FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
The Subscription
Do you offer a free trial?
We offer something different than a free trial, which is often too short or offers limited access. With Skimmer, you sign up like a regular user and we offer a 30-day money back guarantee. So, you have access to all our features right away, including our customer support, and a full month to test the system and determine if it’s right for you. If you like Skimmer and decide to continue, you can keep right on using it as you have. However, if you decide it’s not the right fit for your company, you can cancel anytime within the first 30 days and request a full refund. To request a full refund, contact us via Support@GetSkimmer.com.
What locations am I charged for?
Skimmer’s monthly subscription only charges for the locations you complete work for within a given month. So, if you’re not servicing a location, whether the customer is active or inactive, you will not pay for them. There’s no need to remove them from the system to avoid being charged. To further describe our subscription plan, for the first month we charge a flat $49. Our standard subscription fees begin in the second month. The monthly subscription price starts at $1.00 per serviced location with $49 being the minimum. For example, if you are on the starter tier and you service 100 locations in one month, the fee will be about $100. The next month, if you service 80 locations, the fee will be about $80. Skimmer does not charge more if you service a location multiple times in that month.
Can I pause my subscription?
We don't currently have a pause feature. The only way to guarantee the data stays active in our system is to remain subscribed. The price would drop to $49 a month if you are not using the software to service any customers, as basically a cloud storage fee. If you decide to cancel your subscription, the information does remain for a time, but we cannot guarantee how long that data will remain in the system after cancellation.
How do I cancel my subscription?
To cancel your Skimmer subscription, on the website navigate to Account > Payment Method. On that screen, you'll be able to click a cancellation button. Feel free to provide feedback and a reason for cancellation, which would be appreciated as we use this information to help improve the Skimmer experience.
The Software
Is the Skimmer app able to work offline?
Yes! Because Skimmer is what's called a native app, it has the ability to hold onto your service data when signal is low or unavailable (for instance, if you're working in a neighborhood with bad cell signal). Then, when you move to an area with good signal, Skimmer will then upload your service data to the cloud.
Can I transfer some of my customers to another Skimmer subscriber’s company?
Because of the security built around each company that uses Skimmer, we don’t currently have a way to transfer information directly between companies. For now, you can export the basic customer list to a spreadsheet (be sure to remove any customers that you’re not transferring from the spreadsheet), which the new owner can then format and upload to their own company account in Skimmer.
What information can I export from Skimmer?
Skimmer allows you to export customer information and service history. On the website, go to Settings > Export and you’ll find the options there.
How can I import my customers?
If you’re a QuickBooks Online user, you can connect Skimmer to your QBO account and directly import your customers from QBO to Skimmer. If you’re not a QBO user, you can import from an Excel or CSV file. On the website, navigate to Customers and click the Import From File button in the top right-hand corner. Once you are on that page, you can download a sample file which will show you the proper format your CSV file should be in before attempting to import. There is a list of directions below that sample file as well that will explain the formatting in text. Once the file is in the correct format, choose that file to upload and follow the import instructions provided on the screen.
Why can't I upload photos from my device's camera roll / photo album?
Skimmer does not allow existing photos to be uploaded to service reports from the device's camera roll. It is designed to require new photos to be taken live on-site every time. This is to provide assurance to both the managing pool pro and the pool service client that when service photos appear on their email reports, the tech had to be on-site in order to take those photos live.
Why isn’t my customer’s address saving when I try adding them to Skimmer?
Double check to make sure the state is the 2-letter abbreviation (not the full state name), and the zip code is 5 digits. Also, double check that there are no hidden spaces entered before or after the state or zip. Browsers will sometimes add an extra space at the end as an attempt to be helpful, but this can cause an error.
Route Management
Can I assign two techs to one job?
Currently, work can only be assigned to one tech at a time. Some choose to create a Secondary/Support work order type and assign that to the second tech on-site, so that they can at least have something on their route schedule to indicate the job they will be participating in.
My commercial client's pool needs service every day. How do I schedule daily route stops?
However many days you service a pool each week, you'll need to create the same number of weekly-recurring route assignments. For instance, if you service a pool every Tuesday and Thursday, you'll need two weekly route assignments, one for Tuesday and one for Thursday. If you service a pool every day, you'll need seven weekly route assignments, one for each day of the week.
Skimmer organizes routes this way so that you can manage work for individual days. For instance, if the same tech normally services the commercial pool every day, but they call out sick for three days this week, you are able to reassign those sick days temporarily to another tech without affecting the schedule of the non-sick days.
My customer has alternating service levels, each with a different charge. How can I set up those different service charges?
One way to handle this is by creating a duplicate service location for that client. Then you can use the Location Code to label each according to service level, such as Full Service or Chem Check. This allows you to set different service rates for each duplicate location. You can then create route stops for each “location” separately. The Location Code will display on the route screen, so your techs will be able to see which service they are expected to provide on each service day.
How do I service a customer multiple times per week?
You can go to any customer multiple days a week. To do that, you create additional route assignments. For instance, if you're adding an extra weekly service day to a customer, you can go to their profile and click Add in the Route Assignments box. So, for two days a week, you would have two ongoing route assignments.
Why does Skimmer say my tech was at a stop for only 1 minute?
When a tech taps into the next available service stop, Skimmer starts the clock automatically. It will then stop the clock when the tech taps Finish. Note that this will only happen for the next available stop (for instance, if the tech has completed five stops, the clock will start if he taps into the sixth stop but not if he taps into the tenth stop). The best way to get an accurate account of the tech’s time spent on site is for them to tap into the route stop when they arrive and then tap the Finish button when they have completed their work and are ready to go.
