Rebook no-shows over WhatsApp
We built this n8n workflow to follow up on missed appointments. It finds recent no-shows in your Google Calendar, sends each customer one approved WhatsApp message, and offers up to three free slots when they reply. A numbered reply books the slot after a fresh check of the diary. After the offer, anything it cannot book goes to you.
Coming soonNot on sale yet
The question
this build answers
How do I message customers who missed an appointment and let them rebook on WhatsApp without doing it by hand?
Mark the missed event in Google Calendar with your no-show word, such as NOSHOW. Every 15 minutes this n8n workflow finds those events and sends each customer an approved WhatsApp template. When they reply it offers up to three times that are free right now. A reply of 1, 2 or 3 books that time after the slot is checked again. It starts in preview mode.
From the first trigger
to the finished job.
The working version, step by step.
Find the no-show
Every 15 minutes it looks for events that ended recently and carry your no-show word, such as NOSHOW. It reads the phone number from the event description.
One row, then the opener
Each event becomes one row in your NoShows tab. Quiet hours, a daily cap and your opt-out list are checked before the opener, which is an approved WhatsApp template.
Offer free times
When the customer replies, it reads your calendar and sends up to three times that are free right now.
Book the pick
A reply with a number books that time. The slot is checked again just before booking. If someone took it a second ago, the customer is offered new times, up to a limit.
What it cannot book goes to you
After the offer, "none", a question or an answer it cannot read goes to you by email. A "no thanks" to the opener gets one polite reply and nothing more. There is one reminder at most. A STOP word or phrase is saved to your OptOut tab first, confirmed once, and honoured while that number stays there.
Failures are named
A send that Meta refuses is named on its row. A send that times out is never retried, because Meta may already have accepted it, so the row is marked to check by hand and you get one email. When a sheet read fails, the run stops and you are alerted.
Not on sale yet
WhatsApp No-Show Rebooking for n8n
n8n is still reviewing this template for its own library. It goes on sale here once its test is on record. The zip holds one workflow file to import into your own n8n and a README with every setting.
Coming soonWhat we have run, and what we have not
Every Code node branch runs offline, 243 checks in all. On a real n8n test copy of the file in the zip, 12 live checks passed and 3 failed, with real Google Sheets, Google Calendar and WhatsApp Cloud API calls. The passes cover STOP handling, a failed save, a stale booking claim, the no-show sweep and a slot offer read from the real diary. One failure came from Google refusing a read during the test, and a second followed from the slot claim that refused run left behind. The third was the full path from sweep to booking, which our test set up wrongly, so that path has not run on this file.
On an earlier build, a real delivery to an allowed WhatsApp test number worked: an approved Meta template, the slot offer and the booking confirmation all arrived. The two templates this workflow sends were still waiting for Meta's approval, so they have never been sent, and the owner email alerts were not run live.
What you need
A Google account with Sheets, Calendar and Gmail, a WhatsApp Business Cloud API number with two approved message templates, and n8n 1.x or 2.x. It needs no AI key.
The two template texts to submit to Meta are in the README.
Limits worth knowing
It does not understand free-text dates and it does not book new customers.
It treats the calendar as one resource, so a calendar shared by several staff will rarely show free slots.
It reads English replies.
Running it on the same WhatsApp number as our WhatsApp booking template is a setup decision we have not proven. Until you have tested it, run this on a number the booking template does not use.
Race handling uses the Log tab. It makes a double send or a double booking unlikely, but it is not a database lock.
Meta's callback has no signature check here. The key on the callback link stands in for it.
The fit matters.
Who should not build this
If you do not have a WhatsApp Business Cloud API number, or cannot get two templates approved by Meta, it cannot send the first message.
If several staff share one calendar, it will rarely find a free slot to offer.
If you want it to take new bookings, use a booking workflow. This one only follows up on missed appointments.
Yours to keep
What lands
on your desk.
- One n8n workflow file to import into your own n8n
- A README with the sheet tabs, every setting, the limits, and what was and was not tested
A few useful
answers.
Can I buy it today?
You cannot buy it yet. It goes on sale here once its test is on record.
How does it know someone did not turn up?
You add your no-show word, such as NOSHOW, to the event in Google Calendar. The workflow looks for that word every 15 minutes.
Does it use AI?
It needs no AI key. It reads a numbered reply, "none" and the stop phrases, and after its offer anything it cannot book goes to you.
Can it run beside the WhatsApp booking template?
Both read the same event format, so they can share a calendar. Running both on one WhatsApp number is a setup decision we have not proven, so start on a separate number.
A little further down
the same path.
Related builds for the rest of your business.
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