Workshops and bookings

On its own the app keeps track of your bike. Linked to a workshop it becomes a direct line to the people who fix it: you book on real opening hours, say up front what to look at, approve quotes and see the job move forward as it happens.

The Workshops tab#

To use this tab you need to be signed in with your account: without it, all you'll find is Sign in or sign up.

Under the title there's Choose your workshop, with its logo: if you're linked to more than one workshop, that's where you pick which one to look at. Below it comes its card, with the four actions that matter: Book appointment, Home pickup (if the workshop offers it), Messages and Documents. From the card's … menu you make it your favourite workshop, the one with the gold seal, or you unlink it.

Further down are the workshops you follow even though they don't use CrankPal yet (see below) and your bookings: Active bookings at the top, past Services below.

If a workshop invites you to link up, the invitation appears at the top of the tab, with Add and Decline.

Finding and linking a workshop#

Tap + Add workshop: Find a workshop opens, with the map and the list for the area you're looking at. You can search by name or city. With location permission the map starts from where you are; without it, it still works but doesn't know what's near you.

The map shows the workshops in the CrankPal network and, unless you switch on CrankPal workshops only, also the ones listed on CrankPages that don't use CrankPal yet. Next to the name you may see the workshop's type and the Ambassador badge, which marks membership of the CrankPal community: it's not a rating and not a ranking of skill.

On a CrankPal workshop tap Connect. Before you confirm, the app shows you what you're sharing, in two halves.

The workshop will see your name, contact details and address; your bikes, with components and photos; the bike's maintenance history; the bookings and messages between you and them.

The workshop will not see your interactions with other workshops; your history from before the authorisation; other customers' data.

If your trusted workshop isn't there, at the bottom of the results tap Can't find your workshop? Let us know: name, city and a contact if you have one. We'll get in touch with them.

Booking a service#

You get to booking from several places: Book a service under the dashboard in the Bikes tab; Book an inspection on a component's row, on a light's card or, as Book an inspection at a workshop, in the component's details; Book in the notification that tells you an inspection is due; and Book appointment on the workshop's card. The flow is the same.

1. Choose the bike and what to check

   First the bike, then its parts. The ones with a yellow or red light are already ticked; if you came from a part's Book button, that one is ticked. Untick or add whatever you like. Below, in Anything else, in your own words, write the rest: "the chain slips under load" saves time for both of you.

2. Choose the service

   Tap Continue. At the top you'll find a summary of your request, with Edit to go back, and below it the service, from the list of those the workshop actually offers.

3. Choose day and time

   The slots are the real ones: the app reads the workshop's opening hours and availability. A closing day says so; so does a full day.

4. Confirm

   Tap Book at and the time you picked. The request reaches the workshop with the list of parts to check, and you'll find it in the Workshops tab.

If you're not linked to any workshop, Book a service opens Find a workshop first.

Asking for a quote first#

If you'd rather not pick a time straight away, after choosing the bike and the parts tap Ask for a quote first. The request goes out without a date: describe the problem and, if you like, add up to four photos and a video of up to one minute. The workshop answers with a message, a quote or a proposed date, and you'll find the answer in the Workshops tab: you accept or decline a quote like any other, and a proposed date, once you accept it, becomes a confirmed appointment.

The request can also go to a workshop that doesn't use CrankPal yet: it gets it by email, with a link to propose a date without signing up. Until it answers, you can't write to it again.

Home pickup. If the workshop offers it, from its card you ask them to come and collect the bike: type of job, date, address, postcode and, if you like, a phone number. As soon as you enter the postcode the app checks whether the area is covered and shows you the fee before you send. The type of job is an intention, not a quote: the workshop sets the price after seeing the bike.

After booking#

A booking starts as a request, and until the workshop confirms it, it says Awaiting the workshop's confirmation, in amber. When the workshop accepts it, it becomes Confirmed, and you get a notification. If they can't accept it, they tell you why.

Sometimes the workshop has no room at that time and proposes another date. The booking shows the new date, the reason and how long you have to answer:

• Accept the new date and the booking is confirmed at that time;
• Decline and the request is cancelled: you can book again whenever you like.

If you don't answer by the deadline, the proposal lapses and the request goes back to the workshop.

To cancel a pending or confirmed booking, use Cancel booking. The cancellation goes through the workshop, which is notified: that's why it needs a connection.

Following the job: messages and documents#

While the bike is at the workshop you don't need to call to find out how it's going. On iPhone the status shows up on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, on Android as a notification that updates itself: In progress, Waiting for parts, Ready for pickup.

Messages, on the workshop's card, opens your conversation with them: you write, and their replies arrive there.

Documents opens the four lists of what the workshop sends you:

When something is waiting for your answer, the count shows on the Workshops tab, on the card and on the right list. Messages and documents open inside the tab, with the back arrow to return. Documents you've already downloaded can be read offline; to answer or pay you need a connection.

Workshops not on CrankPal yet#

Many workshops are listed on CrankPages but don't use CrankPal yet. You'll find them in Find a workshop, and from there you can still reach them:

• Call gives you the workshop's number, when we have it and the workshop hasn't chosen to hide it;
• Write sends them your message: we forward it by email, and if they reply the reply arrives in the app. They never see your email address. We write to them only once: if they don't reply, try phoning.
• Invite to CrankPal sends them an invitation with a sign-up code, in their language, with your name and, if you like, a message from you. The name matters: an invitation that doesn't say who it's from is advertising, and without your consent to appear it isn't sent. If we don't have an address for them, you send them the code yourself, on WhatsApp, by email or in person.

A workshop you've written to, invited or added to your favourites also appears in the Workshops tab, marked Not on CrankPal yet. If you don't want to see it there, Hide: it comes back by itself if the workshop writes to you.

Common problems#