Why did all my routes double up today?
When route duplications occur, it’s most commonly because the user is logged into Skimmer on two mobile devices, and on both devices the app is marked as Primary. We recommend that each user only log into Skimmer on one app/mobile device at a time. However, if you need to be logged into two, open the Skimmer app on your secondary device and go to Settings > Sync Zone > Primary Device for Route and toggle that option off. This should prevent duplicates from occurring in the future. If the user does not have the Skimmer app on more than one mobile device, check to ensure that no other user (such as admins or administrators) has logged into that user’s account.
Communication
Can I send an email to all of my customers at once?
Yes, Skimmer provides tools for you to send Broadcast Emails directly from our system, and we give you options for filtering which customers you’d like to be included as recipients.
How can I choose who receives service emails?
Once you toggle the service emails ON, Skimmer will automatically email the customer when service is completed, unless:
1-The customer is added to the Do Not Email list ( https://getskimmer.com/Settings/ServiceEmails/DoNotEmailList)
2-There is no email associated with the customer's account
3-You choose the option for all service emails to be sent to an alternate address of your choosing. You can set routing options on the Service Emails screen.
Can I resend a service email?
There are multiple ways to resend a service email.
1-On the app, navigate to the completed route stop. Scroll down to the Email box and tap on the Send To> button. This will open a screen allowing you to enter any email address that you’d like to forward this service email to.
2-On the website, navigate to Routes > Route Dashboard. Choose the day and tech that customer was scheduled for, find the completed route stop, then hover your cursor over the customer's name. "Info" will appear. Select it, and on the following screen you will see an Email button. Click this button for an option to resend that report.
3-Navigate to Customers > Customer Profile, then click the tab for the appropriate body of water. From there, click History and you will find all the days that customer has been serviced. You can select a specific date and an option to email the report again will appear toward the top.
Note: If Service Emails were not turned on when a stop was originally completed, the option to send an email will not appear.
Why is my customer no longer receiving service emails?
When our system records that emails are being delivered, but the customers are saying they are not receiving them, this is often because their email service provider is filtering them out or sending them to spam. Many providers are becoming stricter with their filtering systems, and their algorithms may choose random times to begin filtering more aggressively. Here are the recommended steps to address the issue. The process of following these steps will be a little different for each email system, so customers may need to check with their provider for further instructions:
1-Make sure to check the Spam Folder.
2-Add our support email address support@getskimmer.com as a contact within the email system. This tells the algorithm that Skimmer emails are from a familiar source and you want to receive them.
3-Add Getskimmer.com to your email system’s Domain Whitelist. This also will signal that you want to receive emails coming from Skimmer.
How can I quickly create a list of broadcast email recipients?
The broadcast email creation tool allows you to target any particular message at subsets of your customers based on their scheduled work date or tags associated with their account.
If you want to create a custom list with recipients that don't share a tag or correspond to scheduled service dates, another method is available as a workaround. Create a route on an unused work day (such as Sunday) and add your recipients to that day. Then build the broadcast email from the customers on that service date. You can add/remove customers from that day at will, as needed.
QuickBooks Online
Does Skimmer integrate with QuickBooks?
We currently have an integration with most tiers of QuickBooks Online. We’re unable to directly import customers or products from QuickBooks Desktop, Enterprise, or Self-Employed. However, you can export your customer list from QB to a spreadsheet, and this can be imported into Skimmer. Our website provides instructions for formatting the information so our system can read it, and a portal for you to directly upload the file. For invoicing, we have reports that can show you what to bill for.
When I export invoices to QuickBooks Online, I receive a Duplicate Document error. How can I fix this?
That error message is coming from QuickBooks Online because, for one reason or another, QBO is assigning a previously used invoice number to the invoices you are trying to create today. Skimmer doesn’t control how the invoices are numbered by QBO when attempting to export into their software. We suggest you reach out to QuickBooks for assistance. You can also search online for message boards or Intuit guides that explain how to change the invoice numbers.
Under QBO Billing, my Pool Service tab is stuck on the loading screen. How can I fix this?
If you have made a service inactive in QBO that still has a link in Skimmer, this will cause an issue. You need to first make the service active again in QBO and then refresh the QBO Billing section in Skimmer.
Why can’t I get past the Installed Items section under QBO Billing?
The most common reason is that some products in QBO may be accidentally classified as Services, which Skimmer is then unable to see as products. We recommend double checking your product classifications to ensure they are set as Non-Inventory Items and not Services.
User Accounts
How do I create or remove a user?
Each user will need their own login account, including a unique username and a password. On the website, go to Settings > Users. There you can create new users and assign them the necessary access levels. Users can download the app from the app store on their device (the app is free) and log in using the credentials you created for them. If you receive a message that says a username is taken, you may need to add or change some characters in order to make it unique. If you need to remove a user’s access, uncheck the Active box under their user account and they will no longer be able to log into the system.
Why does Skimmer say the user name I want is already taken?
Everyone who logs into Skimmer must have a unique user name. This applies to all Skimmer subscribers, not just those in your company. Think of it this way – no one else in the world can have the same email address as you. That belongs to you alone, and it’s how you alone receive emails intended for you. So if Skimmer says a certain user name is taken, try something different or try adding something to the user name to make it more unique, like a number.
I’m an Admin. Do I also need a tech account to complete work in the field?
No, your Admin account can do both, so you only need that one to do everything you need in Skimmer.