New in OpenChair: processing gaps and client follow-up | 1–14 April 2026

See where colour processing sits in the diary before fitting in another client. This fortnight, we’ve added a visible processing band to OpenChair’s web calendar, expanded the reasons shown for client follow-up and brought no-show and late-cancellation fee actions into booking details.

See the time available during colour processing#

For services with processing time configured, the web calendar now shows a separate, muted band below the active service block. Reception and the colourist can distinguish that interval from the time booked for hands-on work.

In this illustrative diary plan, the original colour visit stays at 90 minutes:

A compatible 20-minute service from 10:30 to 10:50 could fit inside the processing window, provided the stylist offers that service and any required room or equipment is available. The stylist must still return for finishing at 11:00.

A 40-minute service would run beyond the gap. A shorter service would also be unsuitable if it needed equipment already in use. Your team checks the whole appointment before adding another client, rather than treating every processing band as spare time.

The display change builds on Processing Gaps. It does not shorten the original service or move its finishing work. Read more about scheduling around colour processing time.

Understand why a regular client needs a follow-up#

On Pro, the client-retention view now brings together signals from visit frequency, recorded feedback, attendance and spending patterns. Open a client’s health details to see the reasons behind their status, rather than working from an overdue label alone.

For a waxing studio, a regular who has gone longer than usual between visits may be worth contacting. Start with their record: check the last service, any upcoming appointment and the available conversation history. That gives you context for deciding whether a reminder is useful or a more personal reply is needed.

The Pro outreach review queue prepares suggested messages for an owner to approve or skip. Read the draft before approving the send, or skip it when contacting that client is not appropriate. Email is supported, with SMS available in Australia and the UK where configured. Messaging allowances and eligible paid usage still apply.

The client’s status helps you decide where to look. It is not confirmation that they have stopped visiting or a reason to send every person the same message.

Decide on a fee, then check the payment result#

No-show and late-cancellation fee controls now sit with the booking. They require Stripe Connect, an eligible saved card with recorded consent and a configured fee. Review the client’s agreed policy before choosing to charge.

When marking a booking as No-show, the confirmation can show an option to charge the fee, including its amount and the saved card’s brand and last digits. Leave that option unselected to record the missed appointment without requesting the charge.

For a barbershop, that keeps marking a missed haircut separate from deciding whether to apply the fee. Eligible cancelled bookings also have a Charge late cancellation fee action, so an authorised operator can review the amount from the appointment record.

Booking History shows fee-charge attempts and their results, including successful, failed and additional-verification states. A request that fails or needs cardholder verification is not a completed payment. Check that result before telling the client a fee has been collected.

View your appointments in another calendar#

You can also subscribe to a personal, read-only feed of your OpenChair appointments in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook. Each team member has their own iCal link, with a privacy setting for whether client names appear in event titles. Regenerating the link replaces the old feed access.

This is an appointment feed, not two-way calendar sync. Changes to a personal calendar do not update an OpenChair booking through it, and outside commitments do not become availability blocks through this feed.

Book an OpenChair walkthrough to see processing time, client follow-up and booking controls with your salon’s diary in mind.