Audience: Fixably administrators (Manager or Admin login) who run the customer booking app. Available from Fixably version 26.41.

A mail-in service type lets a customer book a repair on your booking page without visiting a store. They describe the problem, give you the address the device ships from, send the device to you, and you ship it back when the repair is done. There is no appointment time: a mail-in booking creates an order straight away, in a queue of your choice, and the order waits there until the parcel arrives.

This article covers the setup in Fixably, what the customer sees, what lands in Fixably, and what to check when something does not show up. If you have not set up the booking app yet, start with How to use Appointment Booking.

Prefer to watch? Here's a 4-minute video walkthrough.

When to offer mail-in

Offer a mail-in service type when some of your customers cannot reach a store: a regional customer base, a depot that repairs for the whole country, or a device category that is easy to post (phones, tablets, laptops). Customers who can walk in still book an appointment as before; the booking page offers both and lets them filter by Walk-in or Mail-in.

Before you start

• The booking app is enabled (System Settings → Booking App → Enabled).
• You have a queue for mail-in repairs. A dedicated queue, for example Mail-in Repairs, keeps them easy to spot in the order lists, but a shared queue works too.
• The location that receives parcels is enabled and has a full postal address: the booking page and the confirmation email show it to the customer as the shipping address.
• If your tenant does not use the Appointment Manager, you also need a turnaround time promise that links the service type to the devices (System Settings → Turnaround times). On Appointment Manager tenants a mail-in service type needs no availability zone.

Step 1: Create the service type and choose Mail-in

Open System Settings, type Service types in the filter box and open Service types. Every service a customer can book is listed here. In the example, Duck Repairs in Austin already offers a walk-in repair and a device pickup.

Click Create new service type and fill in the panel. The important choice is Type: pick Mail-in Service. Two extra fields appear below it.

You cannot save a mail-in service type without a default location and queue: Fixably answers A location must be selected for mail-in service types or A queue must be selected for mail-in service types.

Step 2: Set the required contact fields

Since version 26.41 the fields the booking form requires are set per service type, in the Required fields in the booking app section at the bottom of the same panel, instead of once for the whole booking app. A new service type starts with all ten fields ticked; untick what you do not need. Email or Phone must stay ticked, so you can reach the customer.

For a mail-in service type, Address, City and Zip are ticked and locked, because you will ship the device back. Tick State as well if you ship within the United States.

Your walk-in service types keep their own set. In the example, the walk-in repair asks for a name, an issue description, email and phone, and nothing else.

Click Save. The list shows the new service with its default location and queue under the type.

Step 3: Decide whether customers choose the location

Go to System Settings → Booking App and scroll to the Mail-in service section. It has one switch, Let customers choose the location.

• Off (default): every mail-in booking goes to the service type's default location. The booking page skips the location step.
• On: the booking page shows a location step listing the locations and stores you mark in step 4. The order is created at the one the customer picks. If none is marked, the booking page behaves as if the switch were off.

Click Save settings.

Step 4: Mark the locations that accept parcels

This step only matters when the switch in step 3 is on.

Go to System Settings → Locations, open the location, switch to the Advanced Settings tab and, under Booking App, tick Visible for mail-in repairs in booking app. The location must also have Available for appointment ticked, otherwise it is hidden from the booking page altogether. Click Save and repeat for every location or store that receives parcels. Stores have the same two checkboxes.

Locations without the mail-in checkbox still serve walk-in appointments; they are just not offered for mail-in.

Which setup fits your business

• One store. Create one mail-in service type with that store as the default location. Leave Let customers choose the location off. Customers never see a location step.
• Several stores, one receiving depot. Set the depot (for example Austin) as the default location and leave the switch off. Every parcel goes to Austin, whichever store the customer usually visits.
• Several stores that each receive parcels. Switch Let customers choose the location on and tick Visible for mail-in repairs on Austin, Dallas and Houston. The customer picks the nearest one, and the order is created at that location.
• Different services per region. Instead of the switch, create one mail-in service type per receiving location, for example Mail-in repair (Austin) and Mail-in repair (Houston), each with its own default location and, if you like, its own queue. Customers then pick the service rather than the location.

What the customer sees

On your booking page the customer picks the brand and device as usual. The service step now has Walk-in, Mail-in and All filters. The mail-in service shows a shipping icon, the label Mail-in and the description you wrote.

With the location switch on, the next step lists the locations and stores you marked, with a map. With the switch off, this step is skipped.

There is no calendar. The customer goes straight to the device details: serial number, a description of the problem, and any intake questions you show in the booking app (System Settings → Tasks).

The contact form asks for the fields you ticked on the service type. For a mail-in service the address, city and zip are always required. The button reads Create Mail-In Repair instead of Create Appointment.

The confirmation page reads Your mail-in repair has been created! and shows the booking number (this is the Fixably order number), the customer's details, the device, and the location to ship to with its address, phone number and map. There is no date, no time, no add-to-calendar and no reschedule option, only a Cancel link.

The confirmation email

The customer receives the same details by email from the template Mail-in Repair Confirmation (System Settings → Email → Templates, template service-booking-mail-in-confirmation). The default text tells the customer where to send the device, which address it will be returned to, to back the device up first, and to put the order number in the package, and it carries a View booking link. Unlike the appointment confirmation it contains no date, time or rescheduling notice. Edit the template if you want to add packing or shipping instructions, for example a prepaid label link. Placeholders you can use: {orderId}, {customerName}, {serviceTypeName}, {tenantName}, {deviceModel}, {serviceLocation}, {serviceLocationAddress}, {customerAddress}, {tenantPhoneNumber} and {viewAppointmentUrl}.

Cancelling until the repair starts

The View booking link stays live while the order is open. From it the customer can cancel the repair as long as you have not started on it, that is while the order has no repair and its status is still of the In queue or Waiting for delivery type. A mail-in booking can never be rescheduled.

Cancelling closes the order in Fixably and adds a hidden internal note, Customer cancelled the mail-in repair via booking-app self-service link. The customer sees the cancelled state for seven more days, with a link to create a new repair; after that the link reports Booking not found.

Once the repair has started, the link shows This mail-in repair can no longer be cancelled online. Please contact the service provider. From then on only your staff can cancel the order.

What lands in Fixably

The booking creates a draft order in the mail-in queue, at the default or chosen location, the moment the customer submits it. No appointment is created, so nothing appears in the appointment calendar, the order header shows no Next appointment line, and the Next appointment column in the order list stays empty. The order carries:

• the device card with the serial number the customer entered;
• the customer as end user (a new customer is created when the email address is not known yet);
• an Issue note with the customer's description, and the answers to your intake questions;
• a hidden Internal note with the full contact details, including the return address;
• Service location set to the receiving location and Internal location: With customer.

When the parcel arrives, open the order and click Add to service queue. From there the repair runs through the queue's normal statuses. When it is ready, ship it back to the address in the internal note with your usual shipping flow.

The booking also appears under Orders → Appointments, the list of every order booked through the booking app, with an empty appointment date.

Troubleshooting

Related articles

• How to use Appointment Booking
• Appointment Manager – User Guide