saying no to certain jobs

[alfredauto]

Do any of you just say no to certain jobs that are a guaranteed nightmare? Maybe Ztec timing belts or F150 exhaust manifolds to give an example. I do but I feel bad. I've done manifolds on newer trucks, booster comes off to drill out the studs, engine jacked up to drill another one, its just something I don't have any interest in doing. I have the tools, experience, and skill to repair pretty much everything, but some jobs are just not worth it to me. I can't count how many times both arms are coated in grease up to my shoulders and after ten hours its not even close to being done. Why did I take this job?

 

I hate to be a gravy tech or a gravy shop but if I'm turning down 5 brake jobs to do one rusted manifold what did I accomplish? Man card credit? Ego boost? Pride? No thanks I'll pass.

[xrac]

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[ATLAuto]

Agreed. We pass on jobs every day. It's on a case by case basis. Our only firm rule is nothing pre 1998 and even state that on our website.

 

Most customers understand policy when it's explained clearly. We also have another shop we refer them to, so they are not left wondering where to go next.

 

Regarding that Cadillac engine ... I asked our master tech to fix three oil leaks on one a few months ago. Turned out great, but never again....

[mspecperformance]

Depending on the job and the customer. If its a one off customer and you know its going to be a problem, I would definitely pass it along.

 

If it is one of your good customers, the ones that spend money with you on maintenance and repairs and tell their friends all about your shop then yes you have to bite the bullet and take care of them.

 

I always tell my guys what is important about our jobs is not repairing cars. That is a given. Its how we take care of our customers and leaving them with a great experience. One that will create a circle of business in which they always come back and tell all their friends. The real challenge is to find all these great customers! They are out there, we just have to find them.

[skm]

I agree with turning work down , I don't do engines or transmissions any more. Just like the rusted manifolds on the f150 and expeditions I always recommend sending them to Midas or another muffler shop. Transmission work I send out to the trans shop , I tell the customer I can find out what is wrong whether a hard failure or an electrical issue but I don't like to get involved not to mention the trans shop would be able to do any updates etc needed if a rebuild is needed. I have been at it long enough to know the things to turn away like the vvt actuators (camshaft gear) on volvos, etc. some of them are okay like the 2.4 hondas. For a smaller shop to be profitable, I think picking and choosing is needed. Let the big jobs go to the big shops (dealers) etc.

 

I think a lot of people think they need to do what ever come through the door, some have the Idea that you can't let some one go with out getting something from them. I believe be honest up front and let people know why they should take it else where and let them know that you would gladly handle any other problems they have now or in the future and you will see that customer again.

 

That is also why I strongly believe in using a good labor guide program, I can't stand the mechanic/tech that gives a customer a price off the top of their head or makes prices up that is a bunch of crap. If you use a good labor guide you can weed out the problem jobs that are not a visible problem, look the labor up and it is very high and says r & I engine well that one needs to go.. I learned this the hard way I had a nissan quest that needed the heater pipe assemble (with rear heat) replaced one of the guys in the shop looked at it and told the guy about two hours labor, when I looked the job up you have to r and i the engine and that is a fact there is no way to get those aluminum pipes in there any other way. A good labor guide and good experience, you can figure out the jobs that are a pain in the ass and let someone else have the headache . I always say "life is too short" !

Edited October 11, 2015 by skm

[Marksas]

We decline jobs quite frequently.. We don't need to be the "hero" and repair cars that other shops haven't been able to repair or take the tough jobs that are non-profitable and tie up stalls and techs while the good profitable jobs get put off.

It never fails that when you might be a little slow and you just need to get a job that it's the one that spurs on 20 new jobs. Then you're spending all this time on that one job while scratching your head wonder why the heck you took that job..

It's no different than all the "good" opportunities that present themselves to successful (and not so successful) business owners. You spend your time and resources chasing good opportunities and then aren't able to act upon the great opportunities.. It comes down to disincline on our part.

We also really try and vet our customers as we want those that are close by and ones that can and will tell others about us. I don't like those tow-ins at night or on the weekend that when you arrive at the shop on the am they are camps out on your front steps, thinking they got there first and there repair is the most important one of the day. We try and accord ate them but if we have a full schedule we just let them know that and refer them to another shop for their one time repair that takes to long and is too expensive in their eyes.

