For home services business owners · Front desk and inquiries
Reply when a finished job acts up again
A calm reply to a customer whose repair is acting up again that gets the facts for a return visit, without saying who pays.
The prompt
Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and fill in each part in [BRACKETS]. Owners and office staff who handle callbacks and warranty questions.
I run a home services business. A customer says a job we finished is acting up again. I want to answer quickly and kindly, get the facts, and keep the question of who pays for me to decide. What I have: - The customer's message, word for word: [CUSTOMER MESSAGE] - What we did on the first visit, from the ticket: [ORIGINAL JOB] - My warranty terms, in my own words: [MY WARRANTY TERMS] - How we set up a return visit: [RETURN VISIT STEPS] What I want: 1. Pull out what is happening now, when it started, and whether it sounds like the same problem or a new one. If you cannot tell, say so. 2. Write a short reply that thanks them for telling us, says we want to look at it, and asks the questions I need answered. 3. Give the next step for a return visit, using only my steps. 4. For me only: list what in my warranty terms might apply and what I need to check before I decide. Do not decide it. Rules: - Write a draft for me to read. Do not send anything. - Use only what I gave you. If something is missing, ask me instead of guessing. - Do not say the visit is free, that it will cost them, or whose fault it is. I decide that. - Do not guess at the cause. If the message mentions gas, smoke, sparks or water near power, put that at the top for me and write no reply. - Leave out card details, door and gate codes, and anything else private. Give me back: - The reply, ready for me to edit - My note: what the warranty may cover and what to check first
When to use it
A customer calls or texts that the thing you fixed or installed is doing it again, and asks whether you will come back and whether they will pay.
When not to
Do not use it to decide whether the work is covered, to admit fault, or to answer a customer who mentions a lawyer. Those go to you. Anything unsafe gets a call from you now.
What to paste in
- [CUSTOMER MESSAGE]: The message as they sent it, first name only.
- [ORIGINAL JOB]: The date, what was done and any parts put in, from your ticket or invoice, without the address.
- [MY WARRANTY TERMS]: How long your work is covered and what is and is not included, in one or two sentences.
- [RETURN VISIT STEPS]: How a return visit gets booked, for example the office texts two windows and the customer picks one.
Never paste
- The customer's last name, phone number, street address or card details
- Door, gate or alarm codes
A filled-in example
Sample. Fictional business, fictional client.
CUSTOMER MESSAGE: Hi, this is Tom. You put in a new garbage disposal three weeks ago and now it hums but won't spin. Do I have to pay for another visit? ORIGINAL JOB: Sept 30. Removed old disposal, installed new one, tested, no leaks. MY WARRANTY TERMS: Our labor is covered for one year. Parts follow the maker's warranty. Anything dropped down the drain is not covered. RETURN VISIT STEPS: Office texts two windows in the next three days, customer picks one.
What you should get back
- A short, calm reply that asks what you need to know
- One next step for a return visit, from your own process
- A note for you on what your warranty may cover and what to check
- No promise that it is free, no fault taken, no guess at the cause
What stays with you
The prompt writes a draft. You decide what happens to it, and nothing should reach a customer until you have read it. Decisions about money stay with a person every time, and so do health questions and complaints. When KeenHand builds a routine like this, every message carries the same four decisions: Automate, Approve, Revise, Reject.
Related
- Turn tech notes into a plain job summary. A tech's shorthand turned into a plain summary for the customer: what we found, what we did and what the tech recommends, with nothing added.
- Reply to a bad review without making it worse. A calm public reply to a bad review that shares no job details and moves the talk offline, plus a private message offering only what you chose.
More: every prompt for home services, front desk and inquiries, and AI for home services.
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