Short on time? Here are answers to the questions that are asked most, gathered from our sessions and support requests. They cover getting help faster, booking and reservations, pricing and packages, payments, email and text notifications, reports, and staff setup. Each answer gives the steps to follow and says plainly when something isn’t available yet. Have a question that isn’t here? Join our next Customer Office Hours. Submit questions ahead for priority, and register even if you can’t attend, because every registrant receives the recording.
How do I prevent overbooking and track daycare groups?
Turn on capacity based on available lodgings (reservation type > Edit Settings > Booking Options), set a dog limit on each lodging (Admin > Manage Areas/Lodgings), and turn off Allow Requests Over Capacity (Admin > Reservation and Appointment Requests). Under Admin > capacity, set a max capacity, capacity groups that combine reservation types, and date-specific capacities. Specialist capacity is set per schedule in Manage Schedules, and group class capacity on the class. Overflow can go to the waitlist. For daycare playgroups, create areas for capacity, or animal icons with a capacity limit. To book another pet into a room on the last day of a stay, uncheck the last-day occupancy setting in Manage Areas/Lodgings, or override when booking. The Lodging Calendar lets you drag pets between rooms.
How do I set hours so customers don't get "location not open" errors?
Admin > Hours of Operation. Set recurring day-of-week hours per reservation type (drop-off, pick-up, or both), specific-date hours for exceptions, and Disabled Dates to close everything. System-wide hours act as your overridable staff hours, and permitted staff can override. Delete blank entries with no reservation types. To limit certain days by dog size, use separate reservation types per size with their own hours, and test the portal, since closed hours may not gray out dates. Don't use Disabled Dates for this.
Can I book recurring appointments or add drop-off/pick-up to many reservations at once?
Recurring grooming: choose Other Dates and set a repeat of every 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 12 weeks until a date; daycare can be attached. For many reservations at once, drop-off and pick-up services that aren't appointment-based can be added to every day at a set time. Appointment-based services must be added individually.
How does a pet parent confirm a reservation, and what are the dashboard tabs?
Customers confirm from the link in the Confirmation Request email, not the portal. Unconfirmed reservations still hold space. Dashboard tabs: Notices (staff communication), Expected Today (due today plus never-checked-in), Going Home Today, Checked In, Requested (portal requests), and Unconfirmed. You can rename or hide tabs under Admin > Dashboard, but not change what they show. Waitlisted reservations are cancelled automatically after the requested date and appear on the Cancellation report.
Why do customers keep re-uploading vaccine records, and why can't they book?
The portal shows "expired vaccines" until staff update the expiration dates on the pet's Immunizations tab. Uploading a file alone doesn't clear it. Other blockers include missing required owner or animal form fields and an outstanding temperament test or evaluation.
How do pre-check forms work, and why do they freeze?
Pre-check forms go out by email or text at least 24 hours before a stay, so customers can confirm details, record belongings, answer questions, and add services. Owner and animal updates carry forward; reservation-level answers apply only to that reservation. If a form freezes, keep only one Gingr tab open and don't click too quickly. If it continues, contact support.
Can I change check-in questions, or have quick check-in set a half day's end time?
Check-in questions: Admin > Reservation Types and Services Configuration > reservation type > Edit Settings > Check-in options, then Save. Quick check-in can't set the end time automatically because check-in and check-out are timestamped for pricing rules, but you can edit the times after check-in and in the cart.
What do the colors on my check-ins mean?
Colors come from the color assigned to each reservation type or service. They appear on the dashboard, facility calendar, lodging calendar, and Manage Schedules.
How do I enter a pet's date of birth?
You can pick from the calendar or, depending on a system setting, type the date. Look for the international date picker setting in the immunization settings; turning it off lets you type dates. Clicking the month or year in the picker also jumps between years.
How do I schedule or automate price changes?
Base rates: Admin > Location Default Rates, add a new rate with a start date, and keep old rates so reporting stays accurate. Pricing rules: copy existing rules into a new rule group that starts on the new date. Holiday and peak pricing: Admin > Pricing Rules > Manage Peak Dates, with dates, a dollar or percent increase, an invoice label, and Repeating for yearly; set per location and per reservation type, with no copy and paste. Day-of-week rules (Monday is 1, Sunday is 7) and arrives-on or departs-on rules also exist; enter fees as positive and discounts as negative. For puppies, use a pricing rule on animal age in months with Modifies Base Rate on, so the base rate changes. Peak dates show as an add-on, and an effective-date pricing rule set to modify the base rate is a non-repeating workaround.
How do multi-pet discounts and promotions work?
Each multi-pet line applies to every pet on the reservation. To discount only additional pets, multiply the discount by the number of additional pets and divide by total pets (for $5 off one additional dog: 2 dogs = -2.50, 3 dogs = -3.33, 4 dogs = -3.75). For other discounts, use a promotion restricted by reservation type or service, or add a one-off additional service with a negative price. Promotions can't currently be applied to package purchases in the portal.
What is the difference between packages, subscriptions, and memberships?
