Managing your bookings

For customers

Managing your bookings

Everything lives on the Bookings tab, split into three views: Upcoming (soonest first, with a count on the chip), Past (finished bookings, most recent first, where reviews and Book again live) and Cancelled (the paper trail, refunds shown).

Every booking also has its own page (tap through from an email about it): the same card, status, messages, receipt, actions, at an address you can come back to or share with your household. On a computer the Bookings tab shows the list on the left and opens the booking you pick in a panel on the right, so you can move between them without leaving the page.

An amber Needs your attention strip appears above the list when something is waiting on you: a confirmed booking that hasn't been paid yet, a reschedule proposal with its respond-by date, a dog's vaccination record expired or expiring within 30 days, or a review to leave. Tap a row to land where it's dealt with. When nothing is waiting, there's no strip.

Status: payment pending / paid, awaiting confirmation / confirmed / completed / cancelled.
Messages: a private chat thread with the provider per booking. All your threads are also collected on the Messages tab (between Dogs and Account): one line per conversation, newest first, with the last message and an unread count. A red badge on the tab shows how many messages are waiting for you across all bookings. On a computer the tab is a two-panel inbox: your conversations on the left, the one you pick open on the right where you read and reply.
Weekly series: a booking made as a repeating run is tagged Part of a weekly series. You can Cancel this week on its own, or Cancel all remaining weeks in one tap (past visits are always kept); each week is refunded under the policy below.
Cancel booking: your refund of the provider's price follows the listing's cancellation policy, shown before you book. The small booking fee isn't refunded when you cancel a confirmed booking, but it IS refunded in full if the provider cancels or declines, or if you withdraw before they confirmed. The policies:
- Flexible: full refund up to 24 hours before, none after.
- Moderate: full refund up to 3 days before, then 50%.
- Strict: 50% refund up to 7 days before, then none. For boarding the policy counts down to your check-in day; for a multi-week course, to the first class (cancelling a course cancels the whole block). If the PROVIDER cancels or declines, you are always refunded in full.
Actions row: each booking's buttons sit together in one row (Book again, Report a problem and Cancel booking), and each only appears when it applies (nothing to cancel on a finished booking, nothing to rebook on a cancelled one).
Report a problem: message the provider first; most things get sorted directly. If not, the Report a problem button on any paid or completed booking opens one panel for everything: on a field booking, a private field condition report to the owner (repairs, left untidy), and on any booking a formal dispute: say what went wrong. The provider files one response, then the DogBookings team reviews it, decides on any refund, and can return some or all of your money to your card automatically. You can withdraw a dispute any time before it's decided, and you'll see the decision and note on the booking.
Receipt: every paid booking has a Receipt link, a printable page (save it as a PDF from your phone) showing the provider, dates, dogs and every payment and refund. If the provider is VAT-registered it's a full VAT receipt with their VAT number and the VAT breakdown.
Dog photo: on bookings where the provider looks after your dog (walks, home visits, grooming, training, boarding, daycare), a Dog photo fold-out lets you add a current photo of your dog, so they can recognise them and, for grooming, see the coat before the appointment. If the provider would like a fresh one, you'll see a note asking for it. Field and pool hire don't use this.
Activity: each booking has an Activity fold-out showing its history (when it was requested, paid, accepted and so on), so you can see where things stand at a glance.
Book again: every completed booking has a one-tap Book again button that takes you straight back to the same provider with your previous choices already filled in: the same dogs for walks, visits, classes and boarding (you pick fresh dates), the same dog count for a field, and the same dogs and treatments for grooming. The button only shows while the listing is still live.
Turn on notifications to get a ping when a booking is confirmed or changes.
Day-before reminders: the evening before every booking (a field slot, walk, visit, groom, class, or a boarding check-in) you get an email and push reminder with the time and your dogs' names, and a nudge to cancel or message the provider early if you can't make it.

Pupdates: photos from your provider

Anyone looking after your dog (a walker, drop-in visitor, groomer, trainer, or a boarding or daycare host) can send you photo updates during or after a booking, for example a mid-groom photo or a "settling in nicely" from an overnight stay. You'll get a notification, and a 📸 Pupdates section appears on the booking in your Bookings tab; open it to see the photos and their note.

If the provider asks to move a booking, or change the price

Sometimes a provider needs to shuffle their day, or correct a booking (for example you were charged for a bath but the dog needed a full groom). You'll get a card on your booking, and usually an email, showing what they're proposing and their note.

