Recover declined auto repair work with DeepSeek, Google Sheets and Gmail

Most shops note declined work on the ticket and never mention it again. This workflow takes a short form entry from the advisor, has DeepSeek write the first follow up in plain service desk voice, then runs a fixed cadence from a Google Sheets ledger until the customer books, says no again, or the item ages out.

Last updated: November 2026.

Quick Overview

An advisor logs the declined work on a form with the customer, vehicle, declined items, quoted total and finding type. The workflow normalizes the entry, sets due dates, asks DeepSeek for a first follow up and files the record in a Google Sheets decline ledger. A daily 09:00 sweep sends the next touch only for rows that are due: three days for safety findings, seven for maintenance, a second touch at 14 and a final reminder at 21. A second form takes booking requests, and a Monday report sums the open value, the safety backlog and what was booked.

How it works

1. The advisor submits the form Log declined repair work with customer name and email, vehicle, declined items, quoted total, finding type and advisor email.
2. Normalizes the entry: splits the declined items on semicolons and line breaks, converts the quoted total to a number, flags safety records, and sets the first touch and final due date.
3. Validates the submission. A name, a customer email with an @, at least one item and an advisor email are required; a bad entry is emailed back to the advisor with what to fix and never reaches the customer.
4. Asks a DeepSeek agent for the first follow up: a subject under 70 characters and an 80 to 130 word body that names the vehicle and the declined items, states the quoted total and offers one next step, with no diagnosis and no invented discount.
5. Parses the reply and strips em dashes and en dashes, appends the record to the Declined tab and emails the customer through Gmail.
6. Every day at 09:00 reads the ledger and computes which rows are due. Rows already booked, closed, declined again or waiting on a slot are skipped, rows past 60 days age out, and the rest get touch one, touch two at 14 days or the final reminder at 21.
7. For each due row DeepSeek writes the stage email and Gmail sends it, then the touch is appended to TouchLog and the ledger row is stamped with the stage and send time.
8. A second form takes booking requests. The request is normalized, emailed to the advisor, the ledger row is marked booking requested so the sweep stops, and the request goes to BookingRequests.
9. Every Monday at 08:00 reads the whole ledger and emails the owner a recovery report: open value, open count, safety value still open, work booked after follow up, requests waiting on a slot, rows aged out, and the six oldest open items.

Setup

1. Create a Google Sheets workbook with Declined, TouchLog and BookingRequests tabs, then select it in the Sheets nodes.
2. Connect your Google Sheets account on the append, read and update nodes.
3. Connect Gmail for the first follow up, the stage emails, the advisor notes and the weekly report, and replace the report recipient with the owner's address.
4. Add OpenAI credentials on the Decline Model and Recovery Model nodes and keep the DeepSeek model they point at.
5. Share the two form links with the front desk and the advisors.
6. Change the 3, 7, 14, 21 and 60 day values in the code if your shop chases declined work on a different rhythm.

Quick Answers

How often does a customer hear from the shop?
At most four times: the first follow up, a second check in at 14 days and a final reminder at 21 days, with the first arriving after 3 days for safety findings and 7 for maintenance. Anything past 60 days leaves the list.

What keeps a follow up from going out?
The row is skipped when it is already booked, closed, declined again or waiting on a slot, when the customer email has no @, or when the final reminder went out.

Does DeepSeek promise anything to the customer?
No. The prompts forbid diagnosis, safety judgements, failure predictions, invented discounts, deadlines and price changes. Each email only offers the option to reply or call the service desk.

What does the Monday report actually show?
Open declined value and count, the safety flagged value still open, work booked after follow up, requests waiting on a slot, rows aged out past 60 days, and the six oldest open items.

Additional info

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