Appointment reminder text for clients who gave you their number

The One Text Each message writer opens below with the appointment reminder loaded, STOP line included. Type your business name, the day and the time, and the preview shows exactly what one client will see, with characters and SMS segments counted. Delete the STOP line and the writer warns you and offers to put it back.

The details, with sources, are on texting customers: consent and opt-out basics. For reminders, the short version:

1. 1The client gave you their number, for this. CTIA's guidelines file reminders as "informational" texts and expect express consent. The FCC's consumer guide says consent for informational texts may be oral. Apptoto, a reminder-software vendor, reads the FCC's 2015 ruling as: a number the client gave you at booking shows consent; a number that's merely in your address book doesn't.
2. 2You're a business sender, even on your own phone. CTIA counts anyone texting on behalf of a business as a "Non-Consumer."
3. 3Every reminder says how to opt out. "Reply STOP to opt out." is CTIA's standard wording.
4. 4Stop within 10 business days of any opt-out, under FCC 24-24, including "quit," "cancel" or "unsubscribe." One confirmation text with no marketing is allowed.
5. 5No promotions inside a reminder, and no bought lists. A "20% off color" line turns a reminder into marketing, which needs written consent.

Coming on 25 Nov 2026: the Federal Register lists that date as the effective date of FCC 26-67. It lets a sender name one opt-out method if each text discloses it clearly, and says an opt-out from informational texts may cover only that category. Including "Reply STOP to opt out." in every reminder fits both the old and the new rule.

Here is the catch for solo operators. Most clients have different times, and a mass text says the same thing to everyone. The writer fills Business name, Day and Time once per send. The Batchrunner app fills only first name, last name and company per person. So pick the pattern that matches your book:

"Reply STOP to opt out." is 22 characters, plus a space: 23 characters in a 160-character SMS. That can tip a text into a second segment. We measured one draft four ways:

Don't drop the STOP line to save space; cut words instead. The shorter salon-day2 above keeps STOP and fits in one SMS with room for a 35-letter name. The SMS character limit page explains the 160/153 and 70/67 math.

Replies land in Messages, one conversation per client.

• C — mark them confirmed in your book.
• R — call or text back with two open times, as in "Reply 1 for Wed 9am or 2 for Thu 11am."
• STOP, cancel, quit, "please stop texting me" — remove them from the group you send reminders to, today. One "You won't get more reminders" reply is fine; no offer in it.
• No reply by morning — a call works better than a second text.

Most edge cases involve unsaved numbers, group replies, carrier filtering or health details.

• New clients may not see it. Apple's "Screen Unknown Senders" setting files texts from numbers the client hasn't saved into a separate list, without a notification. Ask new clients to save your number at booking, and start every reminder with your business name.
• Blue vs. green. Clients on iMessage get the text over data, with no 160-character segments. Clients on Android get SMS or RCS through their carrier, where the count matters.
• Reply-all. If several clients end up in one message, Apple says everyone in a group iMessage or group MMS can see all responses. With one text each, a "running late" goes only to you; see why replies to your group text go to everyone.
• Carrier filtering. CTIA says wireless providers "deploy filters and other tools" against unwanted messages and "may block or filter message traffic." Expected reminders without shortened links or promotions are the safest business text.
• Volume. CTIA's guidelines describe typical personal texting as about 10 recipients per message and say the figure is illustrative, not a limit. If reminders become hundreds a day, or you need them to go out without you, a scheduling platform with registered business numbers fits better; ways to text a lot of people compares them.
• Keep health details out of reminders. Business name, day, time and a way to confirm are enough. Reason for visit, injuries or intake answers belong in a call or a secure channel. If you're a health-care provider, check whether HIPAA applies to you: HHS explains who counts as a covered entity or business associate.
• Pet sitters and groomers: holiday booking notices are offers, not reminders: send them only to clients who said yes to that kind of text, with a STOP line.

Stylists moving to a new salon, and lawn-care or cleaning crews whose route moves for rain, have their own pages; start at texts for your job. This page stays the place for day-before reminders and closures.