Customer flow and booking experience: terms, extend button, unlock and return pages, time slots

Everything your customer sees after they click your book button is set up in two tabs on the location: Customer flow (what they agree to, what they are asked, and what the unlock and return pages show) and Booking experience (how they pick products, dates and times). This guide covers both, plus the languages the booking window is shown in.

Where the settings live: Customer flow, Booking experience and Website

Open Locations, click the location, and you get these tabs: Location settings, Locks (unmanned locations), Book button, Customer flow, Booking experience, Open dates and Website.

Customer flow — terms, the extend and move buttons, checkout questions, the before-unlock step, the unlock (PIN) page, the return page, the QR booking flow and the printed order text. It also exists at account level under Settings → Customer flow. See the next section for which one is used.
Booking experience — the booking flow (flexible times or fixed time slots), session lengths, day rental times, product groups, the layout on computers and the Booking theme color. It exists only per location.
Website — the Rentalbuddy-hosted booking page, if you use one. Its Design section (Primary Color, Accent Color, Font Family) says it itself: "Colors and font for your Rentalbuddy-hosted page only — they don't affect the booking flow or the book button." The colour of the booking window is the Booking theme color on Booking experience. The page itself is covered in the guide on direct links and QR codes.
The look of the book button on your own website is on the Book button tab — see the guide on installing the booking button.

Everything on a tab is saved with the Save button at the top of the location page. It turns orange while you have unsaved changes.

Account settings or this location? The Location-specific switch

The customer flow exists twice:

Account level — Settings → the Customer flow tab. This is your default for every location that has not opted out.
Location level — Locations → the location → the Customer flow tab.

At the top of the location's tab is a switch labelled Location-specific.

Off (the default) — you see only a short card: "This location uses the customer flow from your account settings." and "To edit the default flow, go to " followed by a link, Account > Customer Flow. The Key settings card and the four steps are hidden, so there is nothing to edit here. This is the usual reason for "the setting has disappeared" or "I changed it at account level but nothing happened on the location".
On — the card reads "This location uses its own customer flow settings.", the Key settings card and the four steps appear, and what you change affects only this location. Changes at account level no longer reach it.

If you run a single location, leave it off. One place to edit is easier. Turn it on only when two locations genuinely need different terms, questions or return steps.

To see which locations have opted out, scroll to the bottom of the account-level Customer flow tab: Locations that use location-specific settings for Customer flow, or "No locations use location-specific settings".

Account viewers can open the Customer flow but cannot change it; editing needs a role that can manage settings or locations.

What happens when you turn Location-specific on

If the location has settings saved from before and your account has settings too, the dialog Choose customer flow settings asks which to use:

Use account settings — copies the account's checkout fields, key settings, before-unlock, unlock, return and QR settings to the location, and replaces the location's requirements with copies of the account's. The Printed order message starts empty.
Use previous location settings — restores what this location had saved last time, requirements included.

If there is only one set to choose from, it is applied without a dialog. Nothing is stored until you press Save.

If the tab has unsaved changes when you flip Location-specific (on or off), Unsaved changes asks first: "Save or discard your changes before switching the customer flow." Choose Save and switch, Discard and switch, or Cancel to stay as you are.

Key settings: Terms & Conditions and the extend and move buttons

The Key settings card sits at the top of the Customer flow tab (account level, and location level when Location-specific is on): "What customers agree to at checkout, and what they can change themselves afterwards. The buttons appear on the unlock page and in any booking email that includes them."

Edit your Terms & Conditions (booking terms, rental agreement)

Terms & Conditions is marked Required. The card explains: "Customers accept this text at checkout when they tick "I accept the Terms & Conditions". It is the legally binding agreement between you and the customer, so keep it complete and current." A preview of the first lines is shown next to it, or "No terms added yet."

Click Edit terms.
Pick a language at the top of the dialog and write or paste the text. Repeat for every booking language your location shows.
Optionally use the translate button in the dialog to fill the other languages from the language you choose under From (see Translate the customer flow automatically below), or Import text from another source and Apply import.
Click Confirm in the dialog, then Save at the top of the page. Confirm only puts the text into the page; nothing is stored until Save.

