October 13, 2026 · 3 min read
Every shop tracks what it sold. Few track why it did not. Dispatch Scout now records a reason when an estimate is declined and shows every lost estimate grouped by that reason on the Estimate Pipeline report.
That turns a pile of dead estimates into a short list of things you can work on, whether that is pricing, follow-up speed or offering financing.
When a comfort advisor walks out without a signature, the reason usually lives in their head. Maybe the price was high, maybe a competitor was cheaper, maybe the homeowner just wants to wait until spring. Six months later, nobody can tell whether you are losing on price or on follow-up. Writing the reason down at the moment it happens is the only way to know.
Owners and account admins build the list at Settings → Invoices → Decline Reasons. Use the words your team already uses. Nothing is pre-filled, so the list fits how you sell. When a reason stops being useful, deactivate it. Estimates that already used it keep the reason, so your history stays intact.
Customers could already decline an estimate themselves. Now your staff can too. Mark as Declined sits in the estimate’s Actions menu and on the client’s Invoices tab. It opens a short dialog with two optional fields:
The activity log names who declined it and why, for example Estimate declined by Jane Doe (Price too high), or by the customer when the homeowner declined it. The option is hidden on estimates that are already approved, converted, superseded, voided or declined, and for roles without permission.
The reason is optional on purpose. A required field gets filled with whatever is first in the list. An optional one gets filled when someone actually knows.
The Estimate Pipeline report now has a Lost by reason card. It groups declined estimates in the date range by reason, leaves out voided estimates, and splits the ones without a reason into No reason given and Declined by customer, so you can tell an office gap from a customer click.
If you use the Dispatch Scout MCP connection with an AI assistant, the same breakdown comes back when you ask it about your estimate pipeline. See AI and automation for how that works.
One more rule shipped alongside this. An estimate holding a customer deposit cannot be voided or marked declined. Both menu items show as disabled with the message Refund the held deposit first. That keeps money from getting stranded on an estimate nobody is watching anymore.
Included in the flat $40/user/month. Decline reasons, Mark as Declined and the Lost by reason card are part of proposals and sales. No reporting add-on.
Owners and account admins manage the list at Settings, Invoices, Decline Reasons. You write your own reasons. Nothing is pre-filled, and old reasons are deactivated instead of deleted.
No. The reason and the note are both optional. Estimates declined without a reason show up as No reason given, or Declined by customer when the customer declined it themselves.
It is saved as a note on the estimate, written by the person who declined it, and the reason is named in the estimate’s activity log.
No. Void and Mark as Declined are turned off on an estimate holding a deposit, with a message to refund the deposit first.
No. Decline reasons and the Estimate Pipeline report are included in the flat $40 per user per month.
See proposals and sales tools in Dispatch Scout, or start a trial and set up your decline reasons in a few minutes.
Proposals & sales Start Free TrialDispatch Scout is field service management software built for growing home service businesses. Scheduling, dispatch, invoicing, call tracking and payments in one platform, at one flat price of $40 per user per month.