A shop with a CSR already has a night plan, or they dump to a $300/mo answering service that reads a script. A one-van shop has voicemail. Voicemail at 9 p.m. is how that job becomes someone else’s overtime.
What “after hours” means here
You set hours in the shop profile. The dispatcher knows them. A clogged sink at 8 p.m. is “today or scheduled.” No heat at 28° with kids in the house is an emergency, even at 1 a.m. We do not pretend you have a second truck. We promise you will call back.
What we will not do at 11 p.m.
- Quote a price.
- Diagnose from a noise.
- Tell them someone is on the way if you are not.
- Walk a homeowner through jumping a limit switch or resetting a hot breaker.
- Book a calendar window. You are not a front desk.
We take the job cleanly, text you, text them, hang up. You decide whether it is a night roll-out or first thing in the morning. That decision belongs to the person whose name is on the van.
Questions shops actually ask
- Do I have to take nights?
- No. We still take the ticket and hold the caller. You call back when you call back. If you do not want nights, say so in your hours — we will not promise a roll-out you do not do.
- Is this 24/7?
- The line is. Your hours are yours. Emergency vs today vs scheduled is on the ticket so you can see it at a glance.