The terms are per language. If a booking language is still missing text, the card shows Missing values: with the languages. Customers in such a language are not shown an empty box: they read your English text, or another language you filled in. Fill in every language you offer so they read terms in their own language. In the booking window customers see a checkbox reading "I accept the Terms and Conditions." with a link that opens your text.

Rentalbuddy also checks whether your terms look finished. Nothing is blocked, but a warning appears on the Customer flow tab (and on Home under Worth reviewing) when:

"There are no terms and conditions",
"The terms and conditions still contain placeholder text from a template" (for example square-bracket placeholders),
"The terms and conditions are very short, so the full text is probably not in place",
"The terms and conditions are the same text in several languages, so they are probably not translated".

The warning is shown where the text is edited. A location that follows the account says "This location uses the account's settings for Customer flow, so the terms are edited there." with Open account settings. When you Import text from a source whose terms look unfinished, the source is marked with the reason and "Importing copies the text as it is."

Let customers extend their booking (Show extend booking button)

Show extend booking button — "Display a button that allows customers to extend their rental period if needed. Earlier versions called this the prolongation button." It is off by default.

When it is on:

The customer's unlock page shows an Extend booking button (buttons in the booking window are shown in capital letters). They choose how much longer and pay for the extra time in the booking window.
Booking emails whose template contains the Extend booking button show it; with the switch off, the button is left out of every email. The email template itself is covered in the guide on confirmation and reminder emails.
It never applies to event bookings — the button is left out for those, on the unlock page and in emails.
How far a customer can extend is limited by the next booking on the same lock (plus your Blocking time after booking) and by your opening hours.
On a location with fixed time slots, extending means upgrading to a longer session length; day bookings cannot be extended there, and customers see "Day bookings cannot be extended. Please create a new booking."

The Locations list can show this setting per location in the optional Prolongation column.

Let customers move their own start time (Show move start time button)

Show move start time button — "Display a button that allows customers to move their booking start time before the rental begins." Also off by default.

When it is on, the unlock page shows Move start time before the booking starts, and booking emails whose template contains that button show it. The customer picks a new start time; the length of the booking stays the same. If the new time costs more they pay the difference online; if it costs less the difference is refunded automatically (both only for bookings paid online).

Moving is refused when the booking has already started, has been picked up or returned, is cancelled, or still has a payment outstanding — and when the cut-off has passed. The cut-off is the Time before start that you can book of the location's current time period on the Open dates tab, so a lead time there is also the customer's "too late to move it" line. Admins can still move the booking from the admin (see the guide on editing, moving or cancelling a booking).

Step 1 — Checkout: customer details and checkout questions

The steps start with an overview, Your customer flow in 4 steps — "Set up what your customers see and do at each step — from checkout to unlock and return." Each step is a section with the settings on the left and a phone preview on the right (on a narrow screen, tap Show preview).

The previews use your own products: the checkout preview shows your first rental product (name, description, price and picture), and the before-unlock, unlock and return previews show up to two of your rental products with example lock numbers and PIN codes. Until you have rental products, they show example items. On the account-level Customer flow tab (and in the membership checkout preview) the previews borrow one of your locations for the name and theme colour: the first location alphabetically that follows the account settings. With more than one location, a caption under the preview says which one, for example "Preview shown as Harbour Kayaks". A colour that doesn't match another location is only that example, not an error.

Checkout (marked Required) — "Customer chooses time/products, enters details, and pays."

Customer details

"Name, email, phone, address, and other standard fields collected at checkout." A list with an Active and a Mandatory checkbox per field:

Field	On by default	Mandatory by default
Name	yes	yes
Surname	yes	yes
Email	yes	yes
Phone	yes	yes
Address	no	no
Zip Code	no	no
City	no	no
Country	no	no

Name, Surname, Email and Phone are locked on — you need them to send the confirmation and reach the customer. Drag a row to change the order customers see the fields in.

When Country is on, customers get a searchable country list with the location's own country at the top.

Checkout requirements (custom questions at checkout)

"Custom questions, agreements, waivers, consents, and other information required during checkout." Add them with Add checkout requirement. See Requirements below for the types.

Confirmation message

Confirmation message — "Customers see this message on the confirmation page after payment." Per language.

