Customer flow and booking experience — what your customers see

Your customer's whole journey — pay, get access, hand it back — is four configurable steps. This article covers where they live, what each toggle does, and the one switch that explains most "the setting isn't there" tickets.

Read this part first: account level or location level?

The customer flow exists twice.

• Account level — Account Settings → the Customer flow tab (the admin links to it as Account > Customer Flow). This is your default, and it applies to 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 get a compact card reading "This location uses the customer flow from your account settings." followed by "To edit the default flow, go to " and a link, Account > Customer Flow. The four step accordions are hidden entirely. There is nothing to edit on this screen. This is what people mean when they say a setting has disappeared.
• On — the card reads "This location uses its own customer flow settings.", the four steps appear, and what you change here affects only this location.

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

What happens when you turn it on

If the location has settings saved from before and your account also has settings, you are asked to choose. The dialog is Choose customer flow settings:

"This location has its own saved customer flow settings and your account also has customer flow settings. Choose which settings to use for this location."

• Use account settings — copies your account's checkout fields, before-unlock, unlock, return and QR settings down to this location. It also replaces this location's requirements with copies of the account's — anything this location had is gone. The Printed order message is not copied and starts empty.
• Use previous location settings — restores exactly what this location had saved last time, requirements included.

If there is nothing to choose between, the switch just applies whichever settings exist, with no dialog.

Nothing is written until you press Save at the top of the page, so you can change your mind by leaving the tab and discarding.

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

The four steps

The page opens 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." Below it, each step is an accordion with the settings on the left and a live phone preview on the right. On a narrow screen the preview hides behind Show preview.

Steps 1, 3 and 4 are marked Required — every customer passes through them. Step 2 is marked Optional and is off until you switch it on.

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

Step 1 — Checkout

"Customer chooses time/products, enters details, and pays." — shown during product selection and payment.

Customer details

"Name, email, phone, address, and other standard fields collected at checkout."

A drag-to-reorder list of the standard fields, each with an Active and a Mandatory checkbox:

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 cannot be switched off or made optional — their checkboxes are locked. You need them to send a confirmation and to reach the customer. The other four are yours to enable; only ask for an address if you actually use it.

Drag a row to change the order customers see the fields in.

Checkout requirements

"Custom questions, agreements, waivers, consents, and other information required during checkout." Add them with Add checkout requirement. The types are the same everywhere — see Requirements below.

Terms & Conditions

The Terms & Conditions card is here, on step 1. Its tooltip says exactly when it is shown: "Customers accept this text when they select "I accept the Terms & Conditions" at checkout."

It is per language. Open the card and use the language selector to fill in every booking language your location shows. A language you leave empty gives that customer an empty terms page — the classic multi-language trap. The card shows a red warning on any used language that is still blank, so check for it before you save. Import text in the dialog copies from another source, and the auto-translate button fills the rest from your main language.

Below it is Confirmation message — "Customers see this message on the confirmation page after payment." Also per language.

Step 2 — Before Unlock (optional)

"Optional gate after payment. Require terms, safety video, ID, or questions before showing PIN codes." — shown after payment, before PIN codes.

This step is off by default and the header shows Enabled or Disabled so you can see its state at a glance.

1. Enable Before Unlock Page — "Give customers information or ask them to complete requirements before pickup." Nothing else on this step matters until this is on.
2. Page title — the first line customers see after clicking 'Access codes'. Per language.
3. Show products — "Display the list of products in the customer's booking".
4. Show PIN code(s) on this page — "Show PIN code(s) together with the booking summary". This toggle only appears when Show products is on, because the codes are listed against the products.
5. 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.

This is the step that most often explains "the customer paid but has no code". A mandatory requirement here blocks the PIN codes until the customer completes it. That is the whole point of the step — but if you switched it on and forgot, it looks like a fault.

Step 3 — Unlock (the PIN page)

"Show PIN codes and clear pickup instructions (photos, location, how to open)." — shown when the customer is ready to pick up.

