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We know it can be frustrating to set aside a whole day for an engineer’s visit, especially when you have errands to run or a busy schedule to juggle. At the same time, we want to give you the best possible service — and that means being upfront about why it’s challenging to provide an exact arrival time. Below, we’ll walk you through the main reasons and share how we do our best to keep you informed along the way.

1. Wide Coverage Area

- Our engineers travel all over Central Scotland, which means they can sometimes drive hundreds of miles a day. Traffic, roadworks, and route changes can all cause unexpected delays. If we tried to guarantee a specific time, there’s a high chance we’d have to break that promise due to unforeseen travel issues.

2. Unpredictable Job Durations

- We don’t know exactly how long each job will take until our engineer arrives and starts working. Some jobs that look easy on paper can turn out to be more complicated. Other times, what appears to be a big job might be solved in minutes (like discovering a quick fix after a power cut). Because of this, our schedule can shift throughout the day.

3. Multiple Appointments Per Day

- Our engineers have several jobs to complete daily, and a delay in one appointment can ripple through the rest of the day’s schedule. If an earlier appointment finishes sooner or later than expected, it can impact the engineer’s arrival time for all subsequent visits.

4. Coordination Between Engineers

- Sometimes, an engineer might need help or a second opinion from a colleague, causing a reshuffle in our planned schedule. This kind of teamwork helps us solve problems faster and more effectively, but it can make it trickier to pin down exact timings.

5. Traffic Conditions

- Even the best route planning can’t always account for sudden traffic jams or accidents. A journey that should take 30 minutes might end up taking double that time. When this happens, it creates a knock-on effect for the rest of the day.

6. Customer Rescheduling

- Life happens — people need to reschedule appointments for all sorts of reasons. Similarly, last-minute bookings can pop up. Both situations can shift our engineers’ schedules around at a moment’s notice.

7. Emergency Situations

- Occasionally, urgent issues arise that we need to address immediately. In these cases, we’ll do our best to let you know if the schedule changes. However, emergencies can push back everyone else’s slots.

8. Unexpected Issues On Site

- From a sudden power cut to discovering hidden damage, our engineers sometimes encounter surprises that change the game plan. A two-hour job might be done in five minutes, or a quick fix might turn into something more complex.

9. Last-Minute Changes

- We don’t always know for sure who will be able to make your appointment until the day itself. Engineers can switch assignments right up until they’re on the way. That’s why it’s not feasible to provide 100% confirmed times for each individual visit.

10. Providing (Unreliable) Estimates

- We understand that some customers really need an idea of timing, and we wish we could give accurate estimates. But if we can’t be confident in the accuracy, we’d rather not risk misleading you. Our aim is always to avoid inconvenience and frustration, so we’d prefer to say we don’t know than to give you a time that’s likely to change.

When We Can Narrow It Down…

- On the day of your appointment, if we can pinpoint a shorter time window, we’ll text you right away. This might happen if a job finishes sooner than expected, or if traffic is lighter than usual and timings are more predictable. Please keep in mind that all the factors above might still cause changes.

Need to Nip Out?

- We completely understand that it’s inconvenient to stay home all day. If you need to pop to the local shop or walk your dog, just submit a repair enquiry from our website. Often, we can at least tell you, for example, “The engineer definitely won’t arrive in the next 30 minutes,” if we know they’re currently more than a 30 minute drive away. It’s much easier for us to confirm that we won’t be with you within a certain timeframe than to promise exactly when we will. Please note that this is offered on a goodwill basis, we will provide this once per customer, per appointment, if possible.

In a Nutshell

You will receive a text message when the engineer is on their way to you, which normally includes a tracking link so you can see how long until their arrival. While more notice is provided in some cases, they would normally provide 5-10 minutes notice of their arrival as a minimum.

We don’t provide narrow time slots because too many variables (travel, traffic, unforeseen job complications, emergencies) can shift our schedule.

We do aim to let you know as soon as we have a better idea of our arrival time, often via a quick text on the day.

We’re also more than happy to confirm a time window in which our engineer definitely won’t arrive, so you can plan the rest of your day.

Thanks for your understanding and cooperation. We genuinely appreciate your patience. Our goal is always to solve your issues thoroughly and efficiently — even if we can’t pinpoint the exact minute we’ll arrive at your doorstep!