Why didn't my reminder send?

Sidebar: Business Settings → Customer Notifications. Start on the Delivery Log tab. It answers this faster than anything else.

Owners and managers can open this page.

To see which messages Alaga sends at all, and when, read What messages clients get automatically.

1. Check the Delivery Log

The Delivery Log lists the last 100 emails and texts Alaga tried to send for your business.

1. Open Customer Notifications and click Delivery Log.
2. Find the client.
3. Turn on Show skipped to also see messages Alaga chose not to send, with the reason.

What you might see:

• Sent. Alaga handed it to the email or text service. It left. Ask the client to check spam, and check the address or number on file is the one they use.
• Failed. The row says why, such as a bad address or a number that can't get texts.
• Skipped. The row says why. For texts, for example: No SMS consent on file, or Pet is in our care for a linked stay. For emails: "Email your clients" is off (see section 4).
• No row at all. Alaga did not try. Read on.

2. When reminders go out

Each appointment gets two reminders: one about 24 hours before and one about 2 hours before. Alaga checks once an hour for appointments that fall in those windows.

This catches people out:

• An appointment booked less than about 23 hours ahead does not get the 24-hour reminder. Its window has already passed. It can still get the 2-hour one.
• Reminders go out once an hour, not at an exact countdown.

Times in the message use your business time zone, set in Business Settings → Business Profile.

3. Reasons a reminder is not sent

A reminder is not sent if any of these is true:

1. The appointment is not Pending or Confirmed. Completed, cancelled and no-show appointments get no reminder.
2. The pet will already be with you. If the appointment is linked to a stay, and the pet is checked in or has a confirmed stay covering the appointment time, neither reminder goes out. The Delivery Log shows "Pet is in our care for a linked stay."
3. The pet is marked deceased.
4. Reminders are switched off for your business. On the Email tab, check Appointment reminders in the Client Email Notifications card.
5. The client turned reminders off in their portal. Their choice wins over your setting.
6. The client has no email (for the email) or no phone number (for the text).
7. It was already sent. Each reminder goes out once per appointment, even if you edit the appointment afterwards.

4. Never had a single email go out?

Check the Email your clients card at the top of Customer Notifications. While it is off, your clients get no email from Alaga at all, and emails that would have gone out show in the Delivery Log as skipped. An owner or manager can turn it on there. See Controlling which emails Alaga sends.

Demo accounts never email clients, whatever the switch says.

If a red Email sending is switched off box shows at the top of Customer Notifications, no email is leaving Alaga at all. That is a problem on our side. Contact support.

5. Text reminders have extra checks

All of these must be true for a reminder text:

• Reminder texts are on. On the Text Messages tab, turn on Appointment reminder texts. This is off until you turn it on, and it is separate from the email switch.
• Your plan includes automatic texts. Automatic text reminders are on the Professional plan and up. On other plans, Alaga sends the email only.
• The client agreed to texts. If there is no consent on file, the text is skipped. If they ever replied STOP, they get no texts until they reply START. Nothing in Alaga can override that.
• You have texts left this month. Each plan has a monthly allowance, shown on the Text Messages tab. When it runs out, reminder texts stop until next month. Emails still go.

If a text to the main number fails right away, Alaga tries the client's second phone number, if there is one.

Email and text are separate. Emails can work fine while texts are off, and the other way round. Work out which one the client means first.

Still nothing?

If the Delivery Log has no row, every switch is on, and the appointment was Confirmed and booked well ahead, it is not a settings problem. Click Get help in the sidebar and send us the client's name and the appointment date and time.