hddm3

Even after 35 years in business, I am still looking for that one day when things go smoothly. Yesterday, Friday, everything was going fine. We were finished up a few big jobs, the schedule was filling up for next week, the weather was absolutely beautiful and everyone (including myself), was in a good mood.

 

Then it happened; The Friday afternoon nightmare. Just as the clock hit 5 o’clock, things began to fall apart. A brake job, just completed, had to be redone due to defective brake rotors. A BMW which was supposed to have been checked out for safety concerns now has a brake warning light on that was not discovered earlier. And the customer was told that “Everything was ok.” There was still one more car that needed a wheel alignment. With most of my techs leaving for the day, I blew up. “Hey, this 5 o’clock drop your tools and run has to stop”, I said.

 

I was upset, but was I right to say what I said? What I am about to tell you is not an excuse, but it needs to be said. As a shop owner for 35 years and someone working in the auto repair industry for more than 40 years, I have been through more bad days than I care to remember. I do try to be positive. In fact, I preach this to others. But, sometimes, even the preacher sins.

 

This morning I am sitting here typing away thinking about my day. It’s Saturday and my wife and I are spending the day with my daughter and future son-in-law visiting wedding venues.

 

So, when I really think about, yesterday may have been a bad day at the shop. But today is a great day in my life.

Lesson: put things in perspective and judge your life by the good things in your life, not the bad stuff that’s part of running an auto repair business.

 

Let’s hope I can take my own advice.

why do techs have to stay over because writers promiss the world? That's what has to stop. Things happen like this all the time. 35 years in the business you should know. People will never be happy with everything you do anyways.

People are hesitant because they don't want to feel as if they obligated themselves into a verbal contract with you for service. They are probably gathering information on pricing, warranty, procedure etc... to make an informed decision as a consumer.

 

I do the same thing when I am shopping services. When I had my parking lot installed I would have made a major financial mistake just calling the first few companies I found in the phone book.

no they just want free diags and trust me, the dumbing down of America is real. You see it everyday. Problem is we just beat around the bush. I tell it like it is. I weed out the dead beats fast that way. You get some idiot that goes ummmm all the time, its time to end the call. Good luck, you guys will figure it out soon enough.

What extractor do you use?

Hi, I use a cheap harbor freight green one. I think it was $150.00 for it. Works great. If I had to do it over again, I would get one that does both. A oil drain and extractor combo.

Passing a drug test is the biggest hurdle.

Is there a drug test you can test someone to see if they are doing drugs on the job? No there isn't. What someone does at home is there business is it not. Until there is a test that will I don't support these so called drug test. Don't you think its against peoples rights?

Hi, oil extractors work great. Ive used one for years. matter of fact, Mercedes and bmw, think vw too use them as a factory tool. As far as guys thinking they don't get all the oil is sadly mistaken. Oil extraction gets all of the oil out to the point that there will be no drips. One machine can be used for so many different jobs like brakes, tranny service, power sterring, etc. Try one I think youll like it.

Sure glad I have never worked for a baby sitter like you. I'm sure you have people shacking in there boots and wondering if they will get fired every time they turn around. Thank god we have therapist for people like you. Take care and don't forget your pills.

wow people multi task all the time. whats the problem? your going to fire a technician over sm? wow

Mspec, we do little European work for that very reason. People buy these cars at a bargin at a local used car lot and then don't understand why a repair costs more than it did on their mom's ford Taurus. Part of the problem, at least in a rural area like mine, is that almost everyone has a brother, father, uncle, cousin, or some other relative who works on cars and knows more about it than you do! These are usually the same people who don't want to pay a testing fee for their check engine light because "autozone told me it was an oxygen sensor" .

I tell them people to have vatozone fix it for them.

Some customers are not your customers!

 

Just another story in the #shoplife that loosely pertains to this topic.

