mspecperformance

wowww that sounds terrible Scott.

Visual inspections I do not charge for. If it is an apparent problem without any lift time or any diss-assembly I usually give those away all the while explaining to the customer that we do normally charge for our diagnostic work as it is usually extensive with our equipment being used but we don't think its fair to charge for something that we can catch within 10 seconds. They usually appreciate that. I guess that would be similar to the first Level. If you ever get trapped up with "oh i got a noise, id like to get the car up on the lift and check real quick" type of nonesense, its easy to dismiss this type of service as almost complimentary. I try to charge at least a $50 lift fee. Sometimes I call it a diagnostic fee (of course we are diagnosing and/or inspecting for the customer), other customers that don't like to pay for diag I explain to them that it takes time out of my techs day, takes up space in the bay, time to rack the car as well as have the car on my expensive Rotary lifts so I have to charge a lift fee. Most don't have a problem. The ones that do have a problem, throw them out, nicely.

He called up and said, "Hi my son brought in my 1998 528 for some engine replacement... or some harness engine work. Is the car ready?" LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL Lets just glaze over the fact your son DROPPED OFF THE CAR 4+ YEARS AGO AND NEVER CAME BACK! East Indian from the sound of his accent. I really wanted to say, "Really??? REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

Odd ball X-Mas Eve question. Kid dropped off a 1998 528 4+ years ago. Came by a few times to check up on the car (wanted some electrical work done) then dropped off the face of the earth. Car had an engine swap and wasn't starting due to harness/computer issues. Tried contacting the customer didn't respond for months. After about 2 years, we decided enough was enough (I know i have patience!). Never got a dime from kid. Ended up sending it to the scrapper. Fast forward another 2+ years, got a call from the kid's dad apparently asking about the car. Told him his son left the car for 2 years and we had no contact from him so we junked it. Asked for paper work which I don't even think I have anymore (moved locations). How would you guys have handled this situation? Not sure if I am liable for anything but I was pretty shocked and annoyed someone would call and ask for the car and then give attitude and demand paperwork. I even told him what if I left my car in his driveway for 4 years, what would he end up doing. I could careless at this point, he can take me to court if he wants. Just wanted to hear some of your thoughts.

Joe, good call there! Since you seem to have known the customer I think you definitely had more leeway in what you could say. If he was a newish customer or a customer you don't know very well it may have rubbed him the wrong way especially if he is just one of those cheapies who thinks anyone trying to sell him something is trying to rip him off.

Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

Hey guys, what type of phone script do you guys go with when someone calls about an oil change? Had a call earlier this morning inquiring about an Oil Change. I gave her a price right and didn't say much else other than we use BMW Synthetic Oil (she had a X3). I was kind of distracted and busy and that was the end of the call. I looked into my tracking software and the lead was generated through my website. For future reference, how do you guys handle oil change price shoppers? Also do you think I should give her a call back and see if I can salvage that potential customer?

Good idea. Joe what do you think about a Holiday E-mail blast just wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season and a thank you for their business and support and then sending something in January as a New Years special? I'd space them about 4-6 weeks apart.

Any suggestions on what type of specials or offer for a Holiday E-mail Blast? I was thinking offers for Charging Sys Diag, Winterization (cooling sys flush, wipers, tire checks etc), Battery replacement specials, oil changes etc. percentage off? Free or lower cost inspections? Give me some ideas guys. Thanks!!!

Had a customer yesterday ask to bring his own parts because apparently what I was charging for a radiator job was too much. Even after he authorized the repair and came to pick up the car, he started with "I want to build a relationship with you guys but you guys need to give me good prices, I need good prices." No one twisted his arm to pay us to install his radiator.

Yes i know what you mean. I am just finding it a high frequency of callers that you just cant get in your doors. Time wasters essentially... I guess it goes with the territory. I'll try my best and see what happens. I wish I could just have all great customers all the time, wouldn't life be great ???

@D.Larson - You are right however a good portion (don't want to say most) of those calls are for price specific questions. I go through the whole process of asking the source of the issue, who diagnosed, etc etc. Mostly its "another mechanic" or "forums" or "my friend who is a tech/dealer tech" that affirmed what they need to get done. They are adamant about getting a price. Had a lady the other day (she is a serial shopper and probably called me about 5x in the past few weeks always promising to being the car) call while her car was at another shop asking for a price! Same lady went through liike 4-5 shops, one shop even swapped her engine LOL. She was definitely one to steer away from but it all could have been avoided if I would have said, "We would love the opportunity to properly diagnose and repair your vehicle correctly and professionally however we have a policy of not giving phone estimates." Additional thoughts? The above posts are great BTW, thanks guys.

I am contemplating on not giving out anymore phone quotes. My reason behind it is that most callers that ask for phone quotes are phone shoppers and bargain hunters. I am a specialist and they call around asking general repair shops their price on a certain job most of the time. I am usually not the cheapest around. I have tried everything in conveying that I am not the cheapest and that our shop provides a different level of service etc etc. Try to sell them on value. Most of the time it doesn't work. Of course a lot of these customers are not the type of customers that we want anyway however its frustrating try to sell them on something and then at the end of it all for them to huff and puff and ask for a price. Once they get the price and propositioned for an appt, they say "oh I am just shopping around" or the shy ones say, "oh I'll call you back." Usually these are calls spanning a few minutes that are incredibly frustrating and span over a few minutes. Almost all of these phone shoppers ask immediately for a quote. To reduce wasted time I was thinking of just say, "I apologize we do not give over the phone quote. It is our policy to have vehicles properly diagnosed by our technicians before we present our customers with estimate." Or if they blatantly say they are shopping around for a price I'd like to add, "We do not give phone quotes because we feel a price doesn't properly convey the level of service and expertise we provide." I am sure this will piss off some of the bottom feeders but I am worried it will turn off some borderline customers. Thoughts?

when u mean labor claims, are you seeking reimbursement from the parts suppliers?

