gravysuckinpig

wow....someone picked a good topic to talk about it seems...

Well, I think it is time for us to re-open our doors on Saturdays due to much regress. It has been a topic for some time now but recently I was at a confernece that was talking about 2011 projections and it does not seem like the economy is going to get better this year. And after a couple flatline years, it is time to restructure a little. We have been able to acclompish this in the past with our loaner car fleet but that does not seem to be enough this day and age.

 

I did a poll of local shops and dealer in our area and we are one of the only ones closed on Saturdays. A couple dealers are open M-F from 7am to 9pm and on Sat from 8am to 5pm. So I looking for a couple ideas on how other shops are using their crew to be open. I have heard rotating days with the techs where each tech works a Saturday and then has a rotating day off during the week. Another option was to have techs work 4 days, 10 hours a day and also rotate with no vacations because something every every 6 weeks they wouldl get 5 days off in a row.

 

I would to work this out with the same guys we have, make it worthwhile since we all have been spoiled by having off on Saturdays, including me which I am one of the advisors and I coach my kids soccer teams on Saturdays but sacrifices have to be made to strive further. We have 5 techs, 1- lube tech, 1- car wash/porter, 2 advisors, 1 office manager/book keeper and 2 part-time office/shop clean up helpers. I would think to start off we would need to have 1-advisor, 1 master tech, 1 lube tech, 1 car washer and 1- office/suport to get things rolling.

 

I know I am going to have a hard time selling this to the guys in the shop and going to create an up roar but I think we need to try something to get out of this funk. I am looking for ideas on how other shops run their techs hours, systems and also ideas if someone also just opened on Saturdays when they were closed.

 

Any ideas or information would be great.

 

Thank you,

Tim

befor you do - go visit other shops in your area on saturdays and nose around at how busy they are - i know in columbus - on saturdays the only thing people are worried about is watching the buckeyes play football - you might see 2 or 3 cars if your lucky- and your guys wont hang you for wasting their saturday by making them stand around .

would someone PLEASE order a nitrogen machine from this guy........ all kidding aside.... has anyone ever took off an air intake box and found one of those little metal tornado things? i have found lots and lots of them - or the little magnets on fuel lines...or maybe even an electronic rust inhibiting system (most likely on a rusting car)...

there have been sooooo many gadgets and gizmos sold to the motoring public all backed by "scientific" proof and tons of research that they really work....please excuse us all....the ones who actually deal with this stuff EVERY DAY if we seem skeptical. you are after all....a nitrogen salesman... can you blame us - after reading that last post with all the numbers and formulas... i came up with my own ,,

56%(5489)*2d= J+ ^533

if you add those together it means i call "bullshit" on the whole thing.

sorry joe kick me or ban me or whatever if you have to for that but but im not falling for it... no siiirreee

even if my customers would return to me over and over for their "nitrogen fix" i cant recommend a product i dont believe in.

especially if wal-mart is going to do it.

Isn't air 78% nitrogen?

 

GM's Position on the Use of Nitrogen Gas in Tires

 

General Motors does not oppose the use of purified nitrogen as an inflation gas for tires. We expect the theoretical benefits to be reduced in practical use due to the lack of an existing infrastructure to continuously facilitate inflating tires with nearly pure nitrogen. Even occasional inflation with compressed atmospheric air will negate many of the theoretical benefits. Given those theoretical benefits, practical limitations, and the robust design of GM original equipment TPC tires, the realized benefits to our customer of inflating their tires with purified nitrogen are expected to be minimal.

 

http://www.gm.com/co...fety/manual.jsp

i have heard of nitrogen inflation - but never really paid much attention to it to even know what the "theoretical " benefits are. seems like another gimmick to me. .... ok i just googled it... correct me if im wrong... but they are saying the nitrogen molecules are larger than the oxygen molecules therefor dont leak as fast?..thats all well and good but a hole is a hole and a leaky rim is a leaky rim and molecule size doesnt apply there... what does apply is the cost of the customer to refill their tires .... call me old fashioned but air is free and has been doing a wonderful job since tires were invented... and i still refuse to buy bottled water also.... all these new things people are comming up with for cars.... you would think by now someone would come up with a fuel thats cheaper than gasoline that can be manufactured in large quantities easily....i have a news paper aticle thogh - of a guy that lived in my city(columbus, ohio) who modified an engine to run on plain water - and no crap he had a lunch meeting with some arabs and hours later he died.... said it was heart failure - his engine disappeared but rumor has it one of his relatives took it and has it hidden somewhere. you can google it.no sh$t.