 

Had a guy call up today 2006 530XI. Wanted to bring the car in today for a battery. Gave him some possible times to bring the car in but got right down to why he thought he needed the battery. "I brought the car to the dealer a few months ago and they had told me I needed a battery" FIRST RED FLAG! "Also I have been having to jump start my car with a booster pack for a while but now thats not even working" SECOND RED FLAG! Anyway I schedule the guy in. He ends up canceling the first appt and reschedules for later on in the day. Customer drops the car off for a few and leaves. Before he left I told him I would take a look into his battery situation a bit further because the electrical and charging sys on newer model BMWs are very sensitive to voltage. Turns out as expected that he really needed a new alternator (leaking diodes), IBS cable and a new battery. Gave the guy some options on what we could do for him today which was either an IBS + AGM battery or IBS + Lead acid battery. Both options were north of $600. His response was "wow thats expensive, about the same price as the dealer" and finally "I think I am going to decline both" BIG SURPRISE! At that point I said, "ok sure no problem we can have your vehicle back together for you in 10 minutes. We normally charge a diagnostic fee however we are going to waive that for you today." He came 15 minutes later thanked me and left. Before he left he had mentioned he had called a few weeks ago and got an approx price of $300-400 for a battery. Yep a phone shopper and the worst kind. My fault for giving out prices over the phone.

 

GOOD RIDDANCE! Customers like that have no respect for themselves and the vehicles they drive. He was jump starting the car with a booster pack for months and he expected to get away with a $200 battery. GTFO. These types of people are a danger to themselves and you are better off wishing them well and sending them down the road. I didn't even bother charging him and its the best money I never made. Who knows what kind of vindictive nonsense would have came out of that if I would have charged him a charging sys diag. Wouldn't have been worth it. Instead I threw a smile on my face, shook his hand and sent him down the river.

 

 

Point of the story is there are plenty of people out there that will appreciate you and your service. Those are the customers to give your attention to. Send the yo-yos away.

 

Of course there are people out there that have to decline work due to economical situations. Totally understandable and i have bent over backwards for a lot of my customers. The problem with bending your own rules is what if that person comes into a better job and their financial situation changes? Do you think they will magically start paying you for your parts and not bring their own? Hell no. They got away with it the first time so that is now their expectation.

 

Anyway that is my rant on crappy customers which wasn't really the main point of your thread but I hope to have entertained some of you guys with that story.

more and more people like this everyday. seems like we are getting dumber and dumber by the year. hey I guess were number 1 in debt, number 1 in incarcerated people, number 1000 in schooling...

Ok guys, I just need to vent . Had a customer come in Monday with a Suburban needing a state inspection. Turns out, he has no brake lights and so he leaves it to have us look at it. Later on that day, my tech does the nessasary testing and so forth and determines he needs a multi-function switch. My SA makes a quote and calls his house and talks with his wife and gives her the quote. She says she will relay the info to her husband and get back to us. By now, it's close to closing time, so I'm not expecting to hear back from him today. I leave the shop and stop at a local national-chain parts store to pick- up some hose we will be needing first thing in the morning. Now this store is one we never have dealt with much over the years for various reasons, but their outside sales rep has been coming by a lot over the past several months trying to drum up business. So I've been warming up to them and "testing the waters" so to speak. I get out of my truck and run into, you guessed it, the owner of the Suburban! He tells me that he just can't afford the price we quoted him and he felt it was just to much. I talked to him about how we used only quality parts and insure trouble free operation and such, trying to build some value, but he keeps insisting that he feels it is too much. I told him I understand how he felt and if he refused the repairs, all he owed was a testing fee. Then he asks if he supplied the part, how much would I charge him to install it. I told him what the labor would be and that there would be no warranty. He agreed and handed me a new switch from said national-chain parts store and said to call him when it was ready. Then he said, " I know your in business and such, but your price for the switch is just too much. It only cost $162.00! " This is the part that ticks me off. My cost from the same part store is $184.90. That's right, they sold it to a guy off the street for less than I could get it for. I'm sorry, but if you want more of my business, this is not the way to do it. I'm cooling off some before I say anything. Should I take it up with the store manager, the sales rep, or call the owner of the company?

must be vatozone. if you have a commercial account, automatically the person should get 10% off walk ins.

Very frustrated. Why should we have to call for support and have the information either faxed or emailed? Switched to Mitchell manager and ProDemand as a new shop owner, but the frustration level of both is very high.

 

Our technicians can not find the information for service and repair as easily as AllData offers. It takes myself 3x's the amount of time to find information, which is killing production time. And when a technician is frustrated to obtain information, it doesn't make for a happy shop!

