Answering service for auto repair shops
Answering service for auto repair shops: with Victoria, our AI receptionist, your shop line gets answered at 7 pm, on Saturdays and mid-repair.
Talk or type with Victoria. Your price in about 2 minutes.
Businesses we've built for
Yupaa Analytics
Majesty Auto Sales
Calls Victoria answers for you
- “My check engine light just came on. Can you look at it today?”
- “My registration renewal says I need a smog check at a STAR station. Are you one?”
- “How much for front brakes on a 2016 Camry?”
- “It's grinding when I brake. Is it safe to drive?”
More calls (4)Fewer calls
- “My car died on the 101. Do you tow, or who do you use?”
- “Do you work on diesels? It's a 2012 F-250.”
- “I said yes to the water pump this morning. When will it be done?”
- “Is my car ready? It's the gray Tacoma.”
Here's how a call goes
A typical call, then the summary you get when it ends.
What you get
- Customer
- Jorge Ramírez
- Vehicle
- 2014 Silverado, about 140,000 miles
- Problem
- Scraping noise when braking
- Booked
- Free brake check, Friday 8:00 am
- Asked
- About dropping it off tonight; told about the key box
- Language
- Spanish
- Callback
- His cell
- Confirmation sent
- Appointments with the details your tech needs
- Smog and towing questions answered from your sheet
- Approvals and 'is it ready?' calls without the walk to the bay
- Victoria:
Thanks for calling your shop, this is Victoria. How can I help?
- Caller:
Hola, buenas tardes. ¿Habla español?
Hi, good afternoon. Do you speak Spanish?
- Victoria:
Sí, claro. Dígame, ¿en qué le puedo ayudar?
Yes, of course. Go ahead, how can I help you?
- Caller:
Mi troca hace un ruido cuando freno, como que raspa. Es una Silverado 2014, tiene como ciento cuarenta mil millas.
My truck makes a noise when I brake, like it's scraping. It's a 2014 Silverado with about 140,000 miles.
- Victoria:
Con gusto le hago una cita para que la revisen. El taller revisa los frenos sin costo antes de darle un estimado. Tengo mañana a las 8:00 o a las 10:30. ¿Cuál le queda mejor?
I'd be glad to book you in to have it checked. The shop checks brakes at no charge before giving you an estimate. I have tomorrow at 8:00 or 10:30. Which works better?
- Caller:
A las 8. ¿La puedo dejar desde hoy en la noche?
8:00. Can I drop it off tonight?
- Victoria:
Sí, hay un buzón para llaves junto a la puerta del taller. ¿Me da su nombre, y a qué número le marcamos si hay algo?
Yes, there's a key drop box by the shop door. Can I get your name, and what number should we call if anything comes up?
- Caller:
Jorge Ramírez. A este mismo número, es mi celular.
Jorge Ramírez. This same number, it's my cell.
- Victoria:
Listo, Jorge. Queda para mañana a las 8:00 y ahorita le llega un mensaje de confirmación. Que tenga buena noche.
All set, Jorge. You're booked for tomorrow at 8:00, and a confirmation text is on its way. Have a good night.
An illustration of a typical call, not a real customer.
How it works
- 1
Take the free assessment
A few questions about how your business runs today.
- 2
Get your price
See it on screen before you commit to anything, and email it to yourself.
- 3
We set it up
One setup call with Nathaniel, in person in the Santa Barbara area or by phone or video.
Questions people ask
Don't see yours? Ask Victoria during the assessment, or call (805) 970-2936.
What does it cost the shop?
The shop's price is set by its calls, and extra calls are billed per call: the free 2-minute assessment works it out. Victoria answers around the clock in English and Spanish, and can answer texts, email, chat and DMs and send reminders too. If you're not happy in the first 30 days, we refund your first monthly payment.
Can she quote a price for brakes or a timing belt?
Only the prices you've chosen to share, like your diagnostic fee or an oil change special. For any repair you haven't priced, she offers the next inspection slot, so the car still gets on your schedule and your service writer quotes it after seeing the car.
What about tows, breakdowns and 'is it safe to drive?' calls?
You decide how they're handled. For example, Victoria can give the caller your towing company's number, book the first opening in the morning and put fleet accounts through to the number you named for urgent calls. She never says whether a car is safe to drive: she reads the caller any wording you wrote for brake or steering problems, offers the first inspection slot, and the question is in your summary. If someone is stranded somewhere unsafe, she reads them the instruction you wrote, such as calling 911 or their roadside assistance first.
