Spreadsheets and messages, or a booking system

What the spreadsheet does well

It costs nothing, everyone knows how to use it and it bends to anything: a column for the deposit, a colour for unpaid, a note that the band always needs the extra amp. Regulars like messaging you directly, and for a handful of bookings a week it works.

The trouble starts when the bookings grow faster than the time you have for messages. These are the four places it usually shows.

Double bookings

Two people ask for Friday evening, one on Messenger and one by e-mail, and both get a yes because the spreadsheet was updated after the second reply. Or someone else edited the sheet and nobody saw it.

In Ruumio clients see the free times themselves and book them directly. The system refuses an overlapping booking in the same room, even when two people try for the same time at the same moment, and a buffer before and after each booking leaves time to reset the room. Closures, such as holidays or maintenance, block the time for one room or all of them.

Chasing payments

With bank transfers you match payments to bookings by hand, send reminders and wonder whether a booking still counts if the money hasn't arrived.

With Ruumio clients pay by card when they book, into your own Stripe account. The time is held while they pay and released if they don't. Every payment gets an invoice and every refund a credit note, with VAT. Companies that prefer to pay by transfer can book on account and get one monthly invoice with a reference number, which you mark paid when the money arrives.

Keys and door codes

Handing over keys means meeting people, and a code that never changes ends up with people who stopped booking long ago.

With the UniFi Access add-on every booking gets its own PIN, sent with the confirmation and again in the reminder, and it works only during the booking plus the buffer. Without a door system, the confirmation and reminder e-mails still carry the address and whatever instructions you add.

No-shows and late cancellations

A message saying "can't make it" an hour before the session leaves you with an empty room and an awkward conversation about money.

Ruumio sends a reminder before every booking and lets you set a cancellation policy per room: a full refund up to a deadline, part of it later, or none. The client sees the policy before booking and before cancelling, and the refund follows it without anyone having to argue. A paid booking that nobody shows up for is still paid.

Moving over without losing regulars

You don't have to change everything at once. Put the booking widget on the website you already have, or use the site Ruumio gives you. Regulars with a weekly slot get a recurring series booked in one go, and clients can book as guests without making an account. You can still book for anyone yourself from the admin, at any time, also outside opening hours.

Questions