 

There is NOT enough space to write MY frustrations with Mitchell manager.

 

Beginning to think I have made a fairly expensive mistake.

well you can always switch.

FROGFRINDER, topped of with fuel? Really?

ya this must be for high end dealership. hahaha top off fuel, no way. next thing they say was my car ran fine until you put fuel etc in it. no thanks. sounds great and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, but not this guy.

Got a call, customer asked for a quote (2007 335i). I think I even exhaled when I heard that but I went through the my general run down. Here is how the convo went,

 

 

Me: Sir what kind of problems are you experiencing with your vehicle?

 

Customer: I need some quotes on some work for my car.

 

Me: Did you have the problems diagnosed somewhere?

 

Customer: No but I know what I need.

 

Me: Ok what do you need to have serviced?

 

Customer: I THINK I need my valve cover gasket changed, I THINK I need my oil filter housing gasket changed, I THINK I need a belt and belt tensioner and I have the parts, I THINK I need a mechatronics sleeve and thrust arms. How much?

 

Me: Well sir if I can make a recommendation... since you did not get your vehicle diagnosed by a professional I would like to invite you to bring the vehicle to us and we can perform a visual inspection for you to determine what you do and don't need. I can then give you a proper estimate.

 

Customer: But my car doesn't start, I can't move it.

 

My brain goes into the UGH mode.

 

Me: Why doesn't the car start?

 

Customer: The belt jumped off.

 

Me: It sounds like you may have experienced a problem with the tensioner bolt bending and/or your tensioner failing. When the belt falls off on this particular engine you can do a lot of damage other than the obvious. belt material can eat into the front crank seal, damage the radiator and affect anything in the front of the car.

 

Customer: Oh really I didn't know.

 

Me: Yes so it would make the most sense for you to bring the car to us so can properly assess what you need.

 

Customer: I would have to tow it to you then and I don't know if I want to do that without getting a price.

 

Me: Well sir I am not charging you to inspect the car as of now.

 

Customer: I would have to pay for a tow then unless you offer a free tow. Do you do that?

 

Me: No sir unfortunately we do not however I am not charging you to inspect your car. For the cost of a tow you can have a professional look at and I can create an accurate estimate for you. If you don't like it you can always go somewhere else.

 

Customer: Well your not going to get my business unless I get a quote. I want to bring it to you because your specialist.

 

 

 

and the convo went on for another few minutes with nothing being resolved.

 

Odd ball people have been calling me all day and its driving me insane.

well get use to it. its the new America. dumb asses everywhere.

A first time customer arrives at our service counter requesting prices on a set of tires. My service advisor, using the vehicle information she gave him (big mistake), priced a set of Goodyear tires. She authorized the job and made an appointment.

 

The customer dropped the car off this past Wednesday for the tires. A few hours later the car brought in, only to realize that the tires were the wrong size and the tires that belong on her car would be more money. The advisor called the customer and she went ballistic. She screamed and demanded what we honor the price. The service advisor reduced the price to cost, but that was not good enough.

 

She decided to cancel the tire job and pick up her car. We made a mistake; we should have never given her a price without actually checking the vehicle information and tire size. It was a mistake, we admitted that to her.

 

But here is where it gets ugly. She came in with a friend to pick up her car and she started to insult my service advisor. She called him names and began to throw insults at him that I do not want to repeat. My advisor said nothing; he stood there and took it. We also had other people in the office at the time.

 

I called the women and told her that I would have given her the tires at any cost, but after hearing what she had done and said, I told her that some things cross the line. She responded by saying, “aren’t you guys regulated? Isn’t’ the customer ALWAYS right? And don’t you have to honor the price?” I said, “First we are not regulated, what ever that means, this is America the last time I looked, and we are talking about a mistake here. Plus, the way you acted, I really don’t think we want you as a customer.”

 

By the way, she freely admitted to me that she was “fresh mouthed”, her words, not mine.

 

IS THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS RIGHT? Not really, agree or not?

ofcourse not, hardly ever are they right. I would of done the exsact same thing. I don't want customers like that because you can never please them... ever

all we have is the big box. ive been using rock auto lately. good or bad its what I have available.