WOF and service reminders that fill next month’s diary

Hoist tracks WOF and service dates on every vehicle and sends reminders automatically by SMS and email. Customers come back when they’re due - without anyone in the office keeping a spreadsheet or a wall calendar of due dates.

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The reminders tab on a vehicle in Hoist: scheduled service and WoF reminders, the status of each and the channel it goes out on

Why manual reminders stop working

  • The reminder run never happens

    Ringing or texting every customer whose WOF is due takes hours every month. It’s the first job dropped in a busy week - and every skipped month is bookings handed to the workshop down the road.

  • WOFs are going two-yearly

    From 1 November 2026, newer light vehicles move to two-yearly WOFs, with more of the fleet following from 2027. The WOF sticker will drag customers in less often - reminders anchored to service intervals are what bring them back in between.

  • Emails get buried

    Email-only reminders die in promotions tabs. SMS gets read within minutes - and a reminder that isn’t read is a bay that sits empty.

How reminders work in Hoist

  • Dates are captured automatically. WOF, CoF and service due dates are tracked per record as part of the normal job workflow. There’s no separate reminder list to maintain - if it’s in Hoist, the date is too.

  • Reminders send themselves. Set the rule once, and reminders go out automatically every morning based on the due date on the vehicle record - by SMS or email, whichever the customer prefers. Nobody has to remember to run them.

  • Service reminders cover the gap between WOFs. Reminders aren’t limited to the WOF date. Set a due date per vehicle and a service reminder sends itself on that date too, which matters more every year as WOF frequencies stretch out.

  • Every reminder is specific. Because reminders come from the actual record, the customer gets a message about what they own - not a generic blast.

The Hoist calendar for Wednesday 14 October: two technicians with the hours booked for each, and bookings showing the customer, vehicle, rego and job

What you get

  • Automatic WOF, CoF and service reminders by SMS and email
  • WOF, CoF and service due dates tracked on every record
  • Texts come off a credit balance you top up
  • Set the rule once; reminders run without manual work
  • Full history means every reminder references the right vehicle
  • Built for NZ - WOF is a first-class field, not a custom hack

Common questions

How do WOF reminders work in Hoist?
Hoist tracks the WOF due date on every vehicle record. Set the rule once and a reminder goes out automatically every morning based on that date, by SMS or email. There’s no manual reminder run to remember.
What do SMS reminders cost?
Texts and rego lookups come off a prepaid credit balance that you top up, and the rate per text is on the pricing page. A text is not sent when the balance runs out, so keep it topped up. Email reminders are included.
What happens to reminders when WOFs go two-yearly in 2026?
The reminder dates follow whatever is recorded for each vehicle, so two-yearly WOF cycles are handled the same way annual ones are. The bigger shift is strategic: with longer WOF gaps, service reminders become your main retention tool - which is exactly what Hoist automates.
Can I send service reminders as well as WOF reminders?
Yes. Hoist sends both - WOF and CoF reminders keyed to the due date, and service reminders set per vehicle with their own due date. Both go out automatically by SMS or email, on the date you’ve set.

Related reading

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