There may come a time when a customer of yours files a dispute on an amount they've been charged. If this were to happen and you believe the dispute is false and incorrect, there are some practices we'd like to suggest to you that if followed may help in winning the dispute.

Getting your customer to physically sign a hard copy of an estimate or invoice is a great piece of evidence to add to your defense. A signature on an estimate shows the price of time and materials the customer has agreed to pay, and a signed invoice can act as a receipt acknowledging that the customer has willingly paid the amount listed.

To print an estimate or invoice, click Print from within the order:

Or you can click on the ellipsis button on an order from the Workflow page and click on Print Invoice:

Another way to document that your customer gave their consent for the services rendered is to have them authorize the digital estimate sent to them. When an estimate is authorized, it will be tracked on the invoice's Activity log stating that the customer themselves authorized it (including a link to the estimate as they received it):

If your customer is claiming that they never agreed to the services they paid for, you can refer to the invoice's Activity log to prove they in fact authorized the work.

In Shopmonkey you can upload and save photos a few different ways, one of them being with Inspections. You can take photos of a vehicle as soon as it gets dropped off to document any existing conditions, then do the same once all services are finished. You can upload these photos to the inspection associated with the vehicle's invoice, and even request that the customer approve any suggested repairs. Having documentation and photographic evidence showing what the state of the vehicle was before and after you worked on it, and that your customer agreed to any repairs rendered, is great to have if you ever need proof.

To upload a photo to an inspection, click on the Inspections tab of an invoice, located towards the top of the invoice:

Make sure to add or create an inspection of you haven't already, then on your estimate, click on the upload icon to the right of the inspection item you'd like to save a photo to:

You will be prompted to select a saved photo from your device. Upon selecting the desired photo, it will be added to that particular item:

Furthermore, you can send the inspection to your customer for approval by clicking on the green Send Inspection button at the top of the Inspections page. Once your customer approves of any inspection item(s) and/or any suggested work, you will see the item reflected as such on your Inspections page:

Along with the inspection item displaying as approved, there will be a time stamp in the invoice's Activity showing when your customer approved the inspection:

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to us through the Chat Icon in the bottom right corner of your screen. Thanks for reading!