How does my Messages inbox work?

Communication → Messages is one list of every conversation you take part in, whichever surface it started on. The list sits on the left and the open thread on the right; on a phone the thread takes over the screen and the chevron in its header brings you back.

What kinds of conversation are in the list?

The chips above the list filter by kind: All, Direct, Groups, Tickets, Orders, Archived. Each row also wears its kind as a chip, so a mixed list still reads at a glance:

• Order chat — one thread per order, titled by the vehicle. It is the same thread that appears on the order page as "Ask the dealer" and on your Dealer requests board (dealer-requests) — three doors, one conversation.
• Direct — a one-to-one chat with a named person.
• Company-wide — a direct channel addressed to a whole company ("Everyone at ..."), so anyone there can answer.
• Group — people you picked by hand, from any company.
• Ticket — a request to TheTuningGroup. Tickets do not route to tuners, so one appears here only when an admin adds you to it.

What does "Awaiting reply" mean?

The Awaiting reply chip means the last message in that thread came from someone outside the back office — a dealer — and the thread is not resolved or closed. It cannot go stale: it disappears the moment you reply or resolve the thread. Only order chats and tickets carry it; a direct or group chat with a colleague never does.

You can also clear it by hand, for the threads that end on a courtesy. A dealer's "thanks, got it" is still a message from a dealer, so it keeps the chip lit with nothing to answer. Hovering the row reveals a tick button, No reply needed; pressing it swaps the chip for a muted No reply needed and changes nothing else — the thread is not resolved, not closed and not archived, and the order is untouched. The same button becomes Needs a reply after all if you change your mind, and a genuinely new message from the dealer lights Awaiting reply again on its own. The mark says "seen up to here", not "ignore this thread".

No reply needed is a back-office control: the button and the chip are yours, not the dealer's. Nothing is sent to the dealer when you press it — the thread simply stops counting as one they are waiting on.

How do I start a conversation?

Press New at the top of the list, then New chat for one person or a whole company, or New group to name a thread and add people from several companies.

The picker groups who you may write to: TheTuningGroup Support (offered company-wide only, so it reaches the whole admin team rather than one staffer), Your partners — which is where your dealers appear — and Partner tuners. Anyone you have no live relationship with is not listed — that is the access rule, not a search failure.

What can I do inside a thread?

• Send files. Drag them onto the thread or use the paperclip. Everything shared stays in the thread itself, in the order it was sent.
• Resolve an order chat when it is handled — the button becomes Reopen.
• Leave a ticket you no longer need to follow. The thread stays readable; you just stop getting a notification per message.
• Internal note — on a ticket, a checkbox under the composer marks a message staff-only ("Internal note (dealer can't see this)"). Order chats have no internal side: everything you type there, the dealer reads.

Each row in the list has an archive control. Archiving is personal and reversible — the toast offers Undo, and the Archived chip is where they go.

Where does this sit on a phone?

In the mobile app, Messages is the Inbox tab. Above the list a switch moves between your three inbound streams: Messages, Enquiries (website leads — enquiries-and-leads) and WhatsApp. They never mix: a person with an account writes to Messages, a website visitor lands in Enquiries.

A conversation I expected is not in the list

The list holds threads you are a participant in. If a dealer wrote about an order you have not claimed, the thread belongs to whoever owns that order for now. If you were removed from a group, it is gone from your list but not from the record. And check the Archived chip before concluding a thread vanished. If none of that explains it, ask TheTuningGroup Support with the counterpart's company name and the approximate date.