AI by NicheJob 6 of 16ChatGPTGemini
Reply calmly when a customer reports cracks
Cracks after plastering can be movement, drying or workmanship, and you can't tell without looking. A calm reply that books an inspection stops it escalating. Asking for photos and when the cracks appeared, and offering dates to look, keeps the first reply factual and leaves the cause to you.
Time: 15 minutesTool cost: you can start with a free AI tool
Steps
- Ask the customer for photos of the cracks, which walls or ceilings, and roughly when they first appeared.
- Check your own records: the date you finished, the drying and decorating advice you gave, and what you plastered over (new board, old plaster, Artex).
- Example (made up, for illustration only): six weeks after skimming over an old Artex ceiling, a customer messages about fine lines across it. The reply thanks them, asks for photos and when they first saw the lines, and offers two dates to come and look. It does not guess at the cause.
- Run the prompt below, leaving out the customer’s name and address.
- Inspect before saying what caused it, and record what you find with dated photos in your own job notes.
- If what you see suggests movement in the building rather than the plaster, suggest the customer asks a surveyor or structural engineer to look.
The exact prompt
Write a calm reply (under 100 words) from a plasterer to a customer who has reported cracks in [ROOM] after my work finished on [DATE]. Thank them for letting me know. Ask for photos of the cracks, which walls or ceilings, and when they first noticed them. Offer to come and look on [DATE 1] or [DATE 2]. Do not suggest any cause, do not say whether it is normal, do not admit or deny fault, and do not mention any law or guarantee. Plain, friendly [British] English.
✓ Check before you send
- The reply suggests no cause; you decide that after inspecting.
- There is no admission or denial of fault in the first reply.
- The dates you offered are ones you can keep.
- Structural concerns go to a surveyor or structural engineer, not into your reply.
- No names, address or photos went into the AI tool.
UK notes extra
- UK: under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a trader must perform a service with reasonable care and skill (section 49). Whether a crack points to a problem with the work is your judgement after inspecting, and an adviser’s if it becomes a dispute, never the AI tool’s. legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 (UK).
- GOV.UK: consumer protection rights.
Last reviewed Oct 2026. Free tools change. If a screen looks different, the steps still apply.Back to top ↑