tirengolf

Anyone using the Bolt On Welcome Station Kiosk ?? do you like it, would you buy it again if you had to make the choice. Thanks David

There is an easy fix to this situation. When a customer orders tires from TR and picks us as an installer TR always send us an email notifying us of the order. I always then email the customer and tell them that I will notify them when the tires arrive. It would be very easy to also say in a confirmatory email that the installation costs would be $xxx per tire plus $xx disposal. That should help prevent a situation like this unless these folks were really computer illiterate and someone else did the ordering for them. We have been TR installers for about 17 years. We still get mostly high end customers from the TR.

Her father ordered the tires for her. I guess what concerned me was I have never had this happen , ever. I like your idea. I will be replying to these emails in the future. It is a different culture of online shoppers today.

We Are All Screwed in a World Where Only Dealers Can Service New Cars

-https://www.yahoo.com/news/screwed-world-where-only-dealers-164629566.html

 

The consumer will be the loser in this scenario.

Ok guys since I am on a posting roll, I need some feed back . Little history on my shop , opened by my father 1961, I started there in 1975 , great cliental . The problem I have got is I have out grown my shop. I have raised prices, culled some, turned it away, etc. I cannot get any relief. " I Hope this does not come back to haunt me" How can I slow it down a bit. Really would like some input. I do not want to be a jerk about it and ripping people off is not in my book. How is the best way to turn it down a notch. I am booking about 2 weeks out now. Input greatly appreciated.

Maybe I should clarify myself. I have been a TR installer for 25 years. The customer that I once got from TR was usually a high end guy. I have noticed a trend of bottom feeders from TR in the last 5 years, 245/45R17 tires for $50.00 @. This young lady had the tires shipped to me , she walked in the door sat down with all the other customers in my waiting room and looked at me and said , do I have to pay to get these tires installed. I gave her a price, the install was more than the tires. This is the same price that is advertised in a email she gets and I get. I showed it to her and she was lost. I went on TR website and found it a little clumsy to get a installer installation price, almost like it is being hid from the consumer. I really do not think that is there intention, I think the competition has piggybacked there installer program . They are hiding most installers now . It takes about 4 clicks to get to the installers. I maybe overreacting although I value my reputation and ethical business as the 2 things that put us on top of all the other shops in my area. I guess another thing that got me is the consumer called me back and said the lady in CS at TR said were very high on installation price. I confronted TR about this and they basically said our CS rep says anything to calm the situation down. These people had a choice , they saw my reviews but did not want to pay the price. I will say this, in 5 years our insurance companies will stop us from mounting consumer parts including tires. I do not do parts now and looks like tires are considered a part. I think the choice will be made for me by my insurance company. I am always open to other professionals opinions about the stance I took , right or wrong, that is why I posted it, I appreciate the input. The consumer is a changing although ethical business still works at the end of the day.

I get notification from Tire Rack about a customer that had dropped shipped a set of ires to my shop. I noticed the size and price they paid,I could tell they were inexpensive and closeout tires. Young lady come in , very nice, and says , do I have to pay to have tires mounted. I have been a TR installer since 1992 with very positive outcome and great reviews. This was a first for me!!! I am a Price Pledge installer for TR , the pricing is on the website so I run a ticket for the whole works OTD. She looks astonished, she gets on phone and calls, I guess her dad, she puts this guy on the phone and bam, he starts freaking out about the price, I say sir look at the website it gives you the price, I was calm at first then I tell him sir there are 10 places to go too why did you choose me. Then it got ugly. He really thought there was no charge anyway it ended with me slamming the phone up on this craaaazy guy. I am calling TR today. That may wrap up a good thing and relationship with TR. I really think that this will be what is to come in the mail order business. A lot of people just do not get it. When they have to take their car back to a franchise dealer they will understand what is happening in this quickly changing business. I have been thinking about getting out of TR network. I think this just made my mind up for me. What was good thing 20 years ago is not good today. Times are a changing my friends. I felt a little sorry for the young lady , she was in the military , I was about to give a 20% discount that I do not advertise . She said my dad has a bad temper , and apologized. I am sure I get a review from hell about this. I will be waiting on this one.

