Auto reply messages for contractors: 17 texts to copy
2026-10-01 · 7 min read
It's Tuesday, 10:40. You're under a house in a crawlspace with a headlamp on, and your phone buzzes three times against your hip. One is the supply house. One is a homeowner whose water heater is leaking onto the basement floor. One is someone who wants an estimate on a bathroom next spring. You can't tell which is which until you crawl out at 11:30, and by then the leaking water heater has called the next plumber on Google.
Contractors need a different set of auto reply messages than an office or a salon does. You spend most of the day somewhere you can't touch the phone, and the urgent calls come in on the same line as the someday calls. On top of that, the person who wants a quote usually has to send you a photo before you can say anything useful. I wrote these auto reply messages for contractors with that day in mind. Every one is under 160 characters with a business name of about 20 characters, so each goes out as one text. Swap the brackets for your details.
For the general set (holidays, booking links, web forms for any kind of business) see the auto reply text message samples post. This one stays on the trades.
The rule for a contractor auto reply
Beyond "we got your message," a contractor's auto reply has one job: find out fast whether this is a leak, a no-heat call, or a quote for next month. That's why almost every message below asks one question, and it's the question that tells you whether to leave the job you're on.
Use plain text with straight quotes and no emoji. One emoji can push a text past the single-message limit and split it into pieces.
On a job
The most common one. You're open, you're working, and your hands are full.
[Business] here, on a job until about 2. Is this an emergency (leak, no heat, no power) or a quote? Reply and I'll get back to you.
Hi, it's [Name] at [Business]. In a crawlspace right now. Text me your address and what's going on and I'll call you by 1.
[Business] here. Our techs are all out on calls. Reply with the address and the problem, and the office will call you back within the hour.
The third one is for shops with more than one truck, where somebody besides the owner returns calls. Only promise "the office" if someone is in it.
Emergency calls
When something is flooding or the house is cold, the caller needs to know right away whether you can come. Give them the answer or the number.
[Business] got your call. If water is running, shut off the main valve now. Reply with your address and we'll call you in the next 15 minutes.
[Business] here. For no heat or no cooling, reply with your address and the furnace or AC brand if you know it. A tech will call shortly.
[Business] here. If you smell gas, leave the house and call your gas utility or 911 first. Then text us and we'll follow up.
Only promise 15 minutes if you can keep it on your busiest day. If your trade touches gas appliances, keep the gas text in the set even if it rarely fires.
Estimate and quote requests
People asking for a quote often contact several contractors at once, so the first useful reply tends to start the conversation. Ask for the thing that lets you price it.
Thanks for reaching out to [Business]. Can you text a photo or two of the area and your address? I'll tell you next steps today.
[Business] here. Got your quote request. Is this a repair, a replacement, or a new install? And how soon do you need it done?
Hi, it's [Name] at [Business]. Happy to look at it. What weekday mornings work for a 30 minute visit this week or next?
Leave the price out. Whatever number you type becomes the number in their head, and you haven't seen the job yet.
After hours
Tell them when you open and what happens tonight. If you run an emergency line, give it. If you don't, say so plainly.
[Business] is closed for the night and opens at 7 AM. Reply with your address and what you need, and we'll call first thing.
[Business] is closed. Emergencies: call [number], answered 24/7. Otherwise reply with details and we'll call in the morning.
[Business] is closed until Monday. We don't run weekend emergency calls. Reply with the details and you'll be first on the list Monday.
The third one sounds blunt, but it does the homeowner a favor. Someone with a real emergency can call another shop right away instead of waiting all night for a callback that was never coming.
Busy season and storm weeks
When the first cold snap or a big storm hits, you get a week of calls in a day. The reply's job then is to set expectations so people don't feel ignored.
[Business] here. We're getting a lot of calls after the storm. Reply with your address and the damage and we'll text a visit window tonight.
[Business] here. Our first open repair slot is [day]. Reply YES to take it, or reply with the problem if it can't wait.
[Business] is booked for installs through [month]. We still do repairs this week. Reply with what you need and we'll sort it.
Update the date in these every few days. A reply that says "first opening Thursday" two weeks after Thursday makes you look like nobody is minding the phone.
Current customers
A customer whose job is in progress texting the main line is a different message from a stranger. If your system can tell them apart, give regulars their own reply.
Hi [First name], [Name] at [Business]. Got your message about the job. I'm on site elsewhere until 3 and will call you then.
Thanks [First name]. If this is about your invoice, reply with the invoice number and the office will text you back today.
Quick reference
| Situation | What the reply has to do | Question to ask back |
|---|---|---|
| On a job | Give a real callback time | Emergency or quote? Address? |
| Water, no heat, no cooling | Get the address fast, give one safety step | Address, equipment brand |
| Gas smell | Put safety first | None. Send them to the utility or 911 first |
| Quote request | Get what you need to price it | A photo, or repair versus replace |
| After hours | Say when you open, give the emergency line if you have one | The details, so the morning call is short |
| Storm week or busy season | Set expectations | Address and damage |
| Customer with a job in progress | Show it reached the right person | Usually none |
What replacing the manual version looks like
Your phone's canned reply can't tell a 10 AM call from a 10 PM call, or a regular from a stranger, and it only covers your cell, not the shop line. A setup built around how a trade runs works like this:
- A call to the business number rings out, or a text comes in.
- The system checks the time, your schedule, and whether the number belongs to an existing customer.
- It sends the matching reply from the sets above.
- When the person answers with "leak" or "no heat" or a photo, the reply lands in one place (your job software or a shared inbox) with the number and the address.
- Anything that reads urgent pings the on-call phone right away. Quotes wait in a list for the end of the day.
The plumbing contractors page shows how this fits with the rest of a shop's week, from intake to the follow-up after a quote. Builds start at $500 one-time, then a flat monthly from $99 after an included run-in period, cancellable.
What stays human
You decide what counts as an emergency, and whether it's worth leaving the job you're on. The diagnosis, the price, the visit and the callback are yours. So is the tone: write these the way you talk on the phone, because the customer will hear you in them when you call back. And if someone replies STOP or asks you not to text, take them off the list and call instead.
If you want to see which calls go unanswered in a normal week and which of these replies would catch them, book the free 20 minute process audit. Bring a week of your call log and we'll go through it together.