# User Manual

How customers use the Crussell booking website — from first visit to managing their appointments.

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## Booking Your First Appointment

### Step 1: Arrive at the Website

When you open the website, you'll see the salon's homepage with:
- The salon's name and branding
- A showcase of recent nail art from the portfolio
- A navigation bar at the top with links to **Book**, **Prices**, **Portfolio**, and **Contact**

Tap or click **Book an Appointment** to start.

### Step 2: Choose Your Services

You'll see a list of all available treatments. Each one shows:
- The name and a short description
- The price
- How long it takes

**Why might a service look greyed out?**

Some treatments require a **patch test** — a small allergy test done before your first appointment with certain products (like gel nails). If you haven't had a patch test on record, those services will appear greyed out so you can see them but can't select them yet. You'll need to book a patch test first, or mention it when you call the salon.

If you've already had a patch test, the system checks whether it's still valid (they last 6 months) and whether enough time has passed since the test (at least 24 hours). If either condition isn't met, the service stays greyed out.

**Why might a service not appear at all?**

Some treatments have a minimum age requirement. If the system knows your age (because you're logged in and your date of birth is on file) and you're below the minimum, that service won't show up at all.

If you're not logged in, age-based filtering is skipped — the system doesn't know your age yet, so all services are shown. Age is checked when you submit your booking.

**You can select multiple services** — they'll be added together for the total price and duration.

### Step 3: Pick a Date

A calendar appears showing which dates have availability:
- **Highlighted dates** have open slots
- **Greyed-out dates** are fully booked, the salon is closed that day, or the salon has blocked out that time (for example, a holiday or personal appointment)

The calendar takes into account:
- The salon's regular opening hours (Monday to Friday, closed Saturday and Sunday for example)
- Any special holiday hours the salon has set
- Existing bookings that fill up the day
- Blocked-out periods the salon has marked as unavailable

Tap or click a date that works for you.

### Step 4: Pick a Time

Once you've chosen a date, you'll see the available time slots for that day. The system calculates these by looking at:
- The salon's opening hours for that day
- Existing appointments (there's always a small gap between appointments for cleaning and setup)
- Any blocked-out times the salon has set
- Slots that other customers are currently in the process of booking

**Important — your chosen slot is temporarily held:**
- If you're **logged in**, your slot is held for **1 hour** while you complete the form
- If you're **not logged in**, your slot is held for **10 minutes**

If you take too long and the hold expires, someone else might take that slot. If this happens, you'll need to pick a new time.

There's also a limit on how many times an unregistered visitor can hold slots — this prevents the system from being misused.

### Step 5: Fill in Your Details

You'll be asked for:
- **First name** and **last name**
- **Email address**
- **Phone number** (UK format)
- **Notes** (optional — for example, "I'd like a French tip design" or "I have a nail condition to mention")

**If you're not logged in:**
The system creates a temporary guest account for you automatically. This just means your booking is recorded under a disposable profile — you won't have a permanent account, but you'll still receive a confirmation. You can use the same email address for multiple guest bookings.

**If you enter an email that's already registered:**
You'll see a message saying "Please log in to book." The system recognises the email belongs to an existing account and wants to make sure it's really you. Either log in, or use a different email if you genuinely don't have an account.

**Deposit check:**
If you have any outstanding deposit obligations from a previous late cancellation (see the Deposit System section below), you'll only be able to book appointments that are at least 24 hours away. Guest bookings skip this check entirely.

All bookings must be made at least 1 hour before the appointment start time.

### Step 6: Confirmation

After submitting, you'll see a confirmation screen showing:
- Your appointment date and time
- The services you selected
- The total price
- An **Add to Calendar** button — this downloads a calendar file you can import into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, or any other calendar app

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## Guest Bookings — What You Should Know

### What is a guest booking?

If you book without creating an account, the system creates a temporary "guest" profile for that booking. It's disposable — there's no permanent identity attached to it. Each guest booking gets its own fresh guest profile.

### Can I use the same email for multiple guest bookings?

Yes. Guest bookings can share email addresses. This is different from registered accounts, where each email can only be used once.

### What happens to my guest data over time?

Your personal information (name, email, phone, date of birth) attached to a guest booking is automatically removed **6 months after your appointment date**. After that point, the booking record still exists for the salon's financial records, but your personal details are replaced with anonymous placeholders. If your booking is still upcoming (not yet happened), your data is kept until the appointment passes.

