A customer messages on LINE at 8 pm: “Are you free tomorrow at 3 pm?” Whoever is answering the chat says yes, then closes up and goes home. The next morning someone phones asking for a 3 pm slot, and the barber takes it, because that slot is still empty in the notebook.
A chat is a place to talk, not a schedule. A booking agreed in a chat stays in the chat until someone moves it into the schedule, and the shop’s busiest days are the days nobody does.
Barbershop customers are already on LINE. Nobody wants to download a new app to get a haircut once a month. So the answer isn’t to stop using LINE but to change its job: let LINE be where the booking link is sent and confirmations arrive, while choosing a time happens in the shop’s real schedule.
What customers see when they tap the link
In QueueD the shop has one booking link of its own, found in Settings under “Shop booking link” (ลิงก์จองคิวของร้าน), with a QR code to download. Send the link in a chat or print the QR code and put it in the shop. Customers tap it and it opens in their browser: no app to download, no account to sign up for.
- Choose services. More than one can be chosen for a single booking, for example a haircut followed by a wash and blow-dry. Each service shows how many minutes it takes.
- Choose a barber, or choose “any barber” and let the system find someone who’s free.
- Choose a date and time. The screen shows only times that are actually free, based on the shop’s opening hours, the shop’s days off, the barber’s days off, and existing bookings.
- Enter a name and phone number, then tap to confirm the booking.
If someone else books the same slot while the customer is still typing their name, the system rejects the second booking and asks them to choose a new time. That’s something a chat can’t do.
Bookings that come in through the link are pending confirmation, and the shop confirms them again from the booking schedule. While they wait, the time slot is already held and nobody else can book over it.
So where does LINE come in?
After booking, if the shop has connected a LINE Official Account, the screen shows a 6-digit code with an “Open LINE and send the code” button. The customer taps it, the chat with the shop’s LINE opens with the code already typed in, and one tap on send finishes it.
The system matches the customer’s LINE account to the booking they just made and sends a confirmation back in the same chat, with the shop name, services, barber, date and time. The message comes from the shop’s own LINE OA, so the customer sees the shop’s name, not QueueD’s.
30 to 60 minutes before the appointment, the LINE booking system sends a reminder in the same chat. Bookings made less than half an hour ahead get no reminder, and the confirmation says so. If the shop moves a booking to another barber or another time, the customer gets a message with the new barber and time.
The code can be used once, and customers only do this step the first time. For later bookings, all messages arrive automatically with no code to send.
Customers who don’t send the code can still book as usual. The booking goes into the schedule just the same; they just don’t get messages on LINE.
What the shop needs to prepare
The booking link works on every plan, including the free plan. LINE messages need the Basic plan or higher, plus two things:
- The shop’s LINE Official Account. Create one in LINE Official Account Manager. If the shop already has one, the existing account works.
- Turn on the Messaging API for that account, then copy the Channel secret and Channel access token into QueueD.
In Settings, under “LINE notifications” (แจ้งเตือนผ่าน LINE), there are six steps to follow. The last is a real test: book once through your own shop’s link and check that the confirmation arrives. The full step-by-step, with what to check when messages don’t arrive, is in Set up a LINE OA so your barbershop sends its own booking confirmations.
Three things are worth knowing before you connect.
The shop’s chat still belongs to the shop. QueueD only sends booking messages; it doesn’t reply to chats for the shop. Any greeting message and auto-reply you’ve set up keep working as before. If auto-reply is on, it will also reply to the 6-digit code the customer sends, so add a line like “Code from the booking page received, your account will be linked automatically” to that message and customers won’t be confused.
An account can have only one Webhook URL. If the shop’s LINE OA is connected to a chatbot or another system, connecting it to QueueD will cut that system off.
Messages count toward LINE’s quota. Each confirmation, reminder and booking change notice counts as one message in the LINE OA’s monthly quota, and LINE’s free plan has a limited number. Shops with lots of bookings should check their remaining balance in LINE Official Account Manager.
What QueueD doesn’t do yet
- No booking in the chat. If a customer types “book 3 pm” in the chat, the system won’t add a booking. Booking happens on the link page only.
- Customers can’t reschedule or cancel themselves. They need to contact the shop.
- No SMS. LINE is the only channel for notifying customers.
- No deposit system. If the shop collects payment upfront, for now that has to happen outside the system.
How to start
- Copy the booking link from Settings and send it to five or so regular customers in chat today.
- Put the booking link in your LINE OA’s auto-reply message, so anyone who asks about a slot gets the link right away, even when the shop is closed.
- Print the QR code, put it on the counter, and invite customers to book their next visit before they leave.
Try QueueD free for 14 days. No card needed, and the free plan stays available after the trial ends.