20 Status, Invoice & Delivery Practice Questions & Answers

Every Status, Invoice & Delivery practice question from the ASE C1 Service Consultant Practice Test, with the correct answer and a short explanation.

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1. At write-up a customer asks when the vehicle will be ready, but the concern has not been diagnosed yet. How should the service consultant set the completion expectation?
- A.Promise a completion time now for the whole repair and revise it later if the work runs long.
- B.Give a time for the diagnosis to be finished and call back with a repair promise time.✓ Answer
- C.Tell the customer that no time can be given until the technician finishes the repair.
- D.Quote the time this repair usually takes on similar vehicles and hold to that figure.
A promise time can only cover what the shop has actually confirmed. Before diagnosis the only commitment available is when the diagnosis will be done; the repair then gets its own promise time once it is authorized and parts and technician time are known. Promising the whole job first creates a commitment the shop has no basis for, and refusing to give any time at all leaves the customer unable to plan.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A9 (Establish vehicle status/completion expectations), with A10 (confirm repair order and obtain authorization)Report a problem with this question
2. Before giving a customer a promise time, which step most directly lets the consultant set an expectation the shop can actually meet?
- A.Ask when the customer needs the vehicle, then check parts and technician time.✓ Answer
- B.Add a cushion of a few hours to whatever the labor guide shows for the job.
- C.Give the earliest time of day so the customer feels the shop moves quickly.
- D.Repeat the time quoted to the last customer with the very same complaint.
A completion expectation has two inputs: what the customer needs and what the shop can produce. Asking when the vehicle is needed tells the consultant whether the shop's real capacity — parts on hand and technician time available — will satisfy it, so the promise is negotiated rather than guessed. Padding a labor figure, quoting the earliest hour, or reusing another customer's time all ignore today's actual workload.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A9, with C8 (verify availability of parts) and C10 (monitor repair/service progress)Report a problem with this question
3. This question contains the word EXCEPT. Read the question carefully before choosing your answer. At write-up, the completion expectation given to the customer should cover all of these EXCEPT:
- A.the time the shop expects the work to be finished
- B.what happens next and when the shop will be in contact with the customer again
- C.how the customer will get where they need to go meanwhile
- D.the price of each repair the technician may end up recommending✓ Answer
The expectation set at write-up is about time: when the shop expects to finish, what the next step is and when the customer will hear from the shop, and how the customer gets around meanwhile. Prices for work nobody has inspected or recommended yet cannot belong to it — those come after diagnosis, as an estimate the customer must authorize, and naming figures early commits the shop to numbers it has not verified.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A9 with A5 (alternative transportation) and A10 (authorization)Report a problem with this question
4. Mid-morning, the parts department tells the consultant that a control arm for a vehicle already on the lift will not arrive until tomorrow. The vehicle was promised for 4 p.m. today. What should the consultant do?
- A.Wait until nearer to 4 p.m. in case the part can still be located at a closer supplier.
- B.Have the technician reassemble the vehicle so the customer can drive it and come back later.
- C.Call the customer now with the reason for the delay, a new promise time and transportation.✓ Answer
- D.Write the delay on the repair order so it can be explained when the customer arrives at 4 p.m.
A promise time the shop already knows it cannot keep has to be replaced before it lapses, not explained after the customer shows up. The customer needs three things at once: why, when instead, and how they will get around in the meantime — which keeps the decision about waiting or making other arrangements in their hands. Documenting the delay is necessary but is not a substitute for the call.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A9 (establish vehicle status/completion expectations) with A5 (discuss alternative transportation options)Report a problem with this question
5. A vehicle is in for a scheduled cooling-system service. With the vehicle on the lift, the technician reports a torn CV boot that is throwing grease. What is the best way to handle the finding?
- A.Record it on the repair order and raise it when the customer collects the vehicle.
- B.Call the customer, explain what was found and why it matters, and offer to repair it.✓ Answer
- C.Enter it in the customer's file so it appears on screen at the next appointment.
- D.Add the boot replacement to the repair order, since the vehicle is on the lift.
Work found after the authorized job began is outside that authorization, so it needs a fresh decision from the customer — and the customer can only weigh it usefully while the vehicle is still in the shop and apart. Adding it without asking performs unauthorized work; a note on the order or an entry in the file pushes the decision past the one moment when acting is cheap and convenient for everyone.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A9/A10; mirrors the official C1 sample question keyed to calling the customer and offering to complete the repair, explaining why it is neededReport a problem with this question
6. It is 2 p.m. A vehicle promised for 5 p.m. still needs about two more hours of work because the diagnosis took longer than planned. When should the consultant contact the customer?
- A.At 5 p.m., once the technician can give a firm answer about the finish time.
- B.Now, before the promise time passes, with the reason and a revised time.✓ Answer
- C.Only if the customer telephones the shop during the afternoon to ask about it.
- D.After the work is finished, so the news given is that the vehicle is ready.
Notice is only worth anything while the customer can still act on it. Contacting them before the promised hour lets them move a ride, a pickup or a workday, and it keeps the shop's word intact even though the time changed. Waiting for certainty, waiting to be asked, or waiting until the vehicle is finished all turn a manageable schedule change into a promise the shop simply broke.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A9 with C10 (monitor repair/service progress)Report a problem with this question
7. Why does a consultant telephone a customer about a delay before the promised time rather than after it?
- A.The shop avoids paying for alternative transportation once a promise has lapsed.
