Block out time in the diary

Use an unavailable or system booking when you need to hold time in the diary without a client appointment. Examples include an afternoon off, a one-off holiday, training, or travel between sites.

When to use this instead of working hours

Same lunch break or shorter day every week: use Set groomer working hours and Add Gap, or edit start and finish times.
One-off or irregular time off (this afternoon, a single bank holiday, an emergency): use an unavailable / system booking (this guide).

Groomer working hours control which times Barkway offers for new bookings and client requests. They do not replace diary blocks for one-off time off.

Block out the time

From Dashboard or Bookings, choose New Booking.
In Who, leave the pet search blank. Barkway treats this as an unavailable / system booking.
Choose the groomer who is away or busy.
Pick the start time and set the duration for how long the block should last. You do not need to choose a core service or add-ons.
Choose Create Booking.

The appointment appears in the diary as Unavailable. The booking summary shows Unavailable / System booking.

What Barkway does not create

Unavailable / system bookings are diary blocks only. Barkway does not:

Create a client invoice
Take or record a deposit (Take a deposit)
Attach booking contracts (Manage contracts)
Send client booking confirmations or reminders

Change or remove a block

Open the booking from the calendar and use View or edit a booking to change the time, duration or groomer. Cancel the booking if you no longer need the block.

How this differs from Slot unavailable on a request

Slot unavailable is a booking request outcome when a client could not finish a portal request before acceptance. It is not a diary block. See When a request shows Slot unavailable.