We run Tekmetric (or Shopmonkey, or Mitchell 1). Does that change anything?
Your shop software stays where it is. Victoria books into a calendar built from your bay schedule, and each appointment reaches you by text with the year, make, model and symptoms, ready to become a repair order. A direct connection to your shop management system is a custom build; tell us what you run and we'll check what's possible on the setup call.
More questions (4)Fewer questions
Do customers know it's AI?
She tells them when they ask, in whichever language they're using: she's the shop's AI assistant. She doesn't bring it up on her own. What she shares about your shop comes from your setup sheet, so a customer hears the same smog price and the same towing number your counter would give.
Does she speak Spanish?
Yes. A customer can start in English and switch to Spanish to describe the noise, 'raspa cuando freno' (it scrapes when I brake), and Victoria switches with them. The summary you get covers the whole call either way.
Does the shop number change?
No. Customers keep calling the number painted on your sign and printed on your invoices, and it forwards to Victoria however we set it up together on the setup call. When a call drops, like a driver on the shoulder who loses signal, missed-call text-back follows up with the message you approved, sent from a registered local business number. Texting waits on carrier approval, which takes from about a week to two or three weeks (Twilio); answering calls doesn't wait.
Who sets it up, and how much of my time does it take?
Nathaniel Ross, the founder, sets it up himself; he's based in Santa Barbara. Your part is the free 2-minute assessment and then one setup call with him. On that call he'll ask for your hours, the work you take and turn down (diesels, European cars, transmissions), the prices you're comfortable sharing, whether you're a STAR station, your towing company and the number urgent calls should ring. Before she answers a single customer, you can call your own shop line and hear her yourself.
The details
In short
Can you fit me in today? Do you do smog? How much for front brakes? Is my car done?
Each of those calls pulls somebody off a car or the counter, and in a small shop that somebody is often the owner. Victoria takes all four kinds of calls, in English or Spanish.
What gets in the way
Every call eats into a flat-rate job.Approvals stall on voicemail.Smog calls ask the same questions.One-visit customers don't come back on their own.
Every call eats into a flat-rate job
When your tech is paid flat rate, every minute on the phone is a minute the job doesn't pay them for, and a service writer on a call isn't writing up the car that just pulled in.
Approvals stall on voicemail
The car is on the lift, the tech found a leaking water pump, and the customer doesn't pick up.
The bay stays tied up until they call back, and when they do, the person with the details is under another car.
Smog calls ask the same questions
Most gas and hybrid cars more than eight model years old need a smog check every other year to renew their registration, and some renewal notices send drivers to a STAR station (California Bureau of Automotive Repair).
So the questions repeat: are you a STAR station, how much, how long, and do I need an appointment?
One-visit customers don't come back on their own
A driver who stopped in for a flat on the way through town may not think of you for their next oil change unless something reminds them.
Without that nudge, the next service can go to whichever shop is closest.
What we do about it
Appointments with the details your tech needs.Smog and towing questions answered from your sheet.Approvals and 'is it ready?' calls without the walk to the bay.Win-back texts that bring cars back to your bays.
Appointments with the details your tech needs
Victoria asks for the year, make, model, mileage and what the car is doing, in English or Spanish, then books the slot you've opened for that kind of work.
The summary has all of it before the customer pulls in.
Smog and towing questions answered from your sheet
Tell us once whether you're a STAR station, what you charge for a smog check if you want to share it, who you use for towing and which makes you don't work on.
Victoria gives the same answers at 7 pm as at 7 am, and the smog calls that want a time get booked.
Approvals and 'is it ready?' calls without the walk to the bay
When a customer calls back about an estimate, Victoria takes their answer and you get it in the summary right after the call, so your service writer can confirm it and keep the lift moving. 'Is my car ready?' gets answered from the job status your shop keeps updated, and jobs without a current status come to you in the summary instead.
Pulling status straight out of your shop software is a custom build we can quote.
Win-back texts that bring cars back to your bays
With win-back texts, your shop reaches past customers, such as a note that you do smog checks and brake inspections.
When one of them calls to set up an oil change, Victoria books it into your bay schedule.
By Nathaniel Ross, founder · Updated
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