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## Creating an Account

### Registration

To create a permanent account, go to the **Login** page and choose to register. You'll need:
- **Name**: Letters, spaces, hyphens, apostrophes, and dots are allowed (1–50 characters)
- **Phone number**: UK format — the system will format it correctly for you
- **Email address**: A standard email format
- **Date of birth**: You must be at least 16 years old to create an account
- **Password**: Up to 72 characters

After registering, your account starts in an "unverified" state. An email verification system exists but isn't fully connected yet — for now, you can still log in and book.

### Logging In

Enter your email and password on the Login page. There's a short delay between login attempts (about 5 seconds) to prevent unauthorised access.

Once logged in, you stay logged in for **30 days**. After that, you'll need to log in again. The system automatically refreshes your session in the background so you won't get logged out unexpectedly while using the site.

### Forgotten Password

A password reset system exists but the "Forgot Password" link hasn't been added to the login page yet. If you've forgotten your password, contact the salon directly.

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## Your Account Page

Once logged in, go to **Account** to manage your profile and bookings.

### Profile Information

You can view and edit:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your phone number
- Your date of birth

### Profile Picture

You can upload a profile photo:
- Tap the upload area to select an image from your device
- A cropping tool lets you adjust which part of the image is shown
- The photo appears next to your name in the salon's contact system
- Your photo is also synced to the salon's address book so they can recognise you when you arrive

### Loyalty Stamps

Every time you complete an appointment, you earn a loyalty stamp. You can see your current stamp count on the Account page.

- You earn **1 stamp per completed appointment** (maximum 1 per day, even if you have multiple appointments on the same day)
- Appointments with a total price of £0 don't earn stamps
- When you reach **10 stamps**, a discount is automatically set up for your next completed appointment
- The discount gives you **10% off** your next appointment
- After the discount is used, your stamp count resets to 0 and you start earning again
- If you don't use your discount within **6 months**, it expires

### Your Booking History

A list of all your appointments — upcoming and past — is shown on the Account page. Each entry shows:
- The date and time
- The services booked
- The total price
- The current status (pending, confirmed, completed, cancelled)

Tap any booking to see full details.

### Calendar View

The **Schedule** page shows your upcoming appointments in a calendar-style layout. Each appointment has an **Add to Calendar** button that downloads a calendar file (.ics) you can open in any calendar application — Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Outlook, and others all support this format.

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## Cancelling an Appointment

### How to Cancel

From your Account page, find the booking you want to cancel and select the cancel option.

### The 24-Hour Rule

**Cancelling 24 hours or more before your appointment:**
No penalty. The booking is cancelled with no consequences.

**Cancelling less than 24 hours before your appointment:**
This counts as a late cancellation. You'll receive **3 deposit obligations**, which means you'll need to pay deposits before you can book again (see the Deposit System section below).

**If your booking is still pending (not yet confirmed by the salon):**
The booking is simply deleted — no penalty.

### Can a Late Cancellation Be Forgiven?

Yes — the salon can forgive a late cancellation on a case-by-case basis. If you had a genuine emergency, contact the salon and they may waive the penalty. If forgiven, the cancellation is treated like a normal cancellation with no deposit obligations.

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## Requesting to Reschedule

If you need to change your appointment time:

1. Go to your **Account** page and find the booking
2. Select **Reschedule**
3. Pick a new date and time (the same availability rules apply — the new slot must be open)
4. Submit your reschedule request

**What happens next:**
- Your request goes to the salon for review
- The salon can either **approve** or **decline** it
- If approved, your appointment time is updated to the new slot
- If declined, your original appointment time stays the same
- You can cancel your reschedule request at any time before the salon reviews it

**Things to know:**
- You can't reschedule a completed or cancelled appointment
- The new time must not clash with any of your other existing appointments
- If the salon has already adjusted the price or duration of your booking, those adjustments are respected in the reschedule

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## The Deposit System

### What Are Deposits?

Depits are a way the salon protects against last-minute cancellations. If you cancel an appointment less than 24 hours before it starts (without the salon's forgiveness), you receive **3 deposit obligations**.

### What Does This Mean for You?

While you have deposit obligations:
- You can only book appointments that are **at least 24 hours away**
- You can only have **one active booking at a time**
- You need to complete appointments and pay for them to reduce your deposit count

### How Do Deposits Go Down?

Each time you complete an appointment and pay for it, your deposit count goes down by **1**. After all 3 are cleared, you can book normally again.

