$299 a month is a lot for a small business.

Fair. It works out to about $10 a day. Here's the test: divide $299 by your average ticket — at $80 a visit that's about four extra bookings a month. Count the calls you couldn't pick up last week; would you have booked four of them? And you see your demo before you pay anything.

I need to think about it.

Totally fair — you don't have to decide on a call. Your demo gets built first, so you can decide with your own site in front of you. What would make this a no? Tell me in the form and I'll answer it before the call.

I already have a website / an agency / a booking app.

Keep what's working. Ask it one question: when a customer calls while you're busy, what happens? If the answer is “voicemail”, that's the part we fix — the text-back, the booking, the reminder, the review. Your demo shows your business on a site built to take bookings, so you can compare side by side. And if an agency runs your ads, keep them — we're not an ad agency.

Month-to-month — no long-term contract. Cancel any time with 30 days' notice. I'll offer one short handover call before you switch off, so your site, your numbers and your client list get handed over properly.

Is this AI? Will my clients be talking to a robot?

I use AI tools to build faster — that's how the price stays at $299. Your texts and reminders are automatic messages written for your business, and anything that needs a person comes to you. If you add the AI receptionist, it answers calls for you — that part is optional.

I don't have time for this.

Nobody has spare time — that's why this runs without you. Your part: a short checklist (logo, photos, services, hours), a personal video walkthrough of your setup, and a 20-minute call in your first week of texts going live. After that, it runs.

Do you guarantee results?

We don't promise a number of bookings — we haven't run this long enough with paying local clients to promise one honestly. What we do guarantee: you see your finished demo before you pay a dollar, and you're never locked into a long-term contract.

Why don't texts work right away? Someone told me 72 hours.

Your website, online booking and client list go live in the first week. Texts switch on once phone carriers approve your business number — usually 1–2 weeks; they require it so business texts don't get blocked as spam. We file on day one, and until it clears, missed calls are followed up by call and email.

What happens if I cancel?

Your business stays yours: you get a full export of your client database plus a static copy of your site, and your domain is yours. Your live site and booking link move to Site Keep-Alive — $39/mo, no texts or automations. We email you 7 days before the first Keep-Alive charge, and you can switch it off any time.

You own your brand, your content, your domain and your client list — we'll export all of it to you any time you ask. The site and automations run on our infrastructure and are licensed to you while you're a client.

All notes

Texting & the lawOctober 12, 20265 min read

Texting your clients in BC: the plain-English checklist (CASL, PIPA and the word STOP)

Consent, saying who you are, the word STOP and what to keep on file: the rules for texting clients in BC, in plain English.

Max · builder, MAXAUTOMATE · Vancouver, BC

Hands holding a phone with a text conversation open, above a paper appointment book and pen on a wooden front desk

Texting clients in BC (confirmations, reminders, a reply to a missed call) falls mostly under two laws: Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), which is federal, and BC’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).

I build systems that send these texts, so I’ve read both closely. Here’s the plain-English version.

Which texts CASL covers

CASL covers “commercial electronic messages”, texts included. A message is commercial if one of its purposes is to encourage someone to do business with you, so assume your business texts are. Even a text that only asks for permission (“Reply YES for offers”) is one.

Every commercial text needs identification and a working way to unsubscribe, and most need consent (section 6). Consent comes in two kinds:

Express: the person said yes. The request must say what you’ll text about, who is asking, how to reach you, and that they can withdraw any time. Silence isn’t a yes.
Implied: the Act infers it in limited cases, such as an existing business relationship with someone who bought from you in the past two years or asked about your services in the past six months (section 10).

The checklist

Get a clear yes, and never pre-tick the box
An unticked box, separate from your terms, worded plainly: what you’ll text about, your business name and contact details, and that they can reply STOP any time. Offers get their own box.
Say who you are in every text
Your business name, plus a mailing address and a phone number, email or website. In a text, the CRTC’s regulations let those details sit on a web page, behind a link shown clearly in the message.
Make STOP work, and act on it fast
Free and simple: reply STOP. It must keep working for at least 60 days after you send, and you must act on it without delay, within 10 business days at most (section 11).
Keep a record of every yes
If consent is ever questioned, you have to prove it (section 13). Log the date and time, how they agreed (which form, what wording) and to what. Log every STOP too.
Only text people with a reason to hear from you
No bought, rented or scraped lists. Before importing old clients, check who bought from you in the past two years, asked in the past six months, or said yes.

Reminders and confirmations are different

CASL has a carve-out for messages that solely facilitate, complete or confirm a transaction the person already agreed to. A booking confirmation is the clearest example, and a reminder that sticks to the appointment is generally read the same way. They don’t need consent under CASL (section 6(6)), but they still need identification and the unsubscribe line.

The catch is “solely”. Add “book again and save 10%” and it’s a promotion, so the carve-out is gone. Texting providers can also be stricter than the Act, so I put a consent box on the booking page anyway.

A reminder from Cedar & Co. Hair, a made-up salon:

A reminder that follows the rulesCedar & Co. Hair

Cedar & Co. Hair: reminder for your cut and style tomorrow at 2:30 pm. Need to change it? [link] Reply STOP to opt out.

Name first, a link to a page with the salon’s full contact details, STOP in the text, and nothing but the appointment.

BC PIPA: your client list is personal information

PIPA covers the information behind the messages (names, numbers, appointment history), and it applies to businesses of every size in BC:

Say why. Tell people why you’re collecting their details, on or before collecting them (section 10).
Use it for that. Get consent, and use client information only for purposes you disclosed and a reasonable person would consider appropriate (sections 6, 11, 14 and 17).
Keep it safe. Make reasonable security arrangements (section 34). In practice: a proper password, and no appointment book left open on the counter.
Answer access requests. Clients can ask what you hold about them, how it’s been used and who it’s been shared with. You have 30 days, not counting Saturdays or holidays (sections 1, 23 and 29).
Name someone responsible, probably you, and let people know how to reach them (section 4).
Don’t keep it forever. Destroy or anonymize what you no longer need (section 35).

If client information leaves BC, say to a US software provider, the federal PIPEDA can apply too.

What my system does by default

Every text names your business and carries the STOP line.
STOP replies take effect immediately. The legal limit is 10 business days.
The text-consent box on your booking page is never pre-ticked.

Your part: give me only people who bought from you, contacted you or agreed to hear from you.

Want texting set up this way from day one? Start with a free demo site, built within 48 hours of a 15-minute call. Texts switch on once carriers approve your business number, usually in 1–2 weeks.