Customer Says Your Tech Broke Something? What to Do Next

It’s the call every owner dreads. “Your guy was here yesterday, and now there’s a crack in my countertop.” Or a scratched floor, a dented garage door panel, a water stain on the ceiling below the bathroom, a car door dinged in the driveway.

Sometimes your tech did it. Sometimes it was already there. Sometimes it happened after he left. You usually don’t know which on the first call, and how you handle the next 24 hours matters more than who’s right.

The phone call: what to say and not say

The customer is upset and expects a fight. Don’t give them one.

Write down exactly what they say, when they noticed it, and who else was in the house since the job. Then move fast. A claim that sits for a week turns into a review and a chargeback.

Gather the evidence in the first 24 hours

If your photos, GPS, and notes live in texts on six different phones, this step takes days. If they’re attached to the job, it takes five minutes. More on that in how to verify a technician did the job.

Inspect it yourself

Send yourself, a manager, or a senior tech, not the tech who did the job. Look for:

• Does the damage match the work? A scratch on the floor right under the water heater you replaced is different from a crack in a window across the room.
• How old does it look? Dust, dirt, and wear in a crack or scratch suggest it’s been there a while.
• Could the work have caused it? A water stain below a fitting you installed is a strong link. A dent on a garage door you didn’t touch is not.
• Photograph everything, including the surrounding area.

Fix it, pay it, claim it, or push back

Whatever you decide, put the resolution in writing and get the customer to agree to it. A text that says “We’ll replace the panel on Thursday, and that settles it” and a reply of “OK” is worth a lot later.

When insurance helps and when it doesn’t

• General liability is the policy that usually covers damage your company causes to a customer’s property.
• Watch the deductible. If the repair costs less than your deductible, or close to it, filing a claim gets you nothing and may raise your premium.
• Know the “your work” exclusions. Many general liability policies exclude damage to the specific part of the property you were working on. A water heater you broke while installing it may not be covered; the flooded floor next to it may be. Ask your agent before you need to.
• Vehicle damage in the customer’s driveway usually falls under commercial auto, not general liability.

Coverage requirements and norms vary by trade and state. See contractor insurance requirements by state.

When the damage was already there

This happens more than owners expect. A customer notices an old scratch for the first time because they’re looking at the area the tech worked in. Or, less often, someone tries to get a free repair.

Either way, the answer is the same: before photos. A timestamped photo of the work area taken when the tech arrived ends most of these conversations in one text. Without it, it’s your tech’s word against the customer’s, and the customer has the review button.

Handling the tech

• Get his side first, before he knows the details of the complaint.
• Don’t assume. Good techs get blamed for things they didn’t do.
• Be careful about docking pay. Federal and state laws limit deductions from wages for damage. Some states, including California, broadly prohibit them unless the damage was caused by a dishonest or willful act or gross negligence. Check your state before you take a dollar out of a paycheck.
• Track patterns. One claim is an accident. Three claims from the same tech in a quarter is a training problem.

Chargebacks, reviews, and small claims

• Chargebacks: an unresolved damage claim often becomes a card dispute. Your photos, GPS, and signed work order are your evidence. See the chargeback playbook.
• Reviews: respond publicly once, calmly, without arguing the details. See handling bad Google reviews.
• Small claims court: limits and rules vary by state. Show up with the timeline, photos, and a third-party repair estimate.
• Won’t pay their bill over it: see how to bill a customer who won’t pay.

How to prevent the next one

1. Walk through before work starts. Sixty seconds with the customer: “I see a chip here, a scratch there. Just noting it.”
2. Photo the work area before touching anything. Floors, walls, cabinets, the item being worked on, and the path in.
3. Protect the space. Drop cloths, shoe covers, corner guards, and a mat under tools.
4. Photo the finished work and the clean area before leaving.
5. Keep it all on the job record, not on the tech’s phone.

VortechPro keeps before-and-after photos, GPS, and job chat attached to each job, so when the call comes in, the evidence is one tap away. $99/mo for 5 techs, +$20 each.

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