Pre-pickup flow
Every pickup, ready before they arrive.
Licence, pre check-in, signed agreement, and bond — all done and checked in the days before pickup, so the handover is keys and go instead of a counter scramble.
A real booking two days out: bond held, licence captured, agreement signed, pre check-in still to go.
Saturday, 9am
The morning every operator has lived
The customer is at the counter and the licence was never uploaded. The rental agreement is unsigned, so you are printing and pointing at signature lines. You go to place the bond and the card declines. A queue is forming behind them, the next pickup is due in fifteen minutes, and the vehicle still has not been walked around.
None of this is hard. It is just all landing at once, at the worst possible moment, when it could have been sorted days ago. The pre-pickup flow moves every one of those steps off the counter and into the quiet days before.
Customer arrives with nothing uploaded
The single biggest cause of a slow handover is a customer who has done nothing before they arrive. The fix is not a longer counter conversation — it is moving the work forward in time. The moment a booking is confirmed, Glovebox emails a pre check-in link automatically.
That one email carries the whole job: licence photos, personal details, the overseas-licence questions, and a link straight into the agreement. The customer does it on their phone, on the couch, days before they travel. By pickup morning the readiness card is already green.
The counter conversation shrinks to "here are your keys".
Complete your pre check-in
Hi Maia,
Before pickup for BK-DEMO01, please complete your pre check-in online. It only takes a few minutes.
Complete pre check-in
Pickup: Wednesday 15 Jul 2026, 9:00am
Thanks,
Jimny Rentals
The invite that does the work, sent the moment the booking is confirmed.
Overseas licence and IDP requirements
A visitor on a non-English licence is a compliance question, not just a data-entry one. Whether an International Driving Permit is required depends on the issuing country and the licence language, and getting it wrong is your liability, not the customer's.
Pre check-in asks the licence country up front and adds an IDP gate only when it is actually needed. The requirement shows as its own readiness tile, so an overseas hire cannot quietly slip through as "ready" while the permit is still missing.
The permit question is settled days out, not argued at the desk.
An overseas licence captured, with its own IDP gate still open.
Rental agreement still unsigned at the counter
Printing an agreement and pointing at signature lines while a queue builds is the slowest part of most handovers, and the resulting paper lives in a folder no one can find in a dispute.
In the pre-pickup flow the agreement is generated from the booking and e-signed as part of pre check-in. The signed PDF is stored against the booking with a record of who signed and when. The readiness tile flips from awaiting-signature to signed the instant it is done, and stays there for you to see.
No printer, no folder, no "where is the paperwork" on return.
The agreement gate, before and after the customer signs.
The bond declines on pickup morning
A bond that declines at the counter is the worst time to find out a card has a problem. The customer is standing in front of you, the vehicle is booked out, and you are choosing between turning them away and taking on uncovered risk.
Glovebox places the bond as a pre-authorisation ahead of time — by default three days before pickup. It is a hold, not a charge: the amount is reserved against the card but no money moves. If the hold fails, you know three days out, with time to ask the customer for another card, instead of discovering it as they arrive.
A failed bond becomes a phone call on Tuesday, not a scene on Saturday.
The bond hold in its authorised state, placed T-minus three days.
Customer never opens the email
Sending one invite and hoping is not a system. Plenty of customers ignore the first email, and chasing them by hand is exactly the admin the pre-pickup flow is meant to remove.
Reminders go out on a cadence as pickup approaches, and only for the steps still outstanding — a customer who has already done everything is never pestered. When you want to give someone a direct push, one click re-sends the invite from the booking, no copy-pasting links.
The follow-up happens whether or not anyone remembers to do it.
The reminder cadence, with a one-click re-send.
3am flights and remote pickups
Not every pickup happens while your desk is staffed. Early flights, remote depots, and after-hours collections are real, and the usual answer is either "we do not do that" or a set of keys left somewhere risky.
Because the pre-pickup flow already gathers everything a handover needs, self-collection can safely follow it. Once every gate is green and the bond is held, the customer completes an identity and condition-photo step on their phone, inside a geofenced window, and a lockbox code is revealed. It lands the booking in the same on-hire state as a staffed handover.
The pickup that could not otherwise happen, happens — with a full audit trail.
You are all set
Bond held and photos captured. Here is your lockbox code.
The customer's self-collection step, once every prerequisite passes.
