The part you didn't know you needed is the second trip
Vandial takes the make, the model number and the age on the first call, so the right part is on the van the first time. It books the visit, states your service call fee, and never guesses at whether something is worth fixing.
From $99 a month · Robocalls are never billed
Incoming callNina Hoffmann“My washing machine finishes the cycle but the water just sits there.”
Booked — Fri am, model captured, part checked
- In front of it
- is where the caller is standing — the details exist for that one call only
- 3 fields
- make, model and age — captured on the first call, every time
- $0
- billed for robocalls and sales calls, on every plan
This is what your callers hear
The same receptionist a appliance repair company gets, answering as the trades we already run. Yours is in the middle — press play.
One appliance repair call, and what it left behind
Answered on the second ring. Every field below was captured during the call — nobody typed it in afterwards.
“My washing machine finishes the cycle but the water just sits there.”
Classified0:12
- new job
- washer
- not draining
Captured0:31
- Bosch WAT28401GB
- 6yr
- drainage
Booked0:58
- Google Calendar
- Fri 8–12
- pump likely
Booked — Fri am, model captured, part checked
Read the whole appliance repair call, line by line
- 0:02Nina Hoffmann: My washing machine finishes the cycle but the water just sits there.
- 0:06Vandial: That sounds like a drainage fault. What make is it?
- 0:10Nina Hoffmann: It's a Bosch. About six years old, I think.
- 0:12Classified — new job · washer · not draining
- 0:18Vandial: Is there a model number on the inside of the door or on the back? It saves us a second trip.
- 0:29Nina Hoffmann: WAT28401GB.
- 0:31Captured — Bosch WAT28401GB · 6yr · drainage
- 0:44Vandial: The service call is $89 and it comes off the repair. Friday morning suit you?
- 0:52Vandial: Booked. You'll get a text with the window and the engineer's name.
- 0:58Booked — Google Calendar · Fri 8–12 · pump likely
Answered, understood, booked
One number, picked up on the second ring — at 2am, on a Sunday, while you're already working. By the time the caller hangs up, it is in your calendar.
It answers
Answered while the customer is still standing in front of the machine, which is the only moment they can read you the model number.
- 0:00Incoming call
- 0:02Answered by Vandial2 rings
- 0:05“Hello, Marlow Plumbing.”
It understands
It asks for make, model and age every time — the three facts that decide which part goes on the van and whether the job is worth doing.
- Job
- Water heater — leaking
- Where
- 14 Marlow Street
- Access
- Side gate, dog in yard
- Urgency
- Today if possible
- Still on
It books
A slot in your calendar with the fault, the model and the likely part already attached, and a text to the customer confirming it.
Text to Dave · 13:01
You’re booked for today, 1–2pm. Reply R to move it.
It asks what you would ask
These are the questions the agent runs for appliance repair companies, and the operational reason each one exists. Change them, add your own, or take them out — they are configuration, not code.
What make is it?
Decides whether it is a brand you work on at all, before anyone spends a morning on it.
Is there a model number on the door or the back?
The single most valuable thing on the call. With it the part is on the van; without it, most of these are two visits.
Roughly how old is it?
Age is what drives repair-or-replace, and it is the conversation your engineer has to have on the doorstep if nobody asked on the phone.
What exactly is it doing — and when did it start?
Separates a pump from a board from a door lock, which is three different parts and three different visit lengths.
Is it integrated or freestanding?
An integrated machine is a longer slot and sometimes two people. It is invisible unless someone asks.
Is it under warranty or a service plan?
A warranty call is somebody else's job, and finding that out on the phone is better than finding it out in the kitchen.
More than a appliance repair answering service
An answering service takes a message and charges you for it. Vandial knows your prices, your patch and your diary — so it books the job, or puts a real emergency straight through to you.
It picks up out of hours, and while your line is busy
Most appliance calls come in during the working day, from people who then go to work and are unreachable. Vandial catches them on the first ring and books them there and then, instead of starting a game of phone tag that ends with your competitor.
It knows your prices, your patch and your hours
Tell it the brands you work on, your service call fee, your radius and whether you handle integrated units. It turns away the calls you cannot help with politely, instead of booking them and discovering it on the doorstep.
What it knows
Service call
$89, off the repair
Service area
10 miles
Integrated units
Yes, longer slot
Brands we work on
Bosch, Miele, Samsung, LG
What matters reaches you. The rest waits
A smoking machine reaches you. A dishwasher that is a bit noisy does not. You set the line, and everything below it is written up neatly for the morning.
Your rule: if they say gas, flood or no heat — ring Sam, then me.
Every call written up, tagged and searchable
Model numbers, fault descriptions and photos all attached to the job before your engineer sets off. The second trip is the cost in this trade, and the first call is where it is decided.
