Duplicates and merging

The same client can have two records: created twice at the front desk, imported from previous software, registered once as an individual and once as a business. Merging combines these two records into one, the kept record; the other one, the merged record, is archived and points to the kept record.

Permission: Merge two client records (permanent), reserved for the Administrator by default, together with the right to edit clients. The database itself refuses a merge to anyone without this permission, and always during a support session: Garage+ support sees neither Compare and merge nor Merge with….

Possible duplicates

Garage+ constantly flags two records of the garage that share:

• a phone number (mobile or landline, of any contact of the record);
• an email address (case ignored);
• a SIRET;
• the same name and the same postcode (the name is compared without accents, case or spaces: “Jean-Pierre DUPONT” and “jean pierre dupont” are the same name).

The name alone is not enough: two people with the same name in different towns are not flagged. An archived record is flagged, marked “archived”; an anonymized or already merged record never is.

On the record, a banner names up to five possible duplicates and the reason (“same phone”, “same SIRET”…), without ever showing the other record’s phone, email or SIRET. It offers:

• Compare and merge, with the permission to merge (see below);
• Not a duplicate, with the permission to edit clients: the pair is never flagged again (a father and son sharing a phone, for example). The record’s other duplicates are still flagged.

In the client directory, the Possible duplicates box, under the filters, only shows the records that have at least one duplicate not dismissed. It combines with search and the other filters.

Records created before this feature get their name key when the garage is updated; until then, the “name and postcode” criterion does not flag them.

The merge wizard

The wizard opens from the banner (Compare and merge: the other record is already chosen) or from the page’s ⋯ menu, Merge with…: then search for the other record by name, phone number or plate (the open record is not offered; an archived record is, marked “archived”). An archived record does not offer the merge: restore it first, or open the wizard from the other record. On a phone, it takes the whole screen.

1. Step 1 of 2 — the kept record. Garage+ suggests the oldest one (lowest customer code); an archived record cannot be kept, so the other one is suggested. The customer code of the kept record does not change.
2. Step 2 of 2 — the values. For each piece of information present and different on both records (identity, address, language, notes, source, primary contact), choose the value to keep; for notes, Keep both joins them (2,000 characters at most). Information missing from the kept record is taken over from the other record automatically (“taken over”). A summary shows what will be attached to the kept record (“2 contacts · 1 vehicle · 1 job”) and what will stay on the merged record (“2 invoices or credit notes · 1 issued quote”).

Finally tick I have checked that this is the same client: only then does the Merge records button become active. A merge cannot be undone. Once the records are merged, the kept record opens; opening the merged record (link, bookmark) also leads there, with the message “This record was merged into DUPONT Jean (412) on …”.

What moves to the kept record

• the contacts, with their consents: a contact present on both records (same email or same mobile) becomes a single one, which takes over the missing details; an opt-out from messages is always kept. The two contacts nevertheless stay separate (nothing is lost) if the merged record’s contact signed a document, received a signature request or a notification, collected a vehicle, or if their opt-out came from the recipient themselves;
• the vehicles and the history of their holders;
• the jobs, including those already invoiced or cancelled;
• the record’s photos and documents, except a signed document;
• the notifications sent to its contacts.

What stays on the merged record

Invoices, credit notes, issued quotes and signed documents are never changed: they keep their original name and number, and the kept record displays them. The audit log and the questions asked to the assistant also stay attached to the merged record.

The merged record keeps its original contact details (as evidence), but no longer appears in the client list, in search or among duplicates; opening it leads to the kept record. It can no longer be edited, archived, restored, anonymized or deleted on its own, and can no longer become the client of a job or the holder of a vehicle.

The Issued documents section of the kept record lists its invoices, credit notes and issued quotes, and those of the records it absorbed, with their original number and a mention of the merged record. It requires the permission to view work orders.

Refusals

The merge is refused if both records are the same, if one is anonymized, if the kept record is archived (restore it first) or has itself been merged into another, and during a support session. If one of the records changed since the wizard was opened (contact added, record edited), Garage+ says so: read the summary again before merging. A record already absorbed by the merged record follows the kept record.

Anonymizing the kept record also anonymizes the records it absorbed; the export of its data includes them. See Archive, export, anonymize.