exactly - most ANYONE can do the easy stuff - and if they cant- they know someone who can- and wont charge half as much as we would.

these are the people who i dont want in my shop anyways - the ones who can do the easy stuff - because they know how much THEY would charge to do something in thier driveway - so they feel thats what WE should charge - ei:thats the value they place on "their" labor- well sonny im sorry but with 50k worth of hand tools in this pretty box with wheels and all the shop expenses it aint workin that way. if i had a little toolbox with a handle on it and some rusty mismatched wrenches and a claw hammer in it i might do it for that price. i have found that small country towns and certain areas of big cities have an abundance of do it yerselfers because a)their daddy taught em how to do it and it aint that hard and/or they just simply cant afford it.

i market towards businesses for that reason- and if i didnt, i would market towards the upper class neighborhoods because those people 1: dont know a damn thing about cars and 2: they damn sure aint gonna get dirty tryin to learn.

sorry- off topic

anyways - if you have a local community college that has an auto shop program - try there also- they are for the most part "adults" who would love a chance to get their foot in the door and get their moneys worth out of that college tuition, and get some real world experience- talk to the professor- interview some of the students - book smart doesnt always equal "talent" which is essentially what you need. my wife says im too picky about hiring - i always end up telling her the same thing - im not a daycare and i need dependability and motivation. run an ad for a month and see what you end up with.

as for the guy you have who bitches and moans...does he know your looking to hire? if so that may be the cause of his problem - you cant afford him a raise yet your looking for another tech....he doesnt see himself being fired as the reason for this... just explain to him you can only pay him so much out of what he can produce - 2 people would turn out more work which equals more money with which to give him a raise. or- if hes not worth the raise then hire another guy and starve him out. either way - i need to know the whole situation to give any real advice. just my 2 cents - i am seriously looking to open a small bbq restraunt or bbq catering business- and forget this auto repair thing - i loves me some low and slow bbq and my pit is sitting covered in snow calling to me -

i have found a simple yard sign out front somewhat effective if your on a fairly traveled street - craigslist is so so but brings in a lot of people with "personal" problems,poor work ethic or little to no experience - once in a while you get a good one though. best source is from past employers- people you've worked with and know a little better than a complete stranger.even current employees who have worked in other shops might know another tech looking to make a move. some might not call this "ethical" - but if its worth fighting for, its worth fighting dirty for, is my motto

heres what you do.... when you get the business started, be sure to stop back in there and hand out free oil change coupons..... when that guy shows up with his coupon....write him up and after he signs the work order throw it aside and tell him a story about how you spent all this time making a business plan and took it to the sba.........

umm - we started small - this cant be stressed enough - with what i know now - i would start with 4 or 5 bays- 3 for general repairs and 1 or 2 for the detailing- let your general techs handle any performance work in the beginning untill you really see a need for more expertise in that area - the reason for this is simple - most gearheads are gearheads because they like to do their own work- thats where they get their enjoyment - not to mention, by the time they buy all those shiny chrome parts they have no $$ left to pay you to put them on. not trying to crush your dream but just speaking from experience - as for the sales part - find yourself someone with a sales license and see what you need to do to be able to sell cars- xrac was right there are alot of stipulations to running a sales lot- some of them are dumb - in ohio you need a 750sq ft lot an office and a file cabinet- a freind of mine who is a dealer told me he got fined for having some small 2 inch weeds growing through the cracks in his asphalt- this is a very competitive business - which is a good reason to start as small as possible- i would buy all the land i needed for the whole operation and do 1 building at a time as needed.

lift the truck up - try to spin front tires - if all is ok pump brakes a few times and respin tires - do this with engine off and also running - if they dont feel like they're dragging at all under either condition i would start working my way farther up the system - i know for a fact these trucks have problems with the braking system - but mostly the complaints are warped rotors and worn pads - you may have a severe case of whatever this problem is - possibly may not even be a brake problem - maybe check front axles and hub bearings- oversize wheels and tires? and - did your parts supplier in fact give you the right parts? if all checks out good let me know.

