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Every callback gets an answer the same day

A complaint lands about a job you finished in March. It gets acknowledged within the hour, checked against what your warranty actually covers, logged against that job, and put in the diary — before it turns into a second, angrier email.

Callbacks — last 30 days

9 open

Warranty

  • Ester St — grout cracking along the bath edge
  • Coldbrook — door binding in the frame
  • Halloway — outlet dead in the island

Chargeable

  • Brennan — wants a second towel rail added
  • Reyes — damage from moving a washer in

Needs a look

  • Whitfield — damp patch under the window
  • Carrick — shower door seal, second report

The damp patch is the one that matters. Second reports of the same fault always are.

Works with

  • Gmail
  • Outlook
  • Google Sheets
  • Google Calendar
  • Google Drive

Complaints arrive by email, so it reads them where they land — and pulls the original job file out of Drive to check what was actually installed before deciding anything.

The chore

How this goes right now

  1. An email arrives on a Wednesday about a bathroom you finished in March. Something about the grout by the bath. You read it standing in a merchant's yard, think "that'll be movement, it's normal, I'll explain later", and go back to what you were doing.

  2. Later doesn't happen. On Saturday they email again, and the second email is a different email — shorter, cooler, with the word "still" in it. Now you're replying to someone who has spent three days deciding you're ignoring them, about a fault that would have taken twenty minutes to explain on Wednesday.

  3. And underneath is the question you never quite settle: is this yours or theirs? Grout cracking at a junction is usually normal movement. A dead outlet is yours. A washer that scratched the floor being delivered is theirs. You know all this, but you decide it fresh every time, differently depending on how the week is going, with no record of what you decided last time for the same fault.

The difference

The fault is rarely the problem. The three days of silence is.

Handling callbacks ad hoc
Handling callbacks on a process
Complaints sit unacknowledged for days
Acknowledged the same day, every time
Warranty or chargeable decided differently each time
Sorted against your written warranty terms consistently
No check of what was actually installed before replying
The original job file checked before anything is decided
Nothing logged, so repeat faults look like first reports
Every callback logged against the job and the trade
Visits arranged by text and forgotten
The visit booked into the diary, not into a text thread

Try it

Walk through it yourself

This is the actual shape of the workflow — the same trigger, the same steps, the same draft waiting for your say-so. Click through it.

Triage warranty callbacks

TriggerGmail

Complaint arrives — 11:42 Wednesday

Email from Joanne Carrick about the primary bath finished in April. Grout cracking along the edge where the tile meets the bath.

What it does

  1. Read the complaint and work out what's being described

    Hairline cracking along the tile-to-bath junction. Photos attached. No water ingress mentioned, no loose tiles.

    Gmail
  2. Pull the job file and see what actually went in

    Handover 26 April, so eleven days ago. Flexible sealant specified at that junction; daily log photos show it installed on 19 April.

    Google Drive
  3. Check the warranty terms and any prior history

    Workmanship covered 24 months. Sealant junctions are listed as a maintenance item, not a defect. Second callback on this job — first was the shower door seal.

    Google Sheets
  4. Find a slot to look at it anyway

    Tuesday afternoon is open, and you're already on that side of town for the Halloway job.

    Google Calendar

Draft list — nothing has been sent

Callback triage — Carrick, 1140 Ester St

  • Cracking at the tile-to-bath junction

    Flexible sealant joint, 11 days after handover · listed as maintenance, not a defect

    Likely not warranty
  • But: second callback on this job

    Shower door seal reported 2 May and closed. Two reports in a fortnight is a pattern worth a visit.

    Attend anyway
  • Workmanship cover still live

    24 months from handover — expires 26 April next year

    In warranty period
  • Suggested: attend Tuesday, no charge

    You're on that side of town for Halloway. Twenty minutes and a tube of sealant protects a job that went well.

    Goodwill

Acknowledge now and offer Tuesday afternoon?

The classification is a starting point, not a verdict. Charge for it, treat it as warranty, or decide it's a phone call rather than a visit — whatever you pick gets logged as the decision on this fault type, so next time it's consistent.

Once you approveGoogle Calendar

Acknowledged, booked, and on the record

Joanne gets a same-day reply saying you'll come Tuesday. The visit goes in your calendar, and the callback is logged against the job with what was reported, what you decided and why — so if this comes up again in a year, there's a record.

That's the whole workflow.

It drafts, you approve, nothing sends on its own.

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How it works

What it's actually doing

This one fires as the email arrives, because the acknowledgement is the part that has to be fast.

  1. 1
    • Gmail
    • OuOutlook

    It spots a complaint among everything else

    New mail triggers it. It works out that a message is about work you've already handed over rather than a new enquiry or a supplier email, and matches it to the job and the address it belongs to.

  2. 2
    • Google Drive

    It looks at what was actually installed

    Before deciding anything it pulls the job file — the spec, the daily logs, the handover photos. Whether a sealant joint was flexible or rigid, and whether the photos show it done properly, is the difference between a defect and a maintenance item.

  3. 3
    • Google Sheets
    • ExExcel

    It sorts against your terms, not a general rule

    Your warranty period, your list of what counts as maintenance, and your history with that job. It also flags a second report on the same job or the same fault, because a repeat is a different situation from a first report regardless of how it classifies.

  4. 4
    • Gmail
    • Google Calendar

    It acknowledges and books

    A same-day reply that says what you'll do and when, plus a slot from your real calendar. The acknowledgement matters more than the classification — most escalations are about silence, not about who pays.

You stay in control

It classifies. You decide who pays.

Telling a client a fault isn't covered is one of the highest-stakes emails you send. Get it wrong and a twenty-minute job becomes a review. So it proposes a classification with its reasoning visible, and you make the call.

