Sending a health check report to the customer

Summary

Once a health check is priced, you send the customer a report from the bottom of the pricing view. Choose SMS, email, a link you share yourself (for example from the garage’s WhatsApp) or print. The customer opens the report on their phone without signing in. It shows what the technician found, with photos, readings, your wording and your prices, and ends with your garage’s phone number so they can call to go ahead. Sending freezes the report: nobody can change what the customer was shown. The pricing view then keeps the record of when it was sent, whether it was delivered and whether it appears to have been opened. If the customer did not get it, send the link again. If something needs to change, send a new report. Nothing goes to the customer until you press Send.

Prerequisites

You have the Manage Work Orders permission. Owners, managers and service advisors have it by default. Technicians cannot send reports.
The check is signed off, and you have priced what you want to price. Unpriced items never stop you sending: they show as Price to follow. See Pricing a health check.
To send by SMS, the customer has a mobile number that can receive texts and has not opted out of texts. To send by email, the customer has an email address.
The report’s footer shows your garage’s phone number and address from your organisation settings. Check they are right before your first send.

Steps

Sending the report

Open the check’s pricing view. See Pricing a health check for the ways in.
Click Send to customer at the bottom of the page. The Send the report dialog opens.
Under How to send it, choose one:
- SMS: “A text message to” the customer’s mobile.
- Email: “An email to” the customer’s address.
- Share the link yourself: “We will not message the customer. You send the link from your own phone or computer.”
- Print: “Open the report to print and hand over.”
One is already selected from the customer’s preferred contact method. A customer who prefers WhatsApp gets Share the link yourself. A way you cannot use is missing, with a line saying why, for example “SMS is not available: the customer has opted out of text messages.”
Click Continue. The Send this report? confirmation opens.
Read it. It shows:
- the customer and the full mobile number or email address, so you can catch a wrong one;
- every item that still needs a price (“These still need a price and will show as Price to follow:”);
- every item with no customer wording;
- how many items are already on the job and will show as Already booked;
- “No job: nothing will be added to a quote”, when the check has no job;
- for a shared link, “Anyone who has the link can open the report without signing in until” a date;
- “Once sent, this report cannot be changed. To change anything later you send a new report.”
Click Send.

The dialog then shows what to do next:

Channel	What you see
SMS or email	Report sent and “Sent to” the number or address, or “Sending to … This can take a moment.”
Share the link yourself	Your link is ready, the customer’s link and Copy. Open in WhatsApp opens WhatsApp with the message ready, when the customer has a mobile. Share opens your device’s share menu, where the device has one.
Print	Ready to print and Open to print.

Nothing opens or copies by itself: click the button you want. Click Done to close the dialog. The pricing view now shows the sent record.

If you have unsaved changes on the page when you send, the confirmation says so. They are not part of what is sent.

What the customer receives

SMS: “{your garage}: Your health check report for AB12 CDE is ready:” followed by the link and “Reply STOP to opt out.”
Email: from your garage’s name at noreply@mail.torqueflow.app, with your logo and colour, a View your report button, the plain link underneath and the date the link works until. If the customer replies, the reply goes to the email address in your organisation settings. With no address set there, replies are not received.
Share the link yourself: a short message with the link, for you to send however you like.

Messages and the report are in the customer’s preferred language, or your garage’s language if they have none set. Once one report has reached the customer, any later one reads “An updated health check report”.

What the customer sees

The link opens a page with your garage’s name, logo and colour. In order, it shows:

The registration, model, date, mileage and job reference.
Your scope statement, saying what the check covered. You set it in Settings > Health checks. See Health check templates.
A summary of the five verdicts, with a count for each.
What the colours mean, or on a short check a line under each heading.
The items found OK.
Each Red item, then each Amber item, with its photos, readings, your wording and its price.
The items not checked or not applicable.
Who did the check, and the technician’s comment if they chose to show it.
“To go ahead, call {your garage} on {your number}”, your address, the date it was sent and the date the link works until.

Each price includes VAT, with labour and parts shown separately and each line’s VAT wording. There is no grand total. Instead of a price, an item can show:

The customer sees	Why
No charge	You marked it No charge.
Price to follow	It had no price, or you left the price to follow.
Already booked on this job	The same work was already on the job when you sent it.
Already approved	The customer had already approved this work.

