How Multibranch Customer Operations Work

Source: `customers_controller.rb`

• In dealer multibranch setups, customers are automatically flagged as branch customers when created
• Syncing a customer across branches requires the customer to have a name plus at least one contact method (phone, mobile, or email); without this, the sync will not proceed
• Deleting a branch customer cascades the deletion to all linked store customers across the franchise
• The branch find feature searches for customers across all franchise stores; the copy feature creates a local copy of the customer at the current store with an option to also copy a vehicle
• Branch invoice and payment lists aggregate data across all branch stores, giving a unified view of the customer's financial activity

Support scenarios

• "I deleted a customer at head office and it disappeared from all stores" → Branch customer deletion cascades to all linked store customers. This is by design in multibranch setups. If this was unintentional, the customers will need to be restored at each store.
• "I can't sync this customer to other branches" → Syncing requires a name plus at least one contact method (phone, mobile, or email). Add the missing contact details and retry.
• "I can see invoices from other stores on this customer" → In multibranch setups, invoice and payment lists are aggregated across all branch stores. This is expected behaviour for branch customers.