• Heading — per language. Tick the box to use your own text.
• Show product images — "Display product images on the unlock page so customers can visually identify their rented items."
• Message — per language, for pickup instructions.
• Show countdown timer — "Display a countdown timer showing the remaining rental time for the customer's booking." The customer sees Your booking ends in:.
• Show Confirm Button — "Display a confirmation button that customers can click to confirm they have received their booking."
• Show prolongation button — see below.
• Show move start time button — see below.

Heading, message, images, timer and confirm button are on by default. The two customer self-service buttons are not.

Letting customers extend a rental

Show prolongation button — "Display a button that allows customers to extend their rental period if needed." The customer gets EXTEND BOOKING on their unlock page and pays the difference themselves.

Worth knowing before you switch it on:

• It is off by default, which is why so many operators still believe extension is not supported.
• It does not apply to event bookings — the button is suppressed for those.
• How far a customer can extend is limited by the next booking on that unit and by the buffer you set under Blocking time after booking. See Opening hours and open dates.

Letting customers move their own start time

Show move start time button — "Display a button that allows customers to move their booking start time before the rental begins." The customer's button reads MOVE START TIME.

The tooltip is the important detail: "Lets customers change the start time (not the duration) before the booking starts." They cannot shorten, lengthen or cancel — only shift.

It is refused when the booking has already started, has been picked up or returned, is cancelled, still has a payment outstanding, or when the cut-off has passed. That cut-off comes from Time before start that you can book on the location's active time period unless a specific reschedule cut-off has been set for the location. So a positive lead time there also becomes the customer's "too late to move it" line.

Step 4 — Return

"Customer confirms return and follows your checklist (optionally photos/damage report)." — shown when the customer brings the product back.

• Show products — "Display the list of products that the customer is returning on the return page."
• Show PIN code(s) on this page — again, only visible when Show products is on. Customers usually need the code to lock up again, so leave it on for lock-based returns.
• Heading — per language.
• Return requirements — the checklist. See below.
• Return confirmation message — "Customers see this message after completing their return." Per language. This is where a thank-you and a review link belong.

The customer's own buttons on this page are Complete rental, plus PHOTO and UPLOAD where you have asked for images.

Return requirements — questions, photos and condition reports

The section is described as "Return questions, photos, condition reports, or confirmations before the booking is closed." Add them with Add return requirement.

There is no separate "condition report" feature — you build one out of requirements: a Take a photo requirement for each angle you want documented, plus a couple of questions about damage. Make them Mandatory if you want the return to be enforced.

Requirements — the same builder everywhere

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

1. What do you need from the customer? — pick the type (below).
2. Label — the question the customer sees, per language. The primary language is required: "Enter the label in your site's primary language."
3. Active — "When inactive, the requirement is hidden from customers but remains in your settings."
4. Mandatory — "When mandatory, customers must complete this requirement before they can continue."
5. Fill in the type-specific fields, watching the Preview panel.
6. Press Add. You get Requirement successfully created.

The types, grouped as they appear in the dropdown:

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 ("Use when customers should choose an existing image from their device…"). Pick Take a photo for condition documentation; Upload a photo for insurance papers or an ID they already have 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.

Requirements can be dragged to reorder. Editing uses the same dialog (Edit requirement); deleting asks "Are you sure you want to delete this requirement?"

If you already built a good set somewhere else, use 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. Anything that looks like a duplicate is flagged May already exist on this section, but you can import it anyway.

The QR booking flow

Below the four steps sits QR-Booking Flow Settings — "Customize the booking flow for customers who start from a QR code instead of your website."

The info box explains it: "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 the difference: Website: Browse → Checkout, versus QR Code: Scan QR → Quick Checkout. Both then continue into your unlock and return pages, so steps 3 and 4 are shared.

