Check-in process
While the car is in your care: workshop responsibility essentials
From key drop to handover, the customer's car is in your care. General principles of workshop responsibility and practical steps to reduce the risks.
The workshop reception blog
Bodywork disputes, vehicle walkarounds, photo evidence and aftersales organisation: practical guides for service advisors and workshop managers.
Disputes and evidence
Vehicle photos, data protection and retention: a guide for workshops
Check-in photos usually contain personal data. The data protection principles to apply and how to set a retention period for vehicle photos.
Disputes and evidence
Timestamped check-in photos as evidence: what makes them credible
Can a check-in photo settle a bodywork dispute? What makes a time-stamped photo credible, what undermines it, and how to organise photos in your workshop.
Check-in process
The vehicle walkaround checklist: 10 angles every service advisor should shoot
The 10 photos to take at vehicle check-in, in a fixed order, plus lighting tips and the common mistakes that leave gaps in your bodywork evidence.
Tools and organisation
The true cost of an undocumented bodywork dispute
Goodwill, lost hours, lost customers, a demoralised team: what an undocumented bodywork dispute really costs, and how to work it out for your own workshop.
Tools and organisation
Paper vs digital vehicle inspections at check-in: an honest comparison
Paper job cards, photos on personal phones or a dedicated check-in app? What each method really gives your workshop when a customer disputes damage.
Disputes and evidence
Electronic signatures at vehicle check-in: what to sign and which level
Job card, vehicle condition, extra authorisations: what customers should sign at check-in, and how simple, advanced and qualified e-signatures differ.
Disputes and evidence
Customer says you scratched their car? What to do at handover
A customer spots a scratch at collection and blames the workshop. A calm, step-by-step approach for service advisors to handle the complaint fairly.
Tools and organisation
Choosing a vehicle check-in app: offline use, PWA or native, data export
Offline mode, PWA or native app, data export, customer sharing: the practical criteria for choosing a vehicle check-in app for your service desk.
Disputes and evidence
Bodywork damage disputes: how to protect your workshop at check-in
A customer blames your workshop for a scratch or kerbed alloy. How service advisors can record vehicle condition at check-in and settle disputes on facts.
Check-in process
Active reception: why service advisors should walk round the car
Active reception means walking round the car with the customer at check-in. The benefits, a six-step method and the traps to avoid at the service desk.
Tools and organisation
10 common vehicle check-in mistakes, and how to fix them
Recording after moving the car, photos on personal phones, signing before the walkaround: 10 check-in mistakes that lead to disputes, and the fix for each.