- B.The customer keeps control of their own plans and the shop keeps its credibility.✓ Answer
- C.A delay reported before the promised time does not have to go on the repair order.
- D.The technician's flat-rate time can then be recalculated for the extra work done.
Proactive notice does two things at once: it preserves the customer's ability to arrange a ride or rework their day, and it keeps the shop as the source of the news instead of an empty parking space. The delay still has to be documented, the transportation obligation does not disappear when a promise lapses, and how the technician is paid has nothing to do with when the customer is told.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A9 with A5 and C11 (document information about services performed or declined)Report a problem with this question
8. A customer drops off a vehicle planning to wait for it, and the write-up shows the job will take most of the day. When does the conversation about alternative transportation belong?
- A.After the repair is authorized and the technician has actually started work.
- B.At write-up, as soon as the expected completion time becomes known.✓ Answer
- C.Only when the customer says that waiting all day will not work for them.
- D.At the end of the day, if the vehicle turns out not to be finished yet.
Transportation is part of the completion expectation, so it is raised the moment the shop knows how long the vehicle will be tied up — while the customer still has time to take a shuttle, arrange a loaner or get a ride. Raising it after work starts, only on request, or at closing time leaves a customer who planned to wait sitting in the lounge with no options left.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A5 (discuss alternative transportation options) with A9Report a problem with this question
9. The consultant offers a customer the shop's loaner vehicle for an overnight repair. What must be settled before the customer drives away in it?
- A.Fuel, insurance and licence requirements, and the time the loaner is due back.✓ Answer
- B.The price of the repair, so the customer knows what the loaner costs them.
- C.The mileage showing on the loaner and the name of the technician on the job.
- D.A promise that the repair will be done before the loaner must come back.
A loaner is a second transaction with terms of its own, and the customer is accepting them when they take the keys: who pays for fuel, what insurance and driver's-licence conditions apply, and when the vehicle has to be back. Those belong in the conversation before the handover. The repair's price and progress are tracked on the repair order and cannot be guaranteed by the loaner agreement.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A5 (discuss alternative transportation options)Report a problem with this question
10. A vehicle is finished and ready for delivery. What should the consultant do with the invoice before the customer is called to the desk?
- A.Compare it against the authorized work, the parts used and the labor performed.✓ Answer
- B.Round the total down to the nearest whole figure so it matches the estimate.
- C.Remove any line the customer might question so that the delivery goes smoothly.
- D.File it with the repair order and let the cashier explain the charges at the register.
The invoice is checked against the authorization before the customer ever sees it, because a line that was never approved, or a part or labor operation that does not match what was actually done, is the shop's error to catch. Finding it at the desk costs the shop trust it did not have to spend. Rounding the total or deleting awkward lines hides a discrepancy instead of resolving it.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (confirm invoice accuracy, explain invoice details) with A10Report a problem with this question
11. At delivery, how should the consultant go through the completed repair with the customer?
- A.Read out the part numbers and labor operations as they print on the invoice.
- B.Give the total and let the customer ask about anything they want explained.
- C.Describe the diagnostic steps the technician followed in the order performed.
- D.State the concern reported, what was found causing it, and what was done to correct it.✓ Answer
The customer needs the visit in their own terms: the complaint they brought in, the cause that was actually found, and the correction performed. That is the structure the repair order records and the only version that answers the question the customer is really asking. Part numbers and diagnostic sequences describe the shop's work without explaining it, and handing over a total leaves the value of the visit unstated.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (explain invoice details: work performed), applied with the concern/cause/correction record on the repair orderReport a problem with this question
12. A customer authorized brake work but declined a recommended cooling-system service. At delivery, what should the consultant do about the declined service?
- A.Leave it off the paperwork entirely, since the customer has already said no to it.
- B.Record it as declined without going over it again, since the customer already refused.
- C.Explain what was recommended and why, and record the decline on the paperwork.✓ Answer
- D.Put it on an estimate for the next visit and book that appointment before delivery.
A declined recommendation needs both halves: it is explained once more at delivery so the customer knows what condition the vehicle is leaving with, and it is written down so the shop can show what it advised and can raise it again next visit. Leaving it off the paperwork destroys the record, documenting it silently wastes the delivery conversation, and booking an appointment presumes a decision the customer has not made.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (explain declined/deferred work) with C11 (document services performed or declined)Report a problem with this question
13. Many shops ask the customer to initial a declined safety-related recommendation on the repair order. What does that accomplish?
- A.It allows the shop to charge for the inspection time even though nothing was repaired.
- B.It moves responsibility for the condition from the customer onto the shop instead.
- C.It commits the customer to having the declined work performed at the following visit.
- D.It shows the customer was told about the condition and chose not to have it repaired.✓ Answer
The initial is evidence of an informed refusal: the recommendation was made, the customer understood it, and the customer chose not to proceed. That protects the shop if the condition later causes trouble and creates the documented item to revisit next visit. It does not shift liability onto the shop, it does not obligate the customer to anything, and it has no bearing on what may be billed.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (explain declined/deferred work) with C11Report a problem with this question
