Telling a client you are running late

What Callout works out on its own, what it asks you first, and why it never sends without you.

This is the part of Callout that does the most work for you, so it is worth understanding.

What happens

Once you tap Arrived and started on a job, Callout is watching the clock against how long that service is booked for. When you go over by enough to matter, it works out what that does to your next client, and asks you:

Job running 22 min over. Tell Marcus 11:55 instead of 11:30?

Approve it, edit the time first, or dismiss it. Nothing goes to your client until you tap. Callout will not message somebody on your behalf without you seeing it first, because the one thing worse than a late tradesperson is a wrong message from one.

What counts as running over

A share of the job, not a flat number of minutes. Twenty minutes over on a 30 minute valet is a different situation from twenty minutes over on a 90 minute boiler service, and a single number would be wrong for one of them. You can change the tolerance in Settings.

What your client sees

Their job page updates itself. The new time appears with the old one crossed through, so they can see what changed rather than wondering whether they misremembered. They get a WhatsApp, or an email if WhatsApp is not available.

They do not need to do anything, and they do not need an app.

On the Free plan

The Free plan does not include delay alerts, in any form. When a job runs over, your Today screen still tells you, and gives you a WhatsApp link to message the client yourself in one tap.

The honest reason: every alert Callout sends costs us a message, so it sits on the paid plans. Telling you the job has run over costs nothing, so that stays.