Overview
Shop Manager does not allow for the complete deletion of a customer. This is because of the interconnected nature of the service history data. The work has taken place on the vehicle, so the record of that work should remain intact. This is similar to how Shop Manager currently handles parts deleting. If the part is associated with any canned job, estimate, work order, purchase order, or purchase record; it cannot be deleted.
The solution for removing customers is to merge their profiles*. This article will explore two common reasons for needing to remove a customer and guide you through the process of merging, which effectively 'deletes' the customer profile.
*NOTE: Merging cannot be reversed once completed, please use caution when merging customer accounts.
Merging Duplicate Customer Profiles
At times, you may encounter multiple profiles for the same customer and prefer to consolidate them into a single profile. Follow the steps below to merge duplicate customer profiles efficiently.
- Navigate to the "Customers" tab
- Search to find the customer profiles*
- Select the checkbox to the far right for each of the customer profiles you'd like to merge together
- Click the button to "Merge"
- Select the customer that you want to have all the data merged from the other profile(s) into
- The merge is now complete
*Note that if your search does not show the customers on the same page, that's fine. You can click the checkbox to 'select' the first customer and then search for the next one. You can merge up to 5 customers at a time.
Archive or "Delete" a Customer Profile
To help you essentially delete a customer, you can create a new customer called "Archived" or "Deleted" and then merge the customers you want to remove from your customer list into that particular customer.
Please ensure during the merging process, that you choose the archived or deleted profile as the "primary."