An AI receptionist for appliance repair companies that states the service fee and books the window
An appliance repair tech answers the phone with one hand on a dryer drum, and the caller wants two things: what it costs to come out, and when. Unlike an answering service that takes a message, this is an AI receptionist that gives your service fee, gets the brand, model and symptom, and books the arrival window. Here's how it handles the call, and what it won't do.
Where appliance repair companies actually lose the job
An appliance repair company gets more calls per job than almost any other trade, and shorter ones. Each is worth less than a roof, but there are a lot of them, and they all come in while the tech is on a job: a washer that won't drain, a dryer that spins cold, an oven that won't hold temperature, a fridge that's warming up with a week of groceries in it. The customer with the warm fridge calls three companies in five minutes and books whoever answers.
The money is in the service fee and the repair behind it. Bob Vila, "How Much Does Appliance Repair Cost?" puts a typical repair at $107 to $247, with the service fee for the visit itself at $50 to $100. That's a business of volume, and volume lives or dies on the phone being answered. Every call that rings out is a service fee gone and a repair gone with it.
The second problem is the information. A tech who arrives knowing the brand, the model and the symptom brings the right part and finishes in one trip. A tech who arrives knowing "the dishwasher's broken" makes two.
What the AI does on an appliance repair company call
The AI answers as your company, in about two rings, on every call at once, day or night. It asks what a good dispatcher asks: which appliance, the brand, the model number if they can see it, what it's doing or not doing, how long it's been happening, gas or electric where that matters, and the address. For a fridge or freezer it asks whether it's still cold at all. If the caller can't find the model number, they can text a photo of the tag.
Then it answers the question every caller asks: what does it cost to come out. It states your service-call fee exactly as you set it in Settings, whether it's waived when they go ahead with the repair, and your hourly rate or minimum if you use one. It says the tech gives the repair price after the diagnosis and before any work starts. It never guesses a repair price. If you'd rather it not mention a fee at all, leave the setting blank and it books the visit.
It checks your services list, so "do you work on Sub-Zero" or "do you fix microwaves" gets a straight yes or no from what you entered, and callers with an appliance or brand you don't service hear that before anyone drives anywhere. Then it books into open arrival windows on your Google Calendar, with jobs per window matched to your truck count. With auto-assign on, each booking goes to a free tech with a calendar invite and a briefing text.
Calls you define as urgent, like a refrigerator that's stopped cooling or a gas smell from an oven, follow your emergency rules: the first on-call phone gets a text briefing, then rings, and the tech presses 1 to take the call. For a gas smell, you decide what Alex tells the caller; it never gives repair instructions and never tells anyone to work on a gas or electrical connection.
Customers can text a photo of the model tag or the error code on the display. Alex saves it to the customer card where the tech sees it before the visit, and forwards a photo that comes with an emergency to your on-call phones.
What happens after the call
The customer gets a confirmation text with the window. The day before, they get a reminder they can reply to if they need to move it (once you turn on appointment confirmation texts). The tech's morning text has the appliance, brand, model, symptom and address, so the right parts go on the truck.
When a repair turns into a repair-or-replace decision and the customer says they'll think about it, the quote goes into a follow-up text sequence at 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days, which stops the moment they reply. Missed calls get a text back within seconds, and the reply comes to the same conversation. On Elite, outbound campaigns work your past-customer list for maintenance visits and dryer-vent cleaning, and every number you publish is tracked as its own lead source.
What it doesn't do: order parts, look up warranty coverage, give repair advice over the phone, or take payment. Those stay with your tech and your invoicing software.
A week on the phone, appliance repair company edition
This is an example of how the system handles a week, not a customer's results.
Monday, 8:40 am. You're on the first call of the day with a washer apart. A caller's dryer runs but doesn't heat. Alex asks the brand and model, gas or electric, and the address, states the service fee and that it's waived with the repair, and books the 1 to 3 window on Tuesday. At 11:15 a caller says the fridge stopped cooling overnight. That's on your urgent list, so your on-call phone gets a text with the address and the symptom and then rings; you press 1 and take it between jobs.
Wednesday, 7:50 pm. A caller texts a photo of an error code on an oven display. Alex saves it to the card, asks the brand and the address, and books Thursday's first window. Friday, a customer who was quoted a compressor replacement on Tuesday and said he'd think about it gets the day-3 follow-up text and replies, "Let's do it."
What AI Front Desk Helper does besides answer the phone
Answering the phone is the entry point, not the product. Here is the rest of what runs once a contractor is on AI Front Desk Helper:
- Booking that respects your calendar. Alex checks your own Google Calendar and offers real open times, so it never books a slot you're already on a job for. Jobs per time slot, arrival windows, appointment length, same-day booking and service days by ZIP code are all settings. Reschedules and cancellations move or remove the event.
- Crews, not just one calendar. Optional auto-assign books each job to a free crew member in turn, using their own calendar and work days, and adds them to the event. Repeating visits (weekly, every two weeks, monthly) can be paused for one customer or for the season.
- After-hours emergencies. You write what counts as an emergency and list up to three on-call phones. Alex rings them in order with a text briefing, and the tech presses 1 to take the call. Emergency texts and website chats alert the same phones, and a tech can reply CALL to be connected.
- Photos by text. Customers can text a photo to your number. Alex saves it to their card, forwards an emergency photo to the on-call phones, sends your Quick Quote link for a job it can price, and offers a visit for anything else.
- Straight answers on price. With the estimator turned on, for junk removal, window cleaning, pressure washing, house cleaning, pest control, garage doors, pool service, flooring, concrete, window installation, stump grinding and lawn care, Alex gives a ballpark from your own price sheet and says the crew confirms on site. Trades that price on site can set a service call fee, and Alex answers financing and insurance questions from what you set. No number you didn't give it.
