Picture the workshop phone ringing while a car is coming off the ramp. Someone asks for an MOT tomorrow morning. The diary looks open at ten. Then you remember the MOT bay is occupied and the tester is off until lunch.
An empty space on a calendar is only part of the answer. It does not know which bay the job needs, how long it takes, or who is on shift. That is where MechanicO's available times become useful.
Choose the job before the time
On a garage's public booking page, the customer chooses one service first. In Step 02, they choose a preferred date and press Find available times. MechanicO then shows the suitable times for that service, grouped into morning and afternoon. They choose one before moving on to their details. [1]
That order matters. An MOT and a longer service need different amounts of workshop time. The list is worked out for the job selected, rather than showing every gap in a general diary.
I checked the public page with a listed service and a future date. The read-only availability check returned times for that choice. I stopped there. No customer details were entered and no booking was made. [1]
What sits behind a time
The available times are based on the garage's opening hours, the service length and its buffer, and the bays and people suitable for that work. Existing bookings, leave and blocked time also count. If a job needs a helper, that person has to be available too.
The customer does not need to know all that. They see a shorter, more useful answer: these are the times the workshop can currently offer for this particular job.
If no suitable time appears on the chosen date, the page suggests trying another day. It does not invite the customer to force an appointment into a full workshop. The ramp has enough going on without a game of calendar Tetris.
A small habit for the garage desk
If I were running the desk, I would make a quick rota check part of preparing for the next day. Are the right mechanics on shift? Is a bay blocked? Has somebody booked leave? Keep those details current in Booking, then open the public garage page and check a common service on the date in question.
That last check is a useful way to see the page as a customer sees it. You can select a service and ask for available times without entering a name or sending a booking request. If tomorrow looks wrong, fix the underlying schedule before customers are choosing from it.
I would also repeat the check after a big change, such as a technician being off sick or a bay going out of use. It is a small bit of housekeeping that can save an awkward call later.
A time offered is still a request
Selecting a time does not silently confirm the job. The customer still has to provide their details and submit the request. Public requests are pending until the garage accepts them. If capacity changes before submission, Booking checks again and can ask the customer to choose another time.
So the practical benefit is a better starting point for both sides. The customer is choosing from times matched to the work. The garage still has its say before the appointment is confirmed.
Keep the rota and bay information current, and the time list becomes much more useful than an empty square in a diary.
