How do I check the online booking system and reminder texts at a salon or spa?

Start as a customer. Book a haircut or a treatment online, change it, cancel it, and note what arrives and when. Check that the reminder wording sounds like the business and that the cancellation link works. A system that clients find clumsy quietly costs a spa its repeat visits, and you will only notice if you try it.

Next, look behind the screen. Ask the seller to show you the admin side: who has a login, which staff can edit the schedule, and how deposits or no-show fees are handled. Find out whose name the account is under. If it sits in a stylist’s personal email, that is a transfer problem waiting to happen. Ask how client phone numbers were collected and whether clients agreed to receive texts, and have your lawyer confirm what you must do with that consent.

Finally, ask how the booking tool, the text-message sender and the payment link are billed, and what happens to them when ownership changes. Request a copy of the client list with last-visit dates, under a confidentiality agreement, and compare it against what the seller tells you about regulars.

Key takeaways

• Book, change and cancel an appointment yourself before you decide anything.
• Confirm the account is held in the business’s name, not a staff member’s.
• Ask for a client export and a plan for moving the texting number.
• Ask how the reminder texts are billed, and who pays for them after closing.