Rain delay and reschedule texts for lawn care, cleaners and handymen
When rain or a storm moves your route, text each customer on that day's list with the new day and "same time." Keep one contact list per route day, so Monday's customers only hear about Monday. Send a "back on schedule" text when it clears. Pick a text below.
Every text says their name.
Pasting this into one message with several people in To still makes a group. Send it to one person at a time.
Only for customers who gave you their number for these texts. A green check here means the text and its length are fine, not that you have permission.
Send it one-by-one from your iPhone with BatchrunnerBatchrunner opens Messages; you tap Send for each person.
Free for up to 10 people per send.
The short answer
When rain, ice or a long job pushes your route, text each customer on that day's list as early as you can: the new day, "same time" if that's true, and whether they need to reply. Keep one contact list per route day, so a Monday rain-out reaches only Monday's customers. When the weather clears, a short "back on schedule" text closes the loop.
Not legal advice. This page is for owner-operators texting existing customers about their service. Seasonal offers (aeration, gutter cleaning, a spring deep-clean) are promotion: only to customers who said yes to offers, with "Reply STOP to opt out."
Route-day texts (7, counted)
Tap a text in the writer at the top to load it, or copy one from this table and change the names, places and times to yours. Counts use an 8-letter first name ("Jonathan") and "Northwind" for {company}; "Room for a name" is the longest first name that keeps the text in one SMS. Keep straight apostrophes: a curly one from smart punctuation switches the text to Unicode, 70 characters per SMS.
| ID | Use | Text | Count (8-letter name) |
|---|---|---|---|
| home-rain | Rain day (lawn) | Hi {firstName}, rain today, so I'm moving your lawn service to Thu, same time. No need to reply unless Thu doesn't work. - Mike | 124 chars · 1 SMS · room for a 44-letter name |
| home-back | Back on schedule | Hi {firstName}, back on schedule: I'll be there Thu as planned. Thanks for your patience! - Mike, Greenline Lawn | 109 chars · 1 SMS · room for a 59-letter name |
| home-storm | Storm day (cleaning) | Hi {firstName}, the ice storm closed the roads, so today's cleaning moves to Fri. Reply if Fri doesn't work. - Rosa, Sparkle Clean | 127 chars · 1 SMS · room for a 41-letter name |
| home-late | Running behind | Hi {firstName}, I'm running about an hour behind today because of an earlier job. Still coming today. - Mike, Greenline Lawn | 121 chars · 1 SMS · room for a 47-letter name |
| home-holiday | Holiday week | Hi {firstName}, I'm off Dec 23-Jan 2. Your cleaning that week moves to Mon Dec 22. Reply if you'd rather skip it. - Rosa | 117 chars · 1 SMS · room for a 51-letter name |
| home-season | Season end (lawn) | Hi {firstName}, last mow of the season is the week of Nov 17. Thanks for a great year! - Mike, Greenline Lawn | 106 chars · 1 SMS · room for a 62-letter name |
| home-detail | Mobile detailer rain day | Hi {firstName}, rain tomorrow, so I'm moving your detail to Sat, same time. Reply if you need another day. - Ty, Shine Mobile | 122 chars · 1 SMS · room for a 46-letter name |
Rain day: call or text, and which list
Call when few customers are affected; for a full route day, send one text each.
| Situation | What we'd do | List |
|---|---|---|
| A few customers affected | Call them, or text each one | That day's route |
| A full route day affected | One text each to the route-day list | That day's route |
| The whole week slides by a day | One text each per route day, with each day's new day | Each route-day list in turn |
| Weather clears | "Back on schedule" text | The lists you moved |
| A customer with a specific time window you need to restate | Text or call that customer on their own | Not a batch |
Fieldwork, a field-service software company, says calling may be faster for a weather delay if fewer than 10 customers are affected. That's their tip, not a rule.
Why one list per route day. A text says the same thing to everyone in a send, apart from first name, last name and company. "Moving your lawn service to Thu, same time" is true for everyone on Tuesday's route, so it works as one send per route day. A customer's exact time window is per-person; if it changes, text that customer on their own.
Holiday weeks. Give two to four weeks' notice so customers can plan; that range comes from home-service vendors' advice, and a cleaner on a small-business forum described two weeks to a month. Send it to the customers whose visits that week move.
Bigger crews. If your field-service software already texts customers about delays (many do), use it. This page is for the owner-operator whose phone is the business line. LawnGuru, for example, has a customer broadcast tool, but its custom messages need the platform's approval first.
Day-before reminders and closures belong to the appointment reminder texts page.
