Proof of services

[Andy]

Of course this is on an Agero Swoop heading.

 

Any recommendations on an app for my phone  to store job numbers details pictures and possibly a line for customer to sign providing me with proof the job was completed. 

 

Odd with the number of motor clubs i perform work for its only Agero that I think I need this for HUH. 

 

i dont do well in the litigation part of this job im a hot head and when a company tries or in a couple of cases has declined payment I tend to not let it go. Ill battle for extended periods over what in reality is not enough money to have done so but its the way im wired. Im starting to think ill live longer if I just find an app for my phone that will store data including allowing me to store a customers signature on a document and a couple of pictures stating the tasks been completed. 

 

I know a lot of you have just dropped them but I have another plan which really just means I charge more money and document everything well enough more bases are covered. 

 

 

[Stubborn66]

Towbook gives you everything you need to combat this BS with Agero.  I am a small company and it was a big decision for me to pay for Towbook, but it is worth every penny.   

[Andy]

Thanks I will look into it. We are faced to deal with things like this in my auto shops but the cost can be justified there. Its a battle I will soon have to come to terms with in the towing side of my businesses. But theres a few options I can work with that are low cost they just require a little more time at each job its probably minimal I just wish there an easy app for my phone allowing me to keep it separated from the rest of the things I keep on my phone or tablet. Id like it to store vehicle information directly from the dispatch email allow a few pictures and have a way for the customer to sign off that they and I have a record of. All without it being more than say $10 a month. Reality is I have only lost on two jobs and I finally gave up which is hard for me to do. Aint in my Genes to im all in or all out so to say. 

 

Today I have a new policy and im going to create a tow file for my photos and have then separated from my auto shops and my personal photos im going to take a photo of the email with the job description take pictures of every jobs license plate VIN and a shot of it on the truck off the truck or tire before and after if its changed fuel or jump start performed that will all show the date of the job so I can at the very least pull that date up find what I need for proof and have something. its simple and free but it comes at more time on each job Ill also end up with more cloud storage fees as well, and its also a risk I know some fuel deliveries are about as dangerous as you can get blind corner high speed drivers bad weather and Im hanging out in a traffic lane. I really want to take the time to take pictures of the car the VIN and its location while im trying not to be killed in the line of duty. But im overthinking it ill deal with those jobs on a case by case scenario 

 

 

[Stubborn66]

My main business is a repair shop, towing was always for our customers, a few years ago we decided to get more work on the trucks as filler work, and to bring some extra work into the shop.  For us, it has worked out well, but, we now have to deal with the BS that goes with that. 

We have only contracted with 3 companies, all other are VCC up front, including Agero.

I have had Agero challenge charges before and after I had Towbook and my documentation was good before but is even better now.  I have not refunded them anything.

 

You can take Towbook for a 3 month test drive.  I don't want to sound like a salesman for them and I didn't think I needed it either, but after I used it, I bought it.

For me the highlights are

time stamps on every step of the job, even when the call originates from the club

Vehicle information by plate or by vin the same was we look up parts, or it can be manually entered

pictures directly from my phone uploaded to each job, and I take many pictures

Customers sign a damage waiver directly on my phone that is included in the Towbook record

I "push" the calls to Quickbooks and the invoice is created in my accounting software.

 

There are other features, but for me, this is why I bought it.  There are other companies out there that offer this service and we looked at a few of them, but Towbook was the right fit for us.  We don't do any PPI work and very few impounds

Edited September 10, 2022 by Stubborn66

[Andy]

Kind of similar evolution to towing myself. Bought a roll back in 2015 primarily to help move cars between my two shops and customer tows. Covid hit us first and hard whole area shut down for months. I closed one shop and operated at less than half staffing during which time I started taking on more of the tow calls I had to turn down when running two shops. 6 months later I am making enough money towing to not re open the other shop. Working a lot less and kind of found I really like the actual towing part of this job. I made more money with two shops dont get me wrong but im old enough that doing something I like v the trauma of keeping two shops pointed the right direction it was a no brainer. Two years later ive added a wrecker and kind of specialize in a lot of mountain recoveries that most places wont do. 

