Reminders in Pistonlog are templates you build once that automatically text or email customers when something is due — an MOT, a service, a timing belt, a booking.
You configure them at Workshop Settings → Reminders. From there you create templates, then Pistonlog's daily run handles delivery.
The model
- Build a template per type / countdown / channel combination
- A matching event (jobcard completion, appointment creation) schedules a send into the reminder log
- Once a day, at 08:00 UTC, Pistonlog sends every queued reminder whose scheduled date has passed
- Every attempt is recorded so you can see what went out, to whom, and when
Reminders are a Pro feature
On Essentials the Reminders card in Workshop Settings is greyed out and won't open. It carries an "Upgrade to Pro to unlock" note in place of a link.
No lock screen on the page itself
There is no upgrade screen on the Reminders page. If you reach it from an old bookmark or a saved link on an Essentials plan, the page renders normally and looks usable. You only find out when you try to save a template or send, and the request is refused with "This feature requires a plan upgrade". Nothing is lost, but nothing is saved either, so don't compose a long template on Essentials expecting to keep it.
Two things deliberately keep working after a downgrade so you're never stuck with reminders you can't stop: switching an existing template off, and cancelling a queued send. Reading the logs also stays open.
The vehicle's own Reminders tab is a separate surface and isn't plan-gated either. See Reminder logs.
What's covered in this section
- The reminder template types (MOT, Service, Timing Belt, Appointment, plus the transactional Appointment Confirmation and Appointment Changes types), and one-off Custom sends
- How to build a template and what placeholders are available
- How sends get scheduled and when
- One-off (manual) reminders
- SMS credit pricing
- Inspecting the logs
Related
- Reminders end-to-end (Daily Workflows)
- Appointments — confirmations are a different flow
- SMS credits
In this section
MOT, service and appointment reminder types
The six reminder template types, one-off custom sends and how each works
Creating a reminder template
Build a reminder template once and Pistonlog texts and emails every eligible customer automatically
Reminder triggers — what fires a reminder
A reminder only sends when there's a due date to fire from — here's where each type pulls its date
Reminder intervals — how many days before
Pick how many days before the due date a reminder fires — each template counts down from a single interval
Reminder channels and placeholders
Send by email or SMS — and use placeholders so the same template personalises per customer
SMS credits
Every SMS Pistonlog sends costs one credit — how credits work, costs, and where to top up
Sending a one-off reminder
Schedule a custom reminder to one or more customers — without waiting for a template to fire
Reminder logs
Every reminder send is recorded — when, to whom, what was sent, and whether it succeeded