### Quick Reference

| What happens | Result |
|---|---|
| Cancel ≥ 24 hours before | No penalty |
| Cancel < 24 hours before | 3 deposit obligations |
| Cancel < 24 hours (salon forgives you) | No penalty |
| Cancel a pending booking | No penalty — booking is deleted |
| Complete an appointment and pay | Deposit count goes down by 1 |

### Guest Bookings and Deposits

If you book as a guest (without an account), deposit rules don't apply to you. Each guest booking is independent.

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## Browsing the Portfolio

The portfolio page is the salon's gallery of nail art and designs.

### Searching by Tags

There's a **search bar** where you can type tag names. Tags are keywords the salon adds to each photo — things like "french tip", "summer", "nail art", "glitter", and so on.

- Type a single tag to find all photos with that tag
- Type multiple tags separated by commas to find photos that have **all** of those tags (for example, "summer, glitter" shows photos tagged with both "summer" AND "glitter")

### Filtering by Categories

Below the search bar, there are **category filter dropdowns**. Categories group tags into types — for example, a "Colour" category might have options like "Red", "Blue", "Pink", and a "Season" category might have "Spring", "Summer", "Autumn", "Winter".

- Select one option from a category dropdown to filter by that value
- You can select options from **multiple categories at once** — the filters combine, so you'll only see photos that match **all** of your selections
- The number shown next to each filter option tells you how many photos match. When you select filters in other categories, these numbers update to show how many results you'd get if you added that filter too

### Combining Search and Filters

The tag search and category filters work together. If you search for "french tip" AND select "Red" from the Colour category, you'll see photos that are tagged with "french tip" AND have the colour "Red".

### Viewing a Specific Photo

If someone shared a direct link to a particular photo, the page will open directly to that image, bypassing any filters. This is useful when the salon sends you a "here's what I can do for you" link.

### Image Quality

Photos load in a high-quality format that looks great on any screen. Thumbnails load first for speed, then the full image appears as you scroll.

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## Prices Page

The **Prices** page shows a straightforward list of all the salon's services with their prices and how long each one takes. This is the same information you see during the booking process, but presented as a quick reference.

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## Contact Page

The **Contact** page shows the salon's contact details — name, phone number, email, and a profile photo. This information is kept up to date by the salon, so if they change their phone number or email, the page reflects it automatically.

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## Frequently Asked Questions

### "I booked as a guest — can I see my booking later?"

Guest bookings are tied to the email you provided. If you used the same email each time, the salon can look up your bookings. However, guest accounts don't have a login, so you can't view them yourself online. If you want to manage your bookings online, create an account.

### "Why can't I see certain services?"

If you're logged in and a service doesn't appear, it's likely because you don't meet the minimum age requirement for that treatment. If a service appears but is greyed out, it requires a patch test you haven't completed yet.

### "I selected a time but when I submitted, it was taken."

Your slot was held temporarily, but the hold expired before you finished the form. This happens more often with guest bookings (10-minute hold) than logged-in bookings (1-hour hold). Just pick a new time — it's unlikely to happen again if you complete the form promptly.

### "Can I book for someone else?"

If you're logged in, the booking is made under your account. If you want to book for someone else, you can use their details but must log out to do so, but the booking won't be linked to your account. Booking for someone else on your account to bypass a patch test check will result in a warning or ban / barred from using our salon.

### "What happens if I cancel and then want to rebook?"

If you cancelled with more than 24 hours' notice, you can rebook immediately with no restrictions. If you cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice and weren't forgiven, you'll have 3 deposit obligations — you can still book, but only for appointments at least 24 hours away, and only one at a time.

### "How long does my patch test last?"

Patch tests are valid for **6 months** from the date they were done or last relevant service was rendered. After that, you'll need a new one before booking services that require it.

### "Do I need a patch test for every visit?"

No — once you have a valid patch test on record, you're good for any service that requires it, as long as the test hasn't expired.

### "I just had a patch test — why can't I book straight away?"

There's a **24-hour waiting period** after a patch test before you can book the services it covers. This is a safety measure to make sure any allergic reaction shows up before your appointment.

### "What if two people in my household want to book?"

Each person should use their own email address. If you both want to book, you can each create separate accounts, or one can book as a guest with their own email.

### "Can I change my profile photo?"

Yes — go to your Account page and use the photo upload tool. You can crop the image to make sure the right part is shown.

### "I earned loyalty stamps — where do I see them?"

Your stamp count is displayed on your Account page. When you reach 10, a discount is automatically set up for your next completed appointment.

### "What does 'pending' mean on my booking?"

A pending booking means the salon hasn't confirmed it yet. The salon reviews some new bookings and will either confirm or decline them. Once confirmed, your booking is locked in.