  1. Step one

    It drafts

  2. Step two — you

    You read it and approve

  3. Step three

    Only then does it send

Nothing about liability is sent automatically

The classification is shown to you, never to the client. What goes out is an acknowledgement and a time — the conversation about who pays is one you have deliberately, and often in person.

It shows its reasoning

Every classification says what it was based on — the spec, the handover date, the warranty terms, the photos. If you disagree you can see exactly where it went wrong, rather than being handed a verdict.

It leans towards attending

Where it's genuinely borderline, the suggestion is to go and look. Twenty minutes and a tube of sealant costs less than an argument about a bathroom, and it's built to reflect that.

It won't tell a client no

It will never draft an email saying a fault isn't covered. That message needs your judgement about the relationship, and usually your voice rather than your keyboard.

Setup

What setting this up involves

  1. 1

    Connect

    • Gmail or Outlook, where complaints arrive
    • Google Drive, holding job files and handover photos
    • Your job tracker, for handover dates and callback history
    • Your calendar, for booking the visit
  2. 2

    Tell it how you work

    • Your warranty period, and whether it differs by trade
    • What you treat as maintenance rather than defect — sealant, grout, timber movement
    • How quickly you want to acknowledge; same day is the point of this
    • Who attends callbacks, so it offers the right person's availability
  3. 3

    Then it runs

    About 45 minutes, once

    The longest setup of the set, because writing down what's maintenance and what's a defect is genuinely hard. It's also the most useful part — most contractors have never written it down, which is why the answer changes depending on the week.

Edge cases

Where it's careful, and what it won't do

What it handles

  • The second report of the same fault

    A repeat is treated as a different situation entirely, whatever the classification says. Something reported twice either wasn't fixed or wasn't understood, and both need attention rather than a second explanation.

  • Anything involving water or electrics

    Damp, leaks, and anything electrical get flagged urgent regardless of how they'd otherwise classify. Those are the faults where a week of triage becomes a much larger bill, so they surface immediately.

  • Callbacks that are really a sub's problem

    It identifies which trade did the work from the job file, so a dead outlet is flagged as your electrician's before you've driven out to look at it yourself.

  • Complaints arriving after the warranty expires

    It says the period has ended and when, rather than treating it as a live claim. That's information for you — plenty of contractors fix things out of warranty anyway, and it doesn't assume either way.

What it does not do

  • It doesn't diagnose the fault

    It reads a description and some photos. Whether that crack is movement or a failed substrate is determined by someone standing in the room, and it won't pretend otherwise.

  • It doesn't decide liability

    It sorts against your written terms and shows its reasoning. Whether you charge, absorb it, or split it is a commercial decision about a relationship it can't see.

  • It doesn't tell anyone they're not covered

    No email declining a claim, ever. That conversation is yours, and it's usually better had by phone.

  • It doesn't dispatch anyone

    It finds a slot and drafts the offer. Nobody's day gets rearranged and no sub gets called out without you doing it.

Time back

Three to five hours a month, and the escalations you avoid

Time back
Three to five hours a month, and the escalations you avoid
Spent on
The work that bills
What it costs
$49 / monthGrowthplan — see what’s included

How that’s worked out: Based on 6–12 callbacks a month at roughly 20 minutes each to read, dig out what was installed, decide, reply and book. The hours are real, but the reason to do it is that acknowledgement moves from days to hours — and near enough every callback that turns into a bad review turned bad during the silence, not during the repair.

Fair questions

The things contractors ask first

I'd rather judge these myself. Every callback is different.

You still do — it never sends anything about liability and never tells a client no. What it does is have the job file, the spec and the warranty terms in front of you when you decide, instead of you deciding from memory in a merchant's yard. The judgement stays yours; the homework gets done first.

Won't a fast automatic reply feel dismissive?

It would if it were a form response. The acknowledgement names their job, says what you'll do and offers a real time, and you read it before it goes. Compared with three days of nothing, almost anything specific is an improvement.

We don't have written warranty terms.

Then this will be more work to set up and more useful once it is. Writing down what you treat as maintenance versus defect takes an afternoon and is worth doing whether or not you use any of this — it's the thing that makes your answers consistent between a good week and a bad one.

FAQ

Questions worth answering properly

How quickly does the client get a reply?

Within the hour in most cases — this runs on a real email trigger rather than a scheduled sweep, so the draft is ready almost immediately. It still waits for you to send, but sending is one tap and that's the whole point of the workflow.

How does it decide warranty versus chargeable?

Against your written terms — your warranty period, and your own list of what counts as maintenance rather than a defect. It reads the original job file to see what was specified and installed, and shows the reasoning behind every classification so you can disagree with it.

Will it tell a client something isn't covered?

No, and this isn't configurable. Declining a claim is a conversation requiring judgement about the relationship, and usually a phone call. It classifies internally and drafts an acknowledgement — never a refusal.

What happens with a fault reported twice?

It's escalated regardless of classification. Something reported a second time either wasn't fixed or wasn't explained properly, and treating it like a fresh first report is how a manageable complaint becomes an angry one.

Does it know which subcontractor did the work?

It identifies the trade from the job file, so a dead circuit is flagged as your electrician's work before you drive out. Whether you call them or look yourself is up to you — it doesn't contact subs.

What about complaints that arrive out of warranty?

It tells you the period expired and when, rather than treating it as a live claim or dismissing it. Plenty of contractors fix small things out of warranty because it's cheaper than the alternative, and it leaves that call entirely to you.

Answer the first email, not the second one

Connect your inbox, your job files and your calendar. The next callback gets acknowledged before it has time to become a complaint about being ignored.

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