Under QR Booking Options you set three things:

• Dates — whether the customer picks a start date at all.
• Title — per language.
• Duration options — the booking lengths customers choose between. Add them with Add QR-booking option in Days, Hours and Minutes, pull them in from elsewhere with Import times, and order them with Shortest first / Longest first.

Durations outside your location's booking length limits are allowed but flagged Outside location booking length, with the reminder "This location allows bookings from {{min}} to {{max}}. Options outside this range can still be saved and selected by customers."

If you are looking for the codes themselves: "Booking QR codes are under this location's Book button tab. Lock QR codes are under Stations — open a station to view and print them."

Print Settings

The Print Settings card at the bottom holds one field, Printed order message — "This text appears on the printed order." Per language.

This card sits outside the location-specific gate, so it is editable on the location page even when Location-specific is off.

The Booking experience tab is a different thing

Booking experience is the tab next to Customer flow, and people mix them up. It does not touch checkout, unlock or return content. It controls how customers pick products, dates and times in the booking plugin: "Choose how customers pick dates and times in the booking plugin for this location."

It has no account-level version and no location-specific switch — it is always per location.

• Desktop-optimised layout — "Uses a wider desktop booking layout with card-style products, pill time slots, and a persistent cart bar. Mobile stays unchanged."
• Booking theme color — "Primary color for buttons and accents in the booking plugin. Also used in booking confirmation emails."
• Booking flow — the big choice:
  • Flexible start and end times — "Customers choose when to start and end within your rental rules (standard booking)." This is the normal rental setup.
  • Fixed time slots — "Customers pick from preset time blocks (e.g. sauna 14:00–16:00, 16:00–18:00)."

Choosing Fixed time slots opens three more sections and a checklist, Set up fixed time slots:

• Session lengths — set per product, or switch on Use the same session lengths for all products to use one set for the whole location. The helper is blunt about the consequence: "When enabled, customers see the same time slot options for every rental product. Product-level session length settings are ignored."
• Time slots — Use fixed start times (08:00, 10:00, 12:00…). With it on, slots start on a fixed grid from your first open hour; with it off, any open pickup hour can start a slot.
• Product groups — Group products under headings in the plugin, then build categories with Add category, a per-language Category name and Products in this category. Products with no session length are shown in warning colour with (no session length); anything you leave uncategorised appears under Other.

The preview

Yes, there is one — a Preview panel on the Booking experience tab, with the honest caption "Approximate view based on your settings. Save and open the booking plugin for the live experience." You can flip it between Desktop layout and Mobile layout, and it uses your real products, images, prices and theme colour. With no products yet it says "Add rental products to preview the booking flow."

The Customer flow steps have previews too — the phone screens beside each accordion — but they have no separate heading and no desktop/mobile switch.

What is per language, and what is not

Per language:

• Terms & Conditions, Confirmation message, Return confirmation message and Printed order message.
• The Page title on before-unlock, the unlock Heading and Message, and the return Heading.
• The QR Title.
• Every requirement Label and its options, and the booking-experience Category name.

Not per language:

• Every Active, Mandatory and Show… checkbox.
• The order of the checkout fields and the QR duration options.
• The theme colour, the layout switch and the booking flow choice.
• Session lengths and product groups.

Which languages you must fill in comes from the location's booking languages — see Locations and stations explained (and which settings live where). The auto-translate toolbar at the top of the tab fills the other languages from your main one; check the result on anything legal before you rely on it.

Quick checklist before you go live

1. Decide account level or location level, and set Location-specific accordingly.
2. Step 1: enable only the customer fields you really need, and fill in Terms & Conditions in every language.
3. Step 2: leave it off unless you genuinely need a gate — and remember it blocks PIN codes when it is on.
4. Step 3: check the Heading and Message actually explain how to open your locks, and decide on the two self-service buttons.
5. Step 4: add the photo and question requirements you want, and mark them Mandatory if the return must be enforced.
6. Press Save, then place a test booking and walk the whole flow yourself.