Hydro, Lets face it , we want good referrals not the turds. I have 50 customers that I call my " Centers of Influence", I go see them, take a business card and write on the back one free oil change. I tell them, John your business is very valuable to me , and you and me have always been on the same page , 2 way street, John I want you to think of a friend you can give this oil change too, someone that you think would appreciate me and I would appreciate them, "the 2 way street". Bingo, you will get a good one. Good luck

Hydro, I feel your pain, I am in Florida as well . I am about to go to Bolt On technology for this reason " I have no affiliation with Bolt On". I do a lot of tires, the inspection sheet makes my guys check all lug nuts. I resisted oil changes until 15 years ago, now they are a killer profit for me. I am at 49.00 Regular, 59.00 Dexos, 99.00 Synthetic, 119.00 Mobil One. I am actually installing a oil change only rack now. I, my father now me, have been here for dang nearly 60 years , I know who will buy and who want. I send those Walmart shoppers down the road. I actually have a shorter handwritten form if you would like a copy. I would be glad to share it. David

My insurance company actually ask me this question on a questionnaire, I assume my premium was based on the exposer of doing this. How do you guys feel about installing customer tires ??? I see more Tire and Wheel packages than ever. Had a guy roll in with a 14 Mercedes E350, internet tires and wheels, already mounted and balanced but not on the car, no TPMS, wanted me to install TPMS from old wheels to new. I told he guy 300.00 , guy did not bat a eye. I still sorta felt like a whore after I did it. We gotta get a internet sales tax instituted. See ya David

First time in 40 years I got my 1st credit card fraud case. Guy calls my assistant wanted tire price, he gives price, guy says you take CC over the phone, company is paying for tires , I know almost all my customers, guy calls back wants tires , my assistant ask a few questions they cut a deal. Ok here is where I would have got suspicious. 1- guy wants a odd size tire 2- the guy that comes to pick up is not the name of the guy he said was coming. 3- The guy carries the tires out. Ding, Ding, Ding. This assistant has been with me for 17 years, great guy, did not get all the info on CC although he got the 3 digit code. This had warning bells all over it to me. The card goes through , no big deal. Now month later we get charge back. I call my CC provider . I am screwed. A few bad make it worse for all the good people, now my shop no longer take CC over the phone , period. You know I guess the handshake days is over,sad times in America. You know I have a great database of consumers, shoot, I have probably 50 CC on file that pay as we repair. I will continue with that although the walk of the street guy unless a referral is stopping. This world has a lot of crooked people in it. "GUYS BEWARE"

Thanks Gonzo, FYI / After 6 hours diag time, We have narrowed it down to transmission, off to the stealership it goes . I am sure they are gonna buck the warranty because of the wheelchair lift. I will keep you informed.

Ok guys got a 14 E350 6.8 , P0219= Engine overspeed condition Vehicle has intermotive module for wheelchair lift , I have unplugged it and eliminated it. Driving 40 MPH test drive , throttle released or slowing down engine revs goes into limp . as long as you are moving it is fine I can clear code with verus and off it goes. Mitchell mentions that data stored must need reflash. I called ford they are lost. I just keep going back to this Intermotive module . Anyone ever seen this code. P0219. Thanks David

Need a little help guys. I have 2 younger employees that I want to get into some scanner training , A/C trainingg ,Etc. One guy is 24 another is 34, they need to be polished up. They are invested in the business, buying tools, doing the local training stuff , doing there ASE stuff. they want to learn. I guessed they have passed the test for me. I really think I may need to get them polished up, keep there mind busy. Where should I look for training or is the Snap on , Napa stuff the way to go. Is there online training or schools I should consider. These guys are tech's . One has potential to come inside eventually . I am in unchartered waters here. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks David

I have a Oreillys literally next door to my shop, has anyone got on a parts program with these people. I am a NAPA Auto Care facility as well, I am buying parts all over the place. Oreillys will sell the same price to a guy that walks off the street. No customer loyalty anymore, and they all wonder why I wait 1 day for World Pac or Amazon Prime..Has anyone had any success with Oreilly's I have to go over there everytime and show them prices to match mark. I am doig 20 to 30 K a month with Oreillys, Napa is on me although recently I have had a lot of warranty issues with NAPA. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. David

