How your free trial works

Summary

Your Torqueflow trial lasts 14 days from the moment you confirm your email, with every feature switched on. You add a card near the start and nothing is charged. Torqueflow emails you three days and one day before the trial ends. When it ends, your first monthly payment is taken from that card and your subscription starts on its own. You do not need to do anything to keep your account. If a trial ends without a subscription, new work pauses until you subscribe, but your existing jobs, invoices and data all keep working. This article explains each stage, what you see on the billing page, and what happens if you have not added a card.

Prerequisites

• A Torqueflow account on a free trial. See Sign up for Torqueflow.
• The Owner role, or another role with billing access, to add a card or view Settings > Billing.

Steps

Know what your trial includes

1. The trial runs for 14 days from when you click Confirm and create my account. A referral code that adds trial days makes it longer.
2. If your trial started before the trial moved to 14 days, it keeps the 30 days you were given at signup. Your billing page always shows your own end date.
3. Every feature is available during the trial.
4. Your trial comes with 2,500 AI credits for voice calls, messages and other AI features. They last until your trial ends.
5. You cannot buy extra credit packs during the trial. If you use all 2,500 credits, the AI features step back to taking messages until your subscription starts. See What happens when credits run out.

Add your card

1. For most self-serve signups, Torqueflow asks for a card straight after you set your password. The page is headed One last step, and the rest of the app opens once a card is saved.
2. If your account was set up without that step, Add your card is the first item on your Getting started checklist. Click it to go to Settings > Billing, then click Add a card.
3. Stripe’s secure card page opens. Enter your card and complete any security check from your bank.
4. Nothing is charged. Your bank may show a small temporary authorisation, which is released automatically.
5. You return to Settings > Billing with a green Card saved banner.

Check your trial on the billing page

1. Go to Settings > Billing.
2. A badge shows how many days are left, e.g. “12 days remaining”. It is green with more than 7 days left, amber from 4 to 7 days and red in the last 3 days. On a tablet or computer, the same countdown shows in the header at the top of every page, e.g. “Trial: 6 days”. Click it to open the billing page.
3. With a card saved, a panel headed Your subscription is set up shows:
   • The card, e.g. “Visa ending 4242, expires 03/2028”.
   • “Your subscription starts on [date].”
   • “£249.00 plus applicable tax will be charged to this card on [date].”
   • “The price shown when you gave your card is the price you will be charged. A later change to our list price does not change it.”
4. To use a different card, click Update Payment Method. This opens Stripe’s billing portal.

Watch for the reminder emails

1. Three days before your trial ends, every active Owner on the account receives an email headed “Your trial ends on [date]”.
2. One day before, a second email arrives with the subject “Last reminder: your Torqueflow trial ends on [date]”.
3. Both emails name the amount, the card ending and the charge date, and say “You do not need to do anything.”
4. For a standard 14-day trial, the emails usually arrive on day 12 and day 14, and the first payment is taken on day 15. If you signed up in the afternoon, each email can arrive a day later, so the last reminder may land on the day of the charge.
5. Each reminder is sent once.

If your account was set up without the card step and no card is saved, you get two different emails instead, three days and one day before the trial ends. They are headed “Your trial ends on [date]” and say that from that date new jobs, online bookings and AI replies pause unless you add a card. Nothing is charged until you do, and your data and existing jobs are safe.

When the trial ends

1. Stripe takes your first monthly payment from the saved card, plus VAT. This usually happens about an hour after the trial end time, and occasionally up to 3 days later. Until then the billing page can still show your trial. Nothing is wrong and you do not need to do anything.
2. Your trial credits expire at the trial end time. Between then and the payment going through, the AI features step back to taking messages.
3. When the payment is taken, your subscription changes to Active on the billing page and your first monthly credit allowance is added.
4. A VAT invoice appears in Invoice History on the billing page.
5. After that you are billed monthly on the same day of the month.
6. If the first payment is declined, your account moves to a payment failed state rather than Active. See Payment failures and overdue accounts.

Start paying before the trial ends

1. If no card is saved, the billing page shows a Choose Your Plan card under the card panel.
2. Choose Monthly or Annual, then click Upgrade Now.
3. This starts your subscription straight away. Stripe takes the first payment at checkout, so the remaining trial days are not added on.
4. If the payment at checkout fails, you stay on your trial. There is no payment warning and you can simply try again.
5. Once a card is saved and your subscription is set up, the plan chooser is not shown. Your subscription starts monthly at the end of the trial.

Buy the annual term during your trial

With a card saved and your subscription set up, the Your subscription is set up panel also reads “Prefer to pay for the year up front? You can buy the annual term today instead of waiting for the trial to end.”

1. Click Buy the annual term now. A dialog headed Buy the annual term now reads “Your trial ends today and the annual term starts straight away, charged to the card you have on file.”
2. Wait for the figure. The dialog shows the amount charged today, the annual term dates and the renewal date.
3. Click Confirm and pay with the amount shown. Your trial ends straight away, the annual term starts and your first monthly credit allowance is added.
4. A message confirms “Your annual term has started. It runs until [date].”

