Appliance repair scheduling software for the job that takes two visits.
You diagnose it on Tuesday, the part lands Friday, and you go back. Foldrule keeps both visits, the model plate photo, the deposit and the final invoice on one job, so nothing falls into the gap between them.
The part is never on the truck.
The first visit is a diagnosis and a number. Then it is a control board on order, a client without a fridge asking when, and a second trip a few days later that has to remember everything the first one found. Some of the work is warranty, billed to a manufacturer instead of the person whose kitchen you are standing in.
The model and serial off the plate decide whether the right part shows up. Get that wrong and you have bought yourself a third visit.
- A diagnostic visit, then a wait, then a return visit
- Parts ordered against a model and serial number
- Warranty work billed to a manufacturer, not the homeowner
- Clients without a fridge, calling to ask when
The call that comes while the part ships
The washer is still full of water and towels when you get there. You drain it, pull the panel and find the drain pump seized, with a coin jammed in the housing and the motor burned out behind it. The pump is not on the van. The distributor says Thursday, and you leave her a machine that is safe to leave alone and cannot wash anything.
On Wednesday afternoon she calls. The towels went to the laundromat and she wants to know whether Thursday is still Thursday. Whoever answers at your shop was not in her laundry room, so they end up asking her for the model number and whether she paid anything, which is the information she hired you to keep. If the part slips to Monday, you want to be the one who calls first. The longer the wait runs, the more the call drifts toward whether she should buy a new washer and what happens to the diagnostic fee if she does.
That call is a fair test of appliance repair scheduling software. Whoever picks up should be able to open the job, read what the first visit found and see whether the deposit came in, with the return visit already sitting there waiting for a date. When Thursday becomes Monday, the visit moves and a note on the job says why, so the next person to take her call does not have to ask her anything. Holding that week together is what Foldrule is being built for.
Both visits belong to the same job.
The return trip is not a new job, it is the second half of the one you started. Put both visits on one job and the notes, the model number, the photos and the lines from the diagnosis are all in front of whoever goes back, even if that is not the person who went first.
- Diagnostic visit and return visit on one job record
- Notes and lines from the first visit carried into the second
- Assign the return trip to whoever is free that day
- One invoice at the end instead of two halves
Take a deposit before you order the board.
A control board nobody comes back for is money out of your pocket. Quote the repair, set a deposit, and the customer pays it in the portal when they approve and sign. Order the part with their money, and the deposit comes off the invoice for the job as credit.
- Deposit on the quote, paid in the portal
- Signed approval before a part is ordered
- Deposit and overpayment tracked as client credit
- Final invoice shows what is already paid
Photograph the plate so the right part arrives.
Model and serial off the data plate, a shot of the failed component, a shot of the finished repair. Photos sit on the visit, captured offline behind the machine where the wifi does not reach, and you choose which ones the customer sees.
- Model and serial photographed, not written on a hand
- Photos of the failed part for the warranty file
- Per photo control of what the customer sees
- Captured offline, synced when the phone gets signal
Build the catalog that fits what you actually charge.
Foldrule ships a price book for HVAC, plumbing, electrical and handyman work. Appliance repair does not have one, so your catalog starts empty and you fill it with your own items: the diagnostic fee, labor by appliance type, the parts you fit most weeks. Add an item once and it is there for every job after.
- No ready made appliance list, you build your own
- Add an item from a job and keep it in the catalog
- Your prices, changed whenever your costs change
- Catalog edits never touch a document you already sent
See all industries
What appliance repair shops ask first.
If your question is not here, write to us and a person answers.
Is there a price book for appliance repair?
Not at launch. The seeded price lists cover HVAC, plumbing, electrical and handyman work. Appliance repair starts from an empty catalog that you build from your own diagnostic fees, labor rates and parts.
How do I handle the diagnostic fee and the repair on one job?
You can invoice the diagnostic fee at the first visit or hold everything until the part is in and bill once. Money the client has already paid sits as credit and comes off the next invoice.
Can the second visit go to a different tech?
Yes. Both visits hang off the same job, so whoever takes the return trip opens the job and reads the notes, the model number, the photos and the lines from the first visit.
Can I bill a manufacturer for warranty work?
Yes, by making the manufacturer the client and the homeowner’s address the property. The job happens where the appliance is and the invoice goes to whoever is paying.
Will the client know when I am coming back?
Yes. Appointment texts and an on my way text go out with your business name in the message, so the person waiting on a fridge is not waiting by the window all day.
Does it work in a kitchen with no signal?
Yes. The mobile app works offline. Notes, lines, checklists and photos are captured on the phone and synced once it has service.
Keep the second visit from costing you the job.
Foldrule is pre launch and we are bringing appliance repair shops in early. Tell us how you run and we will move your clients and history across for you.