Waitlist – How It Works

When the day or some of its times are fully booked, guests can join a queue instead of being turned away. The waitlist is a feature for table bookings – it does not exist for events or resource bookings.

Why table bookings only?

For events, we instead recommend promoting the next occurrence if one sells out. For resources, guests can pick another time or day in the booking view.

Enable waitlist (table booking):

1. Go to Bordsbokning → Inställningar → Grundinställningar
2. Under Beteende, turn on Väntelista

The settings under Behavior:

How it works:

1. The guest tries to book online, but the day – or the time they want – is fully booked for their party. If the whole day is full, the queue is offered straight away. If only some times are full, they are shown greyed out with the text "The other times are fully booked for 4 guests" and the button Put me on the waitlist
2. The guest joins the queue and states their preferred time
3. The booking is created with status Väntelista and appears in the Väntelista tab of the Booking module. The guest gets an SMS saying they're in the queue and do not have a table – not the regular booking confirmation
4. When a table frees up, Vendion looks through the queue for guests whose preferred time falls within the matching window
5. The offer goes out as an SMS, and the guest opens the link and chooses Ta bordet (accept) or Nej tack, jag avstår (decline)
6. If the guest accepts, the booking becomes Bekräftad. If they decline, the table is freed and offered to the next guest in the queue. If they do not reply within the deadline, the offer expires and the guest stays in the queue

When is a new offer sent?

An automatic offer is sent only when a table actually frees up: a cancellation, a released option or a guest who declines. An offer that expires without a reply does not pass the table on to the next guest in the queue.

Each guest gets at most two automatic offers per booking, so nobody receives SMS after SMS. A guest who has declined gets no more automatic offers for that booking. The guest's link always shows the current state: whether the offer is valid, whether it has expired and more may come, or whether the limit is reached. You can always offer a seat manually from the Väntelista tab.

Who gets the offer?

Vendion picks the party that fills the table best – most guests first. When a four-top frees up it goes to a party of four rather than to a couple who has waited longer, because four guests are worth more than two.

So that nobody is left waiting indefinitely, there is Priority after long wait. Once a guest has waited longer than that limit, their waiting time beats party size, and only someone who has waited even longer can go ahead of them. Set the limit to 0 if you would rather have size always decide.

First come, first served

If you would rather give the table to whoever is fastest, choose Först till kvarn under Erbjud ett ledigt bord. When a table frees up, several guests who fit then get the same offer at once, up to the number in Gäster per erbjudande. They are picked in the same order as above.

• The SMS says that several guests got the offer and that the first to claim the table gets it
• The first to click Ta bordet gets the table. The others are told the table went to someone else and stay in the queue
• An offer someone else claimed first does not count towards the limit of two offers
• If only one guest fits, it becomes a regular offer
• AI Auto Optimering does not move bookings for the waitlist in this mode: only guests who fit straight away get an SMS
• Each freed table can mean one SMS per guest who gets the offer

Waitlist in admin:

• Waiting guests are listed in the Väntelista tab with party size, preferred time and how long they have waited
• With Redigera bokning permission, click Erbjud plats, select enough available tables and click Bekräfta bokning. This confirms immediately and sends a confirmation; it does not wait for the guest to accept. Check with the guest first
• If no direct placement is available, the dialog may suggest moving other bookings to make room. Review those moves before applying them
• The queue number shows entry order for the same date and preferred time; it does not guarantee automatic offer priority
• Click the cross to remove a guest from the waitlist

Table-only – what do I do for events/resources?

• Event sold out: Share another occurrence or add one under Bordsbokning → Events & Resurser
• Resource booked at desired time: The guest automatically sees other available slots the same day or other days

Tip: Automatic waitlist matching is separate from Automatisk bordstilldelning, which controls how new table placements are confirmed. Check the matching window, response deadline and guest phone numbers. Offers depend on a suitable available place and successful SMS delivery.