Collect Customer Ratings and Reviews After Bookings

Collect customer ratings and reviews after bookings to build trust, showcase testimonials, and improve your services with real feedback from clients.

What Are Ratings and Reviews?

TidyCal's Ratings and Reviews feature allows customers to leave star ratings (1-5) and written feedback after their bookings complete. Reviews display publicly on your booking pages and directory profile, helping potential clients make informed decisions.

Key Benefits:

Build Trust: Display authentic customer testimonials on your booking pages
Improve Services: Receive constructive feedback from clients
Increase Bookings: Showcase your average rating and positive reviews
Respond Publicly: Demonstrate professionalism by responding to feedback
Automatic Requests: Review emails sent automatically after bookings end

Plan Requirements

The Ratings and Reviews feature is available on these plans:

Individual Plan ($29 lifetime) - Full access
Agency Plan ($79 lifetime) - Full access

Note: Free plan users will see a disabled checkbox with an upgrade prompt. Upgrade your plan to enable this feature.

How to Enable Reviews for a Booking Type

Follow these steps to start collecting reviews:

Go to Dashboard → Booking Types
Click Edit on the booking type you want to enable reviews for
Scroll down to the Advanced Settings section
Check the Allow Reviews checkbox
Click Save Booking Type

Important: Only bookings that start after you enable reviews will receive review requests. This prevents retroactive requests for past bookings.

How Review Requests Work

Once you enable reviews, TidyCal automatically handles the entire process:

Automatic Email Sending

Trigger: Review request emails are sent automatically after a booking ends
Timing: Sent when the booking's end time passes (start time + duration)
Frequency: One email per booking (no duplicates or spam)
Recipients: Sent to the customer's email address from the booking
Language: Sent in your account language (45 languages supported)

What Customers Receive

The review request email includes:

Booking details (date, time, booking type name)
Personalized greeting with your name
Direct link to the review form
Simple, mobile-friendly design

Customer Review Experience

When customers click the review link, they see a simple form:

Review Form Fields

Star Rating: 1-5 stars (required)
Written Feedback: Text box for detailed comments (optional, max 1000 characters)
Contact Info: Pre-filled from booking (name and email)

Security and Privacy

No account login required (booking ID acts as secure token)
One review per booking (customers cannot edit or resubmit)
Reviews for cancelled bookings are rejected
If reviews are disabled, the form shows an error message

After submitting, customers see a thank you page confirming their review was received.

Managing Reviews as a Host

You have full control over viewing, responding to, and managing reviews.

Where to Find Reviews

Dashboard Notifications:

Receive in-app notifications when new reviews are submitted
Receive email alerts with review details
Click notification to view and respond

Booking List:

Navigate to Dashboard → Bookings
Completed bookings with reviews show a rating indicator icon
Click the booking to view review details

Booking Type Gallery:

Navigate to Dashboard → Booking Types
Each booking type shows its average rating and review count
Click to view all reviews for that booking type

Responding to Reviews

Responding to reviews shows professionalism and engagement:

Navigate to the review from any of the locations above
Click Respond or view the review detail page
Type your response (max 1000 characters)
Click Submit Response

What Happens Next:

Your response displays publicly below the review
The customer receives an email notification with your response
Your response shows your name and timestamp

Best Practices for Responses:

Thank customers for positive reviews
Address concerns professionally in negative reviews
Keep responses concise and helpful
Respond within 24-48 hours when possible

Deleting Reviews

If you need to remove a review:

Navigate to the review detail page
Click Delete Review
Confirm the deletion

Note: Deleted reviews are soft-deleted (retained in the database but hidden from public view). We recommend responding professionally rather than deleting negative reviews.

Public Display of Reviews

Reviews automatically display on your public booking pages once submitted.

