Abandoning and cleaning up old work orders

Summary

Over time a garage builds up work orders that never went anywhere. No-shows, declined quotes, jobs left open from a data import. They clutter the board and can even surface in places they should not, like the AI reading out a months-old job.

Torqueflow lets you mark these as Abandoned. Abandoned is different from Cancelled on purpose. Cancelled means someone decided to call the job off. Abandoned means the job just fizzled out. Keeping them separate keeps your figures honest, and Abandoned is reversible if a customer reappears.

You can abandon work orders in bulk (ideal for a one-off clear-out of hundreds of old rows) or one at a time from a work order. Nothing is deleted, and the customer is never messaged when you abandon a job.

Prerequisites

• You are signed in as an Owner or Manager. Abandoning uses the same access as the Workshop board.

Steps

Abandon old work orders in bulk

1. Open the Workshop board.
2. In the toolbar, select Select. Checkboxes appear on the cards and drag-and-drop is paused.
3. Pick the jobs to abandon. You can tap individual cards, or use a column header option:
   • Select all (N) selects every card in that column.
   • Select older than [30/60/90/180 days] selects only the cards older than the threshold you set in the toolbar (90 days by default). Each card shows an age chip so you can see how stale it is.
4. Select Mark as Abandoned. A confirmation dialog opens.
5. Check the dialog. It shows how many jobs you selected, the date range of that selection (a useful sanity check that you have not caught anything recent), and a reminder that customers will not be notified.
6. Choose one reason for the whole batch: No-show, Declined quote, Data migration, Duplicate, or Other.
7. Confirm. The dialog then shows the result, including any jobs that were skipped and why.

You can select up to 500 jobs at once. If you have more, run the clear-out in batches.

Jobs that are skipped automatically

Some jobs are never abandoned in a bulk action, even if selected. They are skipped and listed in the result, so you can see exactly what was left alone:

• The vehicle is at the workshop (checked in, customer waiting, or ready for pickup). A car physically on site is not abandoned.
• The job has a future appointment booked. That customer is expected.
• The job is already closed (Complete, Cancelled, or already Abandoned).

Abandon a single work order

1. Open the work order.
2. Select Mark as abandoned.
3. Choose a reason and confirm.

The work order shows an Abandoned banner with the reason and the date.

Reopen an abandoned work order

1. Open the abandoned work order.
2. On the banner, select Reopen.

The job returns to your starting status (Pending by default) and the abandoned reason is cleared. Reopening does not message the customer. If you want to schedule new work, book an appointment as normal.

Expected Outcome

• Stale jobs are off the board without being deleted.
• Each abandoned job carries a reason and the date it was abandoned.
• Skipped jobs (on-site vehicle, future booking, already closed) are reported, never silently changed.
• An abandoned job can be reopened in one step if the customer comes back.

Notes

• Customers are never notified when you abandon a job. This is deliberate.
• Where abandoned jobs go. They drop off the Workshop board and out of the default work-orders list. To see them, go to the work orders list and turn on Show closed, then filter by Abandoned. The “View abandoned” link in the confirmation toast takes you straight there.
• Abandoned is for entropy, Cancelled is for decisions. Use Cancelled when you or the customer call a job off. Use Abandoned for the old no-shows and dead rows.
• Parts stay allocated. Abandoning a job does not release any parts allocated to it, the same as cancelling does not. Remove the parts if you need the stock back.

Troubleshooting

Problem: Some jobs I selected were not abandoned. Cause: They matched a skip rule (vehicle on site, a future appointment, or already closed). Fix: This is expected. The result list names each skipped job and the reason. Deal with those individually if needed.

Problem: I cannot find an abandoned job afterwards. Cause: Abandoned jobs are hidden from the default board and list. Fix: On the work orders list, turn on Show closed and filter by Abandoned, or use the “View abandoned” link in the toast.

Problem: I abandoned a job by mistake. Cause: No harm done, abandoning is reversible. Fix: Open the job (via Show closed) and select Reopen. It returns to the starting status.

Permissions

• Abandon and reopen: Owner and Manager (the same access as the Workshop board).