Bookings & queues

Every booking is given a booking number the moment it is created, in the form AUT-2026-00123: three letters from the company name, the year, then a counter that restarts each 1 January. The number shows in the booking lists (the queues and the history included), on the detail page just above the status, and is searchable, so a customer can read it out over the phone. The three letters are proposed automatically from the company name and can be changed on the Company page, but only until the first booking has been numbered; after that they are fixed, or the company's series would split in two.

Bookings are the heart of the service workflow. Mechanics work the day's jobs; managers also confirm new requests and handle anything that needs attention.

The day view

Open Bookings for the day's work. A date strip runs across the top: on desktop it's a week at a time (previous/next week and a date picker), on mobile a single day with arrows. When a location is selected, each day shows its load, how busy it is, as a colored bar (and dots in the date picker), from blue (empty) through orange to red (full) - chosen to stay legible for colorblind users.

The page has two tabs, List and Schedule (Schedule is Manager+):

• List shows the selected day's bookings in order, each a card with the customer, vehicle, requested or scheduled time, status, and work stage. A card flags when a booking is overdue. Tap a card to open its details; each has a chat button with an unread badge. A status filter narrows the list (Pending, Awaiting approval, Confirmed, In progress, Done, Cancelled, Rejected, All), and the Needs confirmation / Needs attention banners jump to those queues.
• Schedule shows the day's occupancy board (see The schedule).

Admins pick the location the page is scoped to, or All locations; managers and mechanics are fixed to their own. The day load needs a single location, so under All locations the bars are hidden and a hint explains how to see them.

Pending queue Manager+

New requests arrive as Pending. Open the Pending queue to review and schedule them:

1. Tap a pending booking.
2. In the scheduling fields, set the workplace, the date, and the start and end time. The app prevents overlaps on the chosen workplace, and you can nudge the end time within bounds.
3. Send for approval - the booking becomes Awaiting customer approval and the customer is notified to approve the proposed time. They approve it (it becomes Confirmed) or decline it with an optional reason (it returns to Pending for you to propose another time). Or Reject the request outright, which notifies the customer too.

Attention queue Manager+

The Attention queue gathers bookings that have slipped past their start or end time, so nothing falls through the cracks. Open one to act on it.

A confirmed booking whose customer has not arrived 30 minutes after its start is cancelled automatically as Cancelled (no-show): it moves to History and both the customer and the location's staff are notified in the app. A booking counts as arrived once the customer checks in, a work stage is set, or the work is started, so mark the arrival when a customer turns up without scanning the code.

Booking details

A booking's detail page shows the client (a row linking to their file), vehicle, status, scheduled time, workplace, specialization, the customer's notes, and internal notes your team can edit. What you can do depends on the status:

• Pending - schedule (opens the scheduling fields) or reject. Pick a slot opens the day's schedule board with a draggable draft block for this booking: drag the body to move it (up/down changes the time, sideways changes the workplace), drag its top/bottom edges to resize, or tap a free cell to jump it there - the block can't overlap another booking. Apply writes the workplace, date, and times back into the form. Save notes here saves only your internal notes; the schedule is sent when you Send for approval, which proposes the time to the customer. Or Reject it.
• Awaiting customer approval - the proposed time is waiting on the customer. You can Send for approval again with a different time, or Reject the booking. If the customer declines, their reason appears on the booking and it returns to Pending.
• Confirmed - the workplace, date, and start and end times are pre-filled and editable. Extending only the end saves without changing the status; moving the workplace or start time re-sends the appointment to the customer for approval (back to Awaiting customer approval). The app prevents overlaps, then start work.
• In progress - the same scheduling fields stay editable; advance the work stage and, when finished, mark done. If the work can't be finished (the customer withdraws, a part is unavailable), a Manager+ can end without finishing: a reason is required, the booking moves to Cancelled marked as ended by the shop, and the customer is notified and sees the reason on the booking.

Mechanics get a read-only view plus chat; scheduling and rejecting are Manager+.

Work stages

While a booking is in progress, move it through the stages so the customer always knows where their car is:

1. In the parking lot (set automatically when work starts)
2. Being serviced
3. Waiting for parts
4. Ready for pickup

The customer is notified at each change.

The schedule Manager+

Switch to the Schedule tab on the bookings page (or open Schedule from the menu). It shares the page's date strip and location: the date strip shows each day's load, and the board below lays out one column per workplace - with its number, mechanic, and specialization - and every booking as a block. Tap a block to open that booking. Under All locations, pick a location first to see the board.

Checking arrivals in

Open Check in arrival from the menu or the home screen's quick actions and tap Scan code: the customer shows you their booking's check-in code (from their app) and you scan it. The app shows the scanned booking's details - customer, vehicle, scheduled time, and what's needed - so you can confirm it's the right booking, then tap Confirm arrival. The booking is stamped as checked in, a confirmed booking moves to the In the parking lot stage, and the location's staff get a "Customer checked in" notification. The check-in time also drives the client file's last visit.

