A booking system for tyre changes and car services

01Twice a year the phone doesn’t ring, it screams

Late October and November, then March and April.Everyone wants their tyres changed in the same week, and the phone rings exactly when your hands are on a wheel. Some calls go unanswered, some clients drive up to “the live queue” and wait for hours, and some simply drive on to the next garage that picked up.

This article covers when the season really starts and why, how many cars your garage can handle and how many you miss (a calculator), how to set up services and lifts for online booking, and a list of things to do before the season.

02Why everyone comes in the same week

The rules set the season. According to CSDD, the Latvian road traffic safety directorate:

• From 1 December to 1 March, vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes must have winter tyres.
• Since the 2024/2025 winter season, only tyres with the “mountain and snowflake” mark count as winter tyres. Tyres marked only M+S no longer qualify in winter.
• A car's winter tyres need at least 4 mm of tread all season.
• Studded tyres are allowed from 1 October to 1 May, and then they must be on every wheel.

That is why in autumn the peak is the last weeks before 1 December, while in spring it stretches from March to early May. The rules can change, so check the CSDD website before each season.

03How many cars you can handle, and how many you miss

Season capacity is simple maths: lifts, minutes per car and working hours. What's harder to see is the people who never reached you. Put in your own numbers:

The last number is only an estimate, because missed calls aren't written down anywhere. That is exactly why it matters: every client who can book on their own is a call that doesn't get lost.

04Services that make sense to the client

The client doesn't know how long things take. They know what they have: tyres on rims or not, a car or an SUV. If your services are split that way, each one has the right length and price, and the schedule has no gaps:

• Wheel swap, when the tyres are already on rims.
• Tyre fitting and balancing, when the tyres need to go onto rims.
• SUVs and vans separately, because they take longer.
• Tyre storage, if you offer it, so the client can choose it straight away.
• Inspection or repair, if it is different work with a different length.

In the names, use the words clients actually search for, such as “tyre change” and “tyre fitting”, not internal names.

05Lifts, mechanics and fixed times

A tyre shop schedule differs from a hair salon in one way: the limit is usually the lift, not the person.

1. Each lift is its own work place. Two lifts mean two cars at once, even if three people are working.
2. Fixed start times, for example every 30 minutes. That way there are no 10-minute gaps between cars that nobody can book.
3. Spare time at the end of the day or for the “live queue”.If part of the time is kept for drivers without a booking, booked clients don't wait, and walk-ins know when they have a chance.

06When a booked client doesn’t turn up

In the season, an empty slot costs twice: the no-show doesn't pay, and someone else who wanted that exact time has already gone to another garage. What helps most is a reminder the day before and an easy way for clients to cancel or move the time themselves:

Why SMS often works better than email for a reminder like this is covered in Do you need SMS reminders if you have email?.

07What to do before the season

How to add a booking link to Google Maps is covered in How to add your booking link to Google Maps and Instagram.

08How it works in RINDIQ

RINDIQ isn't built only for beauty. For a tyre shop it looks like this:

• Work places are the lifts. The system never books more cars at once than there are free lifts, and specialists are the mechanics who work at them.
• Each service has its own length and price, and clients only see times when the job really fits.
• Fixed times let you take cars, for example, only on the hour and half hour.
• Clients get a confirmation and a reminder by email or SMS, and can cancel or move the time themselves, which makes it available to others straight away.
• The car's number plate or tyre size can be saved in the client's notes, so it is at hand next season.
• The booking page is in Latvian and English, and the link can go on Google Maps, Facebook and your website.