Rohit's AC Repair Approval

When I find the fault, I send the customer a link showing the parts and the prices, they tick what they want and press approve, and I start work.

Who this is for

Rohit Jadhav repairs split ACs around Nashik with two helpers, Sagar and Imran. On a May afternoon he is on a third floor balcony in Indira Nagar with the outdoor unit open, gas low and a burnt capacitor in his hand. The flat owner is in a meeting in Pune. The maid who opened the door cannot say yes to 2,600 rupees. Rohit either sits on the landing waiting for a call back, or starts the work and hopes nobody argues at the end.

How the job is done today

Rohit carries a carbon copy estimate book that mostly stays in the bag because he is holding a spanner. So he calls. If the call is not picked up he sends a voice note on WhatsApp saying gas top up 1,600, capacitor 450, service 550. Sometimes the customer replies with a thumbs up, sometimes nothing comes for two hours and Rohit loses the afternoon job in Panchavati. Two weeks later somebody says you told me 1,800 on the phone, and there is nothing to show. Sagar and Imran cannot quote at all, so every small decision comes back to Rohit's phone.

The screens, in order

1. New job — Rohit puts down the customer's name, the flat, and which AC he is standing in front of, in about twenty seconds.
2. What I found — He adds each thing that needs doing with its own price and a photo of the burnt part, so the customer is looking at the actual fault and not a lump sum.
3. Send the link — It hands him one short link to paste into the customer's WhatsApp, with nothing to install and nothing to sign in to.
4. The customer's page — The customer opens the link on their phone, ticks the repairs they want, watches the total change, types their name and presses approve or says no with one line of reason.
5. Agreed — The same link turns into the record of what was agreed and at what time, so both of them can open it again on billing day.
6. My jobs — Rohit sees which estimates are still waiting for an answer and which ones are cleared to start.

What it keeps track of

• Jobs — customer name, phone, address, which AC, who is attending, when it was opened
• Findings — what is wrong, the part or the labour, the price, a photo, ticked or left out
• Answers — approved or refused, the name they typed, the time, the total they agreed to, what they refused and why
• Links — which job it opens, when it was sent, when it was first opened, still open or already answered

The one decision that matters

One approve button for the whole estimate, or a tick against each line with a running total. A single button is faster to build and faster to press. But AC customers almost never want the whole list. They want the gas top up now and the stabiliser next month. With one button, the customer who wants only part of the work has no way to say so, so they ring Rohit, and the link has failed at the only job it had. Go with a tick against every line and a total that moves as they tick. Rohit gets a clear yes on 2,050 instead of an unclear silence on 2,600, and he knows before he opens his toolbag which parts to carry up.

What to leave out of the first version

Leave out money. No UPI collection, no invoice, no accounts. Payment is not where Rohit is stuck, and the moment a payment page appears, a stranger opening an unfamiliar link starts to worry about what he is being charged for. The link should ask for one thing only, which is a yes. Also leave out separate logins for Sagar and Imran. Get it working in Rohit's own hands on one job a day first.

How you would know it worked

The carbon estimate book stays in the bag for a full week, and on at least one job Rohit sends the link at 12.40 from a balcony and is soldering by 12.48, without making a single phone call.

Build it

Paste this in and let it run.

I repair air conditioners in Nashik. When I open a unit and see what is wrong, I want to make a small estimate on my phone listing each thing I found, the part or labour and the price for it, with a photo or two, and then get one short link I can paste into the customer's WhatsApp. The customer should open that link without any password, see each item and its price, tick the ones they want done and leave out the rest, watch the total change as they tick, then type their name and press approve. If they do not want anything done they should be able to refuse and write one line why. After that the same link becomes the record of what was agreed and when, and I should be told they answered. I also want a plain list of my jobs showing which ones are still waiting for a reply.