Step 2 — Before Unlock: a gate before the PIN codes are shown

Before Unlock (Optional) — "Optional gate after payment. Require terms, safety video, ID, or questions before showing PIN codes." Its header shows Enabled or Disabled; it is off by default.

Enable Before Unlock Page — "Give customers information or ask them to complete requirements before pickup."
Page title — "First line customers see after clicking 'Access codes'." Per language.
Show products — "Display the list of products in the customer's booking".
Show PIN code(s) on this page — "Show PIN code(s) together with the booking summary". Only appears when Show products is on.
Before unlock requirements — "Ask customers to confirm information, complete safety checks, upload ID photos, or accept terms before PIN codes are shown." Add with Add before-unlock requirement.

The customer answers the requirements and presses Submit; only then does the normal unlock page with the PIN codes open. This is the right place for a driver's licence or ID photo, a signed rental agreement, or a safety video before handing out access.

Good to know:

The step only appears when it is enabled and at least one before-unlock requirement exists. A requirement that is switched off (not Active) still counts, so a step with only inactive requirements shows customers a page with just a Submit button.
When this step is on, customers who have not completed it do not see their PIN code. Switched on by mistake, it looks like "the customer paid but has no code".
Don't ask the same question here and on the return page — customers find it confusing.

Step 3 — Unlock page: PIN codes and pickup instructions

Unlock (PIN + Pickup instructions) (marked Required) — "Show PIN codes and clear pickup instructions (photos, location, how to open)."

Heading — the title of the page, per language (default "Welcome to unlock your product"). Untick it to hide the heading.
Show product images — "Display product images on the unlock page so customers can visually identify their rented items."
Message — pickup instructions, per language. By default: "Enter the pincode above when picking up and returning." Write how your locks open.
Show countdown timer — "Display a countdown timer showing the remaining rental time for the customer's booking."
Show Confirm Button — shows a Confirm return button on the unlock page, which is how the customer goes on to the return page. If you switch it off, customers reach the return page only through the return link in your emails.

Heading, message, images, timer and confirm button are on by default. The extend and move buttons are in Key settings (above).

What the customer sees:

Each PIN code is the largest text on the card, in bold with a lock icon and the label PIN, grouped in threes (for example 393 232 336), next to the product and lock.
Before the booking starts they see "You are early" and "Your booking start at …" with Reload page (plus Move start time and Extend booking if you allow them) — the codes are not shown yet. After the booking has ended they see "Your booking is no longer valid." When codes appear exactly is explained in the guide on customers who got no PIN code.
If the booked lock has a Harvia sauna heater linked, a round heater dial shows the heater's status, the temperature and the time left. Customers can't start or stop the heater from it. The unlock preview on this tab always shows an example dial (62°, 80°, 1:00), even if you have no heaters. See the Harvia guide.
At the bottom: "If you have any questions please contact us at …" with the location's email and phone — fill them in on Location settings.

Step 4 — Return page: checklist, photos and "Have you locked up?"

Return (Close-out + Checklist) (marked Required) — "Customer confirms return and follows your checklist (optionally photos/damage report)."

Show products — "Display the list of products that the customer is returning on the return page."
Show PIN code(s) on this page — only visible when Show products is on. Leave it on for lock-based returns: customers usually need the code to lock up again.
Heading — per language (default "Confirm return").
Return requirements — "Return questions, photos, condition reports, or confirmations before the booking is closed." Add with Add return requirement.
Return confirmation message — a thank-you text, per language, shown on the return page below the complete button. It is stored with the location's own settings: set it on the location with Location-specific on. The text on the account-level tab does not currently reach customers.

What the customer sees:

The heading, their products and PIN codes, and your return requirements. On a phone, a small strip with the code stays at the top while they scroll through the checklist.
The button Complete rental.
If codes are shown on this page, a confirmation pops up first: "Have you locked up and returned everything?" — "Your lock codes won't be shown after this step. Make sure everything is back in place and locked before you continue." with Yes, I've locked up and Not yet. If you hide the codes on the return page, the same question appears earlier, when they press Confirm return on the unlock page. The wording of this question is fixed and it can't be switched off; it only appears while the customer has PIN codes on screen.
Afterwards: "Thank you, your booking is fulfilled!"

There is no separate damage-report feature — build one from requirements: a Take a photo requirement per angle you want documented plus a question about damage, marked Mandatory if the return must be enforced.

