A guest didn't get their message
What this covers
A guest is on the phone saying they received nothing. This is the fast version — work down it while they wait. For the reasoning, see Why a message wasn't delivered.
First, 30 seconds
- Ask them to check spam. A confirmation from an unfamiliar restaurant is exactly what a spam filter holds. This is a large share of all cases.
- Read their email address back to them from the booking. A single wrong character explains everything, and you can fix it and resend on the spot.
- Check the booking was actually made. Occasionally the answer is that there is no booking.
If you can, read out the booking details now — date, time, party size. The guest's real need is usually confirmation that they have a table, not the email itself. That takes the pressure off while you look.
Then, the checklist
1. Does the booking have the right contact detail?
Open the booking. No email address means no email; no mobile number means no text. Common on bookings taken quickly by phone and on walk-ins.
For texts, the number needs its country code. A number saved as a bare local number cannot be texted, and a landline in the phone field simply fails.
2. Is that message type switched on, for that channel?
Property Settings → Notifications. Email and SMS are separate switches per type, and every SMS type is off until somebody turns it on.
Two traps: event bookings use the reservation confirmation switch, and nothing at all is sent for arrived, seated or completed — a guest expecting a "your table is ready" for a normal booking was never going to get one (link What Tabledoo sends, and when).
3. For a text: do you have credits?
Check the balance on Property Settings → SMS Credits. At zero, texts are skipped, not queued — topping up later does not send them.
This hides well: the email still goes out, so nobody notices the text was missing (link How SMS credits work).
4. For a text: is the guest opted out?
Check the SMS opt-out flag on their profile. It overrides every setting, and it may have been set automatically because they once replied STOP.
If it is set and they say they never asked, look for a duplicate profile — you may be looking at the wrong record (link Guests who opt out).
5. For a reminder: had the window already passed?
A reminder goes out a set number of hours before. A booking made after that point never gets one — a table booked this morning for tonight is already inside a 24-hour window.
Correct behaviour, and a frequent complaint. Each channel also fires once per booking, so a guest who had a reminder does not get a second (link Reservation reminders).
6. For a review request: three things are needed
The Guest Feedback Emails feature, the switch on, and a saved review link. Missing any one sends nothing silently. Also check the booking was marked completed — that status change is what schedules it (link Post-visit review requests).
How to resend
There is no resend button. What you can do:
| To send | Do this |
|---|---|
| A confirmation | Fix the contact detail, then confirm the booking — or set it back to pending and confirm again |
| An update | Make a real change (even re-selecting the same time and saving) once the details are right |
| A cancellation | Cannot be resent. Tell the guest directly |
| A reminder | Cannot be resent — it fires once. Tell them directly |
Correct the guest's details first, or you will resend to the same wrong address. And fix it on the guest profile, not just the booking, so future bookings are right too.
Everyone is affected, not just one guest
If several guests got nothing, stop checking individual bookings:
- No texts for anybody — almost certainly credits.
- No emails for anybody — check the switches, then your restaurant's own email address on the profile.
- Nothing of any kind, and staff cannot use the app either — check whether the account is suspended (link A failed payment, and suspension).
When to escalate
Report it when you have worked the list and everything checks out — especially if several guests are affected, or it worked yesterday and not today.
Include the booking reference, the guest's email or mobile, which message you expected, and roughly when. Being honest that you already checked the switches and the balance saves a round trip (link Reporting a problem).
Good to know
There is no send log. You cannot look up whether a specific message went — diagnosis is by elimination, which is why the checklist is the method.
Messages send in the background, so there is a short delay. Give it a minute before concluding anything.