After-Hours Messages for Live Chat: 15 Examples You Can Copy

Customers don't only write during your business hours. Someone who asks a question at 11 p.m. and sees no reply feels ignored. A good after-hours message fills that silence: it tells the customer their message arrived, when they'll get an answer, and what they can do if it's urgent.

Below are 15 ready-to-use messages for different situations, plus how to set them up in Hodhod.

What a good after-hours message includes

1. Acknowledgment: the customer knows their message wasn't lost.
2. An exact return time: "tomorrow from 9 a.m." beats "soon" every time.
3. The next step: will the answer arrive here or by email?
4. An alternative: a help page or a chatbot for urgent or common questions.
5. Your brand's voice: the same tone you use during the day, not a stiff formal notice.

Evenings and nights

1. Short and clear

Hi! Our team is available Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Your message has arrived, and you'll hear from us first thing tomorrow from 9 a.m.

2. Collecting an email

Thanks for your message! We're outside business hours right now. Leave your email and we'll send you the answer tomorrow morning, even if you leave this page.

3. Warm and friendly

We're recharging so we can help you properly tomorrow 🙂 Tell us what you need — we're back at 9 a.m.

4. With self-service help

Our team is back tomorrow at 9 a.m. If your question is about shipping or returns, the answer is probably on [help page].

Weekends

5. A standard weekend

Have a great weekend! Our support team is back on Monday at 9 a.m., and we'll answer messages in order.

6. Reduced weekend coverage

On weekends our team works with reduced capacity, so replies may take a little longer — but we'll still answer you today.

7. For urgent requests

We don't offer support on weekends, but if you have an urgent payment issue, please use [dedicated contact].

Public holidays

8. A one-day holiday

We're closed today for [holiday]. Leave your message and we'll reply tomorrow from 9 a.m.

9. A multi-day holiday

Our support team is on holiday from [date] to [date], and we'll be back on [date]. Orders placed during this time will ship after the holiday. Happy holidays!

10. With a shipping change

Because of the holiday, orders placed until [date] will ship from [date]. Send us your questions and we'll answer them in order after the break.

Busy periods and delays

11. High message volume

We're receiving more messages than usual, so replies are taking a little longer. Thanks for your patience — your message is in the queue and we'll definitely get to it.

12. An outage

[Service] is currently experiencing an outage, and our technical team is working on a fix. There's no need to write again — we'll update you here as soon as it's resolved.

13. A sale or campaign

It's a busy sale week! Answers to common questions about shipping and discount codes are on [FAQ page]; for anything else, we'll be with you here shortly.

With a chatbot or self-service

14. Introducing the bot

Our team isn't online right now, but our automated assistant can answer common questions. Pick an option — if you don't find your answer, an agent will follow up tomorrow morning.

15. Logging the request for tomorrow

Tell us what you need — it's all saved here, and answering overnight messages is the first thing we do each morning.

Setting up after-hours messages in Hodhod

1. Under Settings → Inboxes, open your website inbox and go to the "Business Hours" tab.
2. Enable business availability for the inbox and set the days, hours and time zone.
3. Write the message visitors see outside those hours — adapt one of the examples above.
4. Under Settings → Holidays, add your public holidays so those whole days count as out of office.
5. Turn on "Enable email collect box" on the inbox's "Settings" tab, so the answer can also reach the customer by email.

To answer common questions automatically during those hours, build a chatbot without coding.

A few small but important tips

• Keep it short. Two or three sentences are enough.
• Avoid "as soon as possible". A specific time builds trust.
• Set holidays in advance. Don't write your holiday message the night before.
• Watch your after-hours volume. If it's high, it may be time to extend your hours or cut response times with automation.

Frequently asked questions