Why check-in matters so much
The sentences that matter later are spoken at the counter: “Something rattles at the front left.” “That scratch was already there.” “Please call me before anything over 300 €.” If they end up on a slip of paper or only in someone’s memory, they are missing exactly when they are needed — for the mechanic at the lift, or in the argument at pick-up.
That is why many workshops use the walk-around check-in (in German Dialogannahme): customer and service adviser walk around the car together, talk through the request and note what they see. It builds trust — as long as the result is also documented and stays with the job.
What OpenHood already covers at check-in today
- The request in advance: with online booking the customer enters the vehicle details and describes the problem. You know what it is about before check-in.
- Photos in the chat: text and photos are attached to the job and stay traceable.
- Status from “Received”: as soon as the car is in, the customer sees the live status through to “Ready”.
- Approval instead of call-backs: if more turns up than agreed, the digital repair approval runs in the same job.
Digital vehicle check-in soon
For the communication between workshop and customer to sit in one job from start to finish, one step is still missing: check-in itself. We are working on it. The idea:
- Check-in in the job: the condition of the vehicle and the customer’s request are recorded directly in the job at check-in — not on paper.
- Photos from the start: existing damage and anything unusual is documented before work begins.
- Visible to both: the customer sees what was agreed at check-in — in the same view as status and approvals.
We are working out exactly how check-in will look together with our Founding Workshops. If you would like a say, write to us.