Introduction
The customer list is headed Customer and has three tabs across the top: Active, Inactive and Blocked. Active holds every customer you still work with, including blocked ones. Inactive holds archived customers, such as duplicates that were merged into another record. Blocked lists only the customers the app will not let you confirm or hand a vehicle to, with the reason why.
A blocked customer is a customer whose Blocked switch is on. While it is on, their bookings cannot be confirmed and their vehicle cannot be picked up: the app refuses with Customer is blocked. Every block has one of three reasons:
| The Reason column says | How the block was set | Does it lift by itself? |
|---|---|---|
| Credit limit exceeded | Automatically, when the customer owes more than their Credit limit | Yes, once they are back within the limit |
| Blacklisted | Automatically, when their driving-licence number is on an active blacklist entry | No |
| Blocked manually | A colleague switched Blocked on, or the customer was imported as blocked | No |
You will use this when:
- you want to see at a glance which customers are stopped, and why
- a customer is refused at the counter with Customer is blocked. and you need the reason
- a customer has paid off what they owed and you want to check the block has gone
- a colleague asks why a customer they merged away no longer shows on the list
- the matter with a customer is settled and they may rent again
Use this page to find and understand blocks. For the credit limit itself see Set a customer's payment and invoicing terms; for the blacklist see Blacklist a customer's driving licence.
How to use
Configuration
There is nothing to switch on. The Blocked tab fills itself from the customers' block switches. The credit limit that sets Credit limit exceeded blocks is set per customer, with a company default on Financial settings; see Set a customer's payment and invoicing terms.
Before you start: every staff account can see the three tabs. Opening a customer from the Blocked tab, and changing Blocked on the customer form, needs the Employee or Company admin role.
Using the customer list tabs
From the main menu open Customers, then click the Customers tile. The list headed Customer opens on the Active tab.
- Click the Blocked tab. Each row shows No. (the customer number), Customer name, Reason, Credit limit and Customer balance. A minus balance means the customer owes you money.
- To see only one kind of block, pick it in the filter under Reason.
- Click a row to open that customer's form. The Blocked switch sits in the right-hand column. Under it you see a red Credit limit exceeded strip while they are over their limit, or an On blacklist notice with the blacklist comment.
- To lift the block, follow the row in the table below that matches the Reason.
| Reason | To let the customer rent again |
|---|---|
| Credit limit exceeded | Take a payment, let a held deposit pay the invoices, or raise their Credit limit. Then open the customer form once: the block lifts by itself as soon as they are within the limit. See Check what a customer owes and take a payment |
| Blacklisted | Make the blacklist entry inactive or delete it first, then switch Blocked off and press Save. See Blacklist a customer's driving licence |
| Blocked manually | Switch Blocked off and press Save |
- To block a customer by hand, open their form from the Active tab, switch Blocked on and press Save. The customer appears on the Blocked tab with the reason Blocked manually.
- To find an archived customer, click the Inactive tab. It has the same columns and filters as Active. Click a row to open the customer. A customer is archived when they were merged into another record, or when someone switched Archived on, on the Other tab of their form.
You can tell it worked when the customer no longer shows on the Blocked tab. Reopen the tab to refresh it.
Key details
When a credit block is checked. The app compares the customer's balance with their Credit limit each time their customer form opens, each time one of their bookings opens on the Booking details screen, and each time the customer picker shows them. It also checks straight after Settle deposit pays their invoices. Registering a payment does not check by itself; the next opening does. Reaching the limit exactly is still within it.
A worked example. A customer has a Credit limit of 5,000.00 and owes 5,200.00 on sent invoices. When a colleague opens their form, the app blocks them with the reason Credit limit exceeded, and the Blocked tab shows Customer balance −5,200.00. The customer transfers 300.00 and you register it against their invoices. Their balance is now −4,900.00. The next time anyone opens their form, the block lifts and the row leaves the Blocked tab. Had they transferred only 150.00, the balance of −5,050.00 would still be over the limit, and the block would stay.
The reasons do not mix. A blacklist match replaces a credit block, so paying off the balance does not lift it. A manual block is never changed by the credit or blacklist checks. When you switch Blocked off and save, the reason is cleared. When you switch it on yourself, the reason is Blocked manually.
Where else a block shows. On the Booking details screen a blocked customer gets a warning above the booking, and the full-page customer picker shows a Blocked label beside their name. See Find your way around the Booking details screen.
Archived customers. Customers on the Inactive tab are left out of the Active and Blocked tabs and of Outstanding balances. Bookings that come in from your website, the app or other systems are put on the record a duplicate was merged into, not on the archived one. See Merge duplicate customer records.
What to do next: work the Credit limit exceeded rows first, since a payment usually settles them. Check Blacklisted and Blocked manually rows with whoever set them before you switch anything off.
Q&A
Why did a customer come back on the Blocked tab after I switched Blocked off? The reason was Credit limit exceeded or Blacklisted, and the cause was still there when the form was next opened. For a credit block, bring the customer within their limit first. For a blacklist block, make the blacklist entry inactive first. Then switch Blocked off, or for a credit block simply reopen the form.
Why is a customer still blocked after paying everything they owed? Either the reason is not Credit limit exceeded, or nobody has opened their form since the payment. Open the customer form once. If the Reason is Blacklisted or Blocked manually, the block has to be lifted by hand, as in the table above.
Why does Confirm say Customer is blocked. when the Blocked tab does not show the customer? The tab only shows what was true when you opened it. Reopen the tab. If the customer is archived, look on the Inactive tab instead; an archived customer does not appear on Blocked.
Why can I see the Blocked tab but not open a customer from it? Opening a row needs the Employee or Company admin role. Ask your administrator.
Why is the Customer balance on the Blocked tab 0.00 for a customer blocked for credit? The balance shows what they owe now. They are probably within their limit already, and the block lifts the next time their form opens. Open it.
Why is a merged customer missing from the Active tab? Merging archives the duplicate, so it moves to the Inactive tab. Work on the customer it was merged into.
Related pages:
- Check what a customer owes and take a payment for paying off a credit block.
- Blacklist a customer's driving licence for blacklist blocks.
- Set a customer's payment and invoicing terms for the credit limit.
- Confirm a booking for the other checks that refuse a confirmation.