Auto services and parts
Payment at the garage, over the phone or at the car wash, with no operator.
In a garage the amount is rarely known in advance. So what works here is a terminal on site combined with a payment link sent once the repair is done.
Car washes and car parks need something else: an unattended terminal built into the machine, working without a person on both shifts.
What you get
Terminal in the garage
A mobile model that goes to the customer.
Payment link
Send the amount once the repair is finished.
Unattended terminal
For car washes, car parks and machines.
Online parts shop
Payment straight on the site.
Instalments
For larger repairs and tyres.
Reporting per site
Garage, shop and car wash separately.
Three places in one business, three different payments
The motor trade is rarely one thing. There is the workshop, where the customer pays at a counter after a repair. There is the parts shop, where payment works like any retail. And there is the car wash or car park, where there is no person at all.
Each of the three wants a different device. In the workshop a countertop unit at the desk does the job, or a mobile one if the car is handed over in the yard. In the parts shop it is an ordinary till. At the car wash you need an unattended device in a housing that survives water, dust and sub-zero temperatures.
What they share is the account. All three channels can land in one report, split by location, so you can see what earns and what costs.
The repair that turns out dearer than quoted
The classic situation: the car comes in for one thing, it is opened up and it turns out to be another. The customer agreed to five hundred and the bill becomes twelve hundred.
Payment can take the tension out of that. A payment link describing exactly what the extra covers and why, sent before the work is done, turns an unpleasant conversation into a documented choice. The customer approves and pays the amount before collecting the car, rather than being surprised at the counter.
On larger repairs instalments also earn their place. An unexpected fifteen hundred euro repair is a blow to a household budget, and four instalments make it bearable. You receive the full amount immediately.
Payment by phone without card numbers read aloud
A common practice in the trade is for a customer to ring, order a part and read out their card over the phone. That is a bad idea for several reasons: your employee hears and sees the details, the call recording contains them, and in a dispute you have no evidence of consent whatsoever.
A payment link solves all of it. You send a message, the customer pays themselves, the card passes through nobody. It takes the same time and removes liability from you.
If you do need payment during a call, there is an option where the customer keys the number in with their phone's tones and the agent never hears the digits.
Car wash and car park: a device left on its own
An unattended terminal has requirements an ordinary one does not. A housing resistant to water and dust. Operation at low temperatures. Anti-vandal protection. And a reliable connection, because there is nobody to restart it.
The second thing that matters is that the customer is alone in front of the machine. The screen has to be readable in direct sunlight, the instructions short, and the contactless target obvious. Any hesitation in front of an unstaffed machine ends in a phone call or a lost customer.
Per-device reporting becomes particularly useful here: you see what each machine takes, by hour and by day, which is the basis for deciding where the next one goes.
Trade and retail parts from one account
A parts shop often sells both to end customers and to workshops. The two pay differently: one with a card on the spot, the other on invoice and transfer.
There is no reason to keep them in different systems. The till payment, the website payment and a payment link to a trade customer all land in the same report, marked by channel. For trade customers an Open Banking transfer suits well, because the amounts are high and there is no percentage fee.
If you also run an online shop, the same account covers it, which simplifies returns: a part bought online and returned in the shop is a single action in the panel.
Before you put a terminal on a car wash
Half an hour of checking on site saves a replacement after the first winter.
- Whether the housing survives water, dust and sub-zero temperatures
- Whether the screen is readable in direct sunlight
- Whether the tap point is obvious without a three-line label
- Whether the connection is stable or a SIM device is needed
- Whether there is visible anti-vandal protection
- Who gets alerted if the device goes down overnight
Questions about this
Will a terminal survive car wash conditions?
Unattended models are designed for exactly that: a rugged housing, operation at low temperatures and no need for an operator. An ordinary terminal in such a place does not last long.
Can I take payment before the customer collects the car?
Yes, with a payment link sent as a message. The customer pays from their phone and comes only to collect, which also shortens the queue at the counter.
Do instalments make sense in a workshop?
Above a few hundred euro, usually yes. An unexpected repair is exactly the case where instalments solve the customer's problem while you are paid immediately.
How do I track several locations?
Each site and each device has its own identifier in reporting. Settlement can be combined or split per site, depending on how you run the business.
What happens when a part is returned?
The refund goes through the terminal or the panel, in full or in part, and is offset in the next settlement. If the part was bought online and returned in store, it is still one operation.
Can I track what each machine takes separately?
Yes, reporting is per device, by hour and by day. That is precisely the number that decides where the next one goes, instead of guessing.
How is a subcontractor working in my workshop accounted for?
If they work in your name, the payment goes through your account and forms part of your turnover. If they work on their own account, they are better off with their own, because otherwise you carry their risk in a dispute with the customer.
Ready to start accepting payments?
Send us an enquiry and you will get a concrete quote with calculated fees for your business, usually within one business day.