Why a message wasn't delivered
What this covers
A checklist for working out why a guest did not get a message, in the order worth checking.
Requires the manage-settings permission (Owner or Manager) to see the notification
settings.
If you have an unhappy guest on the phone right now, go to A guest didn't get their message instead — it is the same ground written for speed. This page explains the reasons.
First, rule out the easy one
Wait a minute and ask them to check spam. Messages send in the background, so there is a short delay, and a booking confirmation from an unfamiliar restaurant is exactly what a spam filter is suspicious of. A large share of "it never arrived" is one of these two.
The checklist
1. Is that message type switched on for that channel?
Check Property Settings → Notifications. Email and SMS are separate switches for every type, and all SMS types are off until someone turns them on. This is the single commonest cause.
Two specific traps worth knowing:
- Event bookings use the reservation switches. If confirmation emails are off, event booking confirmations are off too — there is no separate event toggle.
- Nothing is sent for arrived, seated or completed. Only confirmed and cancelled reach the guest. A guest expecting "a message when my table is ready" for a normal booking was never going to get one — that message exists only for the waitlist.
2. Does the booking have the contact detail that channel needs?
Open the booking and check. No email address means no email; no mobile number means no text. This is common for bookings taken by phone in a hurry, and for walk-ins.
For SMS specifically, the number must include its country code. A number saved without one cannot be sent to. And a landline saved in the phone field will simply fail — nothing warns you.
3. For SMS: 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 the guest once replied STOP (link Guests who opt out).
If it is set and the guest says they never asked for that, check for a duplicate profile — you may be looking at the wrong record.
4. For SMS: do you have credits?
Your balance is shown on the notifications page and in How SMS credits work. With no credits, texts are skipped, not queued — they are not sent later when you top up.
The email still goes out if that channel is on, which is why this failure is so easy to miss: the guest got an email, nobody noticed the text was missing, and the balance quietly sat at zero for weeks. If you rely on SMS, check the balance regularly.
5. For review requests: is the feature on your plan, and is the link saved?
Review requests need the Guest Feedback Emails feature, the switch on, and a saved review link. Missing any one of the three sends nothing and reports no error (link Post-visit review requests).
Also check the booking was actually marked completed — that status change is the only thing that schedules a review request.
6. For reminders: had the window already passed?
A reminder goes out a set number of hours before the booking. A booking made after that point never gets one — a table booked this afternoon for tonight is already inside a 24-hour reminder window, so there is no reminder to send.
This is correct behaviour and a frequent source of confusion. If you take a lot of same-day bookings and want them reminded, a shorter reminder setting is the answer (link Reservation reminders).
Also remember each channel fires once per booking. If a guest had a reminder and you then changed the timing, they do not get a second one.
7. Did the address bounce?
A mistyped address, a mailbox that no longer exists, or a full inbox all mean the message left Tabledoo and was refused. Check the spelling on the profile first — transposed characters in a domain are easy to miss.
What you can see yourself, and what you cannot
Being straight about this saves time.
You can see: whether each type is on; whether the booking has an email and mobile; whether the guest is opted out; your credit balance and its full history of charges and refunds; and whether a booking was marked completed.
You cannot see: a per-message send log, whether a specific email was opened or bounced, or delivery receipts for texts. There is no "messages sent" screen in the app.
So the diagnosis is usually by elimination rather than by looking it up. If you have worked the list above and everything checks out, the answer is not on your side and it is worth reporting.
Quick reference
| Symptom | Look at first |
|---|---|
| No emails at all, for anybody | The email switches; then whether your restaurant's own email address is correct |
| No texts at all, for anybody | Credit balance, then the SMS switches |
| Emails arrive, texts do not | Credits, then the country code on the guest's number |
| One guest gets nothing, everyone else does | That guest's contact details and opt-out flag; then look for a duplicate profile |
| No reminder for a same-day booking | Expected — the window had passed |
| No review requests at all | The plan feature, the saved link, and whether bookings are being marked completed |
| No event confirmation | The reservation confirmation switch |
When to contact support
Get in touch once you have checked the list and the settings all look right — especially if several guests are affected at once, or if something worked yesterday and does not today. Include a booking reference, the guest's email or mobile, which message you expected, and roughly when. See Reporting a problem.