What this does
You tell Glovebox the level you expect a vehicle back at. When a vehicle comes back below it, the shortfall is worked out from the level recorded at pickup, the level recorded at return, and the rate you set. The result waits on the booking until somebody approves it.
Nothing is charged to a card on its own. Every charge needs a person to approve it, and the record keeps the name of whoever did.
Set the rule
Go to Settings → Fuel. If you have an electric vehicle in your fleet the page is called Fuel and charging and has a second section for it.
There are four things to set:
- Turn the rule on. With it off, nothing is ever worked out or charged.
- Minimum level. The level you expect the vehicle back at. Set it to 100% for a full tank.
- Tolerance. How far below the minimum you will let go without charging. A couple of points stops you chasing a customer over a needle that sits a whisker low.
- Rate, and service fee. The rate is per litre, or per kWh for an electric vehicle. The service fee is a flat amount on top, for the trip to the pump or the charger.
Under each section is a worked example that uses your own figures, so you can see what the rule would do before you save it.
A rule that is switched on with neither a rate nor a service fee cannot charge anything, so Glovebox refuses to save it and tells you why.
What happens at pickup and return
At pickup the vehicle's level is recorded along with the rule as it stood that day. That matters later: if you change your rate next month, a hire that went out under the old rate is still assessed under the old rate.
If a vehicle goes out below your own minimum, the customer only has to bring it back to the level they received. You will see a note on the pickup screen when that happens, so you are not surprised by the smaller charge afterwards.
At return the level is recorded again and the shortfall is worked out.
Approve, adjust or waive
Open the booking and look at Post-hire charges. A refuelling or recharging line shows the amount and the working behind it: the level it went out at, the level it came back at, the level required, the litres or kWh short, and the rate.
You have three choices:
- Approve and charge. Takes the amount from the card on file. If your payments go through Stripe, you will be told to collect it from the customer instead, because Stripe does not let us charge a card after the hire without the customer present.
- Adjust amount. Change the figure and say why. The original calculation stays on the record beside your amount, so you can still see both. Adjusting does not charge anything; approve it when you are ready.
- Waive. Decide not to charge, and say why.
A reason is required for an adjustment and for a waiver. It is the answer to "why is this $40 and not $86" when the customer rings next week.
If the payment fails
The line turns red and offers Retry charge. A failed payment does not charge the customer twice, and you can still adjust or waive it instead of retrying.
Who can approve
Owners and managers. Staff can see the charge and the working, but not approve, adjust or waive it.
Taking money off a card after a customer has gone home is a different decision from recording an odometer reading, and the person handing the keys back is often not the person who should make it.
You will be told when one is waiting
Because nothing charges itself, a drafted charge would sit unnoticed on a booking you have no reason to open again. So a charge waiting for approval appears in your dashboard alerts with the levels and the amount on it. The alert clears itself once you approve or waive the charge.
What the customer sees
At pickup they are told the rule in plain words, for example "Please return this vehicle with a full tank."
If you charge them, the receipt explains the charge using the levels and the rate that were actually applied. If you adjusted the amount, it shows your reason instead of the sums.
If nothing appears
- The rule is off. Check Settings → Fuel.
- No level was recorded at pickup or at return. Without both there is nothing to compare, and the charge cannot be worked out. You will see the booking flagged for a figure entered by hand.
- The vehicle has no fuel or battery size set. Without it the litres or kWh cannot be worked out, so only the service fee is applied and the booking is flagged for you to set the amount. Fuel tank size and battery size are on the vehicle, and on the vehicle group if a whole group shares one.