Drop-off booking FAQ
Fixes for the common drop-off booking questions — too few drop-off times, tighter packing, limiting how long a pet waits, and unexpected ready times.
Updated 19 July 2026
The fixes for the drop-off questions that come up most — each points at the exact setting to change. Every one lives in Booking Windows & Limits on your booking settings page.
Open in app: Booking Settings
Fix "customers only see one drop-off time"
This almost always means your Earliest drop-off setting is narrow. When it's set to Just before service, the only drop-off times offered cluster right around when each service will actually run — so on a busy day there may be just one or two.
Widen it: open Booking Windows & Limits, set Earliest drop-off to 1 hour before, 2 hours before, 4 hours before, or Any time after we open, and Save. The wider the window, the more drop-off times customers can pick from. See Earliest drop-off.
Pack your drop-off day more tightly
If services are landing with gaps between them, check two settings:
- Buffer time between appointments — this is the only setting that deliberately holds time open after each service. Lower it (down to none) to close those gaps.
- Time slot interval — a small interval offers customers more drop-off times, which tends to fill the day more densely.
Seglo already packs fill-first — it starts each service the moment the previous one ends, never rounding up to the interval — so if you see idle time, the buffer is the usual cause. See Drop-off timing controls.
Limit how long a pet waits before its service
Use Earliest drop-off as your wait cap. It sets how early a customer may drop off before their service, which is the same as the longest a pet would wait for that booking:
- Just before service — minimal waiting; the pet is dropped close to its start.
- 1 hour before / 2 hours before / 4 hours before — the pet can wait at most that long.
- Any time after we open — no cap; a pet dropped at opening waits until its turn.
Pick the tightest option that still suits how your customers actually drop off. There's no separate "maximum wait" field — this setting is the control.
Explain a ready time that looks later than you expect
A later-than-expected Est. ready by time is normal, not a bug. The ready time is the service duration plus however long the pet waits for its turn.
If a pet is dropped at 9:00 for a 60-minute groom but two dogs are ahead of it, the groom might start at 10:30 and the honest ready time is 11:30 — the extra time is the wait, exactly as on a walk-in day. Seglo never pads the wait to fill a window; it starts the service as soon as a spot is free. The wider your Earliest drop-off window, the more often customers drop early and see this gap. See Drop-off scheduling for the full explanation.
Tips
- Every drop-off fix is one setting in Booking Windows & Limits — Earliest drop-off, buffer, or time-slot interval.
- Changes apply to new bookings only. Existing bookings keep the settings they were made under.
- Your own view is never trimmed. Whatever the customer-facing window, you and your staff can book any feasible drop-off time from the schedule.
Related
- Earliest drop-off — set and change the drop-off window.
- Drop-off timing controls — how the three timing settings combine.
- Drop-off scheduling — the model behind the ready-time estimate.
- Appointment settings — the full booking-settings reference.