Tools and files
What to check before you change your file master
Credits, the subscription, open jobs and old files: a short checklist for a workshop moving its slave tool to a new master, with no car left waiting.
In short
Check your credit balance, your tool's subscription, your open jobs and the old files you may need again. Then get the new master's answer and every fee in writing before you ask your current master for a release.
Changing master is rarely hard, and it is easy to do in the wrong order. The workshops that get stuck usually asked for the release first, and only then found out about the credits, the subscription or the car booked in for Thursday.
This list is the order we would follow. Most of it takes an afternoon.
What happens to your credits?
Credits are usually held with the master you bought them from, so they rarely move with the tool. Before anything else, look at your balance and ask what happens to it.
- Use up what you can on jobs you already have.
- Ask whether unused credits are returned, and read what you agreed when you bought them.
- Check whether any free credits came with the tool, and whether they depend on staying for a set time.
Is your tool's subscription current?
A lapsed subscription can hold up a transfer until it is renewed. Look up the date before you start, and find out what renewing costs on the new side, because the sum may not be the one you paid before.
Write down the tool's serial number and the protocols it has. You will be asked for both, and you need them to check that nothing changed after the move.
What about jobs that are still open?
Finish them first. A job that is half done at your old master is awkward to finish after you have left.
- Close every open job, or agree who finishes it.
- Pay what you owe, so that a small debt does not become the reason for a slow release.
- Do not book cars for the days around the move until a test read has gone through.
Do you need your old files?
Very likely, and this is the step people forget. Sooner or later a customer comes back with a car you did years ago. Save the original read and the tuned file for each car you may need to touch again, with the car's details beside them.
Ask your old master whether they will still answer about past jobs once you have left, and do not assume that they will. Encrypted reads can only be opened at the master the tool was tied to when they were made, so ask how they treat a read you send them later. There is more in what a slave file is.
What should you ask a new master?
| Ask | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Can you take my tool, by model and serial? | Not every tool can be moved |
| Who pays each fee, and how much? | So the total is known before you start |
| How do I order, and who answers when I am beside a car? | That is the service you are moving for |
| How do corrections work? | A wrong file is when you find out |
| Do you sell to my customers? | Your local market is your business |
Get the answers in writing, then ask for the release. Once you have asked, your current master knows you are leaving.
If you want us to be one of the masters you ask, read how the move to us works.
Questions
How long does changing master take?
It depends mostly on how quickly your current master answers and on the maker's own process. Plan for a few days without bookings around it, and ask both sides for their usual time.
Should I tell my current master why I am leaving?
That is your choice. A short, polite request in writing is enough, and it keeps the release from becoming an argument.
Can I go back if the new master is worse?
Possibly, but it would be another transfer, with its own approval and any fee. That is why the questions above are worth asking first.
Just need a file tuned? Our own engineers tune a read from any tool for €60 a file, every extra included. Our file service ›
Read next
-
Can you move a slave tool to a new master?Yes, usually: your current master agrees, the tool maker moves the tool, and the new master takes it on. What it takes, what it can cost and what to ask first.
-
Move your slave tool to our master.We can take your slave tool onto our master, so your reads come to our tuners. What we ask for, what stays yours, and how the move runs.
-
What is a slave file, and who can open it?A slave file is a read locked to one master. What it looks like when it reaches you, who can open it, and what a portal can and cannot do with it.
Name your portal. It is ready in under a minute.
Pro: today you pay this month in full, or only the days left if the 1st is less than 10 days away; then €60 on every 1st.
- Your name and logo
- Files from any tool
- Updates done for you
- Moving in free on paid plans
You can change your portal's address from your account at any time, or add another to the same portal, free. More are coming: tunerengine.co.uk, tunerengine.uk and tunerengine.info, then new short ones made for portals.