---
key: appointment-reminder-messages
title: Get ready when an appointment reminder arrives
audience: customer
section: portal/messages
routes: ["/portal"]
since: 0.0.1
updated: 0.0.1
status: published
summary: What the reminder the day before and the reminder two hours before your visit mean, when they are sent, and what to do if you can no longer make it.
keywords: [appointment reminder, reminder text, reminder email, tomorrow, 24 hours before, 2 hours before, visit reminder]
related: [appointment-booked-message, appointment-changed-or-cancelled-message, on-my-way-message]
---

Before a visit, the company can remind you by email, text or both: 24 hours before the visit starts, 2 hours before, or both. The message tells you when your appointment is and may name the technician coming to see you.

## Steps

1. Check the day and the arrival window in the reminder. They are the latest ones the company has for your visit.
2. Make sure someone can let the technician in, and clear access to what needs the work: the furnace, the panel, the yard.
3. If you can no longer make it, contact the company right away by replying, or by the phone number or email in the message.

## What you see

- The usual day-before message says "tomorrow". A two-hour reminder says "in 2 hours" and gives the appointment time, for example "in 2 hours at 11:30 AM". Times are always in the business's local time, the time where the work happens, so they carry no time zone. If a reminder is delayed, its wording reflects the time remaining when it is sent.
- The email lists the date, time or arrival window, address and service. A technician name or photo appears when the company has chosen to share it and has someone assigned.
- An arrival window means the technician may arrive any time within that window. A date without a time says "time to be confirmed".
- A reminder is only sent while the visit is still on the schedule. A visit that is moved gets its reminders for the new time; a visit that is cancelled or finished gets none.

## If something looks different

- If you ignore a reminder, nothing changes: the visit goes ahead as planned.
- No reminder came: many companies send only one of the two, or none. The visit is still booked.
- A reminder did not come because you were just told about the visit: when you got a booked or changed message within the last two hours, the company skips the reminder.
- To stop reminders, reply STOP to a text, or ask the company to stop appointment reminders for you. See [[stop-emails-and-texts-from-a-company]].