Spent 2 hours on the phone yesterday with a local shop owner that has retail shop in my area as well as a nationally syndicated radio program . He had 2 of his four techs leave him in 4 weeks , really unethical stuff. The tech industry is in serious trouble as we speak. How many years will this go on, the instant gratification these guys want today is unreal. I really interact with my customers which in tern my customers interact with my techs. I recently had a GM master tech work 3 weeks with me, 32 years with GM , only 2 shops , over 600 GM classes, poor guy is lost out in the real world. Had to fire him after only 3 weeks. Just seems like these guys can't get past the glory days of the stealership years they had. The large dealerships trend appears they are firing the high paid guys and replacing with lower paid techs. The dealership high paid days over. The dealerships in our area have gone to a Team Leader program with 4 parts changers below them. Shoot I had rather be behind and do it all myself. Our business is very good in our area , people are starving for ethical shops. I have been aware of the tech shortage reading all available resources possible, guys it looks dismal. Will this shortage get better ??? Am I missing something , maybe I just don't get it, maybe all those years of low paid techs has caused this or is it just evolving society. This has become a very serious issue to me. You guys have a good weekend. David

Gonzo, You just energized me to get this stuff fixed or send out letters. I do have one car I did a 3 grand rear end job on his SS Impala, 5 months ago. The guy paid me a grand down. Nicest guy in the world. Now he is in jail for selling drugs and will not be getting out . It was his dream car, Looks like my dream car now. Just what I wanted !!!! This outcome will be a good one. I am sure of that. Great write up.

This fine gentleman called yesterday and after being very polite on the phone with him and explaining why we don't install customer supplied parts, he got upset and hung up on me. 10 minutes later, I get an email from Google saying I got a 1 star review. I waited till this morning before replying so I could calm down. I'm sure I could have handled it better, but honestly, people need to start understanding that not all parts are equal. Like the example I gave in the reply, you would never buy the cheapest steak you could find and expect a fine steak house to cook it for you. I honestly couldn't care less if this guy ever comes to my shop, in fact, I'd prefer he didn't. I'm to the point where I wish my invoices only gave job totals, not a break down of parts, labor, fees, tax, etc.

 

Just a few weeks ago, we had a guy bring in his car for a differential mount. He said he could do it himself, but his back was messed up and didn't feel like climbing under the car. Then he got upset when I provided an estimate, telling me 'I can do it for less than that!' I wanted to respond 'Great sir! You can probably cook a burger cheaper than Chili's too, but you don't get mad at them!' It's so nice to have customers who value the service you offer, but there are always a few who seem to get under your skin sometimes.

MMotley, I have seriously considered going to "totals only" on my invoices, I like you idea. I understand the taxes would be a exemption. My view is this business is evolving rapidly. The diagnosis is 50% of the repair today. The customers are starting to understand diagnostic charges. Are you aware of anyone that has implemented this billing practice, if so, how has it worked out.

My personnel opinion is the market and business is changing , I would say warp speed at this point , I hate to say it the Chinese have figured it out. Snap-On better get with the program or there issues will be more than a few unhappy customers. The hard thing for me is My Snap On tool salesman is the greatest guy in the world. He is in a pickle. Anyone want to buy a nice 6 month old Verus, or maybe Snap On will trade me out for a Autel 908. It isn't like we are launching the dang space shuttle. As I said they are trying to actually thought at first it was a collision course they did not see coming now I am starting to feel like they want to double dip me. Heck they own all these companies. I think they ,Snap-On, are treading on shaky ground. This is just my experience with Snap On Corp. Not Mitchell or my Snap On rep. Am I wrong , is it just me. Maybe I should have done my homework more before the Verus purchase. Replies appreciated.

I agree about guessing even though 1 off my green techs uses it some. As you understand I paid for it , sorta double dipping me . I am really looking at Autel. I can subscribe to Identifix for this upgrade price and get all kinds of info. As the old guy says, "it just ain't right".

Talking about scanners, I got a good one .I purchased new Verus Feb 2015, I get a message on it that says Suretrack has expired. I say no it has not I have it on Pro-Demand , I also run Mitchell SE . I tell my Snap On guy he says I see what you are saying. He calls tech support for Snap On, they say update. Update is not due until Feb. So I have a piece of equipment that was sold to me as the latest greatest thing now only half f t works. I like the tool. Snap On, ProDemand and SE need to get there heads together. This is causing serious issues throughout this industry. It is against everything and principle we talk about. Proprietism!!

IM , I got a little carried away, sorry about the poor grammar and punctuation. I was a little excited about this repair, I was also in a hurry. Again , sorry about that. I will keep my post shorter next time. I actually have to wonder if I went the wrong way to the diagnosis of that one little wire.. I guess I will live and learn. Have a good week.

