Customers aren't getting a PIN code (or the code doesn't open the lock)

A customer is standing at the lock without a code. Work through this list from the top — the first three checks solve most cases, and the last section tells you how to get the customer moving in under a minute.

First: what does the booking say?

1. Go to Bookings and open the customer's booking.
2. Look at the product lines in the middle of the page. If the booking uses smart locks, there are two extra columns: Lock and Pin Code.

What you see tells you where to go next:

What the booking shows	What it means	Go to
A code in Pin Code	The code exists. The problem is delivery, timing or the customer's own screen.	Steps 1, 5 and 6
No PIN in the Pin Code column	No code has been created for that line yet.	Steps 1–4
No Lock or Pin Code column at all	No lock is attached to that product line.	Step 3

The Pin Code column only appears when at least one line on the booking is on an Igloohome padlock. If you use manual locks, there is no per-booking code — the customer gets the lock's fixed Master PIN instead, which you can see on the lock at Stations.

Step 1 — Is the booking fully paid?

While a booking still has an amount left to pay, no PIN codes are handed out at all — not in the booking flow, not in the email link.

1. On the booking, check Amount left to pay.
2. If it is above zero, take the payment (Add payment, or send a payment link) and the codes become available.

This is the single most common reason a code "disappears" on an otherwise perfect booking, especially on manual and admin-created bookings.

Step 2 — Is it simply too early?

Codes are not created the moment a booking is made.

• The code for a product is created about 14 hours before that product's start time. Book closer to the start than that and the code is created straight away.
• The customer's screen will only ever show a code from 24 hours before the start time until 1 hour after the end time. Outside that window they see nothing at all.
• Storage lockers and access points are tighter: those codes show from 15 minutes before the booking starts until 30 minutes after it ends.

Read the first two points together, because they explain a lot of confused calls. Between roughly 24 and 14 hours before the start, the customer's page is already "open" but the code does not exist yet — the page looks blank even though nothing is wrong. From about 14 hours before the start, the code is there.

So a customer who books three days ahead and opens the link the same evening will genuinely see nothing yet. That is normal. Ask when their booking starts before you go hunting for a fault.

A code also stops being shown once the booking is marked Returned, or once the product line is cancelled.

Step 3 — Is a lock attached, and does it have a product?

A product line with no lock can never produce a code.

1. Go to Stations and open the station for that location.
2. In the locks table, check the Product column for the lock the customer should be using. If it says No product assigned, pick the right product from the dropdown.
3. If the whole station is unassigned you will see the warning "Warning: No product is assigned to any lock at this station." right on the page.

If the lock is fine but this particular booking landed on the wrong lock, you can change it on the booking itself: the Lock column on the booking line is a dropdown while the booking is editable.

One more thing to check while you are here: codes are only ever generated for locations set up for self-service. Open Locations, open the location, and check Staff presence. It must be Unmanned — as the hint on that field says, "If you plan to use smart locks, select Unmanned. Otherwise, select Manned." A location left on Manned produces no codes at all, for any booking.

Step 4 — Is the lock active, correctly identified and in sync?

Still on the station page, check the lock's row:

1. Active status — an inactive lock is hidden from customers and its product can't be booked. The tooltip on that column spells it out: "When a lock is active, customers can book the product on that lock. When it is inactive, that product is hidden and cannot be booked." If the whole station is switched off you will see "Warning: All locks at this station are inactive." and can use Activate all locks.
2. Bluetooth id — this must match the lock exactly. A missing or mistyped ID (an extra space is enough) means no code can be generated for that lock. Re-copy it from your Igloohome app rather than typing it.
3. Re-sync the single lock: open the lock's row actions and choose Sync this lock from Igloo. You should get Lock synced from Igloo. If you get Bluetooth ID is required to sync from Igloo, go back to point 2. If you get Could not sync lock from Igloo, continue to step 5.

Also worth knowing: deleting a lock is not blocked when bookings are still attached to it. If a lock was deleted mid-season, every booking pointing at it loses its codes. If you suspect that happened, contact support with the booking number rather than trying to rebuild it yourself.

Step 5 — Is your Igloohome connection alive?

The codes come from Igloohome. If that connection has lapsed, every new code stops at once while old ones keep working — which is why this often looks like a random fault.

1. Go to Settings → Integrations and look at the Smart locks section. It shows Connected or Not connected, and a countdown, "Your Igloo home connection expires in".
2. If you see "Your Igloo home connection have expired!", use Reconnect with Igloo home.
3. Go to Stations and press Fetch latest info from igloo home. If your locks don't come back, watch for Payment method required — the exact message is "Payment method required. Please add a valid payment method in the Igloo Connect portal to sync your locks." Use Open Igloo Connect portal and settle the payment method there; syncing stays blocked until you do.

An unpaid or removed payment method in the Igloo Connect portal is a genuine, recurring cause of "all our customers suddenly get no codes".

Step 6 — Is the customer looking in the right place, at the right time?

If the booking shows a code but the customer says they see nothing:

1. Ask them to open the confirmation email and use the Start booking button rather than an old link or your website's front page.
2. Check that they are inside the visibility window from step 2.
3. If you use the optional Before Unlock step in your customer flow, the customer must finish it (terms, safety video, questions) before any code is shown. Check Settings → Customer flow, step Before Unlock (Optional), if you are not sure whether it's switched on.
4. On the customer's screen the code appears as Lock number and PIN: code. If they have several products, there is one line and one code per lock — a customer with two kayaks needs both.

The code is shown but the lock won't open

The code only works inside its own time window, which starts at the top of the hour the booking begins in (sometimes an hour earlier) and runs until at least an hour past the end. A customer trying an hour or two early will get nothing, even with the correct digits.

Give a waiting customer a code right now

You do not have to solve any of the above while someone is standing in the rain.

• Manual locks: open Stations, find the lock — the Master PIN column is masked; use Show Master PIN to reveal it. That code is what every booking on the lock uses anyway.
• Igloo locks: the master PIN is not stored in Rentalbuddy. Read the booking's real code from the Pin Code column (described above), or look up the lock's master PIN in the Igloohome app — see Connect and manage your smart locks.

Give the customer the code over the phone, and tell them which lock number to use. You can see a booking's code in the admin at any time, including before the customer's own screen starts showing it.

A master PIN is a code you set on the lock yourself, so treat it as staff information — change it on the lock if you have handed it out widely.

If none of this helped

Contact support with the booking number, the location and the lock number, and say which of the steps above you already checked. That's usually enough to resolve it without a second round of questions.