Booking Page Display

When customers visit your booking page, they see:

Average Rating: Star rating (e.g., 4.8 stars)
Review Count: Total number of reviews (e.g., "Based on 23 reviews")
View Reviews Link: Click to open modal with full reviews

Directory Display

If you're listed in the TidyCal directory, reviews show on your profile card:

Privacy Protection: Only first names display (e.g., "John" instead of "John Smith")
Compact Format: Star rating and excerpt
Click to Expand: Opens modal with full reviews

When customers click to view reviews, they see:

Paginated list (10 reviews per page)
Star rating for each review
Written feedback (if provided)
Reviewer name and date
Host responses (if provided)
Filter and sort options

Review Metrics and Analytics

TidyCal automatically calculates helpful metrics:

Average Rating

Calculated from all reviews for a booking type:

Displayed as stars (e.g., ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Shown with decimal precision (e.g., 4.7 out of 5)
Updates automatically with each new review

Review Count

Total number of reviews received
Displayed on booking pages and gallery
Helps customers gauge credibility

Rating Distribution

View the breakdown of star ratings:

5 stars: X reviews
4 stars: X reviews
3 stars: X reviews
2 stars: X reviews
1 star: X reviews

This helps identify patterns and areas for improvement.

Team Bookings and Reviews

Reviews work seamlessly with team booking types:

Notification Routing

Team Bookings: Review notifications are sent to the assigned host(s) who conducted the meeting
Individual Bookings: Notifications are sent to the booking type owner
Multiple Hosts: If multiple team members were assigned, all receive notifications

This ensures the right person receives feedback for their service.

Troubleshooting

Issue: Customer didn't receive review request email

Solution: Check these common causes:

Verify reviews are enabled for the booking type (check Allow Reviews checkbox)
Confirm the booking started after you enabled reviews (not retroactive)
Ensure the booking has ended (check booking end time)
Verify customer's email address is correct in booking details
Check customer's spam/junk folder
Confirm booking wasn't cancelled

Issue: Can't enable reviews (checkbox is disabled)

Solution: The Ratings and Reviews feature requires Individual Plan or Agency Plan. Upgrade your plan to access this feature.

Issue: Reviews not showing on booking page

Solution:

You need at least 1 submitted review for ratings to display
Verify Allow Reviews is enabled for the booking type
Check that the review wasn't deleted
Clear browser cache and refresh the page

Issue: Customer can't submit review (error message)

Solution: Common causes:

Review already submitted for this booking (one per booking limit)
Booking was cancelled
Reviews were disabled after booking completed
Invalid or expired review link

Issue: Received duplicate review request emails

Solution: TidyCal includes duplicate prevention. If this occurs, contact support as it may indicate a system issue. Only one email should be sent per booking.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can customers edit their reviews after submitting?

A: No, reviews are final once submitted. This ensures authenticity and prevents manipulation. If a customer needs to change their review, they should contact you directly, and you can help resolve their concern through your response.

Q: Can I hide negative reviews?

A: Yes, you can delete reviews from the review management page. However, we recommend responding professionally to negative reviews instead. Addressing concerns publicly demonstrates your commitment to customer service and can turn negative experiences into positive impressions.

Q: Do review requests work for old bookings that happened before I enabled reviews?

A: No, review requests are only sent for bookings that start after you enable the feature. This prevents customers from receiving unexpected emails about past bookings. If you want reviews for a specific past booking, you can share the review link manually with the customer.

Q: Can I send manual review requests or reminder emails?

A: Currently, review requests are sent automatically after bookings end. There is no built-in feature for manual review requests. If you need to request a review outside the automatic system, you can copy the review link and send it directly to your customer.

Q: How are reviews displayed on team booking types?

A: Reviews for team booking types show the same way as individual bookings. The assigned host(s) who conducted the meeting receive the review notification, but the reviews display under the booking type (not individual team members). All reviews contribute to the booking type's average rating.

Q: What languages are supported for review request emails?

A: Review request emails are sent in your account language setting. TidyCal supports 45 languages for all review-related emails, including notifications and responses.

Q: Will customers receive notifications when I respond to their review?

A: Yes, customers automatically receive an email notification when you respond to their review. The email includes your response text and a link to view the full conversation on the booking page.

Q: Can I disable reviews for a specific booking type but keep them enabled for others?

A: Yes, reviews are configured per booking type. Simply uncheck the Allow Reviews checkbox for booking types where you don't want to collect reviews, while keeping it enabled for others.

Need more help? Contact our support team - we're here to help!