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Email FAQs and troubleshooting

Juss Reyes
Updated

This article covers the most frequently asked questions and troubleshooting about the Email section in Cloudbeds PMS.

Frequently asked questions

What if my email scheduling conditions are not met?

Example 1

    • I created a schedule to send a "Welcome email" 2 days before check-in.
    • Today is February 15th, a new booking has come in with a check-in date of February 16th.

How will it work?

    • The Welcome email will not be sent for this booking, as 2 days before check-in is February 14th, which has passed. The system will not recognize this booking as applicable for this email scheduling.
    • If a reservation is received with a check-in date of February 18th, the email will be scheduled 2 days before check-in, which is February 16th.

Example 2

    • I created a schedule to send an email 0 days after checkout at 12:00 PM.
    • My guest will be checking out today.

How will it work?

    • If I check out the guest at 12:05 PM, the email will not be scheduled, as the scheduling requirement has already passed.
    • If I check out the guest at 11:50 AM, the email will be scheduled as it still meets the scheduling requirement.

 For schedules set to send X days before check-out:

    • If the reservation status changes to "check-out" before the scheduled send-out time, the email will be sent as planned.
    • The email won't be sent if the reservation status changes to "check-out" after the scheduled send-out time.
When does the system schedule emails?

Depending on the reservation source or origin, the system schedules emails at distinct stages of the reservation process only if the conditions for sending scheduled emails are met.

    • For direct reservations, including those made through the Cloudbeds Booking Engine, we schedule emails when the reservation is created.
    • For OTA reservations received through the Channel Manager, we schedule emails only when the reservation status changes.

Let’s say you have an email called “Reviews” with the Send email based on booking date, check-in date, or check-out date schedule:

    • Days: 0
    • Send: Before Check-Out
    • At: 11:00 AM
    • For ALL sources
  1. For reservations booked by guests in the Booking Engine or created by reception, the “Reviews” email will automatically be scheduled to be sent out at 11:00 AM on the check-out day as soon as this reservation is created.
  2. For reservations made through Booking.com (or another OTA), the “Reviews” email will only be scheduled if the reservation's status is changed to In-House and before 10:59 AM of the check-out date.
  3. If the reservation is marked as In-House/Checked-out after 11:00 AM on the check-out date, the email won’t be sent, as the time for scheduling has passed.

What will happen to the scheduled emails if I change my timezone?

  • The time chosen for the email will stay the same.
  • Example: if the email was previously set to be sent at 4 PM (GMT 00:00) and the timezone is changed to GMT +01:00, the email will still be sent at 4 PM but now in GMT +01:00.

I can't see the email under the Email Messages tab; is it scheduled?

Based on the reservation source and status, there are certain criteria the system uses to display the scheduled email under Email Messages:

  • Ensure that the reservation(s) meet(s) the corresponding requirements:
    • Reservation status change (e.g., canceled, no-show, checked-in, checked-out, confirmed, pending confirmation)
    • Other (e.g., based on booking date, check-in/check-out date)
  • If the issue persists after you make sure the criteria above are correctly met, reach out to our Support Team for further assistance.

  The Checked-in email will be displayed under the Email Messages tab on the Reservation Details Page when the reservation status is In-House.

How Cloudbeds PMS determines the language of guest's confirmation email?

Cloudbeds PMS sends a confirmation email to your guest when the reservation is created manually within the PMS or via the Booking Engine. Your guest will receive a confirmation email either Reservation Confirmed or Pending Confirmation, depending on your reservation confirmation type in your Policies.

  • Reservations made via Booking Engine: When your guest books a room on the Booking Engine, they can select the platform language in the top right corner. This determines the language of the email confirmation.
  • Reservations made within Cloudbeds PMS: When a reservation is created manually, the language of the email confirmation is determined by the country selected in Guest Details.

  Make sure to translate the email templates Reservation Confirmed or Pending Confirmation to the languages you want your guests to receive. Follow the instructions in this article: Email Templates.

To limit the languages available on the Booking Engine, go to the Language Settings.

For reservations made on an OTA (Online Travel Agency):

  • The default language used by the email scheduling for OTAs is the one recognized by the country code selected by the guest. If the country code isn't recognized, the system uses English as the default language unless specified otherwise.
  • If you have the autofill all languages box turned off, the language will be selected from the templates you created translations.
  • If an OTA reservation is received from a country with multiple languages, the system will determine which language will be used based on the guest's country (not necessarily the one they selected in the OTA reservation) because the language selected by the guest in the OTA will not be sent to Cloudbeds.