- Instant online quotes. A branded quote-and-book page for your business (yours looks like quote.yourcompany.com) where customers get a ballpark and pick a time, day or night. Built in for painting, roofing, siding, fencing, gutters and the twelve trades above, and switched on with the estimator (included on Elite, a $20/month add-on on Basic and Pro).
- Estimate follow-up that doesn't quit. Text sequences at 24 hours, 3, 5 and 10 days on every quote that hasn't closed, written like a contractor, stopping the moment the customer replies.
- Objection detection. "Too expensive" or "need to think about it" triggers a recovery script instead of a polite goodbye.
- Outbound campaigns. AI calls and texts to your past-customer list for seasonal reactivation, win-backs and referral asks. You set the campaign; it dials.
- Google Business Profile, handled. Every new review gets an owner reply drafted for you; profile posts can be drafted, approved and scheduled weeks ahead; a profile health audit shows how you stack up against nearby competitors.
- Revenue coaching by lead source. Every phone number is tied to where it came from (Angi, LSA, Facebook, referral, yard sign), so the dashboard shows which marketing produces booked revenue and which to cut.
- Customer DISC profiles. Every caller and texter gets a buying-style read (D, I, S or C) from what they actually said, with a confidence flag, so you walk into the estimate knowing how to sell to them.
- Franchise HQ. One rollup across every location for multi-unit operators.
- Reseller program. Agencies can offer the whole system under their own brand. How it works.
- Optional add-on: AI Rep Coach. Records in-home estimates and coaches the people who sell, with manager review and team analytics. Sold separately, per seat.
Setup for an appliance repair company
In Settings, pick Appliance Repair as your trade. Enter your service-call fee, whether it's waived with the repair, and your hourly rate or minimum if you have one; Alex says exactly that and nothing more. List the appliances and brands you service so the yes-or-no questions get answered right. Apply the recommended scheduling (two-hour arrival windows, same-day with two hours' notice), add your techs in Crew Management and turn on auto-assign, or set jobs per window to your number of trucks. Add up to three on-call phones in order and write what counts as urgent in your own words, for example a refrigerator that's stopped cooling or a gas smell. Forward your existing number or port it. Most companies are live within the week.
A straight answer about where this comes from: AI Front Desk Helper was built and tested inside my painting company. Appliance repair runs on the same setup as our HVAC, plumbing and electrical customers: the service-call fee, your rules for what's urgent, calendar booking in arrival windows, follow-up and lead tracking. There's no appliance price sheet, because the repair price needs a diagnosis; Alex gives your service fee and books the visit. We don't have results from appliance repair companies to publish yet, and we won't make them up.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | $297/mo | 24/7 AI call answering, Google Calendar booking with free/busy checks by phone and text, missed-call text-back, lead capture and CRM sync, call transcripts. |
| Pro | $497/mo | Everything in Basic plus SMS follow-up sequences (24h / 3d / 5d / 10d), website AI chat widget, appointment reminders, Facebook Messenger. |
| Elite | $997/mo | Everything in Pro plus outbound AI campaigns (win-backs, seasonal reactivation, referral asks), AI revenue coaching by lead source, Google review response writer, objection detection, referral autopilot, franchise HQ rollup. |
Annual billing is two months free. Call minutes included every month: 500 on Basic, 1,200 on Pro, 3,000 on Elite (extra minutes $0.30). No setup fee, month to month.
Which plan for an appliance repair company
Most appliance repair companies belong on Pro. A same-day repair business runs on booking, and every plan books into arrival windows and states your service fee; Pro adds the reminders that cut no-shows and the follow-up on repair-or-replace quotes. Basic answers every call, states the fee, books the window and captures the lead, without reminders or follow-up. Elite adds maintenance campaigns to past customers, review replies and revenue by lead source, worth it once you have a real customer list and real ad spend.
Questions appliance repair companies ask
Will it tell callers my service-call fee?
Yes, exactly as you set it in Settings: the amount, whether it's waived with the repair, and your hourly rate or minimum if you use one. It says the repair price comes after the diagnosis. If you leave the fee blank, it books the visit without mentioning one.
Can it quote the repair itself?
No. There's no appliance price sheet, and a repair price without a diagnosis is a guess. Alex says the tech gives the price before any work starts, and books the visit.
Will it get the model number?
It asks for it, and if they can't find it they can text a photo of the tag. The photo lands on the customer card, and the tech's morning briefing has the brand, model and symptom.
Can a fridge that stopped cooling be treated as an emergency?
Yes, if you say so. You write what counts as urgent in your own words and list up to three on-call phones. Those calls get a text briefing to the on-call phone, then a call the tech takes by pressing 1.
Does it know which brands I service?
It answers from the services list you enter. A caller with a brand or appliance you don't work on hears that on the call instead of after a visit.
Does it order parts or check warranties?
No. It captures what the tech needs to bring the right part, and leaves parts, warranty lookups and payment to your tech and your software.
Does it book more than one tech?
Yes. Set jobs per window to your number of trucks, or add your techs in Crew Management and turn on auto-assign so each booking goes to a free tech with a calendar invite and a briefing text.
Fifteen minutes. We call your business line, run a real appliance repair company call, and show you what happens after it. You decide.
Book a demoComparing options? See how we stack up against Housecall Pro CSR AI, Jobber's AI Receptionist, Workiz Genius Answering, Goodcall and seventeen others. Related: what to say when a caller asks for a price and how to answer the phone on a job site.