Pending Requests

When a client makes a service request from their Portal, the services are not automatically added to your calendar. They are placed in your Pending Requests queue and must first be processed before they can be added to your calendar.

Viewing Your Pending Requests

When a client makes a service request, you will be notified via email with the details. To process the request, navigate to your  Scheduler > Pending Requests Tab.

All pending requests will be grouped by client. If a client makes multiple requests, they will always be grouped together unless the pending request is split. The Date Range column will show the first date of a request and the last date of a request that is pending. 

Processing Pending Requests

Requests are processed on a client-by-client basis. To begin, click the “Process Request” button. A new table will be loaded with details of every visit that this client has requested:

In the upper left corner of the service request following details and options are listed:

Client – The client whose requests you are currently processing. Click the client's name to go to the client’s profile.

Office Note – If you don’t plan on fully processing this request immediately, you can leave a note for yourself or others in your company. This note is only visible on this screen, is unique to this client’s requests, and is never visible to your clients. This note will disappear when the request has been processed.

Confirmation – If checked, we will send your clients a confirmation of all approved/rejected visits after all visits have been processed. Confirmations are delayed by 10 minutes after the last service in the request is processed. This gives you time to make any adjustments to the scheduled services.

Also available is the Customize Message option next to "Yes, Send Confirmation". This tool allows customization of the body of the confirmation email clients will receive:

Approve Into – If your clients have existing open invoices, this selector will allow you to approve the events into a different invoice. Although each service can only be approved into a single invoice, you can approve each service into a different invoice. All approvals will go into whichever invoice is selected at the time of approval.

To process an individual service, click the “Process” button and then click the relevant option.

Approve – Will approve this service and add it to your calendar.

View On Calendar  – Zooms to the pending event on your calendar.

Mark Unavailable –Indicates to the client that you are unavailable to perform this service. You will be given the option to attach a message which will be sent to the client as part of the confirmation email. Unavailable services are included in the confirmation.

Delete Request – Completely deletes the service as if it were never requested. Deleted requests are not included in the confirmation.

Editing Client Pending Requests

You can make changes to a client’s request before processing. To start, click the “Edit Request” button.

This screen will list out all pending services that are part of the request. You can make changes to the Scheduled Time, Client Display Time (if Hide Exact Times is enabled, see Scheduler Settings), Service, and Assigned Staff.

You can also change the status of each requested service by using the selector in the top right corner of each requested service. The options are:

Keep – The service will remain Pending.

Unavailable – You are unavailable for the service. As an indication, the service will be marked in Red. Use the now visible “Message For User” to explain further to your client (this message is included in the confirmation).

Delete – The service will be deleted. The box will be changed to grey.

When you have made all of your changes, click the “Save And Close” button in the bottom right corner. You can also discard any changes you have made by clicking the “Cancel Changes” button.

Bulk Edit Client Pending Requests 

To make changes to Pending Requests in bulk, select the "Edit Request" button and then "Bulk Edit" on the next screen.

You can select the visits you'd like to bulk edit at the bottom of the screen and make changes to the Status, Time, Client Time Display, Service, Add On Services, Pets, Assignee, and Event Note on multiple events all at once.

After you've made your bulk edits, remember to save your changes on the original Edit screen.

Approve All Pending Requests For The Client

Once you have made any necessary edits, marked unavailable, and deletions, you can approve all remaining services for a client. To start, click the arrow to the right of the “Edit Request” button and select the “Approve All” option:

This will only affect requests that have not yet been deleted or marked unavailable (either individually or from the "Edit Request" menu).

Unavailable For All Pending Requests For The Client

Once you have made any necessary edits, approvals, and deletions, you can mark the remaining services for a client as unavailable. To start, click the arrow to the right of the “Edit Request” button and select the “Unavailable For All” option:

This will only affect requests that have not yet been deleted or approved (either individually or from the "Edit Request" menu).

Delete All Pending Requests For The Client

Once you have made any necessary edits and approvals, you can delete the remaining services for the request. To start, click the arrow to the right of the “Edit Request” button and select the “Delete All” option:

This will completely delete all remaining services as if there were never requested. Deleted requests are not included in the confirmation.

Splitting A Pending Request

If a client requests multiple services that would be better suited on separate requests (and thus separate invoices), you can split the request. For more information on how to do this, see Splitting a Pending Request.

A Special Note For Companies Moving To Time To Pet

In Time To Pet, an Admin can schedule services for clients, or clients can request services. When a company schedules services for a client, they must be assigned to a staff member. When a client requests services, they appear in the Pending Requests tab under the Scheduler and stay there until assigned. 

For pending requests, many companies will leave those events pending until they are ready to be assigned. A best practice for companies who prefer to approve service requests earlier would be assigning them to an Admin or an Office Manager in charge of scheduling until the events are ready to be assigned to a staff member in the field. 

A best practice for companies who schedule for clients but might not be ready to assign them to a staff member at that time would be to assign them to an Admin or an Office Manager in charge of scheduling until the events are ready to be assigned to a staff member.

Time To Pet also offers additional tools to help with reminders about clients. The Flags feature can be used to label client profiles as “Unassigned Events” or “Needs Attention” (or any custom flag label). These can be added and removed at any time. Also available is the Tasks feature, which allows Tasks to be assigned to specific client profiles for Admins, Office Managers, or “both” if follow-up is needed for pending requests or approved requests needing to be assigned to staff.