Fix the most common problems: AutoBook Agent silent on chat or in one conversation, a conversation you can't reply to, a customer you can't text, missing booking slots, an email that never arrived, and Outlook Calendar sync.
Find the symptom that matches what you see, then work down its steps before contacting support. Each section stands on its own.
AutoBook Agent isn't replying on the website chat
The website chat answers only when AutoBook Agent is running at your dealership and the Chat row is on. Check these in order; the first one that fails is your cause. The first two are on Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy and need a manager.
1
Is AutoBook Agent paused?
Open Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy and scroll to AutoBook Agent master switch, the last section. If a red banner says AutoBook Agent is paused, press Resume AutoBook Agent. Pausing only stops the dealership you are on; each store has its own switch.
2
Is the Chat row on?
On the same page, find the Chat row of the Channels chart. Its How it replies must be On. When it is Off, the widget still opens but AutoBook Agent never answers in it.
3
Is your website allowed?
Open Settings → Website and look at Where your widget answers. If any websites are listed, the widget answers only on those, so your site's domain must be one of them. Add it if it is missing.
4
Test it in the preview
On Settings → Website, click Reload Widget in the Widget appearance section and chat with the preview in the bottom-right corner. If it answers there but not on your site, the embed code on your site may be missing or old. Copy it again from the install guide further down the same page.
AutoBook Agent stopped replying to one customer
If AutoBook Agent answers everyone else but not this customer, the customer is almost always on Approve first: AutoBook Agent is writing drafts and a person sends them. The line beside the AutoBook Agent: On | Approve first switch on the reply box always says what AutoBook Agent will do right now.
1
Check the switch
Open the conversation in the Inbox. The row shows Approve first with the person's name, and the record header says Approve first · <name>. The Approve first switch beside the Inbox tabs lists every customer on it.
2
Send the draft, or turn it back On
Press Approve & send on the draft above the reply box, or flip the switch back to On. The customer's rep, a manager, or (for a customer nobody owns) anyone on the desk can flip it.
3
Nobody handles the draft?
The customer is never stranded: a draft nobody handles sends by itself after 2 business hours on text and email (2 minutes on website chat), and Approve first goes back to On after 3 days with nothing from the person who set it.
4
Not on Approve first? Check the channel
If the text or email row on Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy is set to Approve first (the line then ends · store setting), AutoBook Agent writes a draft and waits for a person. Look for Draft to approve on To do or in the Inbox. Also check the store is not paused.
I can't reply in a conversation
Each store has two desks, Sales and Service, and a conversation belongs to one of them. If the reply box is replaced by View only: this is the Service desk's conversation. (or the Sales desk's), you are looking at the other desk's conversation. You can read it, but only that desk's staff can reply in it. A conversation shows on your desk this way only when it also carries your desk's work, and then the reply box starts your desk's own text from your desk's number instead.
1
Ask the right desk
To act on your desk's part, write in the reply box shown there: it starts your desk's own text from your number, and the other desk keeps its conversation. For anything else, message someone on that desk, or ask a manager. People who sit on both desks can act on both.
2
Read-only access
If you see You have read-only access to this conversation., your role can view but not act. A manager can change your job role on Settings → Staff & Roles.
3
Another rep's customer
If the reply box says <name> owns this customer, only their rep and managers write to them. Ask that rep or a manager to assign the customer to you.
