Blueframe Systems
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Our work / Colonial Auto Repair

Case study · Auto repair, Chicago area

Colonial Auto Repair: booking, repair status, and memberships in one portal

An independent repair shop ran on its existing software with nothing customer-facing. We built a customer portal and a staff back office alongside it. Blueframe's founder works in management at Colonial, so every screen was built around how the counter actually runs.

Customer portal · Staff back office · Memberships

Colonial Auto Repair customer portal: live repair status with stage tracker, assigned mechanic, current step, and cost estimate

The problem

Customers had no way to book online, check on a repair, or manage a membership, so all of it went through the phone and the counter. Closing out the day meant pulling numbers together by hand, with no central report.

What we built

  • Online booking that only offers open times and skips the days the shop is closed
  • Live repair status: the stage, the assigned mechanic, the current step, the estimate, and when it's ready
  • Messages tied to each appointment, so approvals and questions stay with the car they're about
  • Memberships sold online or added by staff at the counter, plus member-only offers claimed in the portal
  • A staff back office for appointments, customers, vehicles, and invoices, with every change in an audit log
  • End-of-day cash closeouts and monthly exports of appointments and invoices

Built around the shop's existing software, not instead of it.

Colonial Auto Repair staff portal: today's appointments with service, customer, vehicle, and time, each to confirm, cancel, or message
Today's appointments for the counter: confirm or cancel, open the repair, or message the customer.
Colonial Auto Repair staff inbox: a conversation about a 2021 Toyota RAV4 where the customer approves front pads and rotors
Every conversation is tied to the car and the appointment, so approvals are on record, not on a personal phone.
Colonial Auto Repair customer portal: a Colonial Club member card and member-only offers to claim
Members carry their card in the portal and claim member-only offers there.
Colonial Auto Repair cash register closeout: bill counts, card and check totals, and over or short for the end-of-day report
End of day: count the drawer, enter card and check totals, and the report works out over or short.

Customers calling to ask if the car's ready? See how we build websites and portals for auto repair shops, or browse the rest of our work.

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Based in
Vernon Hills, IL