# Running Late Notice: Tell Customers Early

Source: https://maito.app/workflows/tell-customers-when-a-visit-is-running-late

When a technician runs behind, Maito drafts a text with a new arrival window for the next customer and posts it for approval.

When a route slips, draft a short delay message with a realistic arrival window for you to approve.

[Customer support](https://maito.app/workflows/team/customer-support) · [Home services](https://maito.app/workflows/industry/home-services) · When something happens · Updated October 19, 2026

Works with

-   Slack
-   Email

## How do you tell customers when a visit is running late?

To tell customers when a visit is running late, set up a trigger on delays. Maito sees a technician more than 30 minutes behind in Jobber, works out the new arrival window, drafts a text to the next customer, and posts it in Slack for approval.

## How it's done today

Customers phone the office for updates.

## What Maito does

1.  Read the technician's live status and route
2.  Work out a revised arrival window
3.  Draft a short text for the office to approve
4.  Escalate severe delays to a person

## Example

Loop run: Dee is 55 minutes behind

**Maito** (10:38 AM):

Dee is running 55 minutes behind. Her 9:00 job at Initech is still in progress and her status was last updated at 10:31.

Affected today:  
• 11:00 Acme Dental: new window 11:45 to 12:15  
• 1:30 Hooli Cafe: no change expected

Draft text to Acme Dental: "Hi, this is Northstar. Dee is running behind from an earlier job and will arrive between 11:45 and 12:15. Sorry for the delay."

Catch: Acme's office closes for lunch at noon, according to the notes on their record. A 12:15 arrival may find the door locked.

Source: Dee's job status and route in the field service software. Nothing is sent until you approve.

**Tom** (10:42 AM):

change the window to 11:30 to noon and send it.

**Maito** (10:43 AM):

Sent to Acme Dental with the window 11:30 to noon. I'll check Dee's status again at 11:15 and tell you if that's slipping.

## How to set it up

When something happens Tell customers when a visit is running late

Ask your agent

“When a technician runs more than 30 minutes behind on a route, draft a text to their next customer with a new arrival window and post it in #dispatch for approval.”

Connect field service software

-   Jobber

Connect SMS

-   Twilio

Not connected yet? Your agent sends you a link to sign in.

## What it won't do

It can only judge delay from the status it sees. A stale status makes its estimate stale too.

## Questions

### Does it text customers by itself?

No. Nothing goes out until dispatch approves.

### How does it know a technician is behind?

From job status and route times in Jobber.

### Does it notice customer notes?

Yes. It flags things like a lunch closure that could clash with the new window.

## More customer support workflows

-   [Draft replies to tickets you've solved before When a question has been answered before, get a draft reply from that answer. Customer support · When something happens Works with Intercom, Pylon, Notion.](https://maito.app/workflows/draft-replies-to-tickets-youve-solved-before)
-   [Spot recurring issues early Group tickets by cause so a new problem shows up before it's a flood. Customer support · On a schedule Works with Intercom, Pylon.](https://maito.app/workflows/spot-recurring-issues-early)
-   [Daily escalations view See every escalated or at-risk ticket in one message each morning. Customer support · On a schedule Works with Intercom, Pylon, HubSpot, Salesforce.](https://maito.app/workflows/daily-escalations-view)
-   [Reproduce a bug from a customer report Turn "it's broken" into exact steps, a recording and a bug report engineers can use. Customer support · When something happens Works with Linear, Jira.](https://maito.app/workflows/reproduce-a-bug-from-a-customer-report)
-   [Answer "how does this work?" from the code Support gets the real answer from the product, not from an outdated doc. Customer support · When you ask Works with Notion, Confluence.](https://maito.app/workflows/answer-how-does-this-work-from-the-code)
-   [Keep help articles current after a release After each release, find help articles that no longer match the product and draft fixes. Customer support · When something happens Works with Intercom, Notion.](https://maito.app/workflows/keep-help-articles-current-after-a-release)

[See all workflows](https://maito.app/workflows)

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