Fixing Schedule Overrides Not Appearing or Working Correctly

Symptoms of an Override Problem

You created an override, but one or more of the following is happening:

• The Slack user group still expands to the original person, not the override person.
• Reminders announce the wrong on-call person.
• The preview in the Tellspin App Home doesn't show (override) on the shift, or the override is missing from the Overrides list.
• On a schedule synced from PagerDuty or OpsGenie, the override doesn't seem to take effect.

What a Working Override Looks Like

Before changing anything, compare your schedule with a healthy one. Overridden shifts are marked (override) in the preview, and every override is listed under Overrides beneath it:

If your override is listed but the wrong shift is marked, it's a timing problem (Cause 1). If it isn't listed at all, it was never saved (Cause 4).

Cause 1: Wrong Start Time, End Time, or Timezone

Override times are interpreted in the schedule's timezone, not the timezone of the person creating it. A remote teammate who enters 09:00 may create an override that starts hours away from the shift they meant.

Resolution:

1. In the Tellspin App Home, click Edit on the schedule and note the timezone shown under When do you want to rotate?.
2. Remove the incorrect override from the Overrides list.
3. Create it again, entering Override Start Date, Override End Date, and Duration relative to the schedule's timezone. For a single shift, pick the shift under This Week instead of typing times.

See how timezones work in Tellspin.

Cause 2: Overlapping or Duplicate Overrides

If several overrides cover the same shift, the preview can look confusing. The Overrides list shows every override, including ones that have already been superseded:

Resolution: delete the overrides you don't want so that only one remains for each shift, then check that the preview shows the intended person.

Cause 3: Slack Is Showing a Cached User Group

Tellspin may have updated the user group already while your Slack client is still showing the old membership.

Resolution:

1. Post a message that mentions the handle (for example Testing @on-call-group). Slack expands the mention using the group's current members.
2. If it still shows the old person, reload Slack with Cmd+R (Mac) or Ctrl+R (Windows/Linux) and reopen the Tellspin App Home.

Cause 4: The Override Wasn't Saved

If you closed the Schedule an Override modal without clicking Save, nothing was created and the override won't be in the Overrides list. Create it again and click Save.

Cause 5: You Expected the Override in PagerDuty or OpsGenie

Overrides made in Tellspin change who Slack reaches; they are not written back to PagerDuty or OpsGenie. Conversely, an override made in PagerDuty or OpsGenie flows into Tellspin on the next sync (about a minute).

Resolution: create the override in the tool that should be the source of truth. If you made it in PagerDuty or OpsGenie, wait a minute and reopen the App Home.

Verifying the Fix

Reopen the Tellspin App Home: the shift should be marked (override) with the right person, and the override should appear under Overrides. Then mention the handle in a channel to confirm the user group has been updated.

Still Stuck?

Email support@tellspin.com with your workspace name, the schedule's handle, and a screenshot of the override in the Overrides list.

Related

• How to use schedule overrides
• Why is my schedule preview incorrect?