Packages are bundled credits sold once, with no renewal. Subscription packages renew automatically every set number of days (no calendar dates). Memberships renew on calendar dates, can include credits, and can include built-in discounts. Package credits are consumed at checkout by staff and customers can see their balance in the portal.
How do I add included and paid extras like play breaks to boarding?
Create two additional services under Reservation Types and Services Configuration: a $0 included version set as a default service with a frequency, and a priced version customers can add from the portal. Choose whether each is scheduled and how often.
How do I attach commission to services?
Commission works on appointment-based services with specialist schedules. In Manage Schedules, click Manage Specialists and enter a percentage per service and specialist, then save. Everyday services like baths and walks must be set up as appointment-based.
How do I compare membership prices across locations?
If locations are grouped on the membership's Financial step, ungroup them or select one location to see and edit individual prices.
How can I pass credit card fees to customers?
Surcharging: Set a rate from 0% to 3% and Gingr adds it automatically to eligible credit card payments. This covers in-person payments, online bookings, the Pet Parent Portal, and recurring memberships. Customers see it as a separate line item before they pay and on their receipt. Debit, prepaid, and gift cards are never surcharged, and refunds return the surcharge in full or proportionally. Because card fees often run 2% to 3.5%, a surcharge may not cover all of your cost.How do I turn on surcharging, and does it work with Card Connect?
If you use Gingr Payments, log in to your Gingr Payments dashboard, go to Surcharging, choose your rate, and accept the setup agreement. It takes a few minutes and is available to U.S. merchants. If you use Card Connect, surcharging is also available, but you enroll through your Gingr representative or gingrapp.com/surcharging-for-cardconnect rather than the dashboard. Card Connect enrollment involves a short agreement for each merchant ID, and Gingr’s team handles the activation. Customers see the same experience on both, including a clear disclosure at checkout and an itemized receipt
What's the difference between Gingr Payments and Card Connect, and do you support ACH?
Gingr Payments (powered by Stripe) is recommended and is managed from Admin > Credit Card Processing, including readers, reports, payouts, and fees. Card Connect is set up through your sales rep. Processing enables saved cards, deposits, prepayments, and portal payments.
Can I turn off store credit or prepayments in the portal, and how do prepayments appear in reports?
Search Admin for store credit to turn off store credit purchases, invoice payments, or deposits. Prepayments appear on estimates, so turning off estimate viewing is the workaround. On Revenue by Date, amounts paid ahead are labeled pre-payment, required deposits as deposits, and the rest as normal payments. Card-not-present fees are in the Gingr Payments dashboard reports.
A customer didn't get an email or text. How do I troubleshoot?
Open the owner's Communications tab to see whether it was sent, delivered, opened, clicked, or bounced. Then check the owner's opt-out options and email address, ask about spam folders, and confirm Global Email On (System Email) and an email address on the location. For texts, Admin > System SMS needs a verified Twilio number and Global SMS On; automated texts are included, limited to 320 characters, and customers don't need the app. Report cards: boarding report cards send only when pushed manually each day; for checkout report cards, check the Checkout email and any reservation types it's limited to.
Why are my newsletters going to spam?
Follow the CAN-SPAM Compliance Guide in the knowledge base (search "spam"), including an unsubscribe link and your contact information.
How do I get notified of bounces, requests, and leads?
Admin > Groups > Notifications. Turn on Bounced Email and any request or lead notifications, and choose email, text, or push (requires the notifications app).
How do I notify customers about expired vaccines, and track vet record requests?
Turn on the Immunization Reminder Email in System Email. It sends to anyone expired or within 30 days of expiring. To see requests sent to vets, use History > Outgoing Email Log, filtered by subject or vet email (it includes texts).
Can I customize emails or email service agreements?
System emails can include variables such as start date and end date. Unsigned agreements can't be emailed for signature; they're signed in person, by text link, or in the portal. Signed agreements can be emailed or printed from the owner's Agreements tab.
How do I find lapsed customers or services added to reservations?
Lapsed customers: run the Reservation Delta report with one range for when you saw them and one for when you haven't, then add results to a campaign. Services: Reports > Services by Date, choosing additional services or options and attached versus scheduled. You can mark complete, export, or add to a campaign.
How can I get more from the dashboard and calendars?
The dashboard calendar module shows check-ins, check-outs, and overnight stays for any date, with counts by icon. The facility calendar lets you block specialist time, drag appointments between specialists, filter, and switch views. You can customize two dashboard shortcut buttons.
How do I keep staff-only notes on a dog and customize run cards?
Use employee notes (customers never see them) and turn on Show Employee Notes on Run Cards. Custom animal icons with alerts also show on run cards. For more fields, tag any owner or animal form field with Run Card. The same tagging controls where additional owner fields display.
I deleted the opt-in fields from the owner form. How do I get them back?
Contact support or customer education. The fields can be restored and the data is unaffected.
Why can't I edit grooming notes after checkout, or why does editing feeding change history?
Service notes lock at checkout, so copy key notes to an employee note beforehand. Feeding and medication edits update the whole pet record (medications can have date ranges). A history log is suggested.
Can I see what customers see in the portal?
Yes. Click the owner's email and choose Log in as Customer (needs permission). Detailed behavior tracking isn't available.
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