Spread the wealth and let the guy down the street be the hero... While he's struggling with those jobs you take the great ones..

 

 

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[FROGFINDER]

I always accepted more tough jobs than turned them away. I do a show and tell with the customer and explained the risks they are taking. But if it were my car and I would not attempt the fix I won't ask the customer to. Case in point. A guy brought me a old jaguar xj6. It had warning lights on the dash glowing, expired safety sticker, worn out tires and brakes, misfires, engine oil leaks, power steering leaks, a/c not working, headliner falling down, coolant rusty and leaking fuel injectors. I explained that the car was not worth any repairs.The guy hands me $1500.00 cash to start work,I handed the $1500.00 back to the customer saying to use it as a down payment on something else. A few weeks later the guy calls the shop asking for me. He said that I was right and that he should have listed to me. After he left my shop he went to another shop. They took his $1500.00 and another $2000.00. Two days after the other the shop fixed his car it caught on fire from the fuel leak and burnt to the ground for which he had no insurance.

[Handson]

I told a good customer the other day to "dump" his ford pickup after the spark plug blew out of the head. . He said it seemed strange to hear me say to get rid of an otherwise good working truck. I explained to him that the other 9 spark plugs may do the same thing. I could take his money but I am trying to do him a favor.

[totalautocare]

Depending on the job and the customer. If its a one off customer and you know its going to be a problem, I would definitely pass it along.

 

If it is one of your good customers, the ones that spend money with you on maintenance and repairs and tell their friends all about your shop then yes you have to bite the bullet and take care of them.

 

I always tell my guys what is important about our jobs is not repairing cars. That is a given. Its how we take care of our customers and leaving them with a great experience. One that will create a circle of business in which they always come back and tell all their friends. The real challenge is to find all these great customers! They are out there, we just have to find them.

Agreed!

 

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[Mario]

And that was poor advise. There are many kits on the market to fix those heads and Normally only one or two in the rear blow out, not all 8 or 10.

[mspecperformance]

Careful the way you turn a customer down!!!!

 

Had to deal with some BS this morning. Stupid kid obviously his parents are savages brings in a Mercedes he just bought. We give him an initial assessment of a Check engine light problem, explain to him we need to book him for an appointment to properly test and diagnose his problem. He returns 3 times in the next few days every day asking for prices on various possible fixes. We explain to him we need to book an appointment to have enough time to properly test and diagnose. Tells us story about how we went to another shop after he left ours and he had some coils replaced and it didnt solve his problem. He said he knew they were good coils because the shop let him go buy his own parts (FML). Leaves again says he'll give us a call. Calls us up after the weekend is over and wants to book an appointment. Explain to him we are down a tech and our next available appointment is next week. We could have filled him in but we really didn't want him as a customer however we were always 100% professional and courteous. Gets pissed off and 15 minutes later we get a nasty 1-star yelp review filled with lies stating we cancelled his appointments, made him empty promises etc. Mind you he never ever spent a dime with us whilst we did give in a 30 minute consultation for free.

 

 

Point to the story is you have to be very careful when you turn away business. People can be 110% irrational POS.

[xrac]

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[FROGFINDER]

Careful the way you turn a customer down!!!!

 

Had to deal with some BS this morning. Stupid kid obviously his parents are savages brings in a Mercedes he just bought. We give him an initial assessment of a Check engine light problem, explain to him we need to book him for an appointment to properly test and diagnose his problem. He returns 3 times in the next few days every day asking for prices on various possible fixes. We explain to him we need to book an appointment to have enough time to properly test and diagnose. Tells us story about how we went to another shop after he left ours and he had some coils replaced and it didnt solve his problem. He said he knew they were good coils because the shop let him go buy his own parts (FML). Leaves again says he'll give us a call. Calls us up after the weekend is over and wants to book an appointment. Explain to him we are down a tech and our next available appointment is next week. We could have filled him in but we really didn't want him as a customer however we were always 100% professional and courteous. Gets pissed off and 15 minutes later we get a nasty 1-star yelp review filled with lies stating we cancelled his appointments, made him empty promises etc. Mind you he never ever spent a dime with us whilst we did give in a 30 minute consultation for free.

