Handle a booking request
A booking made on your public page arrives as a request, not a confirmed booking. It lands in Fleetola as a draft contract, holds the car, and waits for you - you confirm it by getting it signed, or decline it by deleting it.
The renter has not paid anything. The booking page takes no card - the total they saw is an estimate. Payment is arranged with you after you confirm, the same way you take any other payment.
Where it lands
Everyone on your team gets an email naming the renter, the car and the dates - and a push notification if they use the app. The booking shows as a bar on the Availability calendar and under Contracts on the Draft tab. A new renter is invited to your renter portal automatically, and is told you will review the request and email them.
Confirm it
- Open the request - click its bar on the Availability calendar, or open the Draft tab under Contracts.
- The contract wizard resumes with everything the renter entered: the car, the dates, the rate and any extras they ticked.
- Check the details, set the bond, and change anything you have agreed with the renter - a request is a starting point, not a signed deal.
- Finish on Sign: Send sign link (labelled Send sign-up & sign link until the renter has set up their login) emails the renter, or Sign in person now does it on your device.
- Signing is the confirmation. The contract activates, and the rental appears in the renter's portal.
Where to find it: Contracts → Draft
Decline it
Open the Draft tab and click Delete on the booking. The draft is removed and the car is freed straight away.
Tip: Deleting a request sends no email. The renter is waiting to hear from you, so tell them yourself - otherwise they are left expecting a confirmation that never comes.
A pending request holds the car
A request you have not dealt with blocks its dates: those days show as unavailable on your booking page, and a contract for the same car and dates is refused, until the request is signed or deleted. An ongoing request has no return date, so it holds the car from its start date onwards. Answer requests promptly - a request you ignore is a car you cannot rent.
Someone who already rents from you
A request whose email matches an existing customer attaches to their record, and nothing typed into the form overwrites what you have saved. Your email flags the match - check it really is the same person before you send the sign link.
Related guides
- Take hire bookings online - Share your hosted booking page and turn bookings into contracts.
- Which cars show on your booking page - What a car needs before it lists on your public booking page.