The report never shows the technician’s notes, your costs or margins, the photos taken at the foot of the check or anything about another customer.

The page has a Print button and prints cleanly, with the verdict colours and names. The customer cannot approve or decline items on the page yet. They call you.

Following the report after it is sent

The top of the pricing view shows the sent record. The Health check card on the work order shows a short version.

On the pricing view	What it means
Sending…	The text or email is on its way.
Not confirmed by SMS (or email)	After 2 minutes there is still no answer from the text or email service. It may still arrive.
Not delivered by SMS: a reason	The message failed, for example “the number is not a valid mobile number”.
Sent	The text or email service accepted the message.
Link shared by a name	You chose Share the link yourself.
Printed	You chose Print.
Withdrawn	Someone withdrew the link. It no longer works.

Below that:

Appears opened and a time, or Not opened yet. A report counts as opened when someone views it in a web browser for about 2 seconds. Your own staff opening it do not count. Neither do link previews in messaging apps or email scanners. A customer whose browser blocks scripts, or who closes it within 2 seconds, is not counted, so Not opened yet does not prove they have not looked.
“The link works until” a date. A link works for 30 days from when it was sent.

If a text or email fails, the person who sent it gets a pop-up: “A health check report was not delivered”, with the reason and Send the link again.

When a report counts as delivered

A report is delivered once the customer’s current link has reached them:

the text or email service accepted the message; or
you printed it or shared the link; or
the customer opened it.

A check leaves the Awaiting pricing list on the Health checks page only once its report is delivered. A failed later resend does not undo that: the record reads, for example, “Delivered. The latest resend by SMS was not delivered” with the reason. Withdrawing the link puts the check back on Awaiting pricing.

Sending the link again

Use this when the customer says they did not get it, or wants it another way. It sends the same report, exactly as it was sent.

On the pricing view’s sent record, click Send the link again. It is shown more prominently when the report was not delivered.
Choose how to send it. You can pick a different way from the first time.
Confirm, for example “Send the same report again to 07700 900123?”.

The customer gets the same link, unless the old link was withdrawn, has expired or has less than a day left. Then a new link is made, and the old one stops working.

If you send to a different mobile number or email address from last time, Torqueflow asks “Did the first message go to the wrong person?”

Yes, stop the old link: the link in the first message stops working and a new one is sent.
No, it is the same customer: the same link is sent to the new number or address.

The question only comes up when both are mobile numbers or both are email addresses.

Withdrawing the link

Withdraw the link if it went to the wrong person or should no longer be open.

On the sent record, click Withdraw link.
Confirm. “The link stops working for anyone who has it. You can send a fresh link afterwards.”

Anyone opening the old link sees a page that is not available. The check goes back on Awaiting pricing. To give the customer a working link again, click Send the link again. It makes a new link.

Sending a new report

A sent report never changes. To price something you left to follow, or to change anything else, send a new report.

On the sent record, click Send a new report, then Start a new report. “This will be a new report. The one already sent stays as it is.”
The pricing view opens a copy of what was sent, with its prices, wording and choices. Under it, the sent record is headed “The report the customer has now”.
Change what you need. Nothing reaches the customer until you press Send to customer.
Send it as before.

The customer’s message reads as an update. Anyone who opens the old link sees “An updated report was sent on” a date once the new one is delivered.

Send a new report is hidden while a new report is already being edited for the check.

What sending does to the job’s quote

When you send a report for a check on a job, every priced or No charge item goes onto the job’s quote, in a group headed From the health check report. Each line shows Waiting for the customer, and Open the pricing view takes you back to the report.

Items left as Price to follow are not added.
These lines are read-only on the quote. They “cannot be edited, marked ready or released here”. Change them by sending a new report.
An item that will show as Already booked is not added again. Before you send, its card on the pricing view says “Already on the job:” and names the matching work. Tick Add to the quote anyway if it really is extra work.
Two items with the same name on the same check are two pieces of work, and both go on the quote.
Removing an advisory from a new report and sending it takes that advisory’s earlier unanswered line off the quote. A line the customer declined stays declined.
A check with no job adds nothing to any quote.

Recording the customer’s answer against these lines is not available yet. They stay Waiting for the customer, and only approved lines are invoiced. When the customer agrees to the work, add it to the job as you do today.