Approve new time: the booking moves; everything else stays the same.
A price change: the card shows the new total and exactly how much more it is than you paid. Approve & pay takes the difference from the card you booked with, or opens a secure payment page if there's no card on file. A provider can only ask for MORE, never less.
Keep my time / Decline: nothing changes and you're not charged.
If you don't respond by the deadline shown, the request lapses and your original booking (time and price) stands. Nothing ever changes without your say-so.

About our emails

Every email we send comes from a no-reply address with no mailbox behind it: replying goes nowhere. The emails say so in the footer: to get in touch, use the ? Help button in the app instead.

Bookings a provider made for you

If you book with a provider by phone or in person and give them your email, the booking appears on your Bookings tab automatically (you'll get an account if you didn't have one; sign in with the emailed link or code, no password needed). If it's not paid yet you'll see Payment due with a pay button, and possibly a payment link in your email. Either works, or you can settle it with the provider directly. If you paid them in person the booking shows as confirmed; any refund for an in-person payment is handled between you and the provider, not by the site.

Managing your bookings

Status: payment pending / paid, awaiting confirmation / confirmed / completed / cancelled.
Messages: a private chat thread with the provider per booking. All your threads are also collected on the Messages tab (between Dogs and Account): one line per conversation, newest first, with the last message and an unread count. A red badge on the tab shows how many messages are waiting for you across all bookings. On a computer the tab is a two-panel inbox: your conversations on the left, the one you pick open on the right where you read and reply.
Weekly series: a booking made as a repeating run is tagged Part of a weekly series. You can Cancel this week on its own, or Cancel all remaining weeks in one tap (past visits are always kept); each week is refunded under the policy below.
Cancel booking: your refund of the provider's price follows the listing's cancellation policy, shown before you book. The small booking fee isn't refunded when you cancel a confirmed booking, but it IS refunded in full if the provider cancels or declines, or if you withdraw before they confirmed. The policies:
- Flexible: full refund up to 24 hours before, none after.
- Moderate: full refund up to 3 days before, then 50%.
- Strict: 50% refund up to 7 days before, then none. For boarding the policy counts down to your check-in day; for a multi-week course, to the first class (cancelling a course cancels the whole block). If the PROVIDER cancels or declines, you are always refunded in full.
Actions row: each booking's buttons sit together in one row (Book again, Report a problem and Cancel booking), and each only appears when it applies (nothing to cancel on a finished booking, nothing to rebook on a cancelled one).
Report a problem: message the provider first; most things get sorted directly. If not, the Report a problem button on any paid or completed booking opens one panel for everything: on a field booking, a private field condition report to the owner (repairs, left untidy), and on any booking a formal dispute: say what went wrong. The provider files one response, then the DogBookings team reviews it, decides on any refund, and can return some or all of your money to your card automatically. You can withdraw a dispute any time before it's decided, and you'll see the decision and note on the booking.
Receipt: every paid booking has a Receipt link, a printable page (save it as a PDF from your phone) showing the provider, dates, dogs and every payment and refund. If the provider is VAT-registered it's a full VAT receipt with their VAT number and the VAT breakdown.
Dog photo: on bookings where the provider looks after your dog (walks, home visits, grooming, training, boarding, daycare), a Dog photo fold-out lets you add a current photo of your dog, so they can recognise them and, for grooming, see the coat before the appointment. If the provider would like a fresh one, you'll see a note asking for it. Field and pool hire don't use this.
Activity: each booking has an Activity fold-out showing its history (when it was requested, paid, accepted and so on), so you can see where things stand at a glance.
Book again: every completed booking has a one-tap Book again button that takes you straight back to the same provider with your previous choices already filled in: the same dogs for walks, visits, classes and boarding (you pick fresh dates), the same dog count for a field, and the same dogs and treatments for grooming. The button only shows while the listing is still live.
Turn on notifications to get a ping when a booking is confirmed or changes.
Day-before reminders: the evening before every booking (a field slot, walk, visit, groom, class, or a boarding check-in) you get an email and push reminder with the time and your dogs' names, and a nudge to cancel or message the provider early if you can't make it.

Pupdates: photos from your provider

If the provider asks to move a booking, or change the price

Approve new time: the booking moves; everything else stays the same.
A price change: the card shows the new total and exactly how much more it is than you paid. Approve & pay takes the difference from the card you booked with, or opens a secure payment page if there's no card on file. A provider can only ask for MORE, never less.
Keep my time / Decline: nothing changes and you're not charged.
If you don't respond by the deadline shown, the request lapses and your original booking (time and price) stands. Nothing ever changes without your say-so.

About our emails

Every email we send comes from a no-reply address with no mailbox behind it: replying goes nowhere. The emails say so in the footer: to get in touch, use the ? Help button in the app instead.