Requirements: custom questions, photos, waivers and their order

Checkout, before-unlock and return use the same dialog, Add requirement:

What do you need from the customer? — pick the type.
Label — the question customers see, per language. The main language is required: "Enter the label in your site's primary language."
Active — "When inactive, the requirement is hidden from customers but remains in your settings."
Mandatory — "When mandatory, customers must complete this requirement before they can continue."
Fill in the type's fields while watching the preview, then press Add (in the edit dialog, Confirm). The requirement shows up in the list straight away, but like everything else on the tab it is only stored when you press Save at the top of the page. Deleting a requirement works the same way. If you leave the page before saving, Unsaved changes asks you to Save and leave or Leave without saving.

The types:

Questions — Written answer, Choose one option, Check to confirm, Star rating.
Photo uploads — Take a photo ("Use when customers should capture a new photo with the device camera (for example condition checks or live documentation).") and Upload a photo (choose an existing image from the device, for example insurance papers or an ID photo already on the phone).
Information — Information only, Instruction video.
Agreements & waivers — Read and confirm, Waiver (popup), Waiver (signature), Safety video + confirm. These are mandatory by default.

Order: drag requirements to reorder them and press Save — customers see them in exactly that order at checkout, before unlock and at return.

Import requirements — "Add selected requirements from your account defaults or another location. Existing requirements in this section are kept." Choose Import from: Account defaults or another location that has its own customer flow. Possible duplicates are marked May already exist on this section.

QR booking flow and duration options

QR-Booking Flow Settings — "Customize the booking flow for customers who start from a QR code instead of your website." The box What is QR-Booking Flow? explains: "QR flow is a shortened on-site booking flow for customers who start from a QR code instead of your website. It's faster and designed for walk-up rentals." Flow Comparison shows Website: Browse → Checkout, versus QR Code: Scan QR → Quick checkout; both then continue to your unlock and return pages.

Under QR Booking Options:

Dates — whether customers can choose a start date in the QR flow.
Title — the question above the durations, per language (default "How long do you wish to rent?").
Duration options — the booking lengths walk-up customers choose from. Add with Add QR-booking option (Days, Hours, Minutes; maximum 14 days), bring them in with Import times, and order them with Sort QR booking options → Shortest first / Longest first. Options outside the location's booking length are allowed but marked Outside location booking length. Add (or Confirm when you edit one) puts the option in the list; Save at the top of the page stores it.

On a location with fixed time slots the list is not used: "This location uses time slots, so QR bookings follow its session lengths instead of these options. The list is kept but not used."

The QR codes themselves are on the location's Book button tab (booking QR) and Locks tab (lock QR) — see the guide on direct links and QR codes.

Print Settings: text on the printed order

Print Settings (marked Optional) holds Printed order message — "This text appears on the printed order." Per language. It is only saved while Location-specific is on.

Booking experience: how customers pick dates and times

Booking experience — "Choose how customers pick dates and times in the booking plugin for this location." It is always per location. The steps are numbered and collapsible; each shows a summary of the current choice, and options are marked Default or Recommended.

At the top:

Layout on computers — Same as on the phone (Default; "Customers on a computer see the same booking view as on a phone.") or Wider layout ("Customers on a computer see a wider booking view with more room for the content.").
Booking theme color — "Primary color for buttons and accents in the booking plugin — the booking flow your customers see when they book. Also used in booking confirmation emails." (The colour of the button on your own website is set separately on the Book button tab, and the Design colours on the Website tab only style the hosted page.)
The booking window keeps text readable whatever colour you pick. Text on buttons filled with your colour is automatically black or white, whichever contrasts more. If your colour is too light to read as text on white (a pale yellow, for example), links, outlined buttons and accent text use dark text instead, so a very light theme colour shows up mainly as button backgrounds.

Booking flow: Flexible start and end times or Fixed time slots

Flexible start and end times (Default) — "Customers choose pickup and return times themselves — the booking length is up to them, within your rental rules." The normal rental setup.
Fixed time slots — "Customers choose from session lengths that you set (e.g. 2 hours or 1 day)." Typical for saunas and other sessions.

