System and method for allocating replacement vehicle rental costs using a virtual bank of repair facility credits
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer-implemented method for maintaining a virtual bank account of repair facility credits, the method comprising:
- maintaining a virtual bank in a memory, the virtual bank comprising a repair facility account for storing a credit total for a repair facility;
for a replacement rental vehicle reservation associated with the repair facility, determining whether the repair facility completed repairs to a disabled vehicle corresponding to the reservation in accordance with a schedule;
in response to a determination that the repair facility completed repairs to the disabled vehicle ahead of schedule, increasing the credit total in the repair facility account;
in response to a determination that the repair facility completed repairs to the disabled vehicle behind schedule, decreasing the credit total in the repair facility account; and
in response to a determination that decreasing the credit total will reduce the credit total below a predetermined threshold, allocating a charge to the repair facility for a portion of a cost for the reservation;
wherein the method steps are performed by a processor.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for managing a virtual bank of repair facility credits are disclosed. Various operations for adding and subtracting credits from a repair facility virtual bank account are disclosed. Adjustments to credit totals can be based on repair facility performance with regard to an individual vehicle repair or a plurality of vehicle repairs.
-
Citations
44 Claims
-
1. A computer-implemented method for maintaining a virtual bank account of repair facility credits, the method comprising:
-
maintaining a virtual bank in a memory, the virtual bank comprising a repair facility account for storing a credit total for a repair facility; for a replacement rental vehicle reservation associated with the repair facility, determining whether the repair facility completed repairs to a disabled vehicle corresponding to the reservation in accordance with a schedule; in response to a determination that the repair facility completed repairs to the disabled vehicle ahead of schedule, increasing the credit total in the repair facility account; in response to a determination that the repair facility completed repairs to the disabled vehicle behind schedule, decreasing the credit total in the repair facility account; and in response to a determination that decreasing the credit total will reduce the credit total below a predetermined threshold, allocating a charge to the repair facility for a portion of a cost for the reservation; wherein the method steps are performed by a processor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
-
10. A computer system for maintaining a virtual bank account of repair facility credits, the computer system comprising:
a processor and memory configured to; maintain a virtual bank, the virtual bank comprising a repair facility account, the repair facility account being configured to store a credit total for a repair facility; for a replacement rental vehicle reservation associated with the repair facility, determine whether the repair facility completed repairs to a disabled vehicle corresponding to the reservation ahead of schedule; in response to a determination that the repair facility completed repairs to the disabled vehicle ahead of schedule, increase the credit total in the repair facility account; in response to a determination that the repair facility completed repairs to the disabled vehicle behind schedule, decrease the credit total in the repair facility account; in response to a determination that the repair facility completed repairs to the disabled vehicle behind schedule, determine whether the credit total is sufficient to cover a repair delay corresponding to the completed repairs; and in response to a determination that the credit total is not sufficient to cover the repair delay, charge the repair facility for a portion of a cost for the reservation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 41, 42, 43)
-
20. A computer-implemented method for allocating replacement vehicle rental costs, the method comprising:
-
maintaining a virtual bank in a memory, the virtual bank comprising a repair facility account for storing a credit total for a repair facility; a processor adjusting the credit total as a plurality of replacement rental vehicle reservations associated with the repair facility are processed by the processor to determine how costs for the reservations are to be allocated such that (1) the credit total is increased when the repair facility completes repairs to a disabled vehicle corresponding to one of the reservations ahead of schedule and (2) the credit total is decreased when the repair facility completes repair to a disabled reservation corresponding to one of the reservations behind schedule; and charging the repair facility for a reservation cost should the credit total otherwise be reduced below a predetermined threshold.
-
-
21. A computer system for allocating replacement vehicle rental costs, the computer system comprising:
a processor and memory configured to; maintain a virtual bank, the virtual bank comprising a repair facility account for storing a credit total for the repair facility; adjust the credit total as a plurality of replacement rental vehicle reservations associated with the repair facility are processed to determine how costs for the reservations are to be allocated such that (1) the credit total is increased when the repair facility completes repairs to a disabled vehicle corresponding to one of the reservations ahead of schedule and (2) the credit total is decreased when the repair facility completes repairs to a disabled reservation corresponding to one of the reservations behind schedule; and charge the repair facility for a reservation cost should the credit total otherwise be reduced below a predetermined threshold.
-
22. A computer-implemented method for maintaining a virtual bank account of repair facility credits, the method comprising:
-
adjusting a credit total in a virtual bank account for a repair facility in response to a condition being met by the repair facility; and before charging a repair facility for a portion of a replacement rental vehicle reservation cost that results from a repair delay, examining whether the credit total in the virtual bank account would otherwise be reduced below a predetermined threshold; and wherein the method steps are performed by a processor. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A computer system for maintaining a virtual bank account of repair facility credits, the computer system comprising:
a processor and memory configured to; adjust the number of credits in a virtual bank account for a repair facility in response to a condition being met by the repair facility; and before charging a repair facility for a portion of a replacement rental vehicle reservation cost that results from a repair delay, examine whether a credit total in the virtual bank account would otherwise be reduced below a predetermined threshold. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
-
36. A computer-implemented method for maintaining a virtual bank account of repair facility credits, the method comprising:
-
maintaining a virtual bank in a memory, the virtual bank comprising a repair facility account for storing a credit total for a repair facility; for a replacement rental vehicle reservation associated with the repair facility, determining whether the replacement rental vehicle was returned in accordance with a schedule; in response to a determination that the replacement rental vehicle was returned ahead of schedule, increasing the credit total in the repair facility account; and in response to a determination that the replacement rental vehicle was returned behind schedule, decreasing the credit total in the repair facility account; and in response to a determination that decreasing the credit total will reduce the credit total below a predetermined threshold, allocating a charge to the repair facility for a portion of a cost for the reservation; wherein the method steps are performed by a processor. - View Dependent Claims (44)
-
Specification