PlumbingBossPro Blog — Dispatch & Scheduling

Rescheduling and Skips: Handling the Plumbing Calls That Don't Happen

Not every stop on a plumbing route gets done. The tenant is not home. The gate is locked. The customer called the office and canceled while the van was on the way. The part does not fit. These are normal. What matters is that every call that does not happen gets a reason, a new day and a customer who knows about it.

Booked, Then Not Done

A lot of the work in From Approved Estimate to Scheduled Job: Booking the Plumbing Work the Customer Said Yes To is about getting jobs onto the board quickly. This article is about the jobs that fall off it during the day, and making sure they land somewhere.

Skip, With a Reason

The tech app has three buttons for every job: Start, Skip and Complete. When a tech cannot do a job, they tap Skip and note why. Common reasons in plumbing:

• Nobody home for an inside job.
• No access: locked gate, locked crawlspace, wrong lockbox code.
• Customer canceled at the door or by text.
• Wrong part or bigger job: the repair turned out to be a replacement that needs an estimate.
• Unsafe conditions: flooded crawlspace, aggressive dog, something the tech should not work around.

A photo helps too, such as the locked gate or the corroded valve that needs a different part. The office sees the skip and the reason without calling the tech.

Rebook Every Skip the Same Day

Skips are where jobs get lost. The tech moves on, the office is busy, and the skip sits on yesterday's board. A simple rule fixes it: every skip gets rebooked before the office closes.

1. Read the skip reason.
2. Text the customer through two-way texting to explain and offer a new day.
3. Fix whatever caused the skip, such as updating a gate code in the access notes.
4. Move the job to the new day and van on the board.

If the skip was because the job turned bigger, the next step is an estimate, not a reschedule.

Customer-Initiated Reschedules

Customers reschedule by phone, by text and sometimes by not answering the door. When they ask ahead of time, move the job on the board right away. Their chosen alerts follow the job to the new day, so the night-before reminder goes out for the right date.

For customers who reschedule often, a note on the client helps the office set expectations, such as asking for confirmation the day before.

Skipping Recurring Visits

Recurring visits, like yearly flushes or grease-line jetting, can be skipped too. A restaurant closed for a holiday, a homeowner away. When a recurring visit is skipped, rebook it like any other job so it still happens. If it never gets completed, it shows as overdue on the Waiting List once it passes the 7-day grace, which is a useful backstop.

Do not quietly drop recurring visits. Customers on a plan expect them, even if they forgot to mention they would be away.

Reducing Skips in the First Place

Skips cost a trip and a slot. A few habits cut them down:

• Night-before reminders catch customers who forgot.
• When-they're-next texts give customers time to get home or open the gate.
• Accurate access notes on the property mean the tech has the current code.
• Tenant contacts on rental jobs, so the person at the door knows the plumber is coming.
• Confirming long jobs with a personal text the day before.

Every skip reason is also feedback. If “no access” keeps coming up at the same address, the access note needs work.

Skips and Billing

Whether you charge a trip fee when a customer is not home is your policy. If you do, add it from your service list so the invoice is clear. Many shops waive it the first time and mention it the second.

The End-of-Day Sweep

Before closing, look at the day's board. Every job should be completed, or skipped with a reason and moved to a new day. Nothing should be left in limbo. The broader end-of-day routine is in A Daily Plumbing Dispatch Routine: Morning, Midday and End of Day.

No Call Left Behind

Skips and reschedules are part of every plumbing week. With a reason on every skip, a same-day rebooking habit and alerts that follow the job, nothing slips. To see how skips connect to the board and the tech app, visit the PlumbingBossPro plumbing dispatch software page.