If you record specific pickup times on bookings, you can add the pickup time field from the fields list in the template editor. You can also add the outstanding balance field.
How to send a pickup reminder by hand from a booking
Open the boarding booking or the homestay booking.
Find the Customer Messages panel.
On the Pickup reminder row, in the Email column, click the green Send button.
The button shows "Sending" for a moment. The email is sent straight away, a confirmation appears, and the row now shows the date and time with a white Resend button.
You can send a pickup reminder by hand even if the automatic pickup reminder switches are off. You can click Resend as often as you need to.
What happens after a pickup reminder is sent
The customer gets one email. Pickup reminders are email only. No text message (SMS) and no app push notification is sent.
The booking records that the pickup reminder was sent and when. You can see the date and time on the Pickup reminder row of the Customer Messages panel on the booking.
A booking that already had its pickup reminder, whether sent automatically or by hand, is not emailed again by the automatic run.
If the check-out date of the booking is changed afterwards, for example the customer extends the stay by four days, the sent date is cleared and the row goes back to Send. The automatic pickup reminder then goes out again the day before the new check-out date. This also happens when the customer changes the dates of a boarding booking themselves in the customer portal.
Nothing else on the booking changes. Pickup reminders do not change the booking status, the price, the invoice or any payment.
What pickup reminders don't do
Pickup reminders are only for boarding and homestay bookings. Daycare, nightcare, grooming, training and other services do not get pickup reminders.
Pickup reminders are not sent by text message (SMS), WhatsApp or push notification. They are emails.
Pickup reminders are always sent the day before. You can't choose two days before, or the morning of pickup.
You can't choose the time of day. The automatic run is late morning, from 11am in your time zone.
Pickup reminders do not skip weekends or days you are closed. A stay that ends on a Monday gets its reminder on the Sunday.
Pickup reminders are not sent for cancelled bookings or bookings that are already checked out.
Pickup reminders are not sent to customers who have reminder emails switched off, or who have no valid email address.
There is no catch-up. If a day's run is missed, the reminders for that day are not sent later. You can send them by hand from each booking.
A stay that is shortened in the afternoon so that it now ends tomorrow does not get an automatic pickup reminder, because that day's run has already happened. Send it by hand from the booking.
Settings that affect pickup reminders
Send pickup reminders for boarding (Settings > Email settings > Pickup reminders): on, boarding bookings due to check out tomorrow get the automatic email. Off, they don't. The Send button on the booking works either way.
Send pickup reminders for homestay (Settings > Email settings > Pickup reminders): the same, for homestay bookings.
Shortest stay that gets a reminder (nights) (same section): stays shorter than this number of nights are skipped by the automatic run. 2 is the starting value. It does not affect the Send button on the booking.
Pickup Reminder template (Settings > Email settings > templates): the subject and wording of the email, for both the automatic and the manual pickup reminder.
The customer's reminder emails preference (on the customer's page): if the customer has reminder emails switched off, the automatic pickup reminder skips them and the booking shows "opt-out" in place of the Send button.
Your time zone: the automatic pickup reminder uses your business time zone to decide when it is late morning and which day is tomorrow.
Troubleshooting pickup reminders
"I can't see the Pickup reminders section in Email settings"
The Pickup reminders section only shows for businesses that offer boarding or homestay. If you only offer daycare or grooming, the section is hidden because pickup reminders do not apply to those services.
"A customer didn't get a pickup reminder"
Check these in order. The pickup reminder switch for that service must be on. The stay must be at least as long as Shortest stay that gets a reminder (nights). The booking must not be cancelled or checked out. The customer must have a valid email address and must not have reminder emails switched off. If the booking was created or changed in the afternoon of the day before pickup, the day's run had already happened, so send the pickup reminder by hand from the booking.
"The booking shows opt-out and there is no Send button"
The customer has reminder emails switched off, so KennelBooker will not send them a pickup reminder. If the row says "opt-out - no email address", the customer has no valid email address on their record. Add or correct the email address on the customer's page and the Send button appears.
"Pickup reminders go out at the wrong time of day"
Automatic pickup reminders go out from 11am in the time zone set on your account. If they arrive at a different hour, check your time zone setting. KennelBooker uses a fixed offset, so it may need changing when the clocks go forward or back.
"The customer got the pickup reminder twice"
This happens when the check-out date was changed after the first pickup reminder, because the reminder is sent again for the new date, or when a member of staff clicked Resend on the booking.
"The pickup reminder went to a pet that only stayed one night"
Shortest stay that gets a reminder (nights) is set to 1. Change it to 2 in Settings > Email settings > Pickup reminders and save.
Pickup reminders: frequently asked questions
Can KennelBooker remind customers to collect their pet?
Yes. Pickup reminders email the customer the day before their boarding or homestay stay ends. Switch them on in Settings > Email settings > Pickup reminders, or send one by hand from the Customer Messages panel on the booking.
When exactly is the pickup reminder sent?
The automatic pickup reminder is sent the day before the check-out date, once a day, from 11am in your time zone. All of that day's pickup reminders go out together.
Can I change what time the pickup reminder is sent?
No. The automatic pickup reminder goes out late morning, from 11am your time, and the hour can't be changed. If you need one earlier, send it by hand from the booking.
Can I send the pickup reminder two or three days before instead?
No. The automatic pickup reminder is always sent the day before the stay ends. You can send one by hand from the booking on any day you like.
Are pickup reminders sent by text message or WhatsApp?
No. Pickup reminders are sent by email only. There is no SMS, WhatsApp or push notification version of the pickup reminder.
Do pickup reminders work for daycare or grooming?
No. Pickup reminders are for boarding and homestay bookings only. Daycare, nightcare, grooming and training bookings do not get a pickup reminder.
Can I edit the pickup reminder email?
Yes. The wording comes from your Pickup Reminder template in Settings > Email settings, in the templates section. You can change the subject and the message and add fields such as the pickup time or the outstanding balance.
Does the pickup reminder email include the pickup time?
Not in the standard wording. You can add the pickup time field to your Pickup Reminder template. It only fills in if your bookings record a specific pickup time.
What happens if a customer extends their stay after the pickup reminder went out?
When the check-out date on the booking is changed, the pickup reminder is reset. The customer gets a new pickup reminder the day before the new check-out date, and the booking shows Send again until then.
Will a customer get a pickup reminder if they drop off today and collect tomorrow?
Not by default. Shortest stay that gets a reminder (nights) starts at 2, which skips a one-night stay so the customer is not reminded about pickup on drop-off day. Set it to 1 if you want every stay reminded.
How do I know if the pickup reminder was sent?
Open the booking and look at the Pickup reminder row in the Customer Messages panel. If the pickup reminder was sent, the row shows the date and time and a Resend button. If it has not been sent, it shows a green Send button.
Can a customer opt out of pickup reminders?
Pickup reminders follow the customer's reminder emails preference. A customer who has reminder emails switched off does not get pickup reminders, and their booking shows "opt-out" on the Pickup reminder row.
Does a booking with two pets get two pickup reminders?
No. Pickup reminders are sent once per booking, and the email names the pets on that booking. A customer with two separate bookings ending tomorrow gets one pickup reminder for each booking.
Can I send pickup reminders by hand without switching on the automatic ones?
Yes. The Send button on the Pickup reminder row of the booking works whether the automatic pickup reminder switches are on or off.
Do pickup reminders skip Sundays or days we are closed?
No. Pickup reminders are sent the day before the check-out date, whatever day of the week that is.
Do pickup reminders cost extra?
No. There is no extra charge for pickup reminders.
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