DanW.

The waiting customer is inevitable. This is why I limit scheduling waiting customers to only 2 per day and only AM appointments.

Even if you win, be careful. This happened to me once. I won. Then a couple of months later I received a letter from AMEX stating that I didn't respond to a second challenge and because of that they were finding in favor of the customer. GRRRRR.

I use a large red stamp that advises the vehicle is unsafe to drive. It also has a place for the customer to sign on. I make the customer sign both his copy and my copy. I also make it clear why it is unsafe about 3 or 4 different ways on the invoice and I time stamp the RO with the time of the advisory call.

Or like Gonzo says, no charge, rip up the RO, push it out onto the curb and forget any knowledge of the vehicles existence!

This is my favorite!

We have one central stereo system that is connected to Sonos. It has more than 10,000 songs in it. Plus it utilizes music sites like Pandora Radio. People can pick and chose throughout the day. Its a system that works well here.

At another shop I worked at the was only one radio and we tuned into radio stations. The radio stations were picked during our monthly meetings.

The other day I listened to a fellow service writer talking to a customer about the A/C inspections we did for him. He explained the process of evacuating and recharging and that we injected dye into the system. The system held vacuum and we didn't find a leak that day. He then told the customer to make an appointment for us to take a second look at the A/C system, to find the leak. However he told the customer to make that appointment after the system goes warm.

After the customer left I asked him why he made the "When the system goes warm" recommendation because, I have always recommended that the customer returned in 3-4 weeks for the UV dye inspection. He told me that the owner of our shop said that it was stupid, to have the customer come back if they were not experiencing a problem, hence when the system becomes warm again.

What is the process at your shop?

For us here is Wisconsin we were contractually obligated to start diagnosis within one hour and we had to give a 10% discount on labor only. So not only did I have to put my full paying customers on hold but, I had to do so at a discount! On top of that, we were often made out as the bad guys when we got surprise tow ins. There was no way we were going to be able to service them in a timely fashion. This is another reason we kicked the AAA program.

We recently dropped the AAA program. They wanted us to give them all of our customers email addresses to perform regular CSI reviews. We have always told our customers that the email addresses are for internal usage only.

I worked Saturdays and Sundays for a long time at a previous shop. One of the reasons I left was because of the weekend hours. The weekends are for the family and families of my employees.

ARO, Average Repair Order, Parts and labor G.P. Gross Profit

Both are still in place. Situations like this always seem to bring the best out in people! Growing up I was always taught to fess up when you make a mistake. (Within reason. Lets not get that righteous) The thought behind it is that "The truth shall set you free" I'm starting to think that is a bunch of Bravo Sierra. The customer has the right to be upset but, weeks later?

I failed to mention that the emissions tests are free to the customer and we only get paid 2.00 ea. HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Within the last year we started to do State emissions testing. We had this woman come in for a test and she asked if we could please check and adjust her tire pressures. After the employee did the emissions test he took the vehicle to a technicians work area to check the tires. When backing out he bumped a pole, damaging the bumper cover, creasing it in the rounded corner. I did the right thing, I told her about it. Even though the bumper was in poor condition to begin with.

I had her take it to a reputable body shop that we work with. She got her estimate, I offered cash or to pay the body shop after the work was done. She then asked me to fix the rear fender that was dinged, just because of the inconvenience. I told her no and she opted for us to pay the bill.

This morning she showed up and as promised, I had a loaner car for her to use so she wouldn't be inconvenienced while the repairs are being done. We have customers sign out the loaner cars by initialing boxes that state, they have a drivers license, insurance, no smoking, no pets and return the car with as much gas as it had when it left. She agreed and went on her way. Only to return about 10 minutes later stating "I want to rescind my signing that I will put gas back in the car. This is my inconvenience after all and I don't want to pay for the gas." I told her no. If she wasn't going to abide by the loaner car conditions, I can't let her use the car. "Is this how you treat your emissions customers. What would the State say about your contract?" I plainly told her that I wasn't performing an emissions when her car was damaged. I was doing a favor for YOU and now I'm paying for it.

Accidents happen. I just hate it when people try to take advantage of you. The body shop bill is going to be just over 700.00.

Joe, What constitutes a comeback that is reflected on the report card? Is it any car that returns for an issue with the same system that was just repaired? How long between customer pick up and returning vehicle?

The way I handle these in the beginning is much like the most of you. Scan, inspect and research. After the first half hour if it isn't real apparent, I will call the customer with the things that I do know and give a few options. One of which is having the technician drive the car home for a few days with testing equipment. This works sometimes but, most of the time I explain how difficult it is to diagnose intermittent problems and that if they want us to continue they can open their wallets or just drive the car until the problem is worse. I also tell them that if they can pin down the sequence of events leading up to the fault so that we can duplicate the problem, great. I also give them the open door policy. Which means that if they are in the area and the symptoms are present, they do not need an appointment. Call me and drive the car over while the vehicle is acting up.

With rare exception, we do not install customer supplied parts. During the recession we saw an increase in people coming to us with their own parts and we tried to accommodate them, charged more labor, but in the end it turned ugly, for the most part.

 

I can remember one guy insisted that we do not diagnose the car and install his mass air sensor, which he read on the internet and was confirmed by the parts store that pulled a mass air code. After the part did not solve his problem it tuned into an argument that WE should have known better.

 

We do make exceptions. The other day a customer came to us with a front differential that he thought he could do himself. He was real nice and did not give us a hard time. In fact, he was embarrassed that he brought us the part. We did the job and it turned out nice.

 

The bottom line, we make money on labor and parts. Take away the part profit, take away too much of what we need to survive.

Hey Joe, in reference to the gentleman that needed the MAF. We have a saying here at our shop "Of course it didn't work. We fixed what you told us to fix."

We too make some rare exceptions. For the most part the answer on the phone is "I'm sorry but, we don't install customers own parts." When we do, the labor up charge is 1.5 times the labor rate and we do state on the invoice that we used the customer supplied parts. We also say NO WARRANTY. However, we also know that the law is on the customers side with the warranty issue. But, the customer doesn't have to know that.

I'm just too stupid to quit!

Service 2000 by Genesis Four is the best software I have ever used. http://genesisfour.com/. It performs well with Mitchell, WorldPac,and Alldata. My book keeping is easy, keeps the technicians times and efficiency. The work sheets and invoices look very professional. I couldn't be happier.

Wouldn't you think that the cost would still end up being the same? In the end? For example, Workman's Comp needs 500 million to operate, the new policy you are looking for, gets passed, and only gives them 375 million. Don't you think that they would average the comp premiums needed for ALL shops and then charge you accordingly to make up for the loss. Here in Wisconsin it has been a battle too. However by us not having accidents in the shop we are given a rebate. Maybe you need rebates or dividends for no accidents. Sorry if I may seem ignorant on this subject but, I plan on taking over ownership of this shop and I am just starting to learn more about this subject.