CAautogroup

Hello all,

We recently started to accept fleet accounts/cards as a supplemental to our business. Any advice on how to let the general public/ company drivers know we accept?

We put a sign out front but it's not really attaching must attention.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

Nick

Hi all,

Just wanted some feed back regarding fleet account acceptance. Any experiences / advice?

We are looking to start accepting.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Nick

Bank refused to pick up vehicle, declared it abandoned since it was not worth the value ( it would cost more to pay off and send a wrecker to pick up the vehicle).

Hello all,

As an independent automotive shop we service most makes and models. We recently experienced a situation where a customer brought a vehicle for a no start diag, authorized certain repairs, and did not come to pick up vehicle since additional repairs were needed to complete the job.

We soon learned the reason why was because the owed balance isn't worth the cars value. I personally believe it isn't worth the headache, time, or money to deal with a mechanics lien for a car that's worth not much.

How do you guys handle diags? Do you collect the fee upfront to secure payment of your actual time covered?

And if a customer approves repairs, do you request a deposit? Only if repairs exceeds the cars value? (Older vehicles)

Thank you all for your thoughts and opinions in advance.

Hello,

We have a typical sign in sheet for customers to utilize.

I would have done the exact same thing as you. Labor does not come free and for the most part, many people do not believe in this. We as a business have to run and overhead to cover. These are the types of customers who will not help pay my bills.

On a side note, how did you become an installer for Tire Rack?

Thanks,

Nick

What would you do in the event they get their pay check and do not return for work? ie.. they simply quit without 2 weeks notice or even any notice at all?

Thanks,

Nick

Hello all,

We are in the process of obtaining uniforms for the techs and choose to go about purchasing them on our own rather than through a company like Cintas due to excess costs.

For those of you who do the same, do you hold a certain amount from the first pay check in the event the shirts are not returned?

How would you handle something like this?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

Regards,

Nick

I agree with all of the above comments.

Did the customer sign the credit card receipt? This is golden.

Did the customer pay cc over the phone? (This is why we NEVER take cc payments made over the phone)

Do you still have possession of the vehicle? If so, file a mechanics lien plus storage fees.

Hope it all works out in your favor.

Regards,

Nick

I completely agree, finding the right employees to represent your business if by far the hardest challenge I have been trying to defeat.

Hello all,

We have finally taken the steps to offer commission to our employees. I would like to know how (if you do it at your shop) you go about doing so. Do you have a spread sheet/form that the employees turn in weekly for what they have sold? If you have a form/sheet do you mind sharing it?

Do you offer a percentage of certain jobs (at a certain amount) after the cost of parts and overhead?

We currently pay our technicians hourly and believe the incentives would boost business especially since it has been slow lately.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Nick

CA Auto Group

Hello all,

We are trying to expand our customer base as business is slow now. In a addition to advertising through social media, we are exploring different automotive associations/groups to join.

I came across ASA (Automotive Service Association) and would like to know if anyone is already a member and if its worth it since membership itself is about $625/yr.

Do you get many customers or referrals from joining such organizations?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

Nick

CA Auto Group

Hello all,

Just wanted some general feed back from a few automotive repair shops regarding Yelp.

We have been contacted by a sales rep from Yelp for quite sometime now regarding paid advertisement, though we have declined. We have noticed a few negative reviews, and many positive reviews though they are not being displayed.

Is it worth it to "pay" Yelp and see what the outcome would be?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Nick

We are using an old in house database, nothing new.

Hello all,

I would like to know what software other shops use to track inventory (ie filters, wiper blades, etc). Any luck with a barcode scanner?

We are still old fashioned at our shop and looking to make a change to compensate for loss of time and profit.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and answers.

Nick

CA Auto Group

Document, document, document! Everything and anything. It'll make life so much easier if the customer decides to make a "big" deal out of it down the road.

Hello all,

Thanks for the responses. I think our company has came to a resolution to add a page on our website that a customer can type their info in and state what services are needed and authorized. We do have an actual form they fill out while at the shop, but as in this case the vehicle was towed in by the customer.

Hopefully we will never encounter such a scenario again.

Regards,

Nick

CA Auto Group

Hello all,

We recently had a customer cancel a repair that was authorized over the phone. This was a rather labor intensive job and about 45-50% through the service, customer calls in to cancel stating he was not told what the problem was by our service advisors. We had already ordered all the parts and I had the head mechanic start the disassembly process.

How would you go about handling such a situation? What are your policies and procedures for cancellation of repairs?

In regards to paperwork, the vehicle was towed in by a wrecker service. We have been in business for quite sometime now and are located in a busy area in Los Angeles, but have never experienced such a customer before.

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions in advance.

Nick

We typically do not install customer supplied parts as well due to the fact that it ultimately leads to headaches and problems down the line.

But that being said, does anyone here have a sample waiver form / template they would like to share to protect against liability for that states the precautions etc?

Thanks in advance for your help.

We always note and tell customers "plus recheck for additional services needed"

I was recently contacted by a sales represenative from OpenBay. They are the ones who pay you directly via direct deposit or send you a check. May I add that they also take 13% of the total charged to the customer.

I have still yet to set up an account with them....

We currently use the RTI ATX 2 machine. You can easily read the fluid level on the side of the machine. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the max capacity is 12qrts. It also comes with the necessary accessories/fittings needed. We've had it for about 4 years with great results.

We had an incident in the past where a customer "slipped" and it turned into legal matters that is why we are somewhat weary of customers in the work area.

In regards to digital inspections, do customers ever question as to why you are taking pictures of there vehicles?

Hello all,

I would like some feedback as to how other shops would handle this matter. We have noticed quite a few vehicles coming in with repairs that also have other severe problems- vcg leaking, torn up belts, pads almost metal to metal. It is our policy not to allow customers in the work area at all, and it is strickly enforced due to an incident in the past.

My question being, if you see something as noted above (or even a dent/scratches), do you take any further steps besides documentation on the work order? ie pictures and save it to the account to prevent any future problems? We currently write it on the RO with a "refused" next to it for problems and mark the areas were dents/scratches are on the vehicle. We really like the idea of pictures, but it also involves time and money.

Yes, we try to sell these items as it relates to the safety factor, but some customers just do not seem to grasp the concept and accept the vehicle as is.

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions in advance.

-Nick

what about for alignments?