A text to a customer won't send
Open the customer's record and look at how they can be reached. The reason is almost always one of these.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|
Customer replied STOP | They texted STOP to that number. It stops texts from that one number only; your store's other number can still text them. | Nothing to fix. They can text START to that number to turn texts back on, or reach you another way. |
Unsubscribed in PBS | Their PBS record says they don't want texts (or email or calls). AutoBook Agent and automated messages won't start anything on that channel. | You can still reply in their own conversation, or send a one-to-one message (you get a warning). It lifts when PBS lifts it. At a store that writes to PBS, an opt-in the customer gives us is written back to PBS within about an hour; otherwise update the customer's preferences in PBS. |
Typed by customer · unverified next to a number | The customer typed or said a new number. Automated texts never go to an unverified number. | If you have confirmed it with the customer, press Use this number on their record. |
No number on the store | Texting starts only once your store has a number. | A manager checks Settings → Phone & texting. |
Booking slots aren't showing for a rep
Every booked visit lands on Appointments, on To do and on the rep's calendar automatically. If a rep shows no open times, or fewer than you expect, it is almost always their hours or a booking setting.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|
The booking page shows no times for a rep | Customers can't book them, or they have no weekly hours | A manager opens the person on Settings → Staff & Roles, turns on Customers can book (their name) in the Customer booking section, and sets their weekly hours in the Hours section. The line under the switch names anything else that blocks booking. |
Far fewer times than expected | Time off, a lunch break or a minimum booking notice is trimming them | The rep checks Availability in their account menu: Time off, Lunch break and Minimum booking notice. Accept bookings must be on. |
No times for anyone at the dealership | The store's hours are not set | A manager sets them in the Hours & timezone section of Settings → Dealership. |
A new booking isn't on the rep's Outlook calendar | Sync lag or a disconnected calendar | Refresh, then check the visit on Appointments. For the calendar itself, see the Outlook section below. |
"Customers can book" only means the booking page
The Customers can book switch only decides whether a rep is offered on the booking page. It does not deactivate them: they still log in, work customers and get notifications.
A customer says they never got our email
AutoBook sends email from noreply@auto-book.ca. Booking confirmations, replies and notices all use that address. When one doesn't arrive, work through these.
1
Check spam and junk
Ask the customer to look in their spam, junk and Promotions folders and to add noreply@auto-book.ca to their contacts.
2
Check the address
Open the customer's record and check the email is spelled right. A typo is the most common cause.
3
Check they haven't opted out
If the record shows they asked not to be emailed, or Unsubscribed in PBS for email, AutoBook Agent won't start an email to them.
4
Check email is on
If AutoBook Agent sends no email at all, a manager checks the Email row of the Channels chart on Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy.
Work email threads from the Inbox
Customer email conversations live in AutoBook. Writing to the customer from your own mailbox won't land in their conversation, so the next person won't see it. Reply from the Inbox instead.
Outlook Calendar isn't syncing
Reps sync their booked appointments to Outlook from the Calendar page: click your name at the bottom of the left menu, choose Profile, then Calendar. Calendar is for reps only, and Outlook is the only calendar AutoBook syncs. Google Calendar is not supported.
1
Check it's connected
Under Connected calendars, the Outlook Calendar row should show a green Connected badge. If not, click connect and finish the Microsoft sign-in, allowing the calendar permissions it asks for.
2
Reconnect if events stop appearing
Click Disconnect, then connect again and allow the permissions. New appointments sync after that; give existing ones a few minutes.
3
Check the Microsoft account
If events land in the wrong calendar, you may have signed in with a different Microsoft account. Disconnect and connect again with the right one.
"Access was denied" or "not configured"
Access was denied means the calendar permissions were refused at the Microsoft prompt: try again and allow them. Outlook integration is not configured is a setup item on our side: contact support.
Still stuck? Contact AutoBook support
If the steps above didn't fix it, contact us with the dealership, the customer or channel, and roughly when it happened so we can trace it quickly:
- Email: support@auto-book.ca
- Phone: 647-786-0989
The chat widget is on my site but says nothing. Where do I start?
On Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy, check that the AutoBook Agent master switch does not say paused and that the Chat row is On. Then on Settings → Website, check Where your widget answers: if any websites are listed, yours must be one of them.
Text or calls are silent. Is something broken?
Text and calls answer once your store has a number on Settings → Phone & texting, and their rows on Settings → AutoBook Agent Autonomy are not Off. Email answers once its row is on.
AutoBook Agent answered the customer before I answered its question. Why?
When AutoBook Agent asks staff a question, the customer is never left waiting. On text and email it waits 2 business hours, then sends its own best answer and says the exact detail is still coming. Live chat uses a much shorter wait. Your answer still reaches the customer when you send it.
I replied to a customer and AutoBook Agent kept answering. Is that right?
Yes. A reply from the box leaves AutoBook Agent on; the box says so before you send. AutoBook Agent reads your message first, so it never answers the same thing twice. To see AutoBook Agent's messages before they go, set the customer to Approve first with the switch on the reply box.
How do I add a customer who isn't showing up?
There is no separate leads list. Anyone who contacts you becomes a customer automatically. Search for them first (by name, phone or email): they may be under a different contact detail.
Can I sync Google Calendar instead of Outlook?
No. Only Outlook Calendar can be connected.