Emails/Notifications troubleshooting

Issue: My guest is not receiving emails sent from Cloudbeds PMS

The possible reasons email was not sent will depend on the email type:

Email type Possible reason(s) why the email was not sent
Reservation Confirmed

This email is sent automatically for direct reservations only and not for OTA (Online Travel Agency) reservations 

  • The Reservation Confirmed email can only be sent automatically for direct reservations (created within Cloudbeds PMS and Cloudbeds Booking Engine) if configured correctly.
  • This email won't be sent automatically to the guest if the reservation was made on an OTA. The OTA is responsible for sending out confirmation emails. You may still use the Compose Message function to send Reservation Confirmed to your guest if needed.

This email is sent when changing reservation status to Confirmed by clicking Confirm and Email Guest

  • When changing the reservation status to Confirmed on Cloudbeds PMS, the button Confirm was clicked instead of Confirm and Email Guest; therefore, the Reservation Confirmed email was not sent to the guest.

The option to Send the customer an automatic confirmation email in the Booking Engine settings is not enabled

  • The email will only be sent if this option is enabled in the Booking Engine Settings.
Reservation Canceled

This email will be sent only if the button Cancel and Email Guest or Cancel and Email Guest (without rates) is clicked

  • In case you selected Confirm Cancellation instead of Cancel and Email Guest or Cancel and Email Guest (without rates), the cancellation email will not be sent to the guest.

Email won't be sent automatically to your guest if the reservation was cancelled inside the OTA.

  • If the reservation was made on an OTA and canceled inside the OTA, the OTA is responsible for sending the cancellation email to your guest.
  • Important note: Cancelling a reservation made on OTA inside Cloudbeds PMS is only supported for certain OTAs. For others, the reservation must be canceled inside the OTA. Find more information here.

Issue: I (user) am not receiving system notifications from Cloudbeds PMS

Issue Solution or possible reason(s) why
  1. Your email address is not included in the list of recipients for notifications.
 Only users or email addresses added to the recipient list will receive notifications. Every notification has its own list on the System Notification Preferences page. Check if your email is correct in Notification Preferences.
  1. Cloudbeds PMS only sends out a notification for direct reservations and bookings made on certain OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) only.
 Cloudbeds only sends booking notifications on behalf of:
    • Expedia
    • Booking.com
    • Hotelbeds
    • TripAdvisor
    • Reconline
    • Agoda
    • BestDay
For other OTAs, the OTA is responsible for notifying you about new reservations.
  1. Cloudbeds emails were previously marked as spam.
 You may also have marked the messages from Cloudbeds as spam once, and our mailing system has "remembered" this, preventing the notifications from being sent. Contact Support to check if this is the case.
  1. The email was accidentally moved, removed, or archived
 Ask the guest to check spam and trash folders or search for archived emails
  1. The email filter moves the emails automatically to the trash folder
 Sometimes the email can have a filter that moves incoming emails automatically; ask the guest to check every folder, including the trash folder
  1. The email inbox might be full, and the emails are bouncing
 There must be sufficient space to receive the emails.

Other issues and their solutions

Issue Solution or possible reasons why
  1. The guest's email address is missing or incorrect

The guest's email address is missing in the system; therefore, no email communication with the guest can be sent.

Ensure the guest's email address is added and correct in the Guests Details tab inside the reservation.
  1. You are using an email domain such as @yahoo.com or @aol.com, which doesn't permit Cloudbeds to send an email on your behalf.

Some email providers do not allow third-party systems to send out an email on your behalf. If the email address entered in Send From field is @yahoo.com or @aol.com, there is a possibility the email will fail to be sent to your guest.

Sometimes, you may see the email address admin@cloudbeds.com in the Send From. This is so the system can continue sending the emails to your guests.
  1. Your property is using a business email address, but you have not authorized Cloudbeds as a sender for your property domain via Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
 Your property is using a business email address to send the emails from the system but you have not authorized Cloudbeds as a sender for your property domain via Sender Policy Framework (SPF). Learn more here.
  1. There is a comma (,) entered in the From Name and Reply-to Name within the email template
 When editing the email templates, you included a comma (,) in the From Name and Reply-to Name fields causing an error in sending the emails. See article: Create, edit, enable or disable Custom Email Templates.
  1. There's a comma (,) entered in your Property Name within the section Property profile
 Errors may occur in sending emails if there is a comma included in your Property Name within the Property Profile section. Make sure there is no comma in the Property Name, check this article section to learn more.
  1. Email was accidentally moved, removed, or archived
 Ask the guest to check spam and trash folders, or search for archived emails.
  1. The mail filter moves the emails automatically to the trash folder
 Sometimes, the email can have a filter that moves incoming emails automatically. Ask the guest to check every folder including the trash folder.
  1. Email inbox might be full, and the emails are bouncing
 There must be sufficient space in order to receive the emails.
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