@ncautoshop, the new modis ?

I wonder if its an actual person who is posting this stuff. Why would you advertise on a forum for shop owners opposed to a forum for consumers?

This is a great thread! I have also wrestled with how to sell tires as there is usually very little to differentiate where is best to buy a tire, because a tire is a tire right? I am still unsure if I am going to go heavy into the tire business however it is a great value proposition when I do sell tires. My customers generally like to come back to me for everything since I am a specialist. My customers that tend to go somewhere close to their house for the "simple" stuff learn the hard way and have to come back to me for extra repairs.

Customer definitely has the right to be upset but should appreciate the honesty in coming forward and trying to make things right. I find it very uncouth that people tend to treat small businesses the way they treat big businesses. Big business has taught people that complaining will get you perks or best case scenario you'll get your way. They don't seem to understand that trying to get over on small businesses is hurting people that live in your community and regular folks just like themselves DIRECTLY.

Dang! DanW that really sucks. Yeah the sucky customers can bring you down. It bugs the crap out of me whenever I encounter one. The 335i customer i complained about earlier, well he came back because he felt there was something stuck in his exhaust. I told him that I would be more than happy to drop the exhaust and inspect everything again HOWEVER if nothing is stuck in there then he would have to pay a $75 fee for dropping. After we checked it, nothing was stuck. Idiot now had a problem paying me. Stating he doesn't know if the problem is solved now (even after he physically saw nothing coming out the exhaust). I told him that we just dropped his exhaust and moved a bunch of stuff around, the sound very well might be gone RIGHT NOW, however if you drive down the road 5 minutes and the noise comes back that means I just did free work for nothing. I don't expect any customer out of the goodness of their heart to come back and pay me (was trying to get at i cant trust this knucklehead hes trying to get over already). Idiot says, "oh no I'm very honest" blah blah. Then we keep debating to the point where he starts to tell me that how we installed his downpipes were unnecessary as per a video his saw off a forum. WHERE DO THESE PEOPLE COME FROM!!!!!

Just had a terrible experience. Installed a downpipe for a 335i a few weeks ago for a guy. He initially called in and told us he had an downpipe to install. No problem seemed pretty straight forward. Customer comes in, turns out to be a used downpipe and no exhaust gaskets. Explained to customer that he might have issues since he needed new gaskets said ok no problem. Fast forward to today, guy comes in complaining of an exhaust noise. Explained to him that we are more than happy to drop his exhaust and examine the entirety of the exhaust however if there is nothing apparently wrong with our work then we would have to charge him again. Customer agree, we drop everything, nothing wrong. All of a sudden customer has a problem paying trying to cite all kinds of crap out of the wood work. He even said we never had to drop the exhaust to install his downpipes as per a video he saw. Don't know where these people come up with this stuff. Do they genuinely believe their BS or are they trying to get over? Either way is scary. Guy is a bottom feeder customer, I was contemplating on letting him off the leash without paying but then I'd feel like a real idiot for doing free work. On the other hand, this customer could turn around and give a negative review out of fabricated stories. These type of people I really wish the worst for, we would all be better off with them gone off the earth.

Whoa, sounds crazy. Would love to do this to some customers. People just don't care of give a crap about anyone else but themselves. Of course some negative reviews may be warranted however the ones that are falsely posted are really damaging.

Customer comes in for a schedule appointment to diag a fuel pump issue. Tells me off the bat he want to replace the fuel pump. No problem. Wants to also replace springs. No Problem. Tell him that the part may take a while since it wasnt pre ordered and he is welcome to come back (after he thought he had to cab it home). Then drops the third party warranty bomb on me. Got them to approve of part of the bill without inspection (win!). Got the car back in the shop, replaced the fuel pump but too late to finish the springs. Had springs done the next day. Customer picks up the car and tries to negotiate the price a bit more which I politely shut down. Next day get a 4 star review (still not bad) and a comment that says we need to be more communicative with customers. WTF! I pushed you ahead of the line with the extra work you wanted, got the warranty to approve of part of the job, got the job done in a decently timely fashion and you still want to complain!!! Grrr.......

They want you to cosign ripping people off. NO THANKS! Best is when guys who sell used cars use the ol' "oh man you guys service a lot of nice German Cars here, I am going to bring you all my cars.... just take care of me since I'm going to bring you a lot of business." I laugh with my inside voice every time. Last guy who did that was this idiot who came from a "customization" shop where they do sound, interiors, wheels that sort of thing. All garbage work, car came in with Louis Vutton wrapped interior albeit not terrible but not the greatest job in the world... oh yeah and caliper covers... He gave me the "im going to bring you a lot of business.." blah blah. Guy ended up being a read headache. Go figure.

I'm assuming you are talking about mainly diag work? Now is your problem keeping track of how much time you have put into the job OR is it how much you can actually get away with charging your customer? If your customers are completely fine with the amount of time billed then your job really should be very easy. Either track your time on a Work Order Sheet or employ some sort of simple system in logging your time. If you are having an organization problem its time to read some books and get a great shop management software and build routines so that you are always recording and keeping track of your business.

I always try to educate my customers on the importance of a pre-purchase inspection. I also try my best to document anything that is visual such as leaks, worn suspension parts, broken or low quality parts used by taking pictures. I present the information to the customers as softly as possible. They will possibly be upset with the news however you are just stating facts. I tell customers all the time, I don't break em or make em, I just fix em. They seem to get it and if they are going to fix it unless they are bottom feeder customers, they appreciate the time I take to explain things to them with documentation and they usually come back for the repairs.