14. At delivery a customer asks what warranty covers the water pump that was just replaced. What should the consultant explain?
- A.That any failure of the pump after delivery is repaired at no charge.
- B.That the new pump now carries the same coverage as the factory warranty.
- C.That any warranty claim on the pump is handled by the parts supplier.
- D.The shop's coverage on parts and labor, its limits, and how a claim is made.✓ Answer
What the customer needs is the coverage that actually attaches to the work just sold: which parts and which labor are covered, the stated limits on that coverage, and what to do if the part fails. Installing a component does not extend the vehicle's factory warranty to it, the shop that sold the repair owns the customer's claim rather than sending them to a supplier, and no coverage is unconditional.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (explain warranties at invoice review) with B7 (knowledge of warranty policies, procedures, and parameters)Report a problem with this question
15. Looking at the invoice, a customer says they were never told about a shop-supplies line and it does not appear on the estimate they approved. What should the consultant do?
- A.Compare the line with the approved estimate and remove it if it was never authorized.✓ Answer
- B.Remove the charge immediately and apologize, so that the delivery is not held up further.
- C.Explain that this charge is standard on every repair order the shop writes and is not optional.
- D.Point out that an estimate is only an estimate and that the final total can move.
The authorized estimate is the reference document, so the question is settled by reading it rather than by opinion: a charge the customer never approved comes off, and one that was approved can be shown to them on the paper they agreed to. Defending the line or explaining that totals move argues with the customer, and deleting it on reflex gives away money without establishing who was right.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (confirm invoice accuracy) with A10 (authorization)Report a problem with this question
16. A customer at delivery asks to see the parts that were removed from their vehicle. How should the consultant respond?
- A.Explain that all removed parts are scrapped as soon as a repair is finished.
- B.Bring the old parts out only if the customer questions whether work was done.
- C.Offer to show or return them, unless a core or a claim requires the part.✓ Answer
- D.Tell the customer that parts cannot leave the shop for liability reasons.
Showing or returning the replaced part on request is ordinary delivery practice and the plainest available evidence that the work was actually performed. The exception is a part the shop must keep — a core going back for credit, or a component a warranty claim requires — and that is explained rather than refused. Discarding parts as a rule, or producing them only under challenge, treats a reasonable request as an accusation.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (confirm invoice accuracy, explain invoice details)Report a problem with this question
17. A day after delivery the consultant telephones the customer. What is the purpose of that call?
- A.To confirm the concern is gone and that the customer was satisfied with the visit.✓ Answer
- B.To ask the customer to rate the visit highly on the survey they receive.
- C.To close the sale on the services the customer turned down at the desk.
- D.To learn whether the labor time quoted for this repair proved accurate.
Follow-up exists to verify the outcome of the visit: that the reason the customer came in is actually resolved, and that the experience matched what was promised. That is the shop's own quality check and the foundation of repeat business. Coaching a survey score manipulates the measurement instead of the result, and a sales pitch or an internal labor-time review answers the shop's questions, not the customer's.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A13 (perform customer follow-up)Report a problem with this question
18. Which question best belongs in a post-delivery follow-up call?
- A.Did the technician who worked on your vehicle do a thorough job for you?
- B.Would you be willing to give us the top score on the survey you will receive?
- C.Is the noise you brought the vehicle in for gone since you picked it up?✓ Answer
- D.Can you come back this week for the service that you decided to defer?
The follow-up has to test the thing the visit was for, so it asks about the customer's original symptom in the customer's own words — an answer only they can give and the one that tells the shop whether the repair held. Asking them to grade a technician's thoroughness asks about work they never saw, requesting a survey score coaches the measurement, and pressing the deferred service sells before the fix is even confirmed.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A13 (perform customer follow-up) with A19 (address original concerns with customer)Report a problem with this question
19. On a follow-up call, the customer says the vibration they came in for is better but has not gone away. What should the consultant do?
- A.Explain that a small amount of vibration is normal on any vehicle with that many miles.
- B.Ask the customer to monitor it for a few more weeks and to call back if it worsens.
- C.Log what the customer reported and arrange a re-inspection of the original concern.✓ Answer
- D.Offer a discount on their next visit to make up for the remaining vibration.
What a follow-up surfaces has to be written into the record and acted on, which means getting the vehicle back in to look at the original concern rather than settling it over the telephone. A symptom the consultant cannot see cannot be declared normal from the desk, handing the monitoring back to the customer leaves the concern open with no owner, and a discount pays for the problem without resolving it.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A13 (perform customer follow-up) with A19Report a problem with this question
20. This question contains the word EXCEPT. Read the question carefully before choosing your answer. The invoice review with the customer at delivery should cover all of these EXCEPT the:
- A.work that was performed and the reason each item was needed
- B.recommendations the customer declined or deferred
- C.warranty that applies to the parts and labor billed
- D.hours the technician was paid on this repair order✓ Answer
Invoice review is customer-facing and covers three things: what was done and why, what was recommended and refused or deferred, and what coverage now applies to the work billed. How the technician was compensated is internal shop information; it does not appear on the customer's invoice and explaining it would substitute the shop's accounting for the answer the customer actually needs.
Source: ASE C1 Task List A14 (confirm invoice accuracy, explain invoice details: work performed, declined/deferred work, warranties)Report a problem with this question

