Why does it say "having trouble verifying your connection"?

What the "Just a quick security check" tick box and the "We're having trouble verifying your connection" message mean, why they appear, and how to get past them in a few seconds.

Occasionally a full-screen message appears saying "We're having trouble verifying your connection", with a Try again button and a smaller Reload the page link. It can appear to anyone — a customer opening a booking page or a venue's team opening the dashboard.

What it means

ResoFlow runs a quick automatic check that each visit is coming from a real person's browser — it protects venues and their customers from bots and abuse. For almost everyone it's completely invisible. On ResoFlow's own website, just reading a page never runs it — it only runs when you open the chat or send something. A venue's pages work the same way: just looking at its page, its menu (or a menu it shares with you), what's on, an event's ticket price or the times you can book never runs it — it runs when you do something that needs it, like booking, paying, signing in or sending a message. Once it has passed, your browser keeps the pass for 12 hours, so other pages, a reload or a new tab don't ask again. Once you're signed in, it asks only once — when you sign in (see "When it doesn't ask" below). This message simply means the check couldn't finish; nothing is wrong with your account or booking, and no one is accusing you of anything.

As the message itself says, it's usually temporary — a weak or changing connection can cause it. The common innocent causes:

• a slow or patchy connection — hotel, airport or café Wi-Fi, a train, a weak mobile signal;
• switching networks mid-visit (for example Wi-Fi dropping to mobile data);
• a strict VPN, an ad or content blocker, or a very strict private-browsing mode quietly blocking the check.

What to do

• Press Try again. It re-runs the check on the spot without reloading — the button shows "Checking…" while it works, and the message disappears by itself once the check passes. On a flaky connection, trying a second time a moment later often does it.
• Using a VPN or an ad/content blocker? Pause it (or allow this site) and press Try again.
• Reload the page — the smaller link under the button — or close and reopen the tab.
• Try another connection — for example switch from the venue's Wi-Fi to mobile data, or the other way round.
• Still stuck? If you're a customer, ring the venue — they can take your booking directly. If you run a venue on ResoFlow, contact support through the chat bubble or the contact page.

"Checking your connection…" on a slow Wi-Fi

On poor Wi-Fi — a hotel, a cellar bar, a busy café — the same check can simply take a while rather than fail. When it does, the app waits with you and says so instead of guessing that something has broken:

• While the check is still running you see "Checking your connection…" with a counter of how long it has been (for example "Checking your connection… 25s"), and a Reload the page link underneath if you'd rather start again. Nothing is wrong — the app is waiting for a slow link, not stuck.
• Once the check has passed and the app is fetching your details, the line changes to "Loading your account…" (or "Loading the portal…" on the staff portal), still with the counter. After about 20 seconds it adds that the connection looks slow and that it will keep trying; it keeps waiting for up to a minute while the link is still answering.
• On the sign-in page the Sign in button does the same: a "Checking your connection…" line appears under it while the check runs, then "Still signing you in — your connection looks slow" if the sign-in itself is taking more than a few seconds. If the sign-in service genuinely can't be reached, you get a clear message — "We couldn't reach the sign-in service on this connection. Check your Wi-Fi and try again." — and the button is ready to try again.
• The staff portal's PIN screen and the customer portal's sign-in code do the same: a "Checking your connection…" counter while the check runs, then their usual messages.

You only see the "We couldn't load your account" card when something has actually failed — the link went dead, or your details never arrived even though the link was answering. The card says which, and Try again picks the check up again (it shows the same counter while it works) rather than starting a blind countdown; Reload the page is always there too.

The quick security check

Now and then — usually on hotel, airport or café Wi-Fi, a VPN or a changing mobile signal — a small box asks you to tick that you're a real person. It's called "Just a quick security check" and says "Please tick the box below to carry on — it only takes a moment." It isn't anything you've done: it keeps out spam, and most visits never see it.

• Where it appears: right next to the button you pressed — above it, or below it if there's no room — with the rest of the page dimmed. If nothing was pressed (a page that needs the check just to show you something, like your own account, a chat with the venue or the dashboard), it sits in the middle of the screen. On a venue's own pages it wears the venue's colour, with a padlock.
• What to do: tick the box. It says "Thanks — you’re all set" and whatever you pressed carries on by itself — the booking, payment or message goes through without pressing again.
• Take your time: the box waits for up to ten minutes, and a tick that arrives late still counts. If it appeared while the tab was in the background, it waits for you to come back — you'll find the one box, never a new one each time.
• One tick for every tab: tick it in one tab and any other tab of the same site that was waiting for the check uses the same pass — its box goes by itself.
• If Cloudflare's tick box goes missing: the box notices — if the tick box fails, runs out of time or doesn't appear within a few seconds, the box quietly loads a fresh one by itself, so usually you just tick the new one.
• If it still can't finish: it says "We couldn’t finish the security check" — usually a weak or changing connection. Press Try again to have another go on the spot; everything you typed stays where it was. Not now closes it — press your button again whenever you're ready. (When the box comes from the page's own background check — on the sign-in page, say, or as a page opens — it has a small Reload the page link instead of Not now, as a last resort.)
• A page kept open: each pass lasts 12 hours, and the check renews itself a few minutes before the end — while you're signed in it renews with your sign-in, never a tick. On a page you're not signed in to, now and then the renewal needs a tick — a small card in the corner (at the top on a phone) says "A quick security check is waiting". Tick it when it suits you; the page keeps working meanwhile, and only if the pass runs out first does the box come to the middle of the screen.
• The Orders screen: on a screen that isn't paired, that renewal shows a full-width banner instead — "Tap to keep receiving orders — a quick security check is needed" — with the attention sound if the screen's sound is on. Tap it and tick the box. A paired device never shows a tick-box: its pairing proves it.
• Signing up to ResoFlow: the form's one security check is beside Text me a code.

When it doesn't ask

• Signed in: one tick at most, then none. When you sign in — your dashboard (password, Google or two-step), a staff PIN or SuperAdmin — the sign-in page may ask once. After that your browser keeps a sign-in proof (ResoFlow keeps only a scrambled copy of it), so you're not asked again — not even after a laptop has slept all night — until that sign-in ends: on a device you said is yours ("Yes, it's mine") after 30 days without using it, on a shared device after 24 hours, a staff PIN after 12 hours, SuperAdmin after 8 hours. Signing out (from the menu or after the idle time), a sign-out from the devices list, Sign out everywhere, a new password or two-step change, or a staff member's PIN reset or removal ends it at once. It never signs anyone in.
• Your own computer remembers you: once you've said a computer is yours ("Yes, it's mine"), it remembers your account for 30 days from when you last signed in there, so the next sign-in with the same account isn't asked "Keep me signed in on this device?" again. It's only ever for that account: anyone else signing in on that computer is asked as normal. A computer other people use ("No, other people use it") is never remembered, and Sign out everywhere, a new password, a two-step change, removing the computer from the devices list or Sign out and forget this device ends it.
• Paired screens never ask: a paired wall TV, the waitlist kiosk and the TV loyalty screen prove themselves with their pairing, so guests joining there never meet a tick-box.
• Links from your own emails: "I'm still coming" (from a booking reminder) and "Remove me from the list" (from a Notify me email) never ask — the link itself proves it's you.

Customers booking, paying, joining a waitlist or sending a message keep their own check on each of those buttons.

Signing in

Opening the sign-in page never asks. The check runs only when you press Sign in or Sign in with Google — and for most people it's invisible even then. Signing in with a passkey never asks at all: a passkey already proves a real person is signing in.

Related: What do customers see when they pay online? · How do customers use the customer portal?