We all have the good, the bad, the liar, and honest customer. This customer brings me in his personal 2006 Hummer H2. Looks at me hands me a dozen Titleist Pro V golf balls and says fix my truck . We chit chat a few and he says I took the vehicle to SO & SO to have a leak in the top light fixed and carpet dried out, I opened the door and this thing smelled like a dead animal in there for days. He says that is not the problems crank it up and watch what happens, out pf his mouth he says it has gremlins in it. The gauges go off all lights go off windows up and down , RPM gauge works. Then bam it goes to normal. I feel underneath carpet still wet , the guy had charged to take out and dry this. I said Bill I am going to have to dry this out. As I said Bill is the both honest and good customer, He says Dave I do not care what it cost , he actually does own a large bank here, fix it or Ill go find a new one. This is one of those "Center Of Influence" customers I have, his friends are the people you want for customers. I have others say yeah old so and so was telling me about you in the Country Club how good and honest you are. He things I hung the moon and can fix anything. OK, heats on right out of gate I pick up the Hummer at the bank drive to office and never once did it happen. I get to work, yank out seats ,pull carpet up and yank out padding and threw it in garbage it stunk bad. I am sorta PEE-OD at the guys that charged him 611.00 already and hosed a good guy . I put fans under both sides of carpet and dry it out all night . Put new padding in it rehooked all plugs and redid the 2 small grounds on floor , remember, he always said this happened when those guys did the previous work. I actually called the shop up that did the work and spoke to the owner and ask him how much water was in it and if they unplugged anything , he denies all other than we dried it out and took the seats out. I keep the high road and said thank you. Heck wasn't my money, it still sorta ticks me off when I see charges for something that is so easy to repair correctly, the previous shop was a Auto Trim Shop, heck he should have cut the wet pad out he new dry mat in stock . He had the seats out he acknowledged that earlier. He says we dried it out and did not do anything to the computers. I drive car home , 13 miles home ,13 miles back. Bill comes to pick up Hummer it is running like a dream , no gauge issues or smell. I charge him 500.00 he shakes my hand , says your the best David, dont know what I would do without you. I am still a little concerned and told him nothing hit me in the head as the previous gauge issue . I saw one right door connector wire that was not altogether , I also reset all grounds. We shake hands again and out the door he goes , then the worst thing ever happens I look at my phone on the other line is one of my best Customers who just left, not mad , he just says David this thing has gone crazy windows rolling down radio lights off all gauge lights on , weird stuff . Like a BCM. I said Bill you gotta bring it back in the morning Sat. I am going to be out Tue and Wed. He pulls up , great customer and guy and says It never did this until I took to Auto Trim Shop. Call me when it is done. Game on. I am like dang, so I yank dash covers off go to Mitchell print all my circuits, get out my power probe and scanner and here we go. I am getting very erratic numbers from the DLC ground wire , it was killing my scanner when it would go into this mode. I worked on it for 3 hard hours trying to make it happen it was on and off. I finally was done with it yesterday call my brother who I think could be Einstein of electricity, he pops off , I guarantee you I can tell what is wrong with it. I said ok big boy I am right around the corner, Sunday at 2.00 PM . I pull up give him run down , he reads schematics and says this and that at 5 o'clock he says I don't think it is ground issue I think computer. I come home and making plans who to take to this morning . I said to my wife at 8 PM last night i am gonna get my bright light and go look at this truck , I will redo grounds real quick. I come running in house come help me , she is 5'2' tall I said get that flashlight tell me what I am pushing with my foot under the dash it is triggering the dash issue, "Finally Something", I Love Her To Death, 25 years, she is blonde. I am saying put your finger on what my left big toe is touching. Finally I get down there she gets in seat and I start wiggling gas pedal mount , nothing, I smartly say go back inside I get in truck stretch out and put my toe of my shoe in a area under dash stretched out and as I tap with my foot the GREMLINS go nuts. I go to hop out off this Hummer and I feel new fake leather on the side of seat. When I was moving over edge of seat the gremlins started I put foot back under dash and start moving my rear end around in seat. I hop out go underneath backseat unplugged the electrical connector to the controls. BINGO. The guy had resewn a piece of fake leather onside of seat when they had it there. When the kid put the seat back together he just let the main harness hang it got wedged in between 2 bars inside the seat I took side control panel off seat. When I started doing it one screw was different by about 3 inches longer and had penetrated the harness also. I took pictures of it. I did a lot of work because a kid, i hope,did not take the time and do the job right. The sew looks good he just crammed the harness back inside the seat and ran a screw threw it because he did not put the plastic clips back in the holes that they were in. My guys will have a lesson on quality and control this morning. ""I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED""

WHEN THE CUSTOMER SAID IT DID NOT DO IT UNTIL THEY TOOK THE SEATS OUT, DRIED IT OUT AND FIXED THE WATER LEAK IN ROOF LIGHTS. He was right. If people only new what we go through working on these new vehicles. So how was your weekend.