1. At write-up a customer asks when the vehicle will be ready, but the concern has not been diagnosed yet. How should the service consultant set the completion expectation?

2. Before giving a customer a promise time, which step most directly lets the consultant set an expectation the shop can actually meet?

3. This question contains the word EXCEPT. Read the question carefully before choosing your answer. At write-up, the completion expectation given to the customer should cover all of these EXCEPT:

4. Mid-morning, the parts department tells the consultant that a control arm for a vehicle already on the lift will not arrive until tomorrow. The vehicle was promised for 4 p.m. today. What should the consultant do?

5. A vehicle is in for a scheduled cooling-system service. With the vehicle on the lift, the technician reports a torn CV boot that is throwing grease. What is the best way to handle the finding?

6. It is 2 p.m. A vehicle promised for 5 p.m. still needs about two more hours of work because the diagnosis took longer than planned. When should the consultant contact the customer?

7. Why does a consultant telephone a customer about a delay before the promised time rather than after it?

8. A customer drops off a vehicle planning to wait for it, and the write-up shows the job will take most of the day. When does the conversation about alternative transportation belong?

9. The consultant offers a customer the shop's loaner vehicle for an overnight repair. What must be settled before the customer drives away in it?

10. A vehicle is finished and ready for delivery. What should the consultant do with the invoice before the customer is called to the desk?

11. At delivery, how should the consultant go through the completed repair with the customer?

12. A customer authorized brake work but declined a recommended cooling-system service. At delivery, what should the consultant do about the declined service?

13. Many shops ask the customer to initial a declined safety-related recommendation on the repair order. What does that accomplish?

14. At delivery a customer asks what warranty covers the water pump that was just replaced. What should the consultant explain?

15. Looking at the invoice, a customer says they were never told about a shop-supplies line and it does not appear on the estimate they approved. What should the consultant do?

16. A customer at delivery asks to see the parts that were removed from their vehicle. How should the consultant respond?

17. A day after delivery the consultant telephones the customer. What is the purpose of that call?

18. Which question best belongs in a post-delivery follow-up call?

19. On a follow-up call, the customer says the vibration they came in for is better but has not gone away. What should the consultant do?

20. This question contains the word EXCEPT. Read the question carefully before choosing your answer. The invoice review with the customer at delivery should cover all of these EXCEPT the:

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