Customer portal overview
Summary
Section titled “Summary”The customer portal is a branded, self-service website where your customers can track their vehicle’s progress, approve quotes, exchange messages with the garage, view invoices, and manage their profile and privacy settings. Each garage gets its own portal branded with the garage logo and primary colour. Customers do not need to create an account - the garage creates them automatically when a customer record is added.
Prerequisites
Section titled “Prerequisites”- The customer has an email address on file.
- At least one work order, conversation, or invoice exists for the customer (otherwise the portal is empty but functional).
How customers access the portal
Section titled “How customers access the portal”Magic link login (default)
Section titled “Magic link login (default)”- The customer opens the portal login page. The page heading reads Sign in to your portal with the subheading “Enter your email to receive a sign-in link”.
- The login form defaults to the Email link tab.
- The customer enters their email address in the Email address field and clicks Send sign-in link.
- A success message confirms the email was sent.
- The customer clicks the link in the email to sign in. The session lasts 90 days.
If the link has expired, the portal shows “Your link has expired. Request a new one below.” If the link is invalid, it shows “That link is no longer valid. Request a new one below.”
Password login
Section titled “Password login”- On the login page, the customer clicks the Password tab.
- They enter their Email address and Password, then click Sign in.
- If they have forgotten their password, they click Forgot your password? and follow the reset flow.
Customers only have the password option after they set one (see password upgrade below).
SMS and notification links
Section titled “SMS and notification links”Customers may also receive direct links to specific portal pages through SMS notifications or WhatsApp messages. These links authenticate the customer and take them straight to the relevant page (for example, a quote awaiting approval or a work order status page).
What the portal shows
Section titled “What the portal shows”After signing in, the customer sees a welcome page with their name and the garage name. The page reads: “Track your vehicle’s progress at [garage name]”.
First-visit welcome strip
Section titled “First-visit welcome strip”The very first time a customer opens the portal, an extra welcome strip appears above the standard header: “Welcome to [garage name]. Your car’s status is at the top of this page, and you can message the team anytime via Messages.” A small close button (X) sits on the right of the strip - the customer taps it to dismiss the strip, and it does not show again. The strip also clears naturally when the customer closes their browser. The strip does not appear on subsequent visits.
Single active job hero
Section titled “Single active job hero”When the customer has exactly one active work order - the most common case for a typical retail customer - the portal home page heroes that job at the top: “Your [Make Model] - [Status]. [Estimated ready date]” in large type. Tapping the hero opens the job’s status page. The Messages and Invoices tiles still appear below the hero. With two or more active jobs, the home page falls back to the standard tile-grid layout. With no active jobs, see the empty-state below.
No active jobs
Section titled “No active jobs”When the customer has no active work orders, the home page shows a centred empty-state: “Your garage is ready when you are” with a tap-to-call button “Call [garage name]”. One tap opens the customer’s phone dialler with the garage’s number prefilled.
Password upgrade prompt
Section titled “Password upgrade prompt”If the customer has not yet set a password, a card appears with the heading Want to sign in faster? and the text “Set a password to sign in directly without waiting for an email link.” Clicking Set a password expands a form with New password and Confirm password fields and a Set password button. Passwords must be at least 8 characters.
Messages
Section titled “Messages”A View Messages link takes the customer to their conversations with the garage team. See Portal messaging for details.
Your Jobs
Section titled “Your Jobs”A collapsible Your Jobs section shows all active work orders as cards. Each card displays:
- Reference Number - a human-readable code prefixed with “WO-” (e.g. WO-TANGO-1234). The card notes “Quote this reference when calling”.
- Vehicle registration, make, model, and colour.
- Status badge - Pending, Scheduled, In Progress, Awaiting Parts, Ready, or Complete.
- Status message - a plain-English description (e.g. “Work in progress”).
- Description of the work.
- Appointment date if one is scheduled.
- Booked date at the bottom.
- A View status link to the detailed status page.
If no active jobs exist, the portal shows “No active jobs” with the message “When you book with us, you’ll see your car’s status here.”
Invoices
Section titled “Invoices”A View Invoices link leads to the invoices list. Each invoice card shows:
- Invoice number.
- Payment status badge - with an overdue indicator if the due date has passed.
- Date and vehicle registration.
- Gross amount.
Clicking an invoice opens the detail page where the customer can download a PDF.
Profile menu
Section titled “Profile menu”The profile menu in the top-right header shows the customer’s name and an avatar initial. Clicking it opens a dropdown with:
- Messages - go to conversations.
- Invoices - go to invoices list.
- My Profile - edit preferred salutation.
- Privacy & Security - manage privacy tier, password, and voice PIN.
- Sign out - log out of the portal.
My Profile
Section titled “My Profile”The profile page lets customers choose how they prefer to be addressed. A link at the bottom reads Manage communication preferences, which opens the preferences page where customers can toggle consent categories for how the garage contacts them.
Privacy & Security
Section titled “Privacy & Security”The combined Privacy & Security page includes:
- Privacy Level - a tier selector controlling what the AI voice assistant can share when someone calls about the customer’s account.
- Account Security - cards for managing a voice PIN and password (set or change).
- Alert Preferences - visible only at the BLOCKED privacy tier, controls notifications when someone tries to access the account.
- Get in Touch - shows garage contact channels (voice AI numbers, WhatsApp, main line).
Expected Outcome
Section titled “Expected Outcome”The customer can independently track work, approve quotes, send messages, view invoices, and manage their account settings without needing to phone the garage.
Troubleshooting
Section titled “Troubleshooting”| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Customer sees “Unable to find your garage. Please check the URL.” | The portal URL does not match any registered garage domain or subdomain. | Confirm the garage’s domain is set correctly in organisation settings. |
| Magic link email not received. | Email may be in spam, or the email address does not match any customer record. | Ask the customer to check their spam folder. Verify their email address in Torqueflow matches what they entered. |
| Password tab does not work. | The customer has not set a password yet. | They need to sign in via magic link first, then set a password from the upgrade prompt on the welcome page. |
| Portal shows no jobs or invoices. | The customer has no work orders or invoices linked to their record. | Confirm the customer record in Torqueflow has the correct email and that work orders are assigned to them. |
- The portal session lasts 90 days. Customers do not need to sign in frequently.
- The portal is fully responsive and works on mobile devices.
- All portal pages are protected by session validation. If the session expires, the customer is redirected to the login page.
- The garage’s branding (logo and primary colour) is applied throughout the portal automatically.