A mountain bike with no fork
A customer's full-suspension bike comes in with a rear shock losing air and a fork that feels harsh. Your workshop does basic suspension work, but a full damper service goes to a specialist service centre. The mechanic strips the fork and shock, boxes them, and books a courier. The bike, now missing its suspension, goes on a hook.
Ten days later the customer rings. Where is it? The courier label was stuck to the box and the tracking number is somewhere in the owner's email. The service centre emailed a quote for extra parts a week ago, and it has not been approved because nobody saw it. The shock is sitting on a shelf in another county waiting for an answer.
Send-away work falls between two businesses
Your workshop system follows the bike. The service centre follows the fork. Nobody follows the journey between them. Serial numbers, courier references, quotes for extra work and return dates arrive in emails and are not attached to the job.
- Serial numbers of forks and shocks are not recorded before they go.
- Courier tracking references are on a label, not in the job.
- The service centre's quotes for extra parts land in a general inbox.
- The bike on the hook has no note of when its parts will return.
- Customers are told 'a couple of weeks' and hear nothing more.
What goes wrong with send-aways
The costliest problem is the silent wait: suspension held at the service centre because a quote was not approved. Every day it waits is a day the customer is without their bike, usually in riding season. Mix-ups are the other risk. Two similar forks in similar boxes, one serial number wrong, and a customer gets the wrong one back.
There is also workshop clutter. Bikes stripped of their suspension take space and cannot be moved easily, and nobody wants a rack of half-bikes during the spring rush.
A send-away tracker tied to the workshop job
We build a send-away tracker linked to your workshop jobs.
- Before the part is boxed, the mechanic records it on a tablet: type, model, serial number, photos and what service is requested.
- Booking the courier through a service with an API, or entering the tracking reference, attaches it to the job so you can see where the box is.
- A shared send-away email address is used with each service centre, so their quotes and messages are filed against the right job automatically.
- Quotes for extra work are sent on to the customer for approval straight away, and the answer is passed back to the service centre.
- Return tracking is recorded, and on arrival the serial number is checked against the one that left.
- Customers receive updates as the part is sent, quoted, approved and returned, and the workshop is told to rebuild the bike.
| Part | Serial | Status | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fork | Recorded | At service centre | Quote awaiting customer |
| Rear shock | Recorded | Returning, in transit | Rebuild booked |
| Dropper post | Recorded | Sent today | Tracking attached |
Send-aways that come back on time
Anyone can see where a customer's suspension is and why. Quotes are approved within the day instead of sitting unread. Parts come back to the right bike because the serial number is checked. And the bike on the hook has a return date, so the workshop can plan the rebuild.
You also build a picture of each service centre's turnaround and quality, which helps you choose where to send work and set honest expectations with customers.
Are your send-aways getting lost?
- Nobody can say where a customer's fork is right now.
- Service centre quotes have sat unanswered for days.
- Serial numbers are not recorded before parts leave.
- Bikes waiting for suspension have no return date.
- Customers chase you for updates you do not have.