Some jobs don't finish in one trip. The part's not on the truck. The repair needs a second tech. The customer needs to approve more work. In most shops, these are the jobs that fall through the cracks — everyone means to come back, and three weeks later the customer calls, angry.

Escape has a stage built for exactly this.

How it works

  1. The tech moves the job to Needs Return Visit on the board (instead of Done).
  2. Your office is alerted automatically — a task lands with the right person so the return trip gets scheduled.
  3. The office books the return visit, and the job moves back into Scheduled with a new date.

The card never leaves the board until the work is truly finished. That's the guarantee: a flagged job can't be forgotten, because it's sitting in a column somebody owns.

For techs: when to use it

Use Needs Return Visit any time you leave a job unfinished, and put the reason in the notes:

  • "Waiting on blower motor — ordered"
  • "Needs two techs for the coil pull"
  • "Customer approving quote for the repair"

That note is what your office uses to book the right return — right part, right crew, right amount of time.

For office: working the column

Treat the Needs Return Visit column like a hot list. Check it every morning:

  • Book the return as soon as the blocker clears (part arrived, quote approved).
  • If it's waiting on a part, a quick text to the customer — "part's ordered, we'll call the moment it lands" — buys a lot of goodwill.

What about the invoice?

If part of the work is billable now (like a diagnostic), your office can send that invoice without waiting for the return trip — see Invoices and taking payment.