Under the choice: "Opening hours and other settings under Open dates also affect which times customers can book." With fixed time slots, a status line shows "Fixed time slots are set up." when products, session lengths and open dates are in place, or "Add rental products to this location to offer time slots."

With fixed time slots, each booking is one session: customers pick one time and all products in the booking share it. Rentals and events are checked out separately. Customers can't book two slots back to back in one booking. If some want longer, offer a longer session length (for example 4h next to 2h); with Show extend booking button on, a customer can also upgrade an hour booking to a longer session later with Extend booking.

Because all products share one time, a customer can only add products that have at least one session length in common with what is already selected, and whose Bookable weekdays overlap. Other products are greyed out with "Not available with your current selection" or "Can't be combined with the days in your current selection". An hour-only product and a day-only product can never be in the same booking. To sell them together, give them a common session length (or use Same session lengths for all products).

Switching a location back to Flexible start and end times does not delete your time-slot setup. The session lengths, fixed start times and day rental times are kept and come back if you switch to Fixed time slots again. While the location is flexible they have no effect: customers choose their own pickup and return times, and Same session lengths for all products is not applied to the products.

Session lengths: the same for all products or per product

Session lengths (only with fixed time slots):

Same session lengths for all products (Recommended) — "One set of session lengths applies to all rental products at this location." Enter them right here, in hours and/or days. Session lengths set on the products are not used while this is chosen.
Set per product — "Session lengths are set individually on each rental product." A line shows "Session lengths set on X of Y products." Click Edit session lengths to set them for every product in one dialog; Copy to all products copies one product's lengths to the rest. Save in that dialog writes straight to the products — it does not wait for the page's Save.

Hour lengths must fit the location's Booking interval (on Open dates); day lengths go from 1 to 14 days.

Time slots: Start at any time or Fixed start times

Start at any time (Default) — "Customers can start a session at any open pickup hour (e.g. 09:00–11:00 or 10:00–12:00)."
Fixed start times — "Sessions follow a set schedule and never overlap (e.g. 09:00–11:00, 11:00–13:00)." An example line shows where your slots will start, and a tip: "Customers always get the full session length. For a 2-hour rhythm with 30 minutes to prepare, use 1.5-hour sessions and set Blocking time after booking to 30 minutes."

Blocking time is always added after the session, never taken from it — a 2-hour session is always 120 minutes for the customer.

Day rental times: Follow opening hours or Fixed daily times

This step only appears when some product (or the location) has session lengths in days.

Follow opening hours (Default) — "A day rental starts at the first pickup time and ends at the last return time on the final day."
Fixed daily times (Recommended) — "A day rental runs from the pickup time to the same time on the final day — like hotel check-in and check-out. One day is a full 24 hours." With this chosen you also get:
- Include blocking time in day rentals — the return time is moved earlier by the blocking time, so there is time to clean and prepare before the next pickup. It uses Blocking time for day rentals on Open dates if you set one there, otherwise Blocking time after booking. The customer still pays the full day price: a 2-day rental shortened this way costs the 2 Days price.
- Day pickup times — "Choose which times day rentals can be picked up — hour rentals are not affected. The times come from Pickup hours." A warning lists times that are not enabled on every open day; day rentals with those times only appear on days where the time is enabled. If you untick every time, or leave them all ticked, day rentals can start at every pickup time: there is no "no day pickups" setting. To stop day rentals, remove the day session lengths instead.

With Fixed daily times, a day rental is only offered when the return day is open (not closed in the time period or under Custom dates) and the return time is not later than the last ticked Return hours on that day. A return before that day's opening time is allowed, for example an 11:00 check-out at a location that opens at 12:00. A product with Bookable weekdays can only start a day rental on those weekdays. This is why a late pickup, or a rental that would end on a closed day, is simply not offered.

There is no separate opening window for day rentals: both options take their times from the location's Pickup hours and Return hours on Open dates. With Follow opening hours, a 1-day rental runs from the first pickup time on the start day to the last return time on the next day (a 2-day rental to the last return time two days later). With Fixed daily times it runs from the chosen pickup time to the same time a day later. Neither gives a same-day rental such as 09:00–17:00; for that, offer an hour session length (for example 8h) instead.

