Repair estimate update in 72 hours: 5 steps to follow

• inspect the item and write the result down before you call the customer.
• contact the customer within 72 hours with the results.
• give the labor estimate in that same update.
• get the customer's authorization for repairs and note the date on the ticket.
• return the repaired item within 72 hours of authorization, then confirm the return with the customer.

A time promise gives the customer a date to plan around before they have to ask for one. The 72-hour figure in this article comes from one warranty example, according to Federal Trade Commission. Treat it as your office's own commitment, not as a rule for your trade.

Your update can follow five stages in order: inspection, the first contact with results, the labor estimate, approval and the return. Each stage gives the customer one fact to hold onto, so the visit reads as a sequence rather than a series of unrelated calls. Plain language suits this promise better than trade shorthand. The customer needs the times and the next step, not the internal terms your technicians use.

Dispatch can also use the same stages to plan the day. If the inspection time and the callback time are written down together, the office can see which updates are due before the end of the shift. Arrival messages that come before the inspection are a separate topic, covered in customer arrival updates.

Where your system allows it, state the window as a calendar date and a clock time. A customer who reads a date and a time can see the deadline without counting forward from the visit. Using the same wording on every update keeps the deadline in the same place for each customer, and a second person in the office can then check each update against its ticket.

The inspection comes first, because the customer's update depends on what you find. According to Federal Trade Commission, the example says it will inspect the item and contact the customer within 72 hours to give the results of the inspection. Your office can use the same two-part promise with its own window.

Your inspection finding should be in plain words before you call. The date and time of the inspection belong on the ticket, so anyone checking the timing can see when the inspection took place. For more on dispatch handoffs, see Field Service Work Order Checklist for Dispatch Handoffs.

If the inspection is still open when you make the first contact, say that plainly on the call.

A useful call runs in a fixed order: the finding, what the finding means for the repair, the labor estimate, the next step, and the time you will contact the customer again. If the inspection needs more time than the first call can cover, give a callback time. A short update that names a callback time avoids promising a result you do not have yet. Answer questions about the repair from what the inspection showed alone, and leave out any guess about the outcome.

The labor estimate belongs in the same update as the results. According to Federal Trade Commission, the example promises an estimate of the labor charges required to fix the item. State the labor estimate on its own line, so the customer can see it separately from the findings. Say the estimate as one amount and say what it covers, so the customer hears the same figure that is written on the ticket.

Approval comes next, and it should be recorded before any repair starts. The customer's answer belongs on the ticket with its date, whether the answer is yes or no. If the customer declines repairs, note that decision on the same ticket, so the next person who opens it knows where the item stands.

If the customer asks for time to decide, write the decision date on the ticket as well. A follow-up call can then be tied to that date rather than to memory. Keep the labor estimate and the approval in the same record, so the figures the customer agreed to can be checked against each other.

If the estimate changes after approval, record the new figure with its date rather than overwriting the first one. Both figures can then be checked against the call notes.

The return is the final stage. According to Federal Trade Commission, the example's return promise applies when the customer authorizes repairs, so the return window is best tied to the approval date. Set a return date when approval comes in, so the window is written down before the repair is finished.

Before the item leaves, the paperwork should match the repair the customer approved. Check the item, the approved repair and the ticket against each other before the return is confirmed, so the call is about one agreed record. If a return will miss the planned date, call the customer before that date passes rather than after.

Note the approval date and the return date on the same ticket line, so anyone checking the window can see both dates in one place. Your return message can name the date the item was returned and the phone number the customer should call with questions. A short confirmation closes the loop, and it gives the customer a point of contact for anything still open.

In a hypothetical shop, an inspection starts at 10:00 on Monday. The first call goes out by 10:00 on Thursday, and the labor estimate is given in that same call. The customer authorizes repairs on Thursday, and the ticket records that date. The repaired item goes back by 10:00 on Sunday, which is 72 hours after approval.

Section 102 of the Act directs how to title your warranty, according to Federal Trade Commission. The warranty document's title should match the warranty your customer received, so the ticket and the paperwork describe the same agreement.

Keep a copy of the warranty wording you gave the customer on the ticket, so the update and the paperwork point to the same terms. If the wording changes later, date the new copy and keep the earlier one.

The Federal Trade Commission's cooling-off page for sales made at homes or certain other locations describes a request for public comment on a proposed increase in the $25 exclusionary limit, according to Federal Trade Commission. The page is a request for comment, so your customer messages should not describe that limit as changed.

A New Zealand guide notes that these guarantees apply even if the price or timeframe was not agreed in advance, according to Consumer Protection New Zealand. That is one jurisdiction's guide, so check how it applies where your firm works. The same guide says a customer may be entitled to a repair, replacement, or refund when a product or service does not meet the guarantees, according to Consumer Protection New Zealand. A refund or repair outcome should not be promised in an update, because the guide describes that remedy as one a customer may be entitled to when the guarantees are not met.

A California page on home improvement contracts explains "Service and Repair" contracts and how they differ from regular contracts, according to California Contractors State License Board. If your work is a service or repair job, confirm which contract type your paperwork uses before the update is sent.

The table below gives one quoted passage for each publisher named in this section.

The ticket should hold each stage of the update with its date and time: the inspection, the first contact, the labor estimate, the approval and the return. Your notes should also hold the call time, the result you gave, and the labor estimate you stated. A later question about timing can be answered from those notes rather than from memory.

Estimate figures need their own entries, so the labor line stays separate from the other estimate lines on the record. For the line-level detail, see equipment estimate line item fields.

Record the name of the person you spoke with on each call as well. One date format across the ticket makes the timeline easy to read, and it makes a missed window easier to spot.

Keep the decision on repairs apart from the notes on the findings. If the customer declines, the decline date belongs on the ticket beside the approval line, so each stage shows one decision with its date. Any reason the customer gives can be written beside the decision in the customer's own words.

Review open tickets at the end of each day for any update that has no contact time yet. A short list of those tickets, with the inspection time beside each one, shows which customers are still waiting for a call.

Store the update script with the ticket form your office uses, so each new ticket starts with the same stages in the same order.

Your next step is to write your own inspect, estimate, approve and return times on a one-page update script, then use it on the next repair ticket. The script can have one line for the inspection result, one for the labor estimate, one for the approval, and one for the return date. It should stay short enough to read aloud on a call.

How long does the example give to inspect and contact the customer?

The example gives 72 hours to inspect the item and contact the customer, according to Federal Trade Commission. Your office can record the inspection time and the call time together on the ticket.

How long to return the item after repairs are authorized?

The example gives 72 hours to return the repaired item if repairs are authorized, according to Federal Trade Commission. Your ticket can hold the approval date next to the return date, so the window can be checked against one record.

What does Part 702 direct?

Part 702 directs how to make your warranty available before sale, according to Federal Trade Commission. The full guide should be read before that direction is relied on for your own warranty paperwork.

Should the customer get a phone number to call?

The example gives a dealer contact and phone number, according to Federal Trade Commission. Your office number can go on the update and on the ticket, so the customer and your records show the same number.