For how the annual term works, see Manage your subscription and billing.

If the trial ends without a subscription

This applies when no card was saved, or when a card was saved but the subscription never got set up. Nothing is charged, because there is nothing to charge. Instead, new work pauses on the account until you subscribe.

1. Every active Owner receives an email with the subject “New work is paused on your Torqueflow account”. It lists what pauses, what keeps working and what you used during the trial, with an Add a card and subscribe button.
2. A banner across the top of every page reads “Your free trial has ended, so new jobs, online booking and AI replies are paused. Existing jobs can still be finished, invoiced and paid.” It has an Add a card and subscribe button. On a phone it shortens to “New jobs paused”. The banner cannot be dismissed.
3. Staff without billing access see one line instead: “New jobs are paused on this account. Your account owner can restore it from Billing.”
4. Go to Settings > Billing. The page shows Trial expired and a panel headed Your free trial has ended. It lists what is paused, what is still working, What your customers see and During your trial (calls handled, customers added and jobs created).
5. Below it, a panel headed Add a card and start your subscription reads “Your trial has ended, so adding a card starts your subscription and takes the first payment straight away.”
6. Click Add a card and subscribe. A confirmation asks “Start your subscription now?”, because this takes your first payment rather than just storing the card.
7. Click Continue to payment and complete Stripe’s page. Your subscription starts, the banner clears and everything is restored, including full AI features and your first monthly credit allowance.

You can also pay from the Choose Your Plan card, which reads “Your trial has ended. Choose a plan to restore new jobs, online booking and AI replies.”

What pauses and what keeps working

While a trial has ended without a subscription, these are paused:

• Creating new jobs and appointments, including converting a quote into a job. The buttons stay visible. Tap one and a short explainer headed New jobs are paused says why.
• Online and portal booking. Your customers see “Online booking isn’t available right now” with a button to call you.
• AI replies to texts, WhatsApp and portal messages. Customers get a holding reply saying the team will get back to them. The messages inbox shows “AI replies are paused - new messages need a staff reply.”
• AI booking on calls. Callers reach a message-taker instead of the AI receptionist.
• Automated MOT and service reminders. They are held, not cancelled. When you subscribe, any that are still relevant are sent. Any whose due date has already passed are dropped.

These keep working:

• Finishing, editing and invoicing your existing jobs, and taking payment.
• Messaging your customers yourself.
• Everything your customers do on their side: paying invoices, accepting quotes, managing or cancelling a booking, asking for a callback and signing in to the portal.
• All your data and exports, the time clock and kiosk, and your team’s sign-in.

Expected Outcome

• You know the date your subscription starts and the amount that will be charged, from Settings > Billing.
• You receive two reminder emails before any payment is taken.
• Your subscription starts on its own at the end of the trial, with no action from you.

Troubleshooting

Problem: I want to stop before my first payment. Cause: The Cancel subscription page only opens once a subscription is active, so it is not available during the trial. Fix: Contact support before the charge date shown on your billing page and ask us to stop the subscription. Leave enough time for us to act before that date.

Problem: The billing page says “Your card is saved, but your subscription is not set up yet”. Cause: Your card was stored but the subscription could not be created. Nothing will be charged while this shows. Fix: Click Retry now. Torqueflow also retries automatically every day. If it keeps failing, contact support.

Problem: Our list price went down during my trial, but my reminder shows the old price. Cause: You are charged the price that was showing when you gave your card, whichever way the list price moves afterwards. Fix: Contact support and ask about the lower price.

Problem: The first payment at the end of the trial failed. Cause: The card was declined, expired or needs a security check. Fix: Go to Settings > Billing and click Update Payment Method. See Payment failures and overdue accounts.

Problem: I did not receive a reminder email. Cause: Reminders only go to active Owners. They can land in spam. Fix: Check your spam folder, and check the start date on Settings > Billing, which always shows the charge date.

Problem: A banner says new jobs are paused and the New work order button shows an explainer. Cause: Your trial ended without a subscription starting. Fix: An Owner goes to Settings > Billing and clicks Add a card and subscribe. Everything is restored as soon as the payment goes through.

Problem: A customer says our online booking page tells them to call us. Cause: Online booking is paused while the trial has ended without a subscription. Fix: Subscribe from Settings > Billing. Online booking reopens straight away.

Problem: I just paid but the banner is still showing. Cause: Stripe is still confirming the payment. Fix: The billing page reads “Still confirming your payment. If you have just paid, reload the page in a moment.” Wait a few seconds and reload.

Notes

• If Torqueflow extends your trial, the charge date moves with it. The billing page and the reminder emails show the new date. Your trial credits keep their original expiry date, so ask us about credits for the extra days when we extend.
• An extension after the trial has ended reopens new jobs and online booking. It does not bring back AI replies on its own, because those run on credits.
• Between the trial end and the first payment going through on a saved card, nothing pauses.
• A monthly subscriber who cancels pays for the month they are in and is not owed a refund, because the free trial is the time to decide. Annual subscribers get the whole unused months back. See How to cancel your Torqueflow subscription.
• The price shown in the app and in emails is before VAT. VAT is worked out from your billing address.