 

Agero got me again last night something no bookkeeping program could resolve. First i broke my golden rule never leave on a job without personally talking to the customer.  Second part of the golden rule dont take less than your bid they beat me down on my bid I accepted it because it was at least enough to cover the 3 hour event before it went south.

 

This turned out to be a three strikes game last night. Phone number was bad I tried variations of it before I left but left on the job anyway get there its the back side of a strip of restaurants and bars its about a mile of small not connected parking lots its pitch black. I search for it while im on hold with Agero. 45 minutes later I find it blocks away from the address at the end of a private commercial driveway completely in invisible until i was ten feet from it. Two passengers needed a 65 mile ride to Portland agent and emailed job description stated no passengers which isnt a big deal but its just more incorrect information. Agero answers as Im wrapping up the loading. I politely asked for an ad additional $50 yep just $50. The dispatcher sent a file up the ladder and told me someone would call me back like that would ever happen. Well 30 minutes later up the ladder calls and he tells me no on the $50 which now really poses me off. I lost a good tow on a broken. Down car on the highway at this point cash job had to be done NOW. But im now headed west with a non profit tow. Dust he car in the heart of Portland high homeless and crime district and head home. Miss tow number tow would have been the tow I like to get at midnight but in still 90 minutes away. So now ive lost two good tows fought with two Agero agents and lost.  However an hour later a claims manger called on this one because it had some discrepancies whe was nice on top of the fact that she did give the the $50. 

 

Gotta remember the golden rule never leave on a tow without confirmation from the customer and bid a job right and dont back off that price. Especially with Agero. And Agero just seems to have more incorrect information than any company ive ever dealt with. 

 

 

 

 

[Stubborn66]

51 minutes ago, Andy said:

Gotta remember the golden rule never leave on a tow without confirmation from the customer and bid a job right and dont back off that price. Especially with Agero. And Agero just seems to have more incorrect information than any company ive ever dealt with.

You hit the nail on the head, dont negotiate on calls when you are not contracted. 

For me, that call would have been a GOA when I could not find the vehicle at the address given and the customer did not answer.  Run the card and move on.  Agero does have terrible dispatching, but that is on them, not us.  Better than 50% of club calls I get have some sort of bad information.  I know alot of companies who run the card before they even leave the shop.  I generally don't, but I run it right when I finish the call.  

 

I had a similar situation where they sent me out 60 miles in the wrong direction, customer did not answer phone when I called but I proceeded toward the address.  The customer called me when I was about 15 minutes away and tells me he is in an entirely different location.  I explained where they had sent me and told him he would need to call back in for service.  I immediately ran the card before they could cancel it.  On my way back, Agero called me, I explained the situation and they asked me what it would cost them for me to go to the right location and complete the call.  I told them it would be a totally separate dispatch, I would not be responsible for the bad information and I had the dispatch records to prove THEIR mistake.  I quoted the job a second time and hard to believe, but they called me back and gave it to me.

 

This is also another example of where Towbook would have helped.  I make Agero and all clubs send dispatches to me through Towbook.  Customers who do not have the ability to send calls directly to me through Towbook, I manually convert the information however I receive it into Towbook. 

That automatically puts the addresses on the call with the time stamp of when it was sent to my Towbook account.  It also integrates with Google GPS, so I hit the address button and it puts me enroute to the address in Towbook.   When I arrive on scene, I hit the "On Scene" status and now I have a time stamp that I was where I was dispatched.  Pictures can be uploaded directly from my phone into Towbook so that information is already put together in the call file.

That is why I would have been confident in just running the card and call it a GOA.

 

If I get bad information on the rest of the call, locked in park, winching necessary etc.  I show the customer the dispatch I was given, explain the extra charges to them, give them the ability to cover those charges and get reimbursed or I run it as a GOA and move on.  Most times, the customers have been waiting so long, they will pay the overage and I complete the job.  I do give them a receipt very well documented so that can get paid.  I would bet better than half have to fight just like we do.  

 

If you bid them correctly and document correctly, you can make money but you will deal with a certain amount of club BS.