it may sound strange - but pull the master cyl off the brake booster - measure the rod depth - then measure it again with the vehicle running - 170k maybe weak diaphragm? check front suspension also - are the shocks blown? may not be dragging but simply being over worked.

let me know how it turns out

2008 GMC Sierra 1500 4WD

 

Something is causing front brakes to heat up. Replaced calipers, hoses, pads and rotors. Very strange. Has anyone ever seen a master or ABS hydraulic unit cause brakes to drag? Thats the only thing I can think of is that they are slightly dragging.

do you have a driver that rests their foot on the brake pedal while driving?

are rear brakes working?

did this problem exist before changing all those parts?

normally they would be treated the same as any other customer - if they pay for services at pickup -

if they pay on a net 10-15-20-30 day cycle that is up to you how you want to work it - normally i use a 3 month pay at pickup untill i get to know the customer and feel comfortable that i will get my money - then i let them go to a net pay schedule if they bring in alot of work- its not really worth it unless they are spending good money repeatedly. it takes time to add the bills,gather work orders, po#'s and send them 5-7 days ahead of the due date, WAIT for the person writing the checks to get it done and send your check/cc# - deal with billing discrepancies etc. also - if they will pay on a net schedule - you will want to have them fill out a credit reference sheet - usually 3-5 references is good. and check the company out on the internet -

the address for the company you mentioned is

http://www.professionaltransportationinc.com/index.html

also - i give a max limit to outstanding $$ owed- and i do NOT exceed that limit- if they need more work done it is no big deal for them to make a payment on their acct. even though its not time yet. any good company will do this no problem - its the ones that give you a hard time about it you have to watch. if they cant cut you a 1200$ payment today they certainly wont be able to make 2300$ in a few days.

as for promise to pay - keep a log of the drivers name- unit number, date, mileage, vin# all on the RO and make sure the driver signs it when dropping off.. make a normal estimate/repair bill and have the driver sign those when picking up also - on the bill at the bottom put the name of the person who authorized the work - and at what time - which brings up another point - MAKE SURE THE PERSON AUTHORIZING THE WORK IS AUTHORIZED TO AUTHORIZE IT. get a list of people in the company who can authorize the repair - and only repair the vehicle with permission from those people.

any other questions let me know

common sense would say install them on the drive wheels for traction......another thought would be always in the front for steering control, especially in the winter months.

the part i cant believe, is the other shop had to send a car to you for a tensioner bearing noise...uh....??? i dont know what to say honestly...

My Snap On rep left me the new Verus scan tool. It appears to be really nice and has a lot of nice features, does anyone have any knowledge of it?

i used one briefly for a few months- it was nice in that you could save the vehicle and make notes that would be helpful if it came back - try using it on a chrysler and see if you can go directly into the pcm or if you need to load the global obd2 to read it - for some reason the one i had only read chrysler through global- other than that it was good - wireless internet etc. didnt think it was worth the 10k they were asking for it .

hey fixit -

welcome and good luck - having gone through this not too long ago - i can say - your probably very exited - DONT let your excitement get in the way of making smart business decisions- it is too easy to jump on something out of fear of waiting too long so you dont loose it - but at the same time - just when you jump on a good deal or a good property something better comes along - i was so excited about every property i looked at i wanted it- thinking back on the ones i passed by - im GREATFULL my partner had the restraint to say "no" to them. now we have a great building at a great rate- once you get the building - start telling everyone you know your opening a shop and to keep your name out there to everyone they know - talk about it to everyone you have a chance to. word of mouth is one of the best and cheapest forms of advertising you can get.

equipment - i would start out making the least expensive investment you can on equipment- not the lifts though- the reason i went that route was to keep my initial investment as low as possible just in case things didnt work out - and dont be naive enough to think your gonna be a success- i bought my trans jack from harbor freight for 199$ - it paid for itself in 2 jobs - i have yet to need a new one but when i do i can now justify making the 800$ investment for a "good" one. if you get my point. dont buy junk , but be reasonable on your startup costs. ive seen alot of people buy the best of everything right away and be closed in 6 months-

does anyone else think rachel ray is hot?

and like joe said - start looking at things from a MANAGMENT perspective - i found out being a tech and moving into the ownership role was a real eye opener. its easy when your an employee to say the company should do this or that - but when it becomes your money your working with and trying to budget, and STILL have enough left to pay yourself - things take on a different perspective - because you know if you dont keep a close eye on it - it will be YOUR 10-15k investment thats lost. i cant stress enough how important that part is. in other words - if you go into this and are not truly worried about things, (income, initial investment , expenses etc.) ....then your not ready. because those worries are what drives a business owner to make good decisions, to step back and think about things, and manage with your brain and calculator instead of your heart. and trust me - your excitment will turn into worry... are you scared yet?

