Policies and paperwork
Teardown and estimate approval policy generator
How teardown works, what happens to the estimate, and who pays if the job stops there.
The conversation nobody wants to have twice
Some faults cannot be quoted without opening the unit, and once it is open the customer is committed to a cost whether or not they go ahead with the repair. That is a genuinely reasonable position for a shop to be in, and a genuinely unpleasant surprise for a customer who did not know it was coming.
Everything about handling this well happens before the spanner comes out. Explain that a teardown is chargeable, what it will cost, and what happens if they decline the repair once you can see the damage.
Reassembly is the part that causes disputes
Customers routinely assume that declining a repair means getting their vehicle back as it arrived. Sometimes that is possible and chargeable; sometimes gaskets, seals and single-use fasteners mean the unit cannot go back together without new parts.
Say which it is before you start. A customer who was told is annoyed at the situation; a customer who was not is annoyed at you.
This is a policy, not a form
What this produces describes how your shop works. It deliberately does not generate an authorisation form with a signature line, and it will refuse if you ask for one.
Written estimate and authorisation requirements are set by state law and are frequently prescriptive about the exact wording, what has to be disclosed, and when a signature must be obtained. California's rules are not Texas's. A generic form would give you false confidence in a document that has legal consequences — so use this to explain your process, and have someone local draft the form you actually sign.
Want a proper website for your business?
Your brand, your services, your phone number — a site that gets you called instead of scrolled past. Live in 10 days for $300, or your money back.
See what you get