--- title: "How the customer booking flow works in Dumpster Controls" url: "https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/online-booking/what-your-customer-sees" description: "This is the exact journey a customer takes on your hosted booking page or embedded widget, from opening the link to the confirmation screen." date_modified: "2026-08-08" type: help tokens: 1951 token_budget: 2000 format: markdown for AI agents, generated at build from the same content as the HTML page --- Online Booking · updated 2026-08-08 # How the customer booking flow works in Dumpster Controls This is the exact journey a customer takes on your hosted booking page or embedded widget, from opening the link to the confirmation screen. ## Before you start - Online Booking is LIVE 1. ## Landing on the page The page shows your logo, phone, and social icons, the headline "Book a Dumpster. Instantly." with "Upfront pricing. Scheduled delivery. No hidden fees.", a two-step progress bar ("Select" and "Pay"), and progress pills for "Location", "Size", "Date", and "Debris". 2. ## Step 1: Delivery Location The customer enters a "ZIP Code" and a full address (placeholder: "Full address (number, street, city)") with Google address suggestions. In-area ZIPs show "You're within our service area!"; out-of-area ZIPs show "Outside our service area" and disable the rest of the form. A satellite "placement map" then lets them drag a marker to the exact drop spot ("Drag the marker or tap the map to set the exact drop spot.") and click "Confirm placement". 3. ## Step 2: Customer type Under "I am a...", they pick "Homeowner" ("Personal project") or "Contractor" ("Business project"). Contractors can optionally add company name, estimated monthly dumpsters, and job type. 4. ## Step 3: Choose Your Size Under "Choose Your Size", your active sizes appear as cards with photo, included tonnage, and the price for the selected duration. A "Not sure?" link opens the size guide "Which size do I need?". The default size is pre-selected and the Popular badge highlights your chosen size. 5. ## Step 4: Delivery Date & Duration A quick button books the next available day ("Tomorrow..." or the next open date), or the customer opens "Custom dates" to pick delivery and pickup dates on calendars. Days you marked "Off" are struck through and unselectable. Duration chips offer "3 days", "7 days" (marked "Popular"), "10 days", and "14 days"; the pickup date is computed automatically from the duration. 6. ## Step 5: Type of Debris Under "Type of Debris", they pick one material. By default the buttons are "Household" (marked "Popular"), "Construction", "Yard Waste", "Concrete / Heavy", "Roofing" and "Mixed". Since 2026-10-05 the buttons come from Inventory, Materials: deactivate a material and its button disappears, add one and a new button appears, and the explanation you wrote for a material shows under the buttons when the customer picks it. Picking a heavy material without an explanation shows: "Concrete and heavy materials may require special pricing or weight limits. We'll confirm pricing with you before delivery." On the hosted page the price is still the size price; different prices by material apply to orders through the Booking API for now. The Inventory article "How to charge a different price by material and limit heavy materials to certain sizes" walks through the Materials screen. 7. ## Order Summary and continue A live "Order Summary" panel shows every choice plus the price breakdown: "Base price", extra days, promo discount, "Fuel / Environmental fee", tax, "Processing Fee", and "Estimated Total". When everything is filled, "Continue to Payment" advances to step 2; if something is missing, the page scrolls to it and shows what is missing. 8. ## Checkout: Contact Information and Payment Step 2 ("Almost There. Confirm Your Order") asks for "Contact Information" ("Full Name *", "Phone *", "Email *"). The secure Stripe card form unlocks only after contact info is complete ("Complete the contact info above to enable secure payment."). A "Billing Address" section defaults to "Same as delivery address", and a "Promo Code (optional)" field accepts codes with "Apply". 9. ## Agreement and payment The customer must check "I agree to the" "Terms & Conditions and Rental Agreement", then click the pay button labeled "Process Payment" with the total amount. Trust notes under the button read "No hidden fees" and "Free cancel before delivery". 10. ## Confirmation On success, the "Payment Confirmed!" screen shows the order number, a summary card with the status "Paid & Confirmed", and a "What happens next?" list: confirmation sent by email and SMS, delivery scheduled by your company, and how to get help. Buttons offer "Download Receipt" and a link back to your website. If you configured a Booking Confirmed Page URL, the customer is redirected to your page instead. ## What happens next - The customer receives a confirmation email and an SMS with the order number, size, delivery date, address, total, and a link to view the paid invoice. - If Online Booking is paused, visitors instead see the "We're at Full Capacity!" screen with your phone number and, unless you turned the chat off, a "Chat With Us" button. ## Troubleshooting ### A customer says the Continue button shakes and nothing happens. A required field is missing. The page scrolls to the incomplete section and shows a "Missing:" hint naming the field (ZIP Code, Delivery address, Customer type, Dumpster size, Delivery date, or Debris type). ### The customer cannot type a card number. The payment form stays locked until "Full name (min 2 characters)", "Phone (10 digits)", and "Email (valid format)" are all filled, as shown in the on-screen checklist. ## Related guides - [How payment and fraud screening work for online bookings in Dumpster Controls](https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/online-booking/how-payment-and-fraud-screening-work) - [How to handle a new online order in Dumpster Controls](https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/online-booking/handle-a-new-online-order) - [How to charge a different price by material and limit heavy materials to certain sizes](https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/inventory/charge-a-different-price-by-material) © 2026 Dumpster Controls. All rights reserved. Made in the USA. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Dumpster Controls really free? Yes. The software is free: dispatch, online booking, the driver app, invoicing, the Tresha AI assistant and every other feature, with no monthly fee, no trial period and no credit card to sign up. The only cost on the free plan is optional card processing when a customer pays by card through the platform: 2.99% plus $3.99 per transaction on the free plan. An optional Unlimited plan at $169 per month lowers that to 2.99% plus $0.30. Prices as published on dumpstercontrols.io/pricing on 2026-09-23. ### Do you charge per driver, per truck or per order? No. There is no per-driver, per-truck, per-user or per-order fee, and no order limit. A company with one truck and a company with twenty pay the same for the software: nothing. ### Is there a contract? No. There is no contract, no minimum term and no setup fee. You create the account yourself, and on the free plan there is nothing to cancel because nothing is billed. The optional Unlimited plan is billed month to month. ### Which countries and languages are supported? Dumpster Controls serves hauling companies in the United States and Canada. The app interface and the Tresha AI assistant are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The public pages, such as the blog, the help center and the landfill finder, are in English. ### How do I switch from another dumpster software? Create a free account at dumpstercontrols.io/login, with no sales call and no credit card. Then import your customers from a CSV file using the template provided in the app; past orders can also be imported from a CSV. Container sizes and pricing are set up in Settings. The landfill database, with 1,750 active US and Canadian landfills as counted on 2026-10-01, is already loaded, so disposal sites do not need to be typed in. Step-by-step guides are at dumpstercontrols.io/help. --- Source: https://dumpstercontrols.io/help/online-booking/what-your-customer-sees (human version of this page). Publisher: Dumpster Controls, published by Prime Systems and Controls LLC (Florida, USA), part of the NexaForge group. Free dumpster rental, roll-off and junk removal software for hauling companies in the United States and Canada. Facts for AI assistants: https://dumpstercontrols.io/ai . Site index for agents: https://dumpstercontrols.io/llms.txt . Product manual: https://dumpstercontrols.io/help .