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!

I had a guy who came in yesterday with a Chevy truck with high idle. He told me he had paid some guy $200 to fix it but it was still idling the same and he had been told we could tell him what was wrong with it. He was probably sent to us by the Zone. We get quite a few of them from there but I think he though we did "free diagnosis". Evidentlly he wanted us to tell him what was wrong with it so he could go back to the guy who hadn't fixed it. Evidently he though we would do that for nothing. He was all gung hoe on us looking at it until I told him that our base diagnosis was $46.80. He than began to talk about when he would have time for us to look at it and he would get back to us. My thoughts are he has already spent $200, he may damage additional parts driving it with the running problem he has, he is burning a lot of gas that ain't cheap, and he is probably carboning a lot of stuff up but he doesn't see the value of paying someone who knows what they are doing to tell him what is really wrong. To my way of thinking thsat is DUMB. I just laughed to myself when he left and thought that my car will run great on the way home tonight.

Most of the people who come to you for a diagnosis after they "paid someone to fix it"- tried to fix it themselves, and don't want to admit they screwed up - otherwise for $200 they would be back at the guys "shop" wanting it fixed, or a refund. IF they even bothered to pull out of the lot with it. what i love is the "regular mechanic" - i just wanna know what is wrong with it so i can tell my regular mechanic - if i took my car to my "regular mechanic" and he couldnt figure out what was wrong with it then i think i would find another "regular mechanic".

There is ASE, MAPS, BBB and many other organizations that shops can belong to , all designed to ensure , or reassure the public that this shop has qualifications,training, and integrity. Any one ever hear of an organization devoted to "billing practices"? would it be beyond the scope and powers of this forum to get together and create a NEW organization, one that could get other shops to join, one that could advertise for other shops to become members of - the more shops that join across the u.s. the better organized and more "consistent" prices would be from shop to shop - the less and less customers would expect Free, just because so and so up the street does it. well....so and so isnt a member of "XXX", what is "xxx" you ask? Its an organization that promotes fair billing practices for services rendered in the auto repair industry, all shops belonging to "xxx" have the experience, equipment and training to be able to charge appropriately and fairly for those services. not marketed as a license to "charge"... but to "ensure charges are fair and customary"

Who would argue with the policy of an organization whose goal was, to be sure that customers were not "overcharged" for services? If this organization determined a $65 diag fee was reasonable - who would argue that? after all - they are looking out for my best interest.. but as i said - it could not be marketed as i license to "charge" -it would need to a watchdog against "overcharging"

any thoughts? spins?

Define Your Role and the Role of Your Employees

 

Everyone in your company needs to know what is expected from them. Everyone, including the owner, must have a clearly defined job description. To expect that an employee instinctively know what you expect is not fair to you or to the employee. It would be like shooting a rifle blindfolded, without really knowing where the target is. You have any idea and may hit the target by accident, but most of the times you will miss.

 

Everyone needs direction and goals. You wouldn't start out on a road trip without mapping out where you are going, would you? It's the same in business. We need to communicate with our people and discuss with them the goals and vision of the business.

 

When everyone is moving and working in the same direction, positive things will happen.

i was actually going to post something along this line - with regards to sw's communication to the techs -one reason i only use former techs to be my sw's is this - if a customer brings their car in for repair , lets say, its not running right - ive heard the sw ask every question they can think of and the customer answers them - car acts up only when cold - it does this this and this...... mostly on tuesdays after lunch etc....only to have the sw put down on the wo, "check car runs bad" - the tech gets the car and it runs fine - of course it does....then he has to go BACK to the sw, ask 50 questions to get the WHOLE STORY, which wastes valuable time the tech does not have, especially if they are flat rate. i am very hard on my sw's because they are the front line, the MAIN communication between the customer and the tech, and their communication skills need to be spot on. If the tech tells them what is wrong with a car, the sw needs to FULLY understand what he is being told in order to relay that to the customer, if they dont have a clue (eg: sales backround) they end up sounding like an idiot when the customer asks questions, which we all know, they will verify the answers they were given with someone else. not to mention, to back pedal a little - a tech will know what questions to ask at writup better than someone with a "sales" backround - which helps tremendously with a correct diagnosis the first time around.

hilarious

I feel from time to time I need to hold a meeting and review procedure and policy with my techs. When a period of time passes, they get a little sloppy. I guess its human nature? After a 20 minute meeting and a few follow ups for a few days after, we are back on track again.

