Fixing duplicate clients and pets

Sidebar: Clients.

Alaga can merge two client records into one. Everything moves to the record you keep: pets, appointments, reservations, invoices, payments and the portal login. The duplicate is retired. Nothing is deleted.

A merge cannot be undone. Check you picked the right two records before you click.

Who can do this

Owners can merge and archive. Managers can too, because they have the Archive & merge clients permission by default. Other staff need that permission switched on under Team & Payroll → Roles & Permissions.

Where duplicates come from

• A client signs up in the portal with a different email or phone than the one you have.
• A family member signs in with their own phone number and gets a new record.
• Two staff add the same walk-in.
• An import brings in records that already exist.

If Alaga spots portal sign-ups that look like part of an existing household, a Possible household duplicates card appears on the Clients page. It lists them so you can merge them. It only shows when there is something to fix.

Merge two client records

1. Open the client record you want to keep.
2. In the left panel, click Merge Duplicate.
3. Search for the duplicate and pick it.
4. Read the summary. It shows how many pets and appointments move over.
5. Click Merge profiles.

What happens:

• The duplicate's pets, appointments, reservations, invoices, payments, agreements and portal login move to the record you keep.
• Missing contact details on the kept record are filled in from the duplicate. Where both have a value, the kept record's value wins.
• Staff notes are combined. The duplicate's notes are added below with "[merged]" in front.
• The duplicate is retired. It disappears from lists and search.

When both records have a portal login

A merge can keep only one login as the main one. If both records have one, the merge dialog explains what will happen.

• Same person, two logins. Alaga can often move the duplicate's phone login onto the record you keep and merge in one step. Click Move the phone login and merge if it is offered. If it can't be done safely, the dialog says why. Contact support in that case.
• Different person in the same household. If the duplicate was made by a family member signing in with their own phone, tick Family member: keep their login. They keep signing in and see the kept record's account, but cannot change its contact details.

Merge two pet records

Pets can only be merged when they belong to the same client. If they belong to two different clients, merge the clients first.

1. Open the pet record you want to keep (Sidebar → Pets → All Pets).
2. Click Merge Duplicate.
3. Pick the duplicate pet.
4. Click Merge pets.

The duplicate's appointments, reservations, documents and tags move to the pet you keep. The duplicate is retired.

Just want a record out of the way?

Use Archive Client in the left panel of the client record instead of merging.

• An archived client and their pets disappear from lists, search, booking and the customer portal.
• Nothing is deleted. Invoices, payments and visit history stay on record.
• Clients with upcoming bookings can't be archived. Cancel or complete those bookings first.
• To bring someone back, set the Clients filter to Inactive & archived, open them and click Restore.

Alaga does not permanently delete clients or pets. This keeps your money records and history safe.

Stopping it happening again

• Search before adding. Clients search matches name, email and phone. Check the phone number. It is the field people type the same way each time.
• Keep mobile numbers up to date. Clients signing in with the Phone tab are matched to their record by phone number. A correct number means no new record.
• After an import, scan the client list for near-matches while it is still short. The list is sorted by name, so duplicates sit next to each other.