For the shops that are using the machines to perform the fluid exchanges/flushes, do they really actually speed up the process versus performing them manually without a machine? I am interested in this topic as well to see if purchasing some of the machines (brake fluid, coolant, etc.) would help speed up the process in performing the services that we are currently doing manually without machines. Also, does BG provide you with marketing material to help promote the products?

Personally , I think there tranny machine is a good one, the only other machine from BG i have is the air intake cleaner. There are other manufactures who build good stuff also. I have found if you are doing enough volume my BG guys will basically give you some of the equipment. This topic took a turn I was not expecting, I only was insinuating about the fluid changes , I guess you could recommend a fuel pump in GM truck with 150K on it. I personally have not started that although I have some customers that would want me to. That is a fine line as some have mentioned

 

Map out the lifecycle of your typical customer at your store. Check your perspective as to how you view maintenance vs repair, what is the lifecycle of the consumables in today's cars. Would you rather keep the dollars in your store or give them to the towing companies when customers have breakdowns?

 

Let me give you some specifics, I use three wonderful tools, I use Autotracker PLUS and DemandForce by Intuit, and another program for financial profiling of my customers.

 

Check your numbers and see how much it costs you to acquire a customer, I was not pleased with that number to be honest in my case, so I changed my strategy to get more customers in through my doors at a lower cost.

 

I had a partner that did insurance photo inspections, but his people hated doing them. Since I wasn't in the bodyshop business, I hadn't given it any thought in bringing that business in. So I asked his people why they hated doing insurance inspections, and they said it was time consuming and they would never see that customer again. Light bulb went off in my braincell....

 

Think about the wealth of information and opportunity you have when a customer comes in for an insurance photo inspection... I developed a welcome package, offered them a free safety inspection and profiled the customer and car. Input all this data into your systems and map out the possible revenue for the next three years for those customers. If the vehicle is a brand new car, you know they will go to the dealer, but you still have the data and you can still map out services and make offers to them. if there are recalls, let them know, this builds good will and trust with them, if they have other cars, they will bring them to you.

 

Mine your service data, and see at what mileage are you changins alternators, starters, batteries, etc. Then take the manufacturers recommend service maintenance, develop offers from those that information.

 

For example, car has a five year old battery, sell the cables and terminals they most likely are sulfated, and it's a six year or older car, recommend selling the starter before it completely fails. You have the data. Same for brakes, struts, ball joints (suspension), tires, tune up stuff, consumables, wheel bearings... just like a farmer tills the land, you have to be pro-active and start pre-selling the consumables, have your customer budget for those big ticket items...

 

Make them an offer, give them an option to buy in early, take a small deposit to lock them in psychologically, give them value and they will reward you in kind. Then there are the customer that doesn't listen, he is always coming in on the back of the tow truck and he is always broke. Profile him as such and take his business accordingly.

 

My $0.02 cents.

Harry, that is good stuff. It sounds like me and you are on the same page , thinking and preparing ahead, you are just a bit ahead of me. I am convinced a guy like you will have great days forward.

I did one thing that almost double my PM monthly income. I have no connection or interest in this business or person. He sells cutting edge stuff, it is simple and easy to use. It also holds up under criticism because it is chemistry. It is a bifold product with Fluid test on Chromatography paper. It is low pressure to the customer, I sorta pick and choose who to perform test for. Just check it out . I actually spoke to the guy on the phone in West Palm Beach and he told me the story of how he got into the fluid testing business as a disgruntled customer with a horrible experience at a Repair Facility. He had a good point and has some very cutting edge and quality products. http://www.fluidtesting.com/ I sell the BG line to my top tier customer, Some of mine want the less cost. I let them decide. I personally like the BG product, my BG rep actually comes and helps me if I run into a snag. That also helps.