Service Reminders
Bring customers back when service is due.
Uses recorded service dates, approved maintenance intervals and reliable mileage to work out when each vehicle is due, and invites the customer to book at that point. Unknown mileage stays unknown: it is asked for, never estimated, and date-based reminders go out only where the approved rule allows.
A real customer situation
A Corolla was last serviced twelve months ago, so it is due by date, but the garage has no recent odometer reading. The customer supplies it by text before choosing an appointment.
Where the owner wants to be
Customers hear from the garage when their car is actually due, with the reason shown. Nobody with a booking already is chased, and each completed service starts the next cycle once.
What it handles
- Explains each due calculation against the approved date and mileage rule
- Asks for the odometer when it is missing or out of date
- Recalculates the due state when the customer supplies mileage
- Offers workshop appointments and confirms the booking
- Resets the reminder cycle once when the service is completed
What it deliberately does not do
- Never estimates mileage from averages or old readings
- Sends no date-based reminder where the rule is mileage-only
- Does not contact customers who already have a service booked
Interactive demo
Try it with sample data
No sign-up needed. Pick a scenario, change the inputs, then play the customer and the owner. The right-hand panel only shows what the workflow actually recorded.
Interactive simulation using a sample service history and workshop calendar. No reminder is sent and no real booking is created.
Choose a scenario
Twelve months since the last service and no recent odometer. The customer supplies it before booking.
Used only when mileage is known. Last service was at 84,200 km.
Customer side · SMS thread
Press “Run scenario” to start. Every message and record here comes from sample data.
Workflow and harness
How Service Reminders runs
Reference schematic for the proposed workflow. Blue steps do the work, purple paths handle exceptions and returns, and amber checks are the harness controls that a step cannot pass without.
Overview — business stages
Read the full flow as text
- Read service history (business step)
Latest completed service; existing bookings. Output: Last service date and odometer. Leads to: Evaluate date and mileage. - Evaluate date and mileage (business step)
Approved interval; 1-month / 1,000 km window. Output: Explained due calculation. Leads to: Ask for missing mileage if needed. - Ask for missing mileage if needed (business step)
One request per check; no due claim. Output: Mileage request in outbox. Leads to: Determine eligible due service; Mileage supplied. - Determine eligible due service (business step)
Due by date (if permitted) or mileage. Output: Service due / not due. Leads to: Offer available appointments; Not due. - Offer available appointments (business step)
Contact preference; max 2 reminders per cycle. Output: Reminder with slots. Leads to: Book and reset reminder state; Already booked. - Book and reset reminder state (business step)
One booking and one reset per operation key. Output: Booking + reset reminder state. - Mileage supplied (exception or return path)
Plausibility check, then recalculate. Output: Updated due state. Leads to: Evaluate date and mileage (recalculate). - Not due (exception or return path)
Schedule the next check. Output: Next check date. Leads to: Read service history (next check). - Already booked (exception or return path)
Suppress contact. Output: Paused reminder state. - Approved interval rules (harness check)
Only approved intervals; show the arithmetic. Output: Due calculation. Leads to: Evaluate date and mileage (required check). - Unknown stays unknown (harness check)
Never estimated or extrapolated. Output: Mileage marked unknown. Leads to: Ask for missing mileage if needed (required check). - Completion resets cycle (harness check)
Reset once per repair order. Output: Next due date and mileage. Leads to: Book and reset reminder state (required check).
Harness controls
- Data freshness: odometer readings older than 3 months count as unknown
- Approved intervals only; each calculation is shown
- No guessed mileage; date-based reminders only where the rule permits
- Deduplication: an existing booking suppresses contact; one reset per completion
- Contact preferences and a two-reminder limit per cycle
Systems and data
Production reads service history and approved maintenance rules, accepts odometer input and writes to the workshop calendar and messaging. The demo uses Sam Whitfield’s fictional Corolla at Northside Auto, three sample rules and an outbox that holds every message.
Demo boundary
External calls, customer messages, payments and business writes use synthetic fixtures and an on-screen outbox. The demo shows only verified demo state. Custom production connections are a paid implementation deliverable.
What gets delivered
The records your business receives
Due explanation
Rule, last service, months elapsed, kilometres since the last service (or ‘unknown’) and the reason the reminder is allowed.
Booking confirmation
Service, day, time and reference, written to the workshop calendar with reminders paused.
Reminder state
Per vehicle: not due, waiting for mileage, reminded, booked, or reset with the next due date and mileage.
Custom deployment
Configured for your business during a paid implementation. Integrations are confirmed during discovery, never assumed.
Your business rules
- Your approved service intervals by vehicle or plan
- How old an odometer reading can be before it counts as unknown
- Reminder windows, spacing and limits per cycle
- Contact preferences and opt-out handling
Systems we connect
Measurement
We measure completed business against a baseline, not messages sent. No results are promised before discovery.
Business results
- Completed returning services
- Reminder-to-booking conversion
Operational reliability
- Reminders sent to vehicles with a booking already (target: zero)
- Cycle resets per completed service (target: exactly one)
- Reminders sent after opt-out (target: zero)
Want this reminding your customers when their car is due?
Book a call about Service Reminders. We start with discovery: your current process, volumes, systems and who handles exceptions. The proposal then defines the integrations, approvals and acceptance tests before anything goes live.