Need a last-minute appointment? Rock Hill couple’s app answers ‘who can fit me in?’
Rock Hill resident Kelley Garmon’s husband woke one morning with neck pain and needed a same-day massage. That need became an idea to help connect people with last minute services.
Garmon said she thought to herself “who can fit you in at the last minute?”
A year later, the family has developed WhooCan.
WhooCan is an online marketplace that allows business owners to post open appointments and customers to book them the same day or the next day. The marketplace also is available as an app for smartphones.
“Clients can find last minute appointment availability and vendors can fill last minute openings,” Garmon said.
The app is free for vendors and clients, Garmon said. The family supports WhooCan by collecting 20% of the vendor’s service fee once an appointment is booked, she said.
Clients must pay for the service in the app to secure their spot, Garmon said.
The company name and the logo, an owl with the beak of a toucan bird, plays on the question “Who can fit me in?”
It’s a question Garmon said her family often asks, and its one they see friends post on social media when they need an unplanned service.
For vendors, WhooCan allows them to advertise after last minute cancellations or fill under-booked spots, Garmon said.
“They leave a lot of money on the table every year just getting canceled on. So aside from the fact that its really inconsiderate for people to do that, it actually costs them their livelihood,” Garmon said. “We asked them, what if there were a way we can help you capture someone and put them in a seat when you needed that at the right time?”
While business owners can cancel booked appointments if needed, clients cannot, Garmon said.
“This is for people who want to simplify things,” she said. “What we’re trying to do is connect those two pieces of the puzzle — people who have cancellations or under-bookings with people seeking those last minute appointments.”
Garmon said the response has been positive from clients and business owners.
“Everybody thinks it’s fantastic and wants it,” she said.
A review posted to the WhooCan Facebook page reads: “This takes all the guessing and leg work out of trying to set an appointment. Love it!”
Ruth Surface, massage therapist at Mended by Hand Massage and Wellness in Rock Hill, said she used WhooCan to fill an open spot rather than having to post on social media or reach out to clients.
“It was a good, easy way to take some pressure off myself,” Surface said. “I can just go on there, post that opening and have that direct line to clients who are wanting an appointment.”
The WhooCan app is available for download in the App Store or Google Play. Garmon said more features and services will be added in early 2020.
“It’s been really cool to watch something we imagined actually come to life and be useful for people,” she said. “One of my goals would be for WhooCan to be a household name. Just like we Google information on our phone, we can just WhooCan our appointments.”