Send it from your iPhone without a group chat
If you put everyone in one message, Messages starts a group: Apple says everyone in a group iMessage or group MMS sees all replies. To keep each customer private, send one conversation per person.
- Free, in your browser. The text each person individually guide has a send list: paste names and numbers, and each row opens Messages for one person with the text filled in. You tap Send each time and tick them off.
- In Batchrunner, our iPhone app. In Batchrunner 2.2, include {firstName} to open one conversation per person; without a merge token, a batch can open as a group. Each customer then gets their own text and replies come back only to you. A batch without a merge token opens one compose sheet for up to 40 people, and depending on Messages and carrier settings (Group Messaging, MMS), iOS may turn that into a group thread.
If someone on the list has no first name saved, add one before you send, or the text starts "Hi ,".
Before you send: permission and opt-out
The full rules are on texting customers: consent and opt-out basics. Not legal advice. For this job:
- Customers who gave you their number for service updates. A number from a door hanger response or a neighbor's referral isn't the same thing; ask first.
- Weather and schedule notices are informational. Offers and upsells are marketing: only to customers who said yes, with a STOP line.
- When someone opts out, remove them from every route list today. Batchrunner doesn't read replies or process STOP.
- You're a business sender, even on your own phone. CTIA counts anyone texting on behalf of a business as a "Non-Consumer."
Ready to send to customers who asked for these texts? Batchrunner, our iPhone app, opens Messages from your own number. In Batchrunner 2.2, include {firstName} to open one conversation per person; without a merge token, a batch can open as a group. You tap Send each time; a ledger marks each person sent, remaining or skipped. Free covers 10 people per send, 2 groups and 2 templates; Pro is $7.99/month or $39.99/year with a 3-day free trial. iPhone only, iOS 17 or later.
Get Batchrunner on the App StoreBatchrunner opens Messages; you tap Send for each recipient.
What Batchrunner does, and what it doesn't
You tap Send each time; it doesn't read replies or handle STOP.
| Batchrunner does | Batchrunner doesn't |
|---|---|
| Opens Messages from your own number, one person at a time when the message has {firstName} | Send by itself: you tap Send for every text |
| Fills {firstName}, {lastName} and {company} for each person | Fill other per-person details such as times, venues or amounts: split the list, or text those people yourself |
| Keeps a ledger of sent, remaining and skipped, and picks up where you stopped after a crash or lost signal | Know whether a text was delivered or read: the ledger records that you tapped Send |
| Recurring weekly or monthly reminders (Pro) that notify you at the time | Send on a schedule: when the reminder goes off, you open it and tap Send |
| Builds groups from your contacts, or from a CSV file on Pro | Read replies or handle STOP: you remove people who opt out |
Contacts stay on your phone and send through Messages from your own number; there's no Batchrunner server. Prices and limits are on Batchrunner for iPhone.
For mobile detailers
Detailers face the same rain problem with a shorter list: four to eight cars a day is typical in our research notes. Check tomorrow's forecast in the evening and send tomorrow's route group the reschedule then, not the morning of.
More texts for your job
Questions people ask
How do I message multiple customers at once about a rain delay? Keep one contact list per route day and send each customer on that day's list their own text with the new day. From an iPhone you tap Send for each. For a few customers, a call may be faster.
How do I tell customers I can't do exterior work because of the weather? Text the affected route day's customers as early as you can: the reason in a few words, the new day, and whether they need to reply. Send a "back on schedule" text when it clears.
How do I send a mass text to clients if I use Square? Check whether your Square plan includes customer messaging first. If you'd rather text from your own number, export your customer list, keep only people who agreed to texts, and send each person their own text.
Questions people ask
How do I message multiple customers at once about a rain delay?
Keep one contact list per route day and send each customer on that day's list their own text with the new day. From an iPhone you tap Send for each. For a few customers, a call may be faster.
How do I tell customers I can't do exterior work because of the weather?
Text the affected route day's customers as early as you can: the reason in a few words, the new day, and whether they need to reply. Send a "back on schedule" text when it clears.
How do I send a mass text to clients if I use Square?
Check whether your Square plan includes customer messaging first. If you'd rather text from your own number, export your customer list, keep only people who agreed to texts, and send each person their own text.
Sources (4)
- Fieldwork help: Weather delay, tell your customers you can't perform exterior service, checked 2026-11-06
- LawnGuru provider help: How do I message multiple customers at once?, checked 2026-11-06
- CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023), checked 2026-11-06
- Apple Support 118236: Send a group text message on your iPhone or iPad, checked 2026-11-04