# Unpaid bookings and held times

> How CoreHue holds a booked time until your client pays, how long the payment deadline lasts, what happens when it runs out, and what to do about late payments.

Source: https://help.corehue.co/docs/managing-bookings/unpaid-bookings/

When a booking needs payment to confirm, CoreHue holds the time for your client until the money arrives and releases it if it doesn't. You don't switch this on separately. It comes with requiring payment, and it stops unpaid bookings blocking your diary forever.

## Two different holds

CoreHue holds a time at two separate moments, and they're easy to mix up.

**While your client is booking.** When someone picks a time on your booking page and continues, they're offered a **30-minute** hold, shown as a **Slot held** countdown. If they wander off, the hold lapses and the time goes back on your page. It's automatic, with nothing to set up.

**After the booking is made, before it's paid.** This is the payment deadline, and it's the one you control.

## Setting the payment deadline on a service

1. Open a direct booking or mini session service and go to the **Booking flow** tab.
2. Expand step **4 Payment** and open **More payment settings**.
3. Set **Expire unpaid bookings after** to a number of **Minutes**, **Hours** or **Days**.
4. Save the service.

It starts at **24 hours** and can be anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 days.

The clock starts when your client commits to paying, which means when they open online checkout or report a manual payment. It doesn't start when they first land on your page.

Until the deadline, the booking sits as **Pending** with its time reserved, so nobody else can take it. When the payment comes in, the booking confirms itself and your client gets their confirmation. If the deadline passes first, the booking moves to **Expired** and the time goes back on your booking page.

For bookings you add yourself, the equivalent is **Expire unpaid booking on** in the **Collect payment** section. See [Adding a booking yourself](/docs/managing-bookings/creating-a-booking).

## Picking a sensible window

| How clients pay | A good deadline |
| --- | --- |
| Card | A few hours is plenty. Card payments settle in seconds |
| Bank transfer | Two or three days, longer over weekends or across borders |
| Any manual method | Enough time for you to spot the payment and confirm it, including days you're out shooting |

Once a client reports a manual payment, CoreHue extends the deadline to at least 24 hours after their report (but never past the session start), so you have time to check it. The risk is clients who haven't reported their transfer yet: a 24-hour deadline can expire their booking before the money lands.

## Giving one client more time

1. Open the pending booking.
2. Choose **Edit payment deadline** from the three-dot menu.
3. Pick the new date and click **Update deadline**.

The new payment deadline is the start of the date you pick (midnight in your timezone), not the end of it. Pick the day after the last day you'll accept payment. If payment isn't received by then, the booking is released. Use this when a client tells you their transfer is on its way and you'd rather not lose the booking over a weekend.

## What your client sees

Their booking page is headed **Complete your booking**, with the date and time they need to finish by and a note that their time is held until then.

If they've reported a manual payment that's waiting for you, the page reads **Awaiting confirmation** instead.

If the deadline passes, the page reads **This booking has expired** and explains that the time was released because the required steps weren't completed.

## If they pay after the deadline

It happens: a client leaves checkout open, the deadline runs out, and they pay anyway.

**They're charged, and the booking stays expired.** The booking shows **Payment received after expiry**, with the amount and a note that the original time isn't reserved, plus a **Review payment** button. You get an email about it too. Their page tells them the payment arrived late and that you'll be in touch.

You then decide what happens:

- **Reinstate them.** Click **Create replacement booking** on the expired booking. It starts a new booking with the same contact and service selected, and you set the dates, price and what your client needs to do.
- **Offer another time**, if the original has been taken.
- **Refund them**, if neither works. See [Refunding a payment](/docs/payments/refunding-a-payment).

Whatever you choose, get in touch quickly. From their side, they've paid and heard nothing.

## Confirming without the money

If you're happy to take the booking before payment arrives, open it and choose **Confirm before payment** from the three-dot menu. Give a **Reason** and click **Confirm booking**. The booking is confirmed while the payment stays outstanding, so the invoice still shows what's owed.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I bring an expired booking back?

Not the same booking. Expired is final, even if your client pays later. Use **Create replacement booking** to start a new one with their details already filled in. See [A client's booking expired](/docs/troubleshooting/booking-expired).

### Do bookings that don't need payment ever expire?

Usually not. A booking without a payment requirement doesn't expire on a payment deadline. The exception is a booking that still needs a date set and has a deadline for your client to finish their steps: it expires if that deadline passes, and your client sees "Complete the required client steps by" with the date.

### My client says they paid but the booking is still pending. Why?

A booking stays pending after your client says they paid when they used a manual method like a bank transfer, which needs you to confirm it. Look for **Review payment** on the booking. See [Reviewing payment proof](/docs/payments/reviewing-payment-proof).

### Does the 30-minute hold count toward the payment deadline?

No. The 30-minute hold and the payment deadline are separate. The 30-minute hold covers your client filling in the booking flow. The payment deadline starts once they open checkout or report a manual payment.