"It was already scratched"
Damage disputes are won or lost on evidence. Without a timestamped record of the vehicle's condition at handover, an argument about a scratch is your word against theirs, and that is a fight you often cannot win.
The pre-pickup and collection flow captures a required set of condition photos — every angle of the vehicle — before the keys are handed over or the lockbox code is revealed. The photos land on the booking with a timestamp. Existing damage is on the record, so a dispute ends before it starts.
The scratch is either in the photos or it happened on their watch.
Photograph the vehicle
Capture each angle. This is your timestamped proof. All are required.
Every required angle, captured before the reveal.
Who is not ready for tomorrow?
A per-booking readiness card is useful, but the question your morning actually turns on is the list one: of everyone picking up tomorrow, who still has something outstanding?
Glovebox shows tomorrow's pickups with a ready-or-not badge on each, so a two-minute scan tells you exactly who to chase today. The bookings that are green need nothing from you; the amber ones tell you what is missing. You start the day ahead of the counter instead of behind it.
Tomorrow's problems get solved today, on your terms.
Tomorrow's pickups at a glance, ready or not.
The whole timeline
One booking, from confirmed to keys
Step through the same booking as it moves from confirmation to an unblocked pickup. The customer's view is on the left, the operator's readiness card on the right, updating in lockstep as each gate turns green. Tap a step, or scroll.
Booking confirmed — deposit paid. We will be in touch before pickup.
Maia pays her deposit. The booking lands in Confirmed and the readiness card opens with every gate still to do.
Complete your pre check-in before pickup. It only takes a few minutes.
Glovebox emails the pre check-in link automatically. Nothing for the operator to chase.
Licence photos received. Front and back look clear.
Maia photographs the front and back of her licence on her phone. The Licence gate turns green.
Rental agreement signed. A copy has been emailed to you.
She reads and e-signs the rental agreement. The signed PDF is stored against the booking.
A temporary hold of $500 is in place. It is released after your return.
Glovebox places a $500 pre-authorisation on Maia's card three days out. A hold, not a charge.
Almost there — one quick step left before you collect the Jimny.
Only pre check-in is left, so a single reminder goes out. Everything already done stays done.
You are all set. See you tomorrow at 9:00am.
Maia finishes pre check-in. Every gate is green and the card flips to Ready for pickup.
Collecting today. Your vehicle is ready.
Pickup morning: keys and go. No counter scramble, because the work was done days ago.
Questions
Pre-pickup, answered
What happens if the customer does not complete pre check-in?
The booking simply stays in the not-ready state and the gate for the missing step stays amber. Glovebox keeps nudging the customer with reminders on a set cadence, and your team can see at a glance who is outstanding for tomorrow. Nothing is blocked on your side — you can still complete the handover manually at the counter if you choose.
When is the bond actually charged?
It is not charged at all in the normal case. Glovebox places a pre-authorisation — a temporary hold — on the customer's card, by default three days before pickup. The funds are ring-fenced but never leave their account. The hold is released automatically after the vehicle is returned in order.
Is the pre-authorisation a charge on the customer's card?
No. A pre-authorisation reserves the amount against the card's available balance without moving any money. The customer sees a pending hold, not a payment. You only capture against it if there is genuine damage or a shortfall to recover, and even then only up to the authorised amount.
Can I make the gates optional per booking?
Yes. Each readiness requirement is configurable, and requirements that do not apply to a booking resolve to "not required" rather than blocking it. An overseas licence adds an IDP gate; a bike or trailer hire drops licence and fuel. You decide what a ready booking looks like for your fleet.
What if the customer does not have a smartphone?
The pre check-in flow runs in any mobile or desktop browser, so a laptop or a friend's phone works. If the customer cannot complete it online at all, your team can capture the same details at the counter — the pre-pickup flow speeds up the common case without removing the manual fallback.
Does the agreement e-signature hold up legally in NZ?
Electronic signatures are recognised under the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017 in New Zealand, provided the signer is identified and consents. Glovebox records who signed, when, and stores the signed PDF against the booking as evidence, which is exactly the trail you want if an agreement is ever disputed.
Can customers pick up without staff present?
Yes, where you enable self-collection. Once every readiness gate is green and the bond is held, the customer completes an identity and condition-photo step on their phone inside a geofenced window, and a lockbox code is revealed. It lands the booking in the same on-hire state as a staffed handover, with the same audit trail.
See how it is priced on the pricing overview, or jump to self-serve pickup.