Troubleshooting SMS and email delivery

When a customer says they never received a verification code, confirmation or reminder, the cause is almost always one of the items below. Work through them in order.

Check the booking first

Open the booking in the admin system. The booking page shows a log of the messages generated for that booking, including when they were sent. If a message is listed as sent, the problem is usually on the receiving end, not in MakePlans.

If there is no booking at all, the customer most likely never completed verification (see below).

Verification was never completed

When verification is enabled, a booking is not confirmed until the customer enters the SMS code or clicks the link in the verification email. An unverified booking normally expires after 20 minutes and is removed automatically. Customers sometimes close the page after filling in the form and believe they have booked, but both the page and the verification message state that the booking is not yet confirmed.

If this happens, ask the customer to book again and complete the verification step. If the code has expired, starting a new booking generates a new code.

Email ended up in spam

Emails are sent from robot@booking.makeplans.com. Ask the customer to:

1. Check their spam or junk folder.
2. Search their mailbox for robot@booking.makeplans.com.
3. Add robot@booking.makeplans.com to their contacts or safe senders list.

Delivery rates are very high, and in most cases we can see in our logs that the email was delivered. The usual culprits are the spam folder, Gmail tabs like Promotions, or the email being deleted by mistake. If your customers struggle with email verification, consider switching to SMS verification (Setup > Booking site): a code on the phone is easier for most people than logging into their email.

Outdated contact details on the customer profile

This is a common one: for security reasons, verification codes and notifications are sent to the phone number or email address stored on the existing customer profile, not to whatever the customer types into the booking form. So if a returning customer has changed their number, the code goes to the old number.

The fix is to open the customer under Customers and update the phone number or email address manually. Also check for duplicate customer profiles (for example one with an old number, one with a wrong email); when you correct the details, MakePlans will offer to merge the duplicates.

If you have switched verification method (for example from SMS to email), existing profiles may lack the required field and the customer will get an error like "email not saved on your customer profile". You must add the missing email or phone number to the profile manually. For this reason we don't recommend switching verification method when you have an existing customer database.

Foreign phone numbers

Foreign numbers work, but they must be entered in full international format with country code, for example +4512345678. Numbers entered without a country code are interpreted as local numbers for your account's country and may be saved incorrectly or rejected as invalid.

Note that SMS delivery to a few countries is restricted or not supported (some countries do not accept messages from an alphanumeric sender, and some are excluded for cost reasons). If a customer abroad cannot receive SMS, contact us, or switch that customer to a manual booking, or your account to email verification.

No phone number on the booking

If you use email verification (or no verification), the phone number field is optional by default. Customers who leave it empty cannot receive SMS confirmations or reminders. To require a phone number, switch to SMS verification or use a custom booking form with a required phone field. Contact us if you need help setting this up.

Reminders that never arrived

• SMS reminders must be enabled under Setup > Customer notifications, and only apply to bookings made after you enable the setting.
• Reminders are sent at the configured time before the appointment (default: noon the day before). If the booking is made after that point, the reminder is sent shortly after the booking is confirmed instead.
• If you use an integration that syncs bookings (for example an external patient or journal system), check whether that system sends its own reminders. Duplicate or missing reminders often originate there.

Still not resolved?

SMS delivery is never 100% guaranteed. Rarely, a mobile operator fails to deliver a message, or the customer's phone is off or roaming abroad. If you have checked everything above, contact us with a link to the booking or the customer's phone number or email, and we will check delivery logs with our SMS and email providers.