Troubleshooting reservations

Got a problem making reservations? Check this page to find a solution.

What if the item looks like it's available, but you can't reserve it?

Here's a few possible reasons why you can't complete the reservation:

The item is overdue

Sometimes people don't return tools in time. When that happens, the tools becomes 'overdue' in the inventory, and you can't reserve it anymore because we don't know when it will return.

In this situation, the reserve button has a lighter colour. When clicking the button, the system will let you know there's none available. Unfortunately, all you can do is wait until it's brought back.

As you can see by the red colour, this item is overdue and not available.

The item is in buffer time

If an item is returning (because someone else borrowed it) on the same day you want to make a reservation, you will get an error. The reason is that we don't allow same day loans & reservations.

We've explained why this happens in the section on reserving items. The solution is to make a reservation for the next time we are open, when the buffer period has ended.

Is there a way to reserve and borrow a tool on the same day it's brought back by someone else?

We have created a buffer time to avoid situations in which people have to wait for another tool to come back on the same day.

However, you can come and pick up an item coming back on the day you want it, if you drop by shortly before we close. That way you are (almost) sure it's brought back by the previous borrower.

You can even reserve it (to prevent others from doing the same thing). In the example below, all you need to do is to make a reservation from 10 September until 10 September (so: a 1 day reservation).

That way, nobody else can reserve it, but you can still come by on 3 September, provided the other person is not overdue with the tool. In any case, that person will not be able to extend the tool an extra week.

It's a bit of a risk, but most people bring back their tools on time. You can let us know via the reservation comments that you'll be picking it up a week earlier. That's helpful for us managing the desk.

You can borrow this tool on 3/9 if you make a 1 day reservation on 10/9