However you tell it to. After-hours emergency pricing is your policy, not the software's: Ava quotes your approved emergency service fee, states a price range, or explains that the technician confirms exact pricing on site — whichever rule you set during onboarding.
Most shops handle the midnight "how much will this cost?" question one of three ways:
What Ava never does is invent a number. If it isn't in your approved list, it doesn't get quoted.
Emergency callers ask about price because they're bracing for a gouging story. A clear, confident answer — even a range — builds more trust than a dodge. Contractors who charge emergency fees will tell you the same: customers pay them fine when the number is stated upfront. What kills the job is vagueness that sounds like a trap.
The other half of straight talk is consistency. When a human answers the phone tired at 1 AM, the price sometimes changes with the mood. An AI states your policy the same way on every call, which protects your margins and your reviews.
For the bigger picture on covering nights and weekends, see our pillar on after-hours answering for garage door companies.
After-hours emergency pricing handled well means fewer hang-ups, fewer awkward haggles at the door, and no more jobs lost because a tired tech lowballed or a voicemail said nothing. You set the policy once; it gets delivered clearly at 2 PM and 2 AM alike — and the caller books knowing what to expect.
Call the live demo and have Ava call you now — hear exactly what your customers will hear when they call your shop.