 

 

Point to the story is you have to be very careful when you turn away business. People can be 110% irrational POS.

Careful the way you turn a customer down!!!!

 

Had to deal with some BS this morning. Stupid kid obviously his parents are savages brings in a Mercedes he just bought. We give him an initial assessment of a Check engine light problem, explain to him we need to book him for an appointment to properly test and diagnose his problem. He returns 3 times in the next few days every day asking for prices on various possible fixes. We explain to him we need to book an appointment to have enough time to properly test and diagnose. Tells us story about how we went to another shop after he left ours and he had some coils replaced and it didnt solve his problem. He said he knew they were good coils because the shop let him go buy his own parts (FML). Leaves again says he'll give us a call. Calls us up after the weekend is over and wants to book an appointment. Explain to him we are down a tech and our next available appointment is next week. We could have filled him in but we really didn't want him as a customer however we were always 100% professional and courteous. Gets pissed off and 15 minutes later we get a nasty 1-star yelp review filled with lies stating we cancelled his appointments, made him empty promises etc. Mind you he never ever spent a dime with us whilst we did give in a 30 minute consultation for free.

 

 

Point to the story is you have to be very careful when you turn away business. People can be 110% irrational POS.

As In business you if youwill find

No good deed goes unpunished.

 

Day one- Ask any kid bring in a car for repairs to have their mommy or daddy call to authorize testing and repair costs.

[mspecperformance]

Day one- Ask any kid bring in a car for repairs to have their mommy or daddy call to authorize testing and repair costs.

 

 

Grown enough to buy his own car, apparently not mature enough to know that his actions are that of a POS human being.

[LynxStarAuto]

It all comes down to budget for me. If the customer has the funding, and is willing to put it in the repair, I'll do it. Case in point I had a customer bring me an old 190 MB for a head gasket. However many bolts were rusted and stripped, and it was clear this was not your typical head gasket job. I explained this to the customer, and told them that I would likely have to pull the engine to do the job because some bolts had no access to drill and tap out. I quoted accordingly (extra 950 for engine removal & bolt removal), and the customer agreed. I ended up doing the job. Had me tied up for a week, but it was worth it in my eyes.

 

I think what happens many times is we quote a customer a price, but run into complications and don't relay this to the customer, and we eat the labor costs. My approach has always been it's a machine, and an old one. ish happens sometimes. I'm a mechanic not a magician. Somethings are just out of my control. Now I guarantee my work when this is all finished, but right now you need to address this as well for the job to come out right. That's going to be an extra xxxx. I have had this approach with my customers, and in most cases it works out. In the end the car turns out good, that is all the customer sees. They forget what it took to get there.

 

So no I typically do not turn away work, unless the customer just cannot afford it. I quote accordingly, and don't budge from there.

[GTS_Services]

Careful the way you turn a customer down!!!!

 

Had to deal with some BS this morning. Stupid kid obviously his parents are savages brings in a Mercedes he just bought. We give him an initial assessment of a Check engine light problem, explain to him we need to book him for an appointment to properly test and diagnose his problem. He returns 3 times in the next few days every day asking for prices on various possible fixes. We explain to him we need to book an appointment to have enough time to properly test and diagnose. Tells us story about how we went to another shop after he left ours and he had some coils replaced and it didnt solve his problem. He said he knew they were good coils because the shop let him go buy his own parts (FML). Leaves again says he'll give us a call. Calls us up after the weekend is over and wants to book an appointment. Explain to him we are down a tech and our next available appointment is next week. We could have filled him in but we really didn't want him as a customer however we were always 100% professional and courteous. Gets pissed off and 15 minutes later we get a nasty 1-star yelp review filled with lies stating we cancelled his appointments, made him empty promises etc. Mind you he never ever spent a dime with us whilst we did give in a 30 minute consultation for free.

 

 

Point to the story is you have to be very careful when you turn away business. People can be 110% irrational POS.

Out of curiosity...do you respond to Yelp reviews?

