The moment they call about the invoice
Happy to go through it with you. Which line is the one that does not look right?
That is our standard rate.
That line is the part itself, and the one under it is the time to fit it. The tech was there about two hours.
It is all itemized on the invoice.
If anything here is different from what the tech told you on site, tell me and I will check it with them today.
The tech would not have charged for something you did not agree to.
Write the next invoice so this call does not happen
- Plain names for every line: 'replaced capacitor', not a part number.
- Parts and labor on separate lines, so they can see what was fitted and what was time.
- The trip or diagnostic fee named, and shown coming off the repair if that is your policy.
- A one-line note from the tech on what was wrong and what was done.
- The price the customer agreed on site, if one was quoted there, written at the top.
When a line on it really is wrong
You are right, that should not be on there. I will send a corrected invoice today.
Pay it and we will sort out a credit later.
That was quoted differently on site. I will charge what you were told.
The system priced it that way.
The three ways this goes wrong
- Defending the total before finding the line. The customer hears that the number matters more than their question.
- Passing the question to accounts and going quiet. A confused customer left waiting becomes an angry one.
- Fixing this invoice and not the template. The same call comes back next week.
An invoice the customer cannot read is a problem with the invoice, not the customer. Walk them through it, fix what is wrong, and write the next one so it explains itself.
I answer the phones for contractors, and when a customer calls about an invoice I pull up the job notes before I answer. callbobai.com