If a customer doesn't have their code handy, any employee can check the car in manually with the Mark as arrived button - it sits on the booking's detail page and as a quick action on each day-view card, and does the same thing as the scan.

On site Manager+

Open On site from the menu or the home screen's quick actions for a live overview of every vehicle physically at a location right now. A car appears once it has checked in (staff scanned the booking code, or marked it arrived) or once staff have set a work stage on it, and it stays until the booking is marked done. Pick a location at the top (it opens on your home location); a manager covering a single location sees no picker.

Each car is a card showing its registration plate and its status (Confirmed or In progress). Cards are grouped into work-stage sections in pipeline order: In the parking lot, Being serviced, Waiting for parts, Ready for pickup. A car with no work stage yet falls into "In the parking lot", or "Being serviced" once its work is in progress. The search box filters the cards by plate. Tap a card to open that vehicle's booking. The board updates live as cars check in, move between stages, or are marked done.

History

Finished bookings (Done, Cancelled, Rejected, Expired) move to History, available to everyone for reference. History is read-only.

A request nobody ever answered does not sit in the queue forever: once more than eight hours have passed since the requested time, a booking still Pending or Awaiting customer approval becomes Expired and moves to History. That state is distinct from Cancelled, which means someone actively backed out, and it shows in both your history and the customer's. No warning is sent beforehand: over so short a window it would arrive too late to act on.

The car's details

A booking or towing detail shows the make, model, year and registration, and if the owner recorded a VIN you see that too, beneath the car's name. The VIN identifies the exact engine and gearbox variant, so it is what tells you whether you can take a job on. The row appears only when the customer entered one; the field is optional, so many cars have none.

The same details appear in enquiries: when a customer picks a car, the app writes its details into the conversation, so they stay on the record even if they later ask about a different car.

Client ratings

After a booking is Done (or a towing request delivered), the customer can rate the location with 1-5 stars and an optional comment, for 30 days after their most recent visit there.

Each customer holds one review per location: coming back rewrites their review rather than adding another, and changing the stars or the words clears your reply, so you can answer what now stands. The review shows read-only on the booking or towing detail, even when it was written after an earlier visit.

The Ratings page in the menu lists every review in your scope, with the client's name, the date it last changed, and a link to the job it was last updated after. That link is the only clue what a review spanning several visits refers to, so it is not necessarily the job the text is about. Reviews feed the location's public score on the customer marketplace; only the platform operator can remove abusive ones, and a removed review keeps the customer's slot, so they cannot post a replacement.

Rating the customer

When you mark a booking Done (or a tow delivered), the app asks you once how the customer was: 1-5 stars, whether they were late, didn't pay or were rude, and an optional review. Tap Skip if there is nothing to add; you won't be asked again. If you change your mind later, a finished job's detail page has a Rate client button (or Edit client rating once rated).

Managers and admins see what every service business on CarMaster reports about a customer: on a booking or tow request, under the customer's name, and in full on the client's file. It shows the average, how many times they were reported late, not paying or rude, how many bookings they missed (cancelled automatically as a no-show), and the written reviews. Reviews from other businesses are anonymous: you only see whether a review came from your business or another business. Mechanics can rate, but don't see the scores.

The customer never sees these ratings in their app. They can, however, see them in their data export, and they can object to one through the platform, which may remove it. Ratings are deleted after 3 years.

Clients Manager+

The Clients list shows every customer who has booked with your company, with their contact details, booking count, and last visit. Open a client's file (the view button on their row) to see their full booking history, each booking links to its details and its chat thread. You can also invite a client to book - choose SMS or email, and the app sends them a message with a link and QR code for your location. If the email address or phone number can't receive the message, you'll see an error and nothing is sent - correct it and try again. If an email invite is accepted but later bounces (the mailbox doesn't exist), you get a notification so you know it didn't arrive.

On a client's page you can also manage their reminders: pick one of their vehicles, a type (ITP, RCA, vignette, or custom), a due date, and your location, and the client is notified before the date with a link to your location. You can also set one straight from a booking's detail page with Set reminder.

Walk-in clients Manager+

For someone who turns up without the app, open Walk-in from the menu. A single screen records the client (name and phone number), their car and the job. Make and model are picked from the catalog, the same way the customer app does it; if the car is not in the list, use the The vehicle is not in the list switch and type them in. The phone number is required: it is how you reach them about this job, and how they later claim the record if they register. The job starts confirmed, since the car is already with you.

Until then the record is provisional: the client gets SMS about the job, but has no account, so no in-app notifications and no conversation can be opened with them. All of that starts working by itself once they register and confirm their number. If the same person returns, enter the same phone number again and the existing record is reused rather than duplicated.

While the record is provisional the client cannot request erasure themselves, having no account. The shop does it for them: open the client's file and press the red button in the header Manager+. Their name, phone number and email address go for good, their cars drop off the list, and the jobs stay in your history without the personal details. Once the client registers the button disappears: from then on the erasure is theirs to request, from their own account.