The two-hour hold, explained

The hold is the funnel’s oversell guard: the moment a payment proof lands, one unit is locked while a human verifies the money. Two guests can never chase the same nights, and nobody has to remember to release anything.

Screen /reservations/<inquiry> · Roles: everyone who works the funnel

What takes the hold

• You record the proof. The wizard’s Payment & lock step - Record & lock unit - records the guest’s payment claim and locks one free unit of the quoted type for the stay.
• The guest uploads proof themselves through the quotation link. The upload walks the inquiry forward and takes the hold automatically.

Either way the inquiry’s status becomes Locked, verifying payment, its record’s rail moves to Locked, and a live countdown appears on the Inquiries list, the inquiry record, and Today’s Needs attention card (“Hold expires …”).

How long it lasts

Two hours by default. The exact length is a workspace setting - Setup -> Settings -> Operations -> “Listing hold (minutes)” - adjustable between 15 minutes and 24 hours. A hold never extends; its length is decided once, when it starts.

While the hold is active

• The held nights cannot be sold to anyone else - the block is enforced at the database, not just on screen.
• The clock is running on a person: a seat that verifies payments (Account Manager, Point of Contact or Booking Manager) should verify the payment and confirm the unit before it lapses.
• Verifying flips the hold into the booking itself; nothing re-enters the market.

When it runs out

An expired hold releases the nights automatically - nothing to clean up. The inquiry surfaces under the Lapsed holds tile on Reservations -> Inquiries, and the conversion funnel counts it as Hold expired before verification. If the money is real, you can record the proof again and take a fresh hold, availability permitting.

Paid, but no unit held

Occasionally the automatic hold cannot be taken when a guest uploads proof - no unit or unit type is set on the inquiry yet, or another hold raced it. The inquiry then shows a “Guest has paid, no unit is held” alert: the money is in and the nights are still sellable. Continue in the funnel and record the proof to lock a unit - choosing a unit type first if none is set. This is the one hold state that does need a human, which is why it is called out loudly everywhere.

Group inquiries hold every unit

A group inquiry takes one hold per unit. Converting requires every hold still active - a group confirms whole or not at all.

What’s next

• Confirm the unit
• Clear the Needs-attention queue