[mspecperformance]

Out of curiosity...do you respond to Yelp reviews?

 

 

Yes we do. We currently have 55 reviews and an overall 5 star rating. We don't respond to all reviews but certainly respond to the negative ones (I think we only have 2 total).

[3PuttFever]

We rarely turn away jobs but if there is one that we know will be or could end up being troublesome we give them starting out price/estimate. With that we explain that this job calls for X hrs of labor but in our experience the rust and/or other issues that add time make this a very expensive oversight. We will never proceed if we run into difficulties that extend the original estimate without customer communication and their approval for additional costs. They occasionally ask if their price would be reduced if we end up coming in under estimated labor time to which we say, yes, for this case we will do that for you.

 

We always look at every RO as an opportunity to solve a customer's issue and have them tell others of our great service. Sure, we all have cars we wished we would have turned away but you can't ever KNOW this before working on the car.

[Handson]

I have a strict no customer parts policy. On a slow day i told my sw at the time he could do a fuel pump for a guy who bought his own. Right at tje start the customer drops the van but no fuel pump. Then calls start . Did the pump get dropped off yet. If we have the pump there by 430 can it be done today (friday). No ok we will have it towed then. Van still there monday no pump.

 

Tuesday pump shpws up. Goes in. Van doesnt start. Still doesnt want to pay doag. Pays pump labor time cash. Push van onto street. Still in street three days later now with orannge tow tag. Get a call yesterday person claims to be boss of van owner says he wants to solve this issue withput going to court. What issue? Claims we installed a used pump in his fuel tank.

 

Never ever ever again. I swear this time.

[ATLAuto]

 

 

Yes we do. We currently have 55 reviews and an overall 5 star rating. We don't respond to all reviews but certainly respond to the negative ones (I think we only have 2 total).

Wow. That kid's story is just nuts.

 

We had a similar one.... Acura with 200k miles on it and nasty burnt transmission fluid was slipping going up hills. We typically either recommend the customer to go to a transmission shop for this or possibly drain and fill the trans as a last-ditch effort.

 

He elected to go to the trans shop, and we let him go for $0.

 

A few months later, he calls stating we tried to rip him off by "selling him a transmission when he didn't need one." Apparently, all he needed was a tune-up. He was calling from the lobby of another shop where the tune-up was taking place.

 

Turns out that didn't fix it at all. Still slipping

 

He then called up saying "all it needs is a trans fluid change. You ripped me off. I'm going online right now to tell everyone."

 

Have not heard back from him. Probably still slipping.

[mspecperformance]

Wow. That kid's story is just nuts.

 

We had a similar one.... Acura with 200k miles on it and nasty burnt transmission fluid was slipping going up hills. We typically either recommend the customer to go to a transmission shop for this or possibly drain and fill the trans as a last-ditch effort.

 

He elected to go to the trans shop, and we let him go for $0.

 

A few months later, he calls stating we tried to rip him off by "selling him a transmission when he didn't need one." Apparently, all he needed was a tune-up. He was calling from the lobby of another shop where the tune-up was taking place.

 

Turns out that didn't fix it at all. Still slipping

 

He then called up saying "all it needs is a trans fluid change. You ripped me off. I'm going online right now to tell everyone."

 

Have not heard back from him. Probably still slipping.

 

 

cant fix stupid. I wish I could herd all these retards into a fiery pit and be done with them but alas... we live in a civilized world ;P

 

But seriously, we have to be careful and protect ourselves from idiots. People these days have wayyyyyy to much power to ruin a business's reputation.

[Junior]

If the customer is well established we will do the tough ones, just did and F150 manifold last week for a good customer. For jobs like that we tell them its just what time it takes, that way we don't loose out. Quote them double the book time, make sure they understand the situation with the repair, when you come in at less than double they are prepared for the worst and you didn't loose. Did you win? Not really, a few jobs I could have done in half of book time would have been better but I made a customer happy, didn't loose my shirt and didn't have to send them somewhere else.

 

Now if that guy came in off the street I'd quote him the same and can grantee I won't get the job. They usually come back after someone else charged them close to what I actually quoted.