Collect Customer Ratings and Reviews After Bookings

Collect customer ratings and reviews in TidyCal to build social proof and display feedback on your public booking pages. Reviews are available on all plans -- Free, Individual, and Agency.

Overview

TidyCal's reviews system lets your customers rate their booking experience with 1-5 stars and leave optional written feedback. You can collect reviews automatically after bookings end, or share direct review links with anyone -- no prior booking required. Reviews appear on your public booking pages and help future customers decide to book with you.

Prerequisites

• TidyCal account on any plan (Free, Individual, or Agency)
• At least one booking type created
• Reviews enabled on the booking type (see below)

Enabling Reviews

Reviews are disabled by default. To enable them:

1. Go to Booking types and click on a booking type to open the editor.
2. In the editor sidebar, click Advanced then Visibility.
3. Reviews are enabled by default on all booking types.
4. Optionally toggle on Show reviews on booking page. (this appears after enabling reviews)
5. Click Save.

You can also enable reviews in bulk from the Reviews page. If no booking types have reviews enabled, you will see the setup screen where you can toggle reviews on for multiple booking types at once and click Enable reviews on these booking types.

Reviews Dashboard

Go to Reviews in the sidebar to access your reviews dashboard. The dashboard shows:

• Average rating and total review count
• Rating distribution -- bar chart showing how many 5-star, 4-star, 3-star, 2-star, and 1-star reviews you have
• Review list -- all reviews with reviewer name, star rating, review text, and date
• Filter by booking type -- use the dropdown to view reviews for a specific booking type
• Get reviews button -- opens a drawer with shareable review links (see below)

Collecting Reviews

There are two ways to collect reviews:

1. Automatic Review Emails

When reviews are enabled on a booking type, TidyCal automatically sends a review invitation email to the customer after their booking ends. The email contains a link to a review form where the customer can rate their experience.

• Emails are sent automatically -- no action needed from you.
• Each customer can submit one review per booking.
• Review emails are only sent for completed (non-cancelled) bookings.

2. Shareable Review Links (No Booking Required)

You can share a direct link to collect reviews from anyone -- they do not need to have booked with you. This is useful for collecting testimonials from existing clients.

1. Go to Reviews in the sidebar.
2. Click the Get reviews button in the top right.
3. Click Copy review page link next to the booking type you want reviews for.
4. Share the link via email, social media, or messaging.

The review form asks for the reviewer's name, email, star rating (1-5), and an optional written review (up to 1,000 characters).

Note: Each email address can only submit one review per booking type via the shareable link.

Reviews on Your Booking Page

When you enable Show reviews on booking page in the booking type editor, your reviews appear directly on the public booking page:

• Star summary in the booking type header -- shows average rating and review count. Visitors can click the count to scroll to the full reviews section.
• Reviews section below the booking calendar -- displays reviewer first names, star ratings, review text, and any host responses.
• Reviews load 5 at a time with a Show more reviews button for pagination.

Privacy: Only the reviewer's first name is shown on the public booking page. Full names and email addresses are never displayed publicly.

Responding to Reviews

You can post a public response to any review from the Reviews dashboard:

1. Go to Reviews in the sidebar.
2. Find the review you want to respond to.
3. Click the Respond button below the review.
4. Write your response (up to 1,000 characters).
5. Click Send response.

Your response is:

• Publicly visible on the booking page (if inline reviews are enabled)
• Emailed to the reviewer so they know you responded
• One response per review -- you cannot edit or add a second response

Deleting Reviews

To delete a review:

1. Go to Reviews in the sidebar.
2. Find the review you want to remove.
3. Click the trash icon on the review.
4. Confirm the deletion. This cannot be undone.

Email Notifications

TidyCal sends the following emails related to reviews:

• Review invitation -- sent to the customer after their booking ends (automatic)
• New review received -- sent to you (the host) when a customer submits a review
• Response notification -- sent to the reviewer when you post a response

You also receive an in-app notification when a new review is submitted.

Troubleshooting

Customer did not receive a review email

• Review emails are sent after the booking ends, not immediately after booking.
• Check that reviews are enabled on the booking type (Booking types → editor → Advanced → Visibility → Show reviews on booking page).
• Cancelled bookings do not trigger review emails.
• Ask the customer to check their spam/junk folder.

Reviews not showing on booking page

• Make sure Show reviews on booking page is toggled on in the booking type editor (Advanced → Visibility).
• Reviews only appear when there is at least one review for that booking type.
• The Show reviews on booking page toggle is in the Visibility section of the booking type editor.

Shareable review link shows 404

• Verify that reviews are enabled on the booking type.
• Check that the URL matches the format: tidycal.com/your-username/booking-type-slug/review
• The booking type must be active (not deleted or disabled).

reCAPTCHA not working on custom domain review form

• reCAPTCHA is automatically skipped on custom domains because the site key is registered for tidycal.com only.
• This is expected behavior -- review forms still work on custom domains without reCAPTCHA.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are reviews available on the Free plan?

Yes. Reviews are available on all plans -- Free, Individual, and Agency. There are no plan restrictions for collecting or displaying reviews.

Can I disable reviews after enabling them?

Yes. Go to the booking type editor → Advanced → Visibility and toggle off Show reviews on booking page to hide them from your public page. Existing reviews are preserved but no new reviews will be collected.

Can I moderate reviews before they appear?

Reviews appear immediately after submission -- there is no approval queue. However, you can delete any review from the Reviews dashboard at any time.

Can I edit my response to a review?

No. Each review allows one response that cannot be edited after posting. Write your response carefully before clicking Send response.

Can a customer leave multiple reviews?

Each customer can leave one review per booking (for automatic post-booking reviews) or one review per email address per booking type (for shareable link reviews).

How do reviews work with team booking types?

For team booking types, the review notification is sent to the actual host(s) assigned to the booking, not the booking type owner. Reviews appear on the team booking page.

Need more help? Contact us at support@tidycal.com.