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Thanks for confidence in me. I made a pledge to myself this year to get more involved in the political arena. ASO members such as you have helped me greatly in understanding the needs and the frustration of the typical shop owner. I will continue to fight for our rights, but I need your comments and opinions.

 

ASO will become the greatest source of automotive shop management information, worldwide!

 

The battle continues. I get the impression that the legislation doesn't really understand the battle we are up against. And, it doesn't help much when ASA doesn't see the problem. I know what they are saying..."all the info is available, and that lack of proper training is the problem." granted, that's true... in a way. But, when you consider the fact that the information provided don't exactly have "complete" information... such as, if you looked up on the information page for something to do inside a door the only info given to start the procedure is; "remove door panel" Do they not know that that IS not complete information. Some of these door panels ... IF.. you are not careful, can break beyond repair if taken off the wrong way. I'm only using that as an example... there is a lot more different types of repair procedures I could mention.

 

I know on some procedures everything is there, right down to which bolts should be removed. The problems is that NOT all the procedures are there. When I was a kid, I would go down to my dad's work area and sit and look thru the old 40' and 50's repair manuals. Everything you needed to know was there, even pictures of how to do the repair. But, that's not the case today with all the so called "secrets" that the manufacturer doesn't want to share. These are things that get you and I into trouble.

 

The way I see it... the information that is available is like a hang man's noose. Just enough info to hang yourself but not enough to properly do a job. If that's what ASA is referring too... I would have to say they are absolutely full of it. If things don't change, and we as the true independent.... decent shops in the nation... we would have to have such a HUGE hourly labor charge to compensate for the cost of buying these proper scanning equipment and proper information... people, our customers would be forced to go back to the dealer merely because we would be too expensive.

 

Buying all the neccessary equipment at the cost of these individual manufacturers is entirely impossible. Now, if you just wanted to make a living changing starters and brake pads... I guess you could get buy. But, that's not me... I'm a specialty shop that does mainly electronics... and the cost for me... is completely going to put me out of business.

 

This is MY main concern... these legisatures don't see this... they obviously don't understand the plight we are in. You know, if they passed some stupid A&& law where ALL indepedent shops including tire shops were forced to close for one week or even a day... the dealerships could not handle the load. It would be complete caos.

 

I found out last week that the SAAB dealer in town doesn't even service their own convertible tops... they don't even have the diagnostic procedures for them... I asked, "Well, what do you do with them." Their answer, "We send them out to a convertible top shop." I called that shop... they don't have the procedures either.... they do it the all fashion way.... GUESS... and keep changing trip switches and components till it works... and pass the cost of all that back to the customer... NOW WHO'S SCREWED! ! !

 

Let's hope that something is done to wake up America to whats going on with their cars and trucks that we are so dependent on. The independent shop is here to stay as far as I'm concerned... We just have to make sure the ones that are making all the laws understand what's going on. I'm hoping this industry doesn't end up like the mom and pop grocery store or the milkman that delivered to your door. This has got to stop, this has got to be fixed... and soon.

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Here is a link to the hearing Joe spoke at.

 

Joe, your testimony is at about 1 hour, 50 minutes.

 

We got a notice from a vendor about an assembly woman from New York who is against the Right to Repair Act. Everyone should call her office and voice their opinion on the importance of this bill. She is the Chairman of the Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee.

 

Audrey Pheffer

Bill A6634

Right to Repair Act

(718)641-8755

 

You don't have to live in New York to call, and it would also be a great idea to pass this along to your customers to have them call as well. In addition you should check out and send out the link to righttorepair.org

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Here is a link to the hearing Joe spoke at.

 

Joe, your testimony is at about 1 hour, 50 minutes.

 

We got a notice from a vendor about an assembly woman from New York who is against the Right to Repair Act. Everyone should call her office and voice their opinion on the importance of this bill. She is the Chairman of the Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee.

 

Audrey Pheffer

Bill A6634

Right to Repair Act

(718)641-8755

 

You don't have to live in New York to call, and it would also be a great idea to pass this along to your customers to have them call as well. In addition you should check out and send out the link to righttorepair.org

 

I watched the entire video ... I can't understand how these people think we have access to all that information. I'm totally blown away with the guy who owned the dealership and said he has had no problems getting the information... That guy should have brought one of his techs along and let him tell you about that so called... "complete information"

 

The comments that really struck home were the comments from Rick Peak and our own Joe Marconi... If there was a way I could have been there I doubt you could have kept me in my seat... I wanted to chear you guys on and let those people know what we all have been saying for years.

 

Thanx for posting the video... Way to go guys... excellent speeches... now, let's keep it moving and get these changes made.

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The video tells it all. There WERE times that I wanted to jumped out of my seat and confront these people one to one.

This is a very tough issue and very emotional to me now that I see how the "other side" thinks and how they perceive us.

Please, everyone, watch this video and pass it on. The shop owners of this country need to know the master plan that has been created by the car maker to put us under.

 

I will not allow this to happen! But I need your help. I need each and everyone to be angry, make those phone calls, be active and support the Right To Repair Act.

Joe Marconi

 

 

Posted the video on my Facebook page...

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  • Have you checked out Joe's Latest Blog?

         5 comments
      I recently spoke with a friend of mine who owns a large general repair shop in the Midwest. His father founded the business in 1975. He was telling me that although he’s busy, he’s also very frustrated. When I probed him more about his frustrations, he said that it’s hard to find qualified technicians. My friend employs four technicians and is looking to hire two more. I then asked him, “How long does a technician last working for you.” He looked puzzled and replied, “I never really thought about that, but I can tell that except for one tech, most technicians don’t last working for me longer than a few years.”
      Judging from personal experience as a shop owner and from what I know about the auto repair industry, I can tell you that other than a few exceptions, the turnover rate for technicians in our industry is too high. This makes me think, do we have a technician shortage or a retention problem? Have we done the best we can over the decades to provide great pay plans, benefits packages, great work environments, and the right culture to ensure that the techs we have stay with us?
      Finding and hiring qualified automotive technicians is not a new phenomenon. This problem has been around for as long as I can remember. While we do need to attract people to our industry and provide the necessary training and mentorship, we also need to focus on retention. Having a revolving door and needing to hire techs every few years or so costs your company money. Big money! And that revolving door may be a sign of an even bigger issue: poor leadership, and poor employee management skills.
      Here’s one more thing to consider, for the most part, technicians don’t leave one job to start a new career, they leave one shop as a technician to become a technician at another shop. The reasons why they leave can be debated, but there is one fact that we cannot deny, people don’t quit the company they work for, they usually leave because of the boss or manager they work for.
      Put yourselves in the shoes of your employees. Do you have a workplace that communicates, “We appreciate you and want you to stay!”
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