A padel club booking checklist: slots, deposits and cancellations
Use a downloadable booking register, clear booking and payment statuses, and adaptable messages to organise your padel club's daily handover.
One player messages the club, another speaks to reception and a payment screenshot arrives without a booking reference. Then the shift changes. The difficulty is deciding which conversation contains the current version of the reservation.
Keep one record per court booking, separate booking status from payment status, and assign the next action to a named staff member. This is a proposed workflow for a small club to try with its reception team before choosing a more complex system.
Download the blank booking register CSV. It contains no customer data, formulas or automation. Import it into Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets and adapt it to your operation. A Spanish version is also available for Argentine staff.
One booking, one current record
Assign each reservation an ID, such as RES-001, and use it in staff communications. If the same request arrives through two channels, update its existing row instead of creating another.
Before offering a slot, check date, court, start and finish. Two bookings overlap when one starts before the other ends and finishes after the other starts. Comparing start times alone misses partial overlaps.
Make one staff member responsible for availability confirmations during a shift. If several people edit the register, agree who checks the slot before replying. A spreadsheet alone does not prevent concurrent bookings.
Separate the court from the payment
A confirmed booking may still have a balance to pay. Money received may relate to a cancelled booking that needs follow-up. Use separate columns for those two states.
| Booking status | Meaning in this proposed workflow |
|---|---|
| Enquiry | Does not hold the court |
| Temporary hold | Reserves it until a stated deadline, if offered |
| Confirmed | The communicated confirmation conditions have been met |
| Played | The booked session took place |
| Cancelled | Play is no longer expected; review availability and payment separately |
Payment states might include pending, partial, complete or refund pending. Record a temporary hold’s full expiry date and time. Do not silently release a confirmed booking by applying a rule meant for an unconfirmed enquiry.
Conditions differ by club. For example, Complejo Urquiza publishes different requirements for a booking and a recurring slot. Record what your club actually communicated rather than adopting another venue’s terms as a universal rule.
What to record, and what to leave out
The download includes the slot, internal contact reference, status, hold deadline, currency, agreed price, verified receipts, balance and payment reference. Cancellation, refund and follow-up fields keep unfinished work visible.
Record only the contact information staff need. Avoid keeping identity documents, full card details or screenshots containing unnecessary information. Restrict the working register to the staff who use it and share only the individual booking confirmation with the player.
The public download is blank. Your completed version should remain internal, not become an open group link showing everyone else’s payment details.
An Argentine deposit example
In Argentina, a player may call a deposit a seña. Specify how it counts towards the total and the conditions communicated for that booking rather than assuming everyone interprets the word the same way.
Fictional example, not a market price: RES-001 is a 19:00 to 20:30 booking with an agreed total of ARS 40,000. The club verifies receipt of ARS 10,000. The outstanding balance is ARS 30,000.
Record the amount verified in the club’s receiving account or payment system and a reference that lets staff find it again. If only a screenshot has arrived, leave verification pending until it is checked against the club’s records. Two copies of the same receipt are not two payments.
For an active booking without adjustments, balance = agreed total − verified receipts. The CSV does not calculate this: add a formula in your spreadsheet application or enter the result manually. After cancellation, review the agreement and any refund separately instead of automatically pursuing the original outstanding balance.
Confirmation messages staff can adapt
Complete the fields and check the conditions before sending.
Temporary hold:
We can offer court [number] on [date], from [start] to [finish], for [total and currency]. We can hold this option until [date and time]. Confirmation requires [condition]. Changes and cancellations follow [text or link]. Please let us know if you would like to proceed.
Confirmed booking:
Booking [ID] is confirmed: [venue], court [number], [date], [start] to [finish]. Total: [amount]. Verified payment received: [amount]. Balance: [amount]. Includes [details]. The communicated conditions are [text or link].
Spanish confirmation for local guests:
Reserva [ID] confirmada: [sede], cancha [número], [fecha], de [inicio] a [fin]. Total: [importe]. Pago verificado: [importe]. Saldo: [importe]. Incluye [detalle]. Condiciones: [texto o enlace].
If a payment is still being checked, say so. An acknowledgement of a message should not sound like final confirmation that funds have arrived.
Track cancellation and refund work separately
Record when cancellation was requested and the response given. Update court availability according to the agreement, then separately record whether a refund needs review, approval or execution.
Distinguish agreed refund from verified refunded. Assign an owner and a next action, keeping the original booking traceable even if another group takes the slot. “Check whether the transfer belongs to RES-003” is actionable; “payment problem” is not.
This guide organises information. It does not set statutory deadlines, determine refund rights or supply a universal cancellation policy. Use terms reviewed for your operation and communicated before the booking is made.
A five-minute reception handover
Before the next shift takes over, review:
- Temporary holds that expire during the next shift.
- Payments awaiting identification or verification.
- Confirmed bookings with balances outstanding.
- Open cancellations and refund actions.
- Scheduling conflicts or changes not yet communicated.
Give each item an owner and a specific next step. The test is whether another staff member can continue without reconstructing an entire message history.
Common questions
Does this replace booking software?
It may suit a small, supervised workflow. It does not lock concurrent slots, reconcile receipts or send reminders. If volume or multiple channels make one reliable register difficult, use what you learn to define the requirements for a proper system.
How should we evaluate it?
Try it for a limited period and record duplicate bookings, unidentified payments, unresolved handover items and staff time. Compare similar periods before drawing a conclusion. Do not assume a percentage improvement before measuring your own operation.
Once the booking process is clear, use the four-week quiet-hours plan to test demand. To discuss how your club works today, visit the club page. FaltaOne is in preparation; this register does not promise a management dashboard or automated refunds.