Handson

I could use these also.

I could use these also.

Honestly I would have stopped once the pan was off, no way that engine was gonna be good, that one gets pushed out of the bay. Note condition of vehicle on the WO when it comes in and have the customer sign it. That's the best way to cover yourself, plus its the law here in NY

This is what i should have done.

What should I do at the stage i am at now.

Need more info: was the estimate signed or acknowledged ? Any time we have engine damage I make sure the customer signs off on the potential for a bad engine. I also a bad experience and ended up losing on the job. No win either way.

 

 

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It was sent to him via e mail and he replied to the e mail with approval.

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.

Anyone have costs?

You spelled your url wrong in your original post.

A customer recently called us for a price on a battery my wife answered. He also caled the dealer. I dont know what information he was giving but both my wife and the dealer quoted him $40 less then it should have been.

He came to us because we were another $5 less. When I looked it up by vin and found the corect battery/price he became irate saying how we wasted his time and he could have gone to the dealer. He insisted I price match. So I did.

When he came in he comlained some more. I told him he did not have to worry about it in the future. I said we are changing our business model and will no longer be open to the public (him). He asked why and I said it was too much hasle. We will be working for dealers only now. I do not know if he saw through it or not but I am pretty sure we will not have to deal with him again.

Www.handsonautotech.com

We schedule one waiter per day to keep those customers happy. They are the ones that repair instead of maintaining. When the car breaks down we make our money. If we stopped serving the want to wait community I imagine we would stop repairing them when they break down also. I do not take walk ins or last minute callers for oil change.

Is this affordable for a small two tech shop?

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.

Alfred I think that is part of the problem is that we are all working in a world where corporate auto shops can throw unlimited money and people into a system and make money due to volume. We need to be more efficient and yet have to compete with a 4 bay shop that has two service writers and a manager and is open 7 days a week 12 hours a day. I believe there are systems that can get us put of the shop for short periods but until I find another clone of myself I know numbers will always suffer when I am not here.

Shop helper took my personal truck to get beer at the end of the day. On the way back he decided to see what my hemi could do around a corner and put my Durango into the front of my best customers Comercial truck, which was stopped at a stop sign mind you. This same helper already owes me thousands for repairs I floated him on.

Sales rep sounds like a really cool idea actually. Might try that if I expand

I lost my service write and my 2nd of 2 techs last week of august about the same time we had a million cars dropped of for repairs and one week before I was scheduled to take two days off. I ended up bringing in a friend to answer phones. Lost 6000 in sales over two days and customers are starting to pull cars that are taking to long. Pretty sure I lost at least two customers

I am being approached by a fellow who wants to design and maintain a phone app for my shop. He says it will provide customer retention features. Want 200 per month. Anyone else heard or tried this?

Last week was crap for us also. This week I am turning them away and everything is selling. Go figure.

My fluid collection is one of the things I am most proud of. I often walk a new customer though my storage room so they can see all of the dealer fluids I stock. I do keep a drum of universal for the cars that lost oem coolant years ago. Electrolysis and ph levels are my biggest concern with using non oem coolant.

I once had a jeep in. Customer had the tires rotated and had a noise up front. After driving it I asked when she serviced the front differential. Same time the tires were rotated. We drained the fluid added Mopar gear oil and all was better.

If the type of fluid does not matter why would manufacturers spend hundreds of thousands paying chemical emgineers.

I hear some folks pick on shade tree mechanics only to turn around and become shade tree engineers.

Just curious why you are doing this?

Fair enough, Joe.

Here's one that will likely have someone throwing stones at me, but as its on topic, I'll toss this out and see what you think. (I have a garbage can lid at the ready as a trusty shield)

I am NOT a mechanic by trade, nor do I have any such training or experience, so at times, I find myself able to play the "rookie" card when I make a mistake, or when it's easily proven that in the end, it's not my own skills, but those of the talented men & women technicians I employ, that my more technical-minded customers appreciate.

When dealing with genuine price shoppers, I've found it to be helpful in educating my prospects about value of the free quick-peek inspection to add just the right amount of "reasonable doubt" into the proposition on the phone.

For instance, if they want a price for a new alternator & belt on their car, and the conversation came around to it, the conversation might go like this:

Them: "...my husband just said to call around for pricing"

Us: "Oh, I see. Well, I'll do the best I can. Ok, let me ask you this - do you need a 90amp or a 10am alternator?"

Them: "I have no idea"

Us: "I see. Ok, do you need a serpentine belt or do you have a separate v-style belt for your power steering and A/C?"

Them: "um, again...I don't know"

Us: "Ok, well, since I've never seen your car before, it's pretty hard to male sure I'm giving you the very best information. I'd be happy to print out an estimate that will be EXACTLY what your service will cost, but I'd need to take a quick look under the hood. I can promise that it won't cost you a penny, and you'll have no obligation to us. You can just enjoy a cup of coffee, itll take about 10 minutes, and if you don't like what we have to say, you can free to ball up our estimate and toss it back at us, and we can still be friends."

My simple point is that sometimes I ask questions that I don't even know the answer to, and frankly not only don't I CARE at that moment, but it helps me to be able to make them understand that it doesn't matter because any reputable repair shop will want to see the car before giving them the very best info, and without any obligation.

For all I know, there isn't more than one option on the alternator & belt but unless I look it up...I can make as much wiggle room in the conversation as possible. After all, I think it's in their best interest to come to US instead of taking a chance on service anywhere else.

This. Exactly this. How much is a water pump. Do you have the 4 or 6. Do you have glycol coolant do you have multi belt. Is the aspilate mixer in the way. Once you get two or more I don't know's from the customer you say has Noone else asked these questions? Sounds like your not gathering accurate estimates want to st op by real fast?

Boost ads during the winter. E mail the list with pre winter specials.

Unionize and force the greedy business owners. Am I the only business owner making less then my lead tech?

I do not get a ton of these. Each one is handled case by case. Some just get told we are too busy which is often true. Some I give a quote that makes my labor rate $160. Some I ask if they checked the aspilate mixer since I had three bad ones this week cause that same problem.

You have to look more local then state. Everyone should be calling 10 local shops every now and again to compare labor rates (use a friends phone). If your good and honest and want to stay busy put yourself among the top three most expensive.