Handling Booking Conflicts

What is a Booking Conflict?

A booking conflict happens when you try to schedule a staff member for two things at the same time. Cooledge automatically detects this and warns you before creating the booking.

Example conflict:

• John is already booked 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
• You try to book John 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• Conflict! John can't be in two places at once

The system prevents accidental double-booking.

When Conflicts Are Detected

Conflicts are checked when:

• Creating a new booking with staff assigned
• Dragging a booking to a new time on the calendar
• Resizing a booking to longer or shorter times
• Adding staff to an existing booking
• Changing booking times via the edit modal

The check happens automatically - you don't need to do anything.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Conflict modal appearing after dragging a booking]

The Conflict Modal

When a conflict is found, you'll see a modal pop-up that shows:

Conflict Details

• Staff member name - who is double-booked
• Existing booking time - when they're already scheduled
• Job/task name - what they're currently booked for
• New booking time - what you just tried to schedule

You'll see all overlapping bookings listed so you know exactly what clashes.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Conflict modal showing details of conflicting booking]

Your Options

The modal gives you two choices:

1. Cancel

• Don't create/move this booking
• Go back and try a different time or staff member
• No changes are made

2. Book Anyway

• Override the conflict warning
• Create the booking despite the overlap
• Both bookings will exist on the calendar

When to Book Anyway (Override)

Sometimes double-booking makes sense. Office staff can handle multiple short tasks like phone calls and quotes at once. Travel time bookings might overlap when staff are finishing one job and driving to the next. For multi-person jobs, one person might be the lead on both. Emergency work sometimes must be scheduled immediately regardless of conflicts, and administrative time bookings don't always represent physical presence.

However, don't override if the staff member genuinely can't be in two places - on-site installs, customer visits, and field work need proper scheduling. In those cases, find a different time or assign different staff instead.

Preventing Conflicts

Check the Calendar First

Before creating a booking:

1. Switch to Day View or Timeline View
2. Look at the staff member's column/row
3. Find an empty time slot
4. Create the booking there

This prevents conflicts from happening in the first place.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Day view showing staff member with empty slots vs booked slots]

Use Drag and Drop

When you drag a booking on the calendar:

• You can see exactly where other bookings are
• Drop it into an empty slot
• Much easier to avoid conflicts visually

Filter by Staff in Sidebar

If scheduling from the sidebar:

1. Select the staff member in the Staff Filter
2. You'll see only jobs assigned to them
3. Easier to see their workload

Managing Allowed Overlaps

As a business owner/admin, you can change how conflict detection works:

Settings Location

Settings > Scheduling > Allow Booking Overlaps

Two Options

Overlaps Not Allowed (Default, Recommended)

• System checks for conflicts every time
• Shows warning modal if overlap detected
• Prevents accidental double-booking
• Best for: Field staff, installers, technicians who are on-site

Overlaps Allowed

• No conflict checking
• Bookings can overlap freely
• No warning modals
• Best for: Office staff, administrative roles, flexible scheduling

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Settings page with Allow Booking Overlaps toggle]

When to Allow Overlaps

Turn this on if:

• Your team mostly does office work or phone calls
• Multiple short bookings are normal
• You handle scheduling conflicts manually
• The warnings are becoming annoying

Most businesses should keep this OFF to prevent double-booking field technicians.

How Conflict Detection Works

What Gets Checked

• Only Scheduled or In Progress bookings - Unscheduled, Completed, and Cancelled bookings don't create conflicts
• Time overlaps - Any amount of overlap triggers a warning (even 1 minute)
• Per staff member - Each person's schedule is checked independently

What Doesn't Get Checked

• Unscheduled bookings - they don't have times yet
• Completed bookings - work is done
• Cancelled bookings - no longer happening
• Different staff - if John and Sarah are both free, no conflict

Overlap Logic

Two bookings overlap if:

• New booking starts during existing booking
  Existing: 9 AM - 12 PM, New: 10 AM - 2 PM ✗

• New booking ends during existing booking
  Existing: 10 AM - 2 PM, New: 9 AM - 11 AM ✗

• New booking completely contains existing booking
  Existing: 10 AM - 11 AM, New: 9 AM - 2 PM ✗

• New booking is completely contained
  Existing: 9 AM - 2 PM, New: 10 AM - 11 AM ✗

No overlap:

• Existing: 9 AM - 12 PM, New: 12 PM - 2 PM ✓ (exact end/start is okay)

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Visual diagram showing overlapping vs non-overlapping time ranges]

Common Scenarios

Scenario 1: Installing Multiple Systems Same Day

Situation: You're booking John for two installs on the same day.

Solution:

• Book first install: 8 AM - 12 PM
• Book second install: 1 PM - 5 PM (leaves lunch gap)
• No conflict because times don't overlap

Scenario 2: Travel Time Between Jobs

Situation: John finishes a job at 12 PM but the next job is 30 minutes away, starting at 12 PM.

Options:

• Better: Book second job starting at 12:30 PM or 1 PM to account for travel
• Or: Create a "Travel" task booking for 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
• Or: Override the conflict if you know he can make it

Scenario 3: Office Staff Answering Phones

Situation: Sarah answers phones all day but also has quote appointments.

Solution:

• Turn on "Allow Booking Overlaps" in Settings
• Both phone coverage and quote bookings can overlap
• Manage her time manually

Scenario 4: Multi-Staff Job

Situation: You need John and Sarah both on-site 9 AM - 12 PM.

Solution:

• Create ONE booking
• Assign both John AND Sarah to it (multi-staff booking)
• No conflict because it's the same booking for both

Resolving Conflicts

If you see a conflict warning, here's how to fix it:

Option 1: Change the Time

1. Click "Cancel" on the conflict modal
2. Try a different time slot
3. Earlier or later in the day

Option 2: Choose Different Staff

1. Click "Cancel"
2. Assign a different staff member who's available
3. Or split the work between two people

Option 3: Move the Existing Booking

1. Click "Cancel"
2. Find the conflicting booking on the calendar
3. Drag it to a different time
4. Come back and create your new booking

Option 4: Override

1. Click "Book Anyway" on the conflict modal
2. Booking is created with overlap
3. Handle the scheduling manually

Tips for Busy Calendars

Use Day and Week views Month view is hard to see individual time slots. Switch to Day or Week for detailed scheduling.

Color-code by status Jobs in different statuses have different colors. This helps you prioritize what must be scheduled.

Check capacity before quoting Before giving a customer a date, check your calendar to make sure you have staff available.

Build in buffer time Don't book jobs back-to-back. Leave 30-60 minutes between for travel, lunch, or overruns.

Common Questions

What if I override a conflict by mistake? You can move or delete the booking afterward. Go to the calendar, find the double-booked time slot, and fix it.

Can I see all conflicts at once? Not automatically, but if you look at a staff member's column/row in Day view, you'll see any overlapping bookings visually.

Do customers see conflict warnings? No. Conflicts are internal only for your scheduling team.

What if someone is sick or unavailable? Mark their bookings as Cancelled or reassign them to another staff member. Cancelled bookings won't create conflicts.

Can I get notified when conflicts happen? Currently no automatic notification. The conflict modal appears immediately when you try to create the booking.

Related Articles

• Creating Bookings - How to schedule work
• Moving and Editing Bookings - Change times and staff
• Using the Calendar - Navigate calendar views
• Multi-Staff Bookings - Assign multiple people to one booking