Dave Whitfield · Sunday, 4m 12s
Water heater, leaking
Leaking from the base. Booked for Tuesday 1–2pm. Side gate open, dog in the yard. Asked whether the service call fee applies — told $99, waived on repair.
What it will never do
You are handing your phone to something that talks to your customers when you are not there. These are the lines it does not cross in appliance repair, and the words it uses instead.
Gas appliances stop the call
A gas range or a gas dryer with a smell of gas is not an appliance call. The agent tells the caller to call the gas emergency line and stops — it does not book, price, or work out whether it might be something else.
What it actually says
“If you can smell gas near the range, please call the gas emergency line right away and don't use it again until they've been.”
Burning smells and scorching are escalated
A machine that has been smoking, has scorch marks or smells of burning plastic is unplugged and left alone, and the call reaches you rather than joining the calendar. It is also flagged, because that one is a fire report waiting to happen.
What it actually says
“Unplug it at the wall and don't run it again. I'm passing this straight to the engineer rather than booking it for next week.”
It won't say whether it's worth repairing
Repair-or-replace depends on the model, the fault and the age together, and it is the judgement your engineer is paid for. The agent gathers all three and books the visit; it does not tell a customer to buy a new one, and it does not promise that this one can be saved.
What it actually says
“At six years old it could go either way — I'd rather the engineer told you honestly than have me guess and get it wrong.”
The job lands where you already work
Google, Outlook, Apple, Exchange, CalDAV — whichever calendar you already keep. Then your payments, your CRM, and whatever you automate with.
…and a lot more besides
- Warm transfersWarm transfersAnnounced — who is calling and why, before you take the line.
- Spam never billedSpam never billedRobocalls are spotted, zero-rated, and never become a customer.
- A number per sourceA number per sourceVan, yard sign, Google listing — see which line brings the work.
- Team & on-callTeam & on-callTries you, then a second number, then whoever is on call.
- Run it by textRun it by textReply to a text to move a job, block a morning, clear a day.
- Clear a day, everyone toldClear a day, everyone toldCall off a wet Tuesday; every customer is told and re-offered.
- Never invents an answerNever invents an answerNo price or slot it was not given. It takes a message instead.
- Any trade, no codeAny trade, no codeGoal, questions and guardrails are settings, not a rebuild.
What appliance repair companies say before they say yes
Three objections, in the words they are usually put in. Where the objection is right, it says so.
“The second trip is what kills us, and that's a parts problem.”
It is a phone problem. The model number can only be read while the customer is standing in front of the machine — which is exactly when they are on the call — and it is the single field that turns most two-visit jobs into one. It asks every time, and tells them where to look.
“It'll book brands we don't touch.”
It asks the make first and declines politely if it is not one of yours, which is better for both of you than finding out in someone's kitchen. You give it the list once, with your radius and whether you take integrated units.
“Customers want to know if it's worth fixing.”
And it says plainly that it can't tell them. Repair-or-replace depends on the model, the fault and the age together, and it is the judgement your engineer is paid for. What it does is collect all three before anyone drives out, so that conversation takes two minutes instead of ten.
Appliance repair questions, answered
What appliance repair companies ask before handing over their phone number — and what a appliance repair answering service can and cannot do for you.
Will it ask for the model number?
Every time, and it will tell the caller where to find it — inside the door, on the back, behind the drawer. That single field is what turns a two-visit job into a one-visit job, and it can only be collected while the customer is standing in front of the machine.
Can it tell a customer whether it's worth repairing?
No. It captures the make, the model and the age, which is what the decision rests on, and it books the visit. Telling someone to go and buy a new washing machine is a judgement your engineer makes with the machine in front of them.
What about brands we don't work on?
It asks for the make first and declines politely if it is not one of yours, rather than booking a job you will have to cancel. You give it the list once.
Does it handle warranty calls?
It asks whether the appliance is under warranty or on a service plan and routes accordingly. If it is a manufacturer's warranty job it says so and takes the details rather than putting a service call in your calendar that will not be paid.
What if the appliance has been smoking?
It tells the caller to unplug it and stop using it, escalates to you rather than booking, and flags the call. Burning smells and scorch marks are not scheduling matters.
Can it take commercial work — restaurants, launderettes?
Yes, with its own questions. A commercial caller is asked about downtime, access hours and whether the equipment is under a service contract, and can be routed to a different technician entirely.
What does it cost?
Three paid rungs — Starter, Professional and Business — differing only in how many unique customers you answer for in a month. Call flows, engineers and full call history are unlimited on all of them. Robocalls are identified and never billed.
Already decided you want AI to answer it?
Then the question is which one, and that is a different page: what a generic AI receptionist gets wrong on a appliance repair call, and what is configurable about this one.
Not your trade?
The agent's questions, urgency rules, escalations and vocabulary are all configuration. Nothing about a trade is hard-coded, which is why there are 31 of these and not one.