Estimate, approval and work
Send back from quality check, and more work on the same job card
When quality check finds a fault, send the job card back with the task to redo and what is wrong. The task reopens for its technician and the send-back is counted. When more work comes up, it goes on the same job card and the car goes back to work.
PlansEvery plan
The problem it solves
- A car fails the final check and is fixed quietly, so nobody learns which jobs keep coming back.
- A redo is given to whoever is free, not to the technician who did it.
- The customer asks for a wheel alignment while the car is ready, and a second job card splits the visit and the bill.
- A car marked ready gets new work, but stays in the Ready column.
How it works
- 01
On a job card in Quality Check or Ready, click Send Back.
- 02
Choose the Task to Redo (a finished task), check the technician and write what is wrong. Confirm.
- 03
The task reopens for that technician and the job card goes back to In Progress. The send-back is listed on the Rework tab with who sent it back and when.
- 04
For more work, add a line on the Work tab with the origin Added by Customer or Found During Work, and get it approved.
- 05
Once approved, its task is made. A job card in Quality Check or Ready goes back to In Progress, and the new work goes on a further invoice.
Everything it does
A send-back records
- The job card, the reason, the task reopened and the technician
- Sent Back By and the date
- A note on the job card: "Sent back to work (technician): reason"
- Report Send-backs under Garage > Reports, with the technician and the reason
More work on the same visit
- Line origins: Estimate, Found During Work, Added by Customer
- Lines added after the first estimate are marked as extra work and noted on the job card with their amount
- Work found follows the customer's standing approval; work added by the customer is decided by them
- New approved work on a job card in Quality Check or Ready moves it back to In Progress ("Back to work: new work approved")
- Approved work can be invoiced in parts: what is invoiced is locked, the rest goes on a further invoice
After delivery
- Send Back is for the same visit, before delivery
- A car that comes back after delivery gets a rework job card with Came Back (see comebacks and warranty)
Who uses it
Where you use it
- Web: Send Back on the job card; the Rework tab; Garage > Reports > Jobs and Parts > Send-backs
- The SmartMy Garage app: Send back with "What is wrong" on a job card in quality check. Built and in testing, not in the app stores yet.
- Customer page: new lines to approve on the same job page
What you control
Settings
- None to set.
Messages and alerts
- Extra Work Found: to the customer when work found waits for their approval
- Estimate Ready: when you click Ask to Approve for lines the customer added
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Can any technician send a job back?
Send Back is on job cards in Quality Check or Ready for the garage staff of the branch. Most shops leave it to the workshop manager who does the check.
Does a send-back cost the customer anything?
No. It reopens a task on the same work; nothing new is added to the estimate.
Do we open a new job card when the customer asks for more?
No. Add the lines to the same job card. The visit, the photos and the payments stay together, and the extra work gets its own invoice if the first one is already made.
Which plan has it?
Every plan, from Starter.
Related
Related features.
Comebacks, workmanship warranty and root causeEvery plan
When a car comes back after delivery, open a linked rework job card in one click. The workmanship warranty is checked by days and km, and the work is free within it. The root cause is asked before the car leaves.
Standing approval for work found: ask each time, up to an amount, or fix everythingEvery plan
At check-in, ask the customer what to do when your technicians find more work. Ask each time, go ahead up to an amount, or fix everything. Work found then waits for them or is approved at once, and each line says how.
Estimates approved or declined line by lineEvery plan
Build the estimate from your services and parts, priced and taxed. The customer approves or declines each line in person, by phone, by message, or on their job page with a typed signature. Each line keeps how it was decided, when, and who recorded it.
Tasks per mechanic with Start, Pause and Done timersEvery plan
Each approved service becomes a task for a technician, planned from its standard hours. Technicians press Start, Pause and Done on the web or their phone, one timer at a time. You see each person's tasks, the workload and the hours worked against the hours planned.
Stage checks before in progress, ready and deliveredEvery plan
A job card moves on only when the work allows it. The car is checked in before work, work is approved before In Progress, tasks are done before Ready, and the invoice is confirmed before Delivered. When there is a good reason, a workshop manager moves it anyway and writes why.
Want to see it on your own job cards? Book a demo and we walk you through it with your workshop's work.