Handle the Day's Surprises Without Breaking the Route
Pool service rarely goes exactly to plan. A customer texts about a clogged filter, a green pool needs a same-day drop-by, or a chlorine delivery has to happen before noon. Pool Founder now lets you add these unplanned stops wherever they make sense: onto a specific technician's route, into a route already running, or into an open pool that any technician can pick up.
The idea is simple. Squeeze in a quick filter clean when it fits, or leave a stop open for whoever is closest. Either way it lands in the right place without you rebuilding the day.
Add a Stop and Choose Where It Goes
From the office, open Unplanned Stops and click Add Unplanned Stop. Enter a Note describing the work and an address, either typed in manually or linked to an existing service location. No customer contact info, pricing, or scheduling is required to create one.
The dialog also has an Assign to a technician (optional) field. Pick a technician and a day, and if they already have a route that day a preview card shows the route name, how many stops are scheduled, and roughly how many minutes this stop adds. Submitting pins the stop onto that route for that day. Leave the field blank and the stop stays open for anyone.
Technicians can create stops too, on or off a route. The mobile Route tab has an Add Unplanned Stop button that is always available. After entering the note, category, tasks, and a location (Manual Address or Service Location), a Where should this stop go? picker offers three choices: My route now, Open — anyone, or a specific technician and day.
"My route now" only appears while a route is actively running. It appends the stop to the live route so a tech can slot in extra work without leaving the field.
Open Stops: Leave It for Whoever Is Closest
Not every stop needs a name attached to it. An open stop is a lightweight to-do with no route, no date, and no assigned technician. Every technician sees it. On the mobile Route tab, an Unplanned Stops button sits right under Add Unplanned Stop and opens the list of open stops any technician can pick up.
Each open stop shows the note, the linked customer if there is one, a tappable address that opens maps, and who added it. Whoever gets to it first taps Complete Stop, adds optional notes, checks off tasks, and attaches photos. It works offline and syncs later. There is no claiming and no hand-off, just first come, first served.
Open stops are built for the small jobs that do not deserve their own route slot:
- A chlorine or supply drop-off on the way past
- A quick filter clean or basket empty near an existing route
- A courtesy check on a pool while the regular tech is out
Completed Stops Stay in View
Once a stop is done it does not disappear. The Unplanned Stops list keeps a Completed section showing recent completions with who finished each one and when, so the office and the crew can see what got handled. The Route tab's Unplanned Stops button stays visible even when nothing is open, so that history is one tap away.
Assigned unplanned stops appear right in the route stop lists alongside scheduled jobs, each with its own per-stop ETA. As drive times and completions shift the day, the estimated arrival times re-anchor so the running schedule stays honest.
Billing stays flexible. From the office, check a stop off with Mark done straight from the table (an accidental check has a Reopen button), or open the stop and use Mark Complete. If a completed stop turns out to be billable after all, open it and click Create Invoice. That needs a linked customer with an email.
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Try Pool Founder free for 30 daysFrequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an unplanned stop and an open stop?
An unplanned stop is any stop added outside the regular schedule. An open stop is an unplanned stop with no technician or day assigned, so it sits in a shared pool that any technician can pick up and complete. You choose which one you want when you create the stop.
Can a technician add an unplanned stop to a route already in progress?
Yes. On the mobile Route tab, tap Add Unplanned Stop and choose "My route now" in the "Where should this stop go?" picker. The stop appends to the route the technician is actively running. That option only appears while a route is in progress.
Do open stops require customer or billing details?
No. An open stop needs only a note and an address. Customer contact info, pricing, and scheduling are all optional. If you decide to bill for a completed stop later, you can create an invoice from it as long as it is linked to a customer with an email.
What happens to an open stop after it is completed?
It moves to the Completed section of the Unplanned Stops list in the mobile app, which shows recent completions with who finished each stop and when. The office can also see the completed status on the Unplanned Stops page.