Review requests for Canadian salons that stay inside CASL
A few hours after a visit, Slotora can email the client one question — how was it? — with a button that opens a short form on your own booking page. In Canada each of those emails is treated as a commercial message: it goes only to clients CASL lets you write to, and it carries your salon's name, mailing address and an unsubscribe link.
Switch on review requests — 14-day trialHow the ask works
Review requests start switched off. When you turn them on, you choose how many hours after the appointment the email goes. The client gets one button: it opens a rating and a comment box on your booking page, with no Google account and no sign-in. If you have added your Google review link in settings, the email offers it underneath as a second, plain link.
Slotora asks each client at most once every 90 days, however often she comes. It does not ask after a no-show, a refunded visit or a fee, a client on your block list, or one who has opted out of your messages or out of review requests. Nor does it ask about appointments you imported from your previous software, which Slotora never saw happen.
It also never looks at how a client has rated you before deciding whether to ask her. Asking only the happy ones would make your stars mean less, so every eligible client gets the same email.
From the email to your booking page
What happens to a review after the client presses the button.
Arrives
Into one list, newest first
Every review lands in your reviews screen, whatever the rating.
Shown
On your page, unless you hide it
A review appears on your booking page with its stars. Hide one and it disappears from the page at once; it stays in your list.
Answered
With a public reply in your words
Write a response and it sits under the review. How you answer a disappointed client is read by the next one.
Counted
In the average the page shows
Your rating and review count on the booking page are worked out from the reviews you leave visible.
The trade-offs, said plainly
Review requests in Canada are narrower than elsewhere, and hiding reviews has a cost.
- Email only
- Text messages do not go to Canadian numbers yet, so a client without an email address on file is not asked.
- Hiding changes the average
- Because the average counts only visible reviews, hiding the critical ones makes the number on your page better than what clients actually told you. Use it for abuse or a review about another business, not to tidy the score.
- Our reviews, not Google's, by default
- The button goes to your Slotora page because every client can use it in one tap. A Google review does more for your local search; if that matters most, make sure your Google link is in settings so it appears in the email.
- A new directory
- Reviews also show on your listing in Slotora's directory, which is new in Canada and will not bring many new clients for a while.
Why CASL decides who is asked
A review request asks for something on behalf of a business, so Slotora sends it under the same rule as an offer. For a Canadian salon, the client must either have given express consent, or have had a visit with you in the last 24 months — CASL's implied consent from a purchase. Straight after an appointment almost everyone qualifies; the rule matters for the client whose visit happened in Slotora long ago and for anyone who has said no.
Each request is sent as your salon's message. Above the unsubscribe link it reads “Sent by” your business name, your mailing address from your settings, “through Slotora”, which is the identification CASL's regulations ask for. The unsubscribe works with one click and takes effect immediately, well inside the ten business days the law allows. Keep the address in your settings complete, because it is the address that appears.
Questions about review requests in Canada
Does the client need a Google account to leave a review?
No. The button opens a form on your Slotora booking page. Google is offered as a second link only if you have added yours.
Is a review request marketing under CASL?
Slotora treats it as a commercial message, so it is sent only with express consent or a visit in the last 24 months, and always with your identification and an unsubscribe link.
Can I stop one client from being asked?
Yes. Each client can be opted out of review requests on her profile, and anyone who unsubscribes is not asked again.
Can I delete a bad review?
You can hide it from your booking page and reply to any review. Hidden reviews do not count towards the average on your page.
How soon after the visit does the email go?
After the number of hours you choose in the automation's settings.
Sources
The Act behind the consent rule, read on the day shown.
- Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, S.C. 2010, c. 23 — consent (s. 6(1)), form of a message (s. 6(2)), implied consent from a purchase (s. 10(10)(a)) — https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-1.6/FullText.html · Read on
Ask your next client
Switch the review request on, set the hours, and book a test visit for yourself to read the email it sends.