 

Is this a problem in with other shops? What tips can you offer to the members to keep techs on track?

10 - 15 minute meeting every morning to hand out work to appropriate techs, and go over the days work -

a regular friday meeting 15-20 minutes to go over any company business, problem cars, etc.

so, if we all were to compare notes- what would be the one thing we could do that increase customer trust and get them to accept the estimate as written and the price on the bottom line...in other words how do you all gain your customers trust - im talking about new customers - the ones who return consistently are already yours per say. after all - if they didn't trust you, they wouldn't be back would they...as for my answer - i greet them - find out why they are coming in, ask them where they have been taking their vehicles before and what has been done to them , and WHY THEY ARENT RETURNING TO THEM. and simply let them talk..and talk and talk, most importantly ...i agree with everything they say. this gets them into the mode of " this guy thinks just like i do",,,,, people naturally trust others who they believe have the same thought pattern as they do. it works 80% of the time. it is however up to me and my staff to make sure each new customer gets top notch, friendly service. thats the main thing, and as they return again and again, we slowly start treating them like an old friend. almost like family so to speak.

it has been my experience that it all depends on the type of customer you are dealing with - in regards to the 2-300$ every couple months - most times it is much less - lets say 1st visit - lof/rotate and balance/ serp belt/ rear brake adjust...next visit - lof air filter... next visit fuel filter plugs/wires and so on -

some customers realize maintenance is important and have no problem following the schedule and taking care of things that are wearing out - tensioners/pads/tires/shocks-struts etc. and some customers are so tight fisted they wont replace a wiper blade unless it is missing or scraping the windshield.

case in point - customer states clunking in the rear over bumps - tech finds struts are done and stabilizer link broke - you find your sw pushing hard with "scare tactics" and just plain badgering the customer to spend the money to fix it - we all know - and the customer most likely knows - this isnt as dangerous a condition as the sw is making it out to be .... how do you handle the sw? ignore it because his job is to sell and make the shop money ...(but at what cost?)....or tell him thats not how we do things around here and he needs to tone it down - this is the origional question i was getting at in my post.

to the customers who say "why didn't you see this last time -" hopefully the answer is "by looking at your previous inspection report ,it wasn't in this condition last time"

most customers dont buy for the same reasons -

1)no or not enough money

2)were just curious what the noise is and/or if its dangerous

3)think they can get it cheaper elsewhere or do it themselves

now - if the sw keeps coming down on the price to try and sell it - the customer knows you were priced too high to begin with -

next - if the sw keeps pushing and pushing - the customer feels uncomfortable because they've said no 3 times already and is beginning to wonder what this guys problem is..

last - if the sw does manage to push the cust. into buying - will that customer come back again or will they leave feeling like they just got bullied into buying something they didnt want to, and go someplace else next time. loosing future $$ for your shop -

whenever i meet someone new who doesnt know what i do, and the subject of cars comes up - i always listen to their complaints about the shops they have visited - some people are just plain nuts, and some have valid complaints about how they were treated - i try and remember those problems so i can maybe change how i handle that situation. most people have complaints about wrong diags and pushy sw's - combine those two together, and you have a MAJOR problem customer.

I can say for fact that UPS does repalce starters and alternators as part of reg maint, I cpntraced to them for a while as a sub mechanic. As for me I dont replace these components till they fail. My personal vehicle, 92 F-150 4.9L auto 2 wd, has 274k and never has had a fuel pump in either tank. Luckey, maybe. I have had 2 Chrysler T&C vans in the last week with failed pumps. One 01 and one 02 both over 120k, failed fuel pumps. At the rate you are recommending you would have replace these pumps 3 times. I dont see any real savings, even if ya figuerd in the tow and a days rental car. I do STRONGLY recommend timing belts, hoses, thermostats, and such. These are failures that can have catastrophic consequences.

my thoughts exactly - timing belts and reg. maint. items must be replaced periodically - thats a given

not sure i agree with drrphil on his philosophy for the average customer- ups i can understand wanting to be ahead of the game as they ship many time sensitive things- i would be curious how often your approach works vs. doesnt work DrPhil, and how exactly do you sell a starter that isnt bad to begin with ? common sense should ring in the customers head....uh....why?

no disrespect just curious

Sounds like a great place to work. You aren't looking to hire are you?