Product groups

Product groups — "Show products under named headings instead of one flat list." Switch on Group products under headings in the booking view, then Add category, give each a Category name (per language) and choose Products in this category. Products without a session length are shown in warning colour with (no session length). Products you leave out appear under Other.

The booking preview

On the right (or below on smaller screens) is Preview — "Approximate view based on your settings. Save and open the booking plugin for the live experience." It follows your layout choice (Desktop layout or Mobile layout), theme colour, products and prices, and steps through products and times. With no products it says "Add rental products to preview the booking flow." If your products are not yet on an active lock, it warns: "These products aren't assigned to any active lock yet — the live booking view lists none of them until they are." The steps in the Customer flow tab have their own phone previews.

With Fixed time slots, each product in the list (in the preview and in the real booking window) shows From and a price: the price of its shortest session length (the shortest hour option or the shortest day option, whichever is cheaper) in the current season. Weekday and date-range price adjustments are left out of this figure, so the actual price for a chosen day and slot can be higher.

Products hidden from the booking flow (session lengths don't fit)

On a fixed-time-slot location, a product with no session length that fits is hidden from customers. You are warned in several places:

The Booking experience tab is marked: "Some products have no bookable session length and are hidden from the booking flow."
The Booking flow step warns when lengths don't fit the interval: "X products have session lengths that don't match the booking interval and won't appear in the booking flow." with Review the booking interval. With Set per product, the Session lengths step shows "Session lengths set on X of Y products."
The product itself shows "None of these lengths fit the location's time slots, so customers can't book this product." If no product at all can be booked, the location's readiness strip shows No session lengths customers can book.

Fix it by adding a fitting session length, or by changing the booking interval on Open dates (which warns before hiding products — see the guide on opening hours and open dates).

What customers see in the booking window

Steps along the top: Products, then Time (fixed time slots), Addons (only if the location sells add-ons) and Checkout. (Checkout was earlier called the cart.) The button to continue reads Go to checkout.
At a Manned location, a rental product whose quantity is 0 is off sale and not listed at all, instead of showing as fully booked. Raise the quantity to put it back on sale; bookings already made keep it.
On a Fixed time slots location, each product shows a From price (see The booking preview above). The Time step shows a row of days (with Today and arrows for earlier and later days) and the session lengths as buttons (for example 2h, 1d). When both hour and day lengths are offered, customers switch between Hours and Days. They pick one of the listed times; for day rentals each option shows the pickup and return time. Times that are already taken are greyed out and marked Sold out.
On a Flexible start and end times location, times that are already taken are listed greyed out with a Booked tag, and a start time whose minimum length would run into another booking is greyed out with Min … (for example Min 2h). The booking length limits are explained in the opening hours guide.
At the bottom of the booking window a cart summary shows the number of items and the total. Clicking it opens Your selection, where customers can change quantities with − and + (up to what is available, "Maximum quantity reached") or Remove an item without going back a step.
Products | Memberships — a switch at the top of the first step, shown only when the location sells both rental products and memberships. Picking Memberships switches to the membership flow (see the memberships guide).
The customer's details form, your checkout requirements and the terms checkbox are on Checkout, followed by payment.

Booking languages: Languages to show in booking view

The booking window can be shown in twelve languages: English, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Croatian. Portuguese is European Portuguese, shown with the Portuguese flag. Portuguese, Italian and Croatian exist only in the booking window and the customer emails. The admin itself is not available in them, and the admin's previews show your English text for them.

Account default — Settings → Language → Default booking languages (account) → Languages to show in booking view. Under Use account languages for locations you choose which locations follow this list.
Per location — Location settings → Language & Timezone → switch on Use location-specific booking languages and set Languages to show in booking view. Switched off, it shows "This location uses the account's default booking languages:" with the list and Edit account languages.
The Main language is English and is always offered. Customers get the language they chose before, otherwise their browser's language if you offer it, otherwise English; they can switch with the flag menu. A browser set to any kind of Portuguese, Brazilian included, gets Portuguese when you offer it. If your account's country is the United States (or, when the account has no country, the location's), English is shown with the US flag instead of the British one. It is the same English either way.

Every text you write — terms, messages, requirement labels, category names — should be filled in for every language you show. A language without its own text shows customers your English text instead. When you add languages, the dialog New language added offers to translate existing content for the location (products, customer flow text, website text, and terms separately); choose Translate or Not now.

