Emergency Service Request Policy and Guidelines

Emergency Service Request Policy and Guidelines

This policy provides guidelines for what constitutes as an Emergency and how we attempt to dispatch a Service Provider in a timely manner. 

Process

Cinch will attempt to secure a service appointment within 24-48 hours. Customer Service Agents are required to call up to 4 Service Providers in an attempt to secure an appointment.
  1. Emergency situations must be validated and the appropriate severity must be selected on the Service Request.
  2. Call up to 4 Service Providers to attempt to secure an SP.
    1. If you secure an SP within the first 4 attempts, assign to that SP.
    2. If you are unable to secure an SP within the first 4 attempts, assign to the top-ranked SP that did not answer.
      Warning
      DO NOT assign to an SP that verbally confirmed they could not take the job.
    3. If less than 4 SPs are listed below the calendar, continue to perform a service locator search in SB for the remainder.
      Warning
      DO NOT assign an SP from the service locator without verbally confirming they can accept.
    4. If all 4 SPs reject the request or if no SPs are listed below the calendar and through service locator, manually assign to Procure Vendor for Dispatch to work.
  3. If overtime pay is required to secure a SP, it will be based on current emergency guidelines and is for the initial Service Call and Diagnosis only.
  4. Confirm the Service Provider's availability.
    1. If the earliest appointment is after hours and requires overtime pay, offer the overtime pay for the initial Service Call and Diagnosis to the SP.
    2. If the appointment is scheduled during normal business hours, overtime pay will not be approved.
  5. Service Job Comments must indicate if Cinch Approved Overtime has been approved and the cost of the overtime, or if Customer Approved Overtime is applicable.

Emergency Guidelines

The situations covered by this policy are those which would cause a dwelling to be uninhabitable and/or those causing property damage. See the table below to review the emergency guidelines when an overtime service call fee will be approved and paid for by Cinch. Severity may be updated during service initiation or during a follow up interaction. 


Item/Condition

Emergency Situation/Condition

Action Steps

Medical Condition or Other High-Risk Situations

Customer reports they have a medical condition that is adversely affected due to the failure.

Air Conditioning Service Job

During periods of temperature and/or heat index of 85 DEGREES OR HIGHER.

Only Unit in the home, or Area in home with working unit is inaccessible. 
  • Go to wunderground.com and enter the customers zip code or city.


  • Review the weather forecast for 3 days.
  • If the temperature is 85 degrees or higher on any day, set the service job severity to Emergency.

Furnace/Heating Service Job

During periods of temperatures 40 DEGREES OR LOWER.

Only Unit in the home, or Area in home with working unit is inaccessible. 
  • Go to wunderground.com and enter the customers zip code or city.


  • Review the weather forecast for 3 days.


  • If the temperature is 40 degrees or lower on any day, set the service job severity to Emergency.

Plumbing/Water Leak/Appliance Leak

No water in the entire home, and/or if the main supply was shut off to prevent property damage from leak due to plumbing, water heater, or appliance such as clothes washer or dish washer.
  • Determine if the customer turned off the main water supply.
  • To prevent shutting off the main water supply, a local shutoff valve can be used when available.
    • Examples: Toilet, Sink shut off valves, etc.

Toilet

No working toilet. Refer to Medical Emergency Policy

as applicable.
  • If 1 toilet is in working order, overtime pay is not approved by Cinch unless the working toilet is inaccessible to an individual.

Water Heater

No hot water in the home, tank leaking causing property damage, or no secondary water heater.
  • Attempt to assign an SP to service the customer within 24-48 hours.

No Electricity

Electrical problem resulting in no electrical power in the home.
  • Determine if the customers area is experiencing a power outage.
  • Overtime pay is not approved by Cinch for an area power outage.

Refrigerator

Inoperable refrigerator that contains/stores medicine that is used daily and critical to preservation of life. Refer to Medical Emergency Policy

as applicable.
  • Determine if it is the only unit in the home.

Safety Conditions

Gas smell, electrical burning smell, electrical sparking, carbon monoxide detector alerts.
  • The gas company must first determine the source of the gas leak.
  • The customer can locate the phone number of their local gas company on their gas bill.
  • After the gas company evaluates the gas leak, if needed, follow appropriate emergency guidelines.
  • Emergency overtime is determined after the gas company determines the source of the gas leak. Refer to Emergency Gas Leak Process for additional instructions.

Not Qualified for Cinch Overtime

We do not approve overtime for non-emergent situations, but we want the customer to still feel like they're being taken care of. So, if other urgent situations occur that do not qualify for emergency overtime (i.e., wall oven not working on a holiday, secondary HVAC equipment not working but they have another system running fine, etc.) handle the call with urgency by:
  1. Dispatching a service company through a 3-way conference and confirming the appointment.
  2. Going the extra mile and remaining positive. Do not advise the customer their situation does not qualify for emergency overtime pay. Instead, if a Service Professionals first available appointment is outside of business hours, allow the customer to decide if they want to pay the overtime or wait for the next appointment within normal business hours. 
  3. Involve the Team Leaders or Managers to get approval for overtime or to provide other alternatives (i.e., Alternative Provider Option).

Alternate Source of Air Conditioning and Heating

When determining Cinch Approved Overtime for heating and air conditioning service requests, ask the customer if they have an alternate source of heat or air conditioning. If the customer does not have an alternate source of heating or air conditioning, or if an alternate source exists but is not accessible to an individual in the home, approve Cinch Overtime based on the current emergency guidelines.

Below are some examples of equipment that qualify as alternative heating and air conditioning sources:
  1. Alternative Heat Sources
    1. Hot Water and Steam Heating Systems
    2. Centrally Ducted Forced Air Gas/Electrical/Oil Heating Systems
    3. Electric Baseboard Units
  2. Alternative Air Conditioning Sources
    1. Centrally Ducted Air Conditioning System
    2. Heat Pump System (Geothermal or Water Source)
    3. Evaporative (Swamp) Cooler Unit
    4. Wall Units







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