 

We gave our guys who have been with us the whole year a $900 cash bonus last Wednesday so they could take advantage of the Black Friday sales if they so desired. We will also give everyone Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off with pay. Everyone will work a full four day week. Friday will serve as everyone's day off and Saturday will be the holiday. We find having a full work force for four days is more productive than having a slimmed down workforce (one man off each day) for 4 and 1/2 days.

actually i was going to send a guy down to joes shop to recruit his employees...ha ha j/k

actually, i am a firm believer in happy employees make happy customers - these guys give me 110% while they are working and they deserve some downtime. it is proven that smaller more frequent rewards produce happier employees because they know it wont be long until another reward is coming- it also reduces turnover because they know it wont be like this elsewhere - and yes - happy employees do make happy customers. they are not uptight thinking they work for a profit hungry slave driver. and their happiness rolls right down to how they interact with the customers.

I have been in this business for twenty years as a tech and as a service writer before i became an owner... and ive seen alot of shady things in the various shops ive worked at. and ive worked for alot of pushy managers who only cared about sales and numbers- not about the customers, their vehicles, or the integrity of the shop. this is one of many reasons i stay away from doing public work- a great deal of the motoring public has been conned, over charged, let down, sold un needed repairs, and been misdiagnosed to the point they naturally dont trust auto repair shops. and they can be quite nasty. Let me stress i am not grouping ALL SHOPS into these categories. I am talking about the chain stores mostly, the ones people feel they can trust - the ones with district managers that get bonuses on sales categories, the ones ran by people with a "sales" background, who wouldn't know a resonator from a converter. I have a great deal of animosity towards these places because of the way they do business, and the way they train their employees to write an estimate. Been there, done that- hated it.-

which gets me to my question - how many of us try to write up every little thing we see on a customers car and try to sell it based on a "mileage" condition- or just because it "looks" ready to fail. do you train your techs to "pick it apart" and write up every little thing they see, and your service writers to "push " people into buying. or should i say do you "allow" this to happen in your shop? as long as the repair is sold. do you check your invoices to be sure the techs and sw arent "padding" the ticket to increase their commission?

It has been my experience that customers are much happier spending 2-300 or 400 $$ with a shop every 4-6 months than coming in and walking out with a 800-1000$ or higher bill the first time they come to you, because the sw pushed them into buying NOW. i understand sometimes this is unavoidable in the case of a head gasket or a major repair, but the average customer seeking a few maintenance items or a simple brake job walks out feeling taken advantage of - especially when they DONT hear, feel, or sense their car acting any better, or even different, than before they took it to you.

Do we hire a sw based on his "sales" background or his "automotive" experience? 80% of my past experience has shown me that sales is the basis for hiring a sw- whether he sold washing machines or doorknobs - it does not matter- if he can sell he can write service and answer customers questions about thier cars. would you rather have a customer that spends 2-400$ with you every 4-6 months, or one that spends 800-1000 or more once? keep in mind that customer will tell 10 other people where he took his car and how he felt when he left, and those 10 people will also tell at least 2 others what they heard from your customer. so thats 30 people from 1 customer.

Sorry if this is long winded but i feel the need to vent a little.

It has been proven many times - people will spend MORE on a place of business that they feel comfortable dealing with, just for the piece of mind they get.

thanks for listening- if we as a group want to increase our bottom lines, we must also work on how we treat our customers, or, how we let our employees treat our customers. customer service should be followed through even into the estimate, not just at drop off and pickup. We must train them to use honesty and integrity to build our businesses , and the rest will follow. Give your techs business cards to put into their customers cars when they work on them, this will keep them accountable for their work, and it gives them incentive to take that extra step for quality knowing their name is on it and the customer will see it, and it gives the customer something to pass along to others they know who need repairs.

ok im done now. but there will be more on customer service to come.