A Text or Email Did Not Arrive

"The client says they never got the reminder." Work through these in order — the list is sorted by how often each one turns out to be the answer, not by how interesting it is.

1. Do they have a phone number on file?Copy a link to this section

Open the client record and look. A client created quickly at the desk, or imported from a spreadsheet, very often has no mobile number — or has a landline.

You will see the same thing from the inbox if you try to message them: "This client has no phone number or email on file."

Fix the record. This is the answer more often than everything below combined.

2. Is the message turned on?Copy a link to this section

Business Settings → notification settings decides which of the standard messages send at all. A template that is off shows it plainly when you open it: "This message is turned off in your notification settings. Turn it back on to send it."

There is also a master switch per channel. Turning off the SMS notification channel does exactly what it says: "Turn off to stop every SMS notification the system sends for this business (reminders, confirmations, receipts)." Note the exception — "Inbox conversations and blasts are not affected." So a shop can have working blasts and no reminders at all.

See What your clients actually receive.

3. Have you run out of credits?Copy a link to this section

Texts cost credits. Out of credits means "Insufficient credits." and nothing sends.

This one has a signature: it starts mid-afternoon and affects everyone, not one client. If several people missed their reminders on the same day, check the balance first.

Then turn on Auto Recharge so it cannot happen again. See Credits, segments and auto recharge.

4. Did they reply STOP?Copy a link to this section

An opt-out is permanent until the client reverses it, and Perceny honours it. The inbox shows a Do Not Disturb badge and refuses to send:

• "This client replied STOP, so texting is turned off. Switch to Email to reply."
• "This client unsubscribed from email. Switch to Text to reply."

You cannot turn this off from your side, and you should not try to. Reach them on the other channel and, if they want texts back, they have to opt in themselves.

5. Is your number registered with the carriers?Copy a link to this section

A brand new messaging number needs carrier registration before bulk sending works: "This number is still being registered for carrier delivery. Blasts can be sent once registration finishes, usually within a few minutes of getting the number."

One-to-one replies are unaffected — which is why "I can reply to people but my blast did nothing" points straight here. See Your texting numbers.

6. Was there anything to send?Copy a link to this section

Two quiet cases that look like a delivery failure:

• "No eligible recipients for this blast on any of the selected channels." — your audience filter matched nobody with a usable contact method on the channels you picked.
• A reminder needs an appointment far enough ahead to reach its lead time. Book someone for two hours from now and the 24-hour reminder never fires, correctly.

Check the blast's own record — it lists recipients and failures, and it has a retry for failed ones ("This blast has no failed recipients to retry." if there is nothing to do).

7. Did it arrive and get missed?Copy a link to this section

Before assuming a delivery problem, rule out the mundane:

• Texts from an unknown number land in filtered messages on some phones.
• Email lands in spam, particularly the first email a client ever gets from you.
• Ask them to search their phone for your business name rather than scrolling.

The blast history and the inbox thread both show what was sent and when, so you can tell them the exact time it left.

Things that are not the problemCopy a link to this section

Language. Messages are translated automatically into your clients' languages; a client receiving Spanish is working as intended.

Your own notification settings. Those control what you receive, not what clients receive. Different setting, different page.

Editing a template. An edit changes future messages. It does not resend anything, and it cannot un-send.

Provider-side outagesCopy a link to this section

Occasionally the answer is us or our provider, and Perceny says so rather than pretending:

• "Messaging numbers cannot be provisioned right now. Please contact support."
• "Messaging numbers cannot be registered right now. Please contact support."
• "This messaging channel is not supported."

Do not spend an hour retrying those. Contact support with the client, the time and the channel.

Preventing the recurring versionCopy a link to this section

1. Make phone number required at client creation, or audit your client list for blanks once.
2. Turn on auto recharge.
3. After changing any template, book yourself a real appointment and let the message actually fire — read it on a phone. See Message templates and variables.
4. Check the blast estimate before sending, so a 900-recipient blast does not drain the balance your Saturday reminders need.