The worklist after sending

On the Health checks list, a check whose report was delivered with an item still Price to follow appears under Sent, items still to price. Open it and use Send a new report to price what was left.

Expected Outcome

The pricing view shows the sent record with who sent it, when and how.
The record reads Sent, Link shared by your name or Printed, not Not delivered.
The Health check card on the work order shows the report’s state, for example “Report sent by SMS”.
The check has left Awaiting pricing on the Health checks list.
For a check on a job, the priced items are on the job’s quote under From the health check report.

Troubleshooting

Problem: SMS and email are missing from the dialog. Cause: The customer has no mobile number that can receive texts (a landline does not count), has opted out of texts, has no email address or has asked for all contact to stop. Fix: Add or correct the details on the customer record, or use Print. A customer with contact stopped can only be given a printed report. See Stopping all contact.

Problem: The dialog says “This check has no customer to send to. Print it, or share the link yourself.” Cause: The check has no job, and the vehicle has no keeper. Fix: Use Print or Share the link yourself. The report is in your garage’s language.

Problem: “Something changed since you opened this. Check it again before you send.” Cause: A price, wording or the customer’s details changed between opening the confirmation and pressing Send. Fix: The confirmation reopens with the current details. Check them and send again.

Problem: “The tax settings could not be read, so the prices cannot be frozen. Try again in a moment.” Cause: Torqueflow could not read your VAT settings at the moment of sending. Nothing was sent. Fix: Try again. If it keeps happening, check Settings > Finance.

Problem: “Contact stopped: this customer has opted out of all messages.” Cause: The customer has asked for all contact to stop. Fix: Use Print. Only re-enable contact if the customer asks. See Stopping all contact.

Problem: The record reads Not delivered by SMS: the number is not a valid mobile number. Cause: The number on file is not a working mobile. Fix: Correct the number on the customer record, then click Send the link again.

Problem: The record reads Not delivered by email: this address cannot receive our emails. Cause: Emails to this address have bounced or been reported, so our email service holds them back. Fix: Ask the customer for another address, or send by SMS, link or print with Send the link again.

Problem: Send the link again answers “Still sending - try again in a moment”. Cause: A text or email to the customer is still showing Sending…. Torqueflow holds back another send for up to 2 minutes, including a print, a shared link or a wrong-person resend. This is a known limit. Fix: Wait until the record changes, which takes at most 2 minutes, then try again. If the first message went to the wrong person and you cannot wait, click Withdraw link first. Send the link again then works straight away and makes a new link.

Problem: “We could not confirm whether that was sent.” Cause: The connection dropped while sending. Fix: Look at the sent record on the pricing view before you try again, so the customer does not get two messages.

Problem: The customer says the link has expired. Cause: A link works for 30 days. After that the customer sees “This link has expired. Contact {your garage} for a fresh one.” with your phone number. Fix: Click Send the link again. A new link is made for another 30 days.

Problem: The customer says the link shows a page that is not available. Cause: The link was withdrawn, or it was mistyped. Fix: Click Send the link again.

Problem: Not opened yet shows, but the customer says they have read it. Cause: Opens are only counted when the page is viewed in a browser for about 2 seconds with scripts on. Fix: Nothing to do. Appears opened is a guide, not proof either way.

Notes

A sent report is a fixed record. It keeps the prices, wording, scope statement and photos it was sent with. A photo removed from the check after sending stays on that report until its link is withdrawn or expires.
WhatsApp is through your own phone. Torqueflow does not send the report by WhatsApp itself. Use Share the link yourself and Open in WhatsApp.
No reminders yet. Torqueflow does not chase a report that has not been opened, and there is no way for the customer to approve or decline items on the page. They call you.
Nothing is sent by itself. Recording a health check, signing it off and pricing it never message the customer. Only Send and Send the link again do.
Anyone with the link can open it. The customer does not sign in, so treat the link like the report itself. Withdraw it if it goes to the wrong person.

Permissions

Action	Who can do it
Send a report, send the link again, withdraw a link, send a new report	Manage Work Orders (Owner, Manager and Service Advisor by default)
Get the “not delivered” pop-up	The person who last sent the report
Change the scope statement at the top of every report	Manage health check report settings (Owner and Manager by default). See Health check templates.
Open the customer’s report	Anyone with the link, without signing in, for 30 days