Translate the customer flow automatically

On the Customer flow tab (location and account), next to Save, is the translate button. Its left part shows the direction, for example EN → All. Click it to choose:

From — the language to translate from. It starts on the location's main language each time you open the page; pick another one if you wrote your texts in your own language first.
To — All languages or one language.

Then click Translate (in the popover, or the right part of the button). It translates every text on the tab, including the terms, and overwrites what is already written in the chosen languages. If you translate from another language into your main language, the popover warns "Replaces the English text, your main language." You get "Translations applied"; nothing is stored until you press Save. If the From language has no text, you get for example "No Swedish text to translate". Check anything legal before you rely on it. The button only appears when the location shows at least two languages. Portuguese is translated into European Portuguese.

The same translate button is used in the terms dialog, on the product page and in the email editor.

"Some texts seem to be in another language"

Before translating, Rentalbuddy checks whether a text was typed into the wrong language field, for example Swedish terms in the English slot. If it finds one, the dialog Some texts seem to be in another language opens, for example with "These English texts look like Swedish." It lists each place where it found something (a requirement, a card, the terms), and only those places:

Texts it is fairly sure about are ticked and marked, for example "Looks like Swedish" (with "Not sure" when it is less certain). The other texts from the same place are listed unticked, because fields filled in at the same time often share the mistake. When the language it would move a text to already has a text, the row shows it ("Current Swedish text: …").
Ticked texts are moved word for word into the language they are really in, and the field you typed them in gets a proper translation. A language that already has text and is not one of your To languages is never overwritten.
Unticked texts are treated as the From language and translated as they are.
Select all ticks every row. Translate goes ahead; Cancel translates nothing.

Only the languages the location shows are suggested. The translation offered in New language added skips this check.

Time display: 12-hour or 24-hour clock

Whether customers see 14:30 or 02:30 PM is one account setting, Time display (12hr / 24hr) under Settings → Account → Company Information. The booking window follows it everywhere — calendar, time slots, checkout, extend, move and the unlock page — and so do emails and the admin. 12-hour times always have two digits, for example 02:30 PM. A new account starts with the clock that is usual in the country of its contact phone number (12-hour for example in the US, Canada, Australia and India; 24-hour in Europe, the UK included, and when the country is unknown), and the account owner can change it.

Dates in the booking window are written day first, with the month as a word in the customer's language — for example "6 June 2027" or "6 Jun 2027", and "7 Jun" in the date bar. Calendar headers show three-letter weekdays.
Times are always the location's time zone, wherever the customer is.
The first day of the week in the booking window's calendars, and in weekday ranges such as "Sun–Thu", is the one usual in your account's Country (without one, in the country of the contact phone number; otherwise Monday). It is Sunday for example in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Japan, Saturday in most Gulf and North African Arab countries, and Monday elsewhere, the UK and Australia included. Only the display changes: your opening hours and bookable weekdays stay as they are.
Midnight returns. When a day's return hours run To end of day on Open dates, the last return time in the booking window reads "Midnight" on a 12-hour account and "24:00" on a 24-hour one. The booking then ends at 00:00 (12:00 AM) the next day.

Checklist before you go live

Decide account level or location level, and set Location-specific accordingly.
Fill in Terms & Conditions in every booking language, check that no terms warning is shown, and decide on Show extend booking button and Show move start time button.
Checkout: enable only the customer fields you need.
Before Unlock: leave it off unless you need a gate — it holds back the PIN codes.
Unlock page: make sure Message explains how to open your locks, and fill in the location's email and phone.
Return page: add photo and question requirements and mark them Mandatory if the return must be enforced.
Booking experience: choose the flow; with fixed time slots, check that no product is flagged as hidden.
Press Save, then make a test booking (Make a test booking in the location's top bar, next to Save) and walk through checkout, unlock and return yourself.

Common questions

Where do I edit the terms and conditions customers accept? In the Key settings card at the top of the Customer flow tab: click Edit terms. If the location's Location-specific switch is off, edit them under Settings → Customer flow instead.

I changed the customer flow in account settings but the location doesn't show it — why? That location has Location-specific switched on, so it uses its own settings. Edit it on the location's Customer flow tab, or switch Location-specific off to follow the account.

