FROGFINDER

Yes i believe COVID19 is serious but

• I wear a mask in public but so many people are doing it wrong .  If you skip any steps you may infect yourself or others. It drives me crazy to see talking heads, experts, political candidates and others  speaking to us about containing the spread while touching their mask, removing  their mask with their hands, touching their nose, mouth, face etc.  The mask may help the spread but it is a biohazard and many people are becoming infected by handling their own masks! 

Good Luck to all!  The thing that I have thought of in good times and bad is that every vehicle I see could use $250. worth of  something.  Fuel Fill up, wash.wax.detail, oil change, filter checks,etc. The work is out there but you have to ask for it and go get it.  

On 1/15/2020 at 4:47 PM, FROGFINDER said:

Anybody offering vehicle pick up and drop off service at customers home or workplace? How is it going? 

I am asking if  when a customer contacts your shop, Do you pick up the vehicle from the home or office and return the vehicle after being serviced without the customer having to come with the car?

Anybody offering vehicle pick up and drop off service at customers home or workplace? How is it going? 

On 4/7/2018 at 3:44 PM, CAautogroup said:

Hello all,

Has this ever happened to any of you?

We recently went out of our way to accommodate a customers' vehicle repair request. Though the customer was argumentative about pricing, hours charged, parts used etc, they ultimately agreed to the repairs. About an hour or so later, we receive notifications of several 0 or 1 star reviews on many social websites including Yelp, Google, Yahoo, Facebook....... you name it they had an account or made a new account to put their side of the story out there. 

How would you handle this? Do you feel obligated to complete the said repair? 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions.

 

Nick 

The argumentative nature was the red flag.  Vetting customers is the most important part of the service advisers job. If you do the repairs i would demand cash payment in full to release the car.   

No it seems not.  I talk to many business owners and it's the same story.  People are now addicted to social media.  I was at a grocery store yesterday and the cola guy was restocking the shelves while on the phone. He stopped stocking and started walking up and down the row talking about nasty sex to his buddy. Not the thing you want to hear while shopping.

Work a deal with a local tow company. Pay them with credit card that earns airline miles.

The Good Book.

Berate or belittle my staff? Become a former customer.

You just look them in the eye and say "Go ahead.....Make my day!"

I take the customer to the private Attitude Adjustment room. I give them an offer they can't refuse.

 

So true!

 

If you have been doing this for a while, the way you process a car will reveal much before you even lift a car.

To show a customer obvious service needs on check in paves the way for immediate up sell.

Don't forget to check the customers credit score.

Just a simple check of Mileage based needs, Fluids,Filters,Lights, Brakes and Tire age/wear reveals alot.

Always check fluid levels on check in. Many cars will come in with no oil reading on the stick.

Business is like fishing, One must always have a baited hook in the water. I have found that investing in my customer sales force pays the best dividends. Always give them them something good to talk about. All my good customers got a hand washed,vacuumed car, no squeaky door hinges, no empty fuel tanks or low fuel lights on, a $2.oo bill with a discount business card under the fuel filler lid. I "deliver" free hot wheels cars to the kids that come in with the parents while telling them how i serviced them. I send reminder post cards to the customer and their immediate neighbors.

I prefer to own the shop and land.

How would a robot as a mechanic work?

Google Audi ART and Auto Mechanic Robots. The Auto Mechanic Terminator is coming.

Are you ready to have a Robotic Service Adviser/Mechanic helper in your shop? I think Audi has one in the works for their mechanics. Having a robot with immediate access to all service and repair information is the future.

I started with envelopes and a file folder. If you watch your pennies the dollars will take care of themselves. Then i married my accountant with great benefits;)

Management Feedback Systems

An old employer used the time old method to obtain cars. He got permission to do tear down and inspection for report say for $500.00. Then when the customer declined to fix it he had the customer sign over the title instead of paying for the tear down and storage fees.

Most of these "hack" shows take a busted down, rusted out, pile of unwanted metal and turn it into some sort of wanna-be show room super car. They're not customer cars, they don't have to deal with a customer who's wanting their car back and doesn't like the price of the repair or diagnostics. To me, these guys are no different than a weekend wrench head building his personal dream car.

 

All their quality control is basically each other. Engineers spend hours upon hours working out the issues with all the modern electronics and do their best to make it all work. Which, for the most part, a lot of these shows steer the viewer away from anything that remotely looks "electrically complicated". I'm not sure any one of these guys on these shows could diagnose and repair an air bag system or have much of a clue about today's CAN systems.

 

You want a "real" show about the mechanic world...show me a show, showing real customers cars being fixed with real scanners and tools under real conditions at a "real" repair shop with real mechanics.

 

Personally, I've watched most of these shows at least once. Not impressed, and I haven't watched any of them a second time. I think they're degrading, unprofessional, and down right a lie to the trade. I'd guarantee to you that if ya got the chance to look under the dash of some of these creations it would make the professional mechanic sick.

 

just sayin. TV is TV, reality is NOT TV.

Want a real show? Make One!

New Show Garage Rehab looking for shops to rehab.

[email protected]

Send info: Your name, phone #,city/state,photos of yourself and shop, brief explanation on why your shop needs help.

Yes. for one day. Longer as needed up to a week. Most are 1-2 Days.

Charges should start at "Hello, How may i help you"

Should be a claim. Thank God no one was hurt. Was the car road tested and quality checked before it was released? Over the many years i found issues related and unrelated to my shops work before i released it to the customer.