One-Action Fix for Google Forms’ Equipment Reservation Double Booking: Simple, No Coding

"Office Manager’s Equipment Reservation System Wishlist:

1. I need my reservation form to reflect actual equipment availability. Right now, double booking happens, and I don’t want that.

2. I also don’t want to spend 1-2 hours a day manually checking reservations, flipping between the Google Forms and the spreadsheet, or sending back-and-forth emails when something isn’t available."

As an office manager, you’ve probably started with Google Forms for equipment reservation. It’s free, quick, and easy to share. On your borrower’s end, they are all familiar with how it works.

But as the number of items and requests grows, one day 2 people came at the same time to claim the same projector. Double booking starts to become a headache. You’re stuck manually checking, sorting, and replying to emails, wasting time on tasks that should be automated. If only Google Forms could stop the double bookings for you, right?

So, you turn to ChatGPT for answers:

“How do I make sure my items aren’t double-booked in Google Forms?”

You get a few answers.

You look into Google Apps Script..

But you don’t code.. So skip..

But that means creating a separate link for each item? If you’re managing 10+ pieces of equipment, that’s not really a solution.

Both of those solutions tackled the limitations of Google Forms reservation: double booking and manual confirmation.. But it seems to create new problems..

Your wishlist becomes:

1. No coding

2. No double booking

3. No manual confirmation

4. One link to share

What if you could set something like this up for your borrowers?

By setting it up on an interface like this on your end?

It’s just like the Google Sheet you’re already used to. But now, you can turn it into a full reservation system by generating a Reservation System in one click. The booking screen your borrower will see, turned from this Google-sheet like, with no coding needed. Seems easy, right?

Even better, you only need ONE STEP to get started. If you are already using Google Forms, you must already utilize the ‘View in sheets’ function, since it’s so much easier to consolidate and analyze responses.

With the same sheet, you can directly import it to a no-code tool called Ragic, that would allow you to fix the above-mentioned problems of Google Forms reservation systems you are currently using.

Once you set up the sheet, you can generate the Reservation System Report to allow your borrowers to access and reserve equipment. Further adjustment will look like below, where all set up is straightforward.

This tool is a no-code application builder called Ragic. And it seems to check out all of your requirements for the equipment reservation system: no coding, no double booking, no manual confirmation, one link to share, all checked. ✅

And ready for the bonus? If all you need is this equipment reservation system, you can build this for free in Ragic!* (more details about Ragic pricing here). If you need more information on how to set up this reservation system you can refer to this document.

And let’s take you to what’s even cooler with Ragic.

1. You can store all the information you need in the sheet—without showing everything to the borrower

For example, when someone returns equipment, you might want to note whether they returned it on time or if it was damaged. This might be important for internal tracking but not something the borrower needs to see. Since Ragic lets you customize what fields are visible in the reservation system, you can keep these details private while still managing them efficiently.

2. Calendar view, if you prefer to look at what’s borrowed in one day at a glance

You can generate a Calendar Report directly in Ragic or sync it with your preferred calendar app.

3. Automated email reminders, like a personal assistant, minus the coffee run

You can also set up automated email reminders, whether it is for return reminders, or reservation confirmation for the borrower, or for yourself according to your needs, to cut off manual confirmation, but making sure reservations run smoothly.

4. Built-in reports to help you track trends and make decisions

Once your equipment reservation system runs in Ragic, you can use built-in reports to track trends and make better decisions.

For example, noticed through the Ranking Report that the speaker is the most borrowed item this month? Maybe it’s time for a quick check-up or even consider getting another one if it’s in high demand!

Or with Pivot Table, you can see a breakdown of borrowed items by department, helping you identify which teams rely on certain equipment the most. If the Administration Team borrowed the speaker the most, maybe you can consider allocating a dedicated speaker for them.

With Ragic, you’ve solved your problem of equipment reservation with Google Forms—no more double booking, no more manual checking, plus all the bonuses like automation of reminders and data visualization. It doesn’t stop there. When you’re ready to scale your operation and move them into Ragic, Ragic’s ability to build relationships between sheets can help you track inventory, manage maintenance, and handle inventory purchasing for the equipment you are managing.

If you are ready to get started, sign up for a free Ragic account and try it out! You can explore the system, follow our Reservation System documentation and tutorials, and if you ever need help, just reach out to support@ragic.com—we’ll always get back to you within 48 hours.