Some customers see our terms in English. The terms are per language, and their language has no text of its own, so they get your English text. Open Edit terms, check the languages listed under Missing values:, fill them in, Confirm and Save.

Why does it say our terms "need a look"? Rentalbuddy found placeholder text, very short terms, no terms, or the same text in several languages. Open Edit terms on the tab where the warning is (or Open account settings if the location follows the account) and fix the text.

I added a requirement but it's gone after I left the page. Requirements are only stored when you press Save at the top of the page. Add and Confirm in the dialog only put them in the list.

Can I write our texts in Swedish first and translate them into English? Yes. Click the direction part of the translate button, set From to Swedish and To to All languages or English, and press Translate. Translating into your main language replaces its text, so check it before you Save.

What is the "Some texts seem to be in another language" dialog? Rentalbuddy found text in the wrong language field, for example Swedish in the English slot. Tick the texts that really are in the other language so they are moved there, then press Translate; Cancel translates nothing.

Can customers book in Portuguese? Yes. Tick Portuguese under Languages to show in booking view for the account or the location. The booking window and the customer emails are then offered in European Portuguese; the admin itself is not available in Portuguese.

Can customers extend (prolong) their rental themselves? Yes. Switch on Show extend booking button in Key settings. Customers then get Extend booking on the unlock page and in emails whose template includes that button, and pay for the extra time themselves; it never applies to events.

Can customers change the time of their booking? They can move the start time (not the length) if Show move start time button is on, until the booking starts and before the cut-off from Time before start that you can book. Anything else you change as admin.

How do I ask for a driver's licence photo or a signed agreement before they get the code? Enable Before Unlock, then add a Take a photo or Upload a photo requirement and a Waiver (signature), marked Mandatory. The PIN codes appear after the customer presses Submit.

My requirements show up in the wrong order. Drag them into the order you want in the step's list and press Save; customers see them in that order.

Customers are asked "Have you locked up and returned everything?" Can I change or remove that question? No. The wording is fixed and it can't be switched off. It only appears while the customer has PIN codes on screen, right before they would lose them.

Why can't a customer book two time slots in a row? With fixed time slots each booking is one session. Offer a longer session length, or let customers upgrade an hour booking later with Extend booking.

Can a day rental run from 9 to 5 on the same day? No. A day rental always ends on a later day: at the last return time with Follow opening hours, or at the pickup time a day later with Fixed daily times. For same-day rentals, offer an hour session length (for example 8h).

Why can't a customer add a second product to their time-slot booking? The products don't share a session length or a bookable weekday, so the second one is greyed out with "Not available with your current selection". Give them a common session length, or switch Session lengths to Same session lengths for all products.

If I switch back to flexible times, do I lose my session lengths? No. They are kept and used again when you switch back to Fixed time slots; while the location is flexible they are simply not used.

Why is the "From" price lower than what my 2-hour slot costs? From is the price of the product's shortest session length in the current season, without weekday or date-range adjustments. The price of the slot the customer picks can be higher.

I unticked all day pickup times, why are day rentals still offered? No ticked time means every pickup time is allowed. To stop day rentals, remove the day session lengths.

Why is there a sauna heater in my unlock preview, and why does the preview show another location's name or colour? The unlock preview always shows an example heater dial; customers only see one when their lock has a Harvia heater. On the account-level tab the preview borrows one of your locations for the name and colour, and the caption "Preview shown as …" says which.

Why is a product missing in the booking window on my sauna (time slot) location? On fixed time slots a product needs a session length that fits the booking interval. Look for the warning on the Booking experience tab, then set it under Session lengths or with Edit session lengths.

Why does the booking calendar start the week on Sunday? The booking window starts the week on the day usual in your account's Country (or the contact phone's country), and in for example the US and Canada that is Sunday. Only the display changes; your opening hours and weekdays stay as set.

My customers are abroad. Do they see times in their own time zone? No. Times in the booking window are always the location's time zone, so a customer abroad sees the same times as someone on site.

Why does the last return time say "Midnight"? That day's return hours run To end of day. On a 12-hour account it reads "Midnight", on a 24-hour account "24:00", and the booking ends at 00:00 the next day.