Thread: Shop Rate

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hangman, hermit, suicide bomber , thats good stuff henry.

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

Anyone in a business that requires customers and believes that CUSTOMERS SUCK is in the wrong business. There are a few jobs for folks with that attitude: hangman, hermit, suicide bomber . . . gee, that's all I can think of at the moment

You forgot about the plethora of government agencies; e.g. highway dept, DMV, various utilities, and so on...............



Sadly Jack, this kind of attitude pervades many industries. My bride and I retell a personal story when we do employee training. Being a chocaholic I will often be tempted and frequently succumb to the demon delight. One time in a groc store we passed the bakery display case. Sitting in the middle of the display were some particularly delicious looking brownies. Oh what the heck, why not? The two gals working the bakery dept were clearly visible trough a window to the back room where the mixing and baking took place. We patiently waited even as they both looked our way but continued working on whatever it was they were doing, not bothering to acknowledge our presence. That was my signal, being somewhat obstinant, that no matter how long or whatever it took, one of them was going to wait on me. After about a minute (which usually seems much longer when waiting) one of them was heard to say; "How do they expect us to get anything done if we have to waste time on customers?"

Completely clueless to the relationship between customers and the paycheck.

In my opinion, if you go to a dealer for anything other than warranty work, you are gonna get screwed. They have a new group of customers coming all the time, they don't worry about keeping us. Find a good independent shop and build a rapor.

Originally Posted by slowpoke

In my opinion, if you go to a dealer for anything other than warranty work, you are gonna get screwed. They have a new group of customers coming all the time, they don't worry about keeping us. Find a good independent shop and build a rapor.

i'll second that!!!

Bob,

It's too bad, isn't it? Recently, I had a clerk at Blockbuster continue to chat on her cell phone while whe was checking me out. Next time, I'm going to tell her that I'll wait until she's through - and just stand there. Someone standing there, taking your money for something they provide, should have enough common sense to give you their attention. The sad part is that it's the manager's job to avoid these problems, and they're not doing their job either.

On the other side, I have a really good relationship with our local Ford dealer. (yep, I own a Chebby and a Blue Oval) We had a recall just two weeks after we got our Explorer that requred most of a day at the dealership. My wife was the only one who could take the car, but she had a recent hip operation, and couldn't sit that long. The salesman who sold us the car called and told us he would pick up the Explorer and take care of the service. He didn't show on the day he promised. A day later, we called back. He offered a lame excuse, and promised to take care of it the next day. Guess what? No show again. Now, he didn't owe us anything, but since he offered, he needed to follow through.

I called the service manager, got sincere apologies, and he promised to pick up the car that afternoon. The car was picked up, serviced and returned promptly.

The next day, my wife and I were watching television, and she said: "That guy in the commercial is the one who picked up the car." It turns out that the "guy" was Tom Barton, the son of the owner of Beach Ford, and the current president of the company.

Afterstory: A couple of weeks later, I received a personal car from Tom Barton asking me if everything was taken care of to our satisfaction. I told him that he went the extra mile, and I appreciated it. He said: "by the way, it may be of interest to you that <that salesman> doesn't work here any more."

There's a guy who values customer service.

Final story . . . Anyone who's lived near the eastern shore of Virginia knows how dusty this are is. We were having a lot of dust, and called a local duct cleaner to clean out our heating ducts. The over-the-phone estimate was over $300. (We have a lot of ductwork.) When he looked the system over, he told us that our ducts didn't need cleaning, we just needed better filters. He sold us a couple of cleanable, electrostatic filters for about $60.00. If he had been fly-by-night, he could have hit us for the filters and the duct cleaning, but he gave us the straight scoop. Two guys came to the house, spent the better part of an hour, and went back with $60.00, which most likely put him in the red for that call. However, he gained a customer down the road, plus recommendations to my neighbors. And, when I really need his service again, I know what to look for - AND who to call.

Customer service keeps customers.

Originally Posted by Henry Rifle

Customer service keeps customers.

that's the reason I'll drive the 150 Miles it is, to go to the paint store I get great service at.

ok guys I am gonna get my butt handed to me for this one.... I am a technician in a small shop in a small town and hear horror stories all the time. the problem with It1s10's post is that there is no "add-on" section in the Labor Guides for wires when you do the dist. Dealers always charge more per hour and add full time for every little thing. Personally, I think that the books are wrong on about 75% of their hourly times. The way that they come up with a time is they have 1 tech. do the same job 3-5 times and average HIS/HER total time for the job. that includes driving it in and getting parts etc. It is not the best way to do something. At our shop we use the book for estimates, and bill by time taken (if less), or max of 10% over estimate (laws protecting customers in action). I am not agreeing with them for doing what they did. I am trying to calm down people who trash talk ALL shops for screwing customers. I always hate to hear people come in and trash talk other shops, but it happens. If you feel the need to talk to me more about this drop a line at scout7411@msn.com

I have a 95 Roadmaster with the LT-1. I just put a trans in it and we had to take it 500 miles away to Nashville. Well anyway it started missing down there and I knew it needed a cap and rotor, wires and plugs. The shop hit me for 1,200 bucks. They even installed the 2 brand new hoses that I had in the trunk. Wish I would have brought along the brand new water pump that I have sitting in the garage. Did I get ripped off? That's a hard one to answer. Sure I could have done it cheaper myself at home, but that guy tied up one of his techs for the whole day. A Saturday no less. I just thank the Good Lord that he could get it fixed in such short notice. He scheduled me in on Friday, ten minutes before closing.

Originally Posted by abzilla

ok guys I am gonna get my butt handed to me for this one.... I am a technician in a small shop in a small town and hear horror stories all the time. the problem with It1s10's post is that there is no "add-on" section in the Labor Guides for wires when you do the dist. Dealers always charge more per hour and add full time for every little thing. Personally, I think that the books are wrong on about 75% of their hourly times. The way that they come up with a time is they have 1 tech. do the same job 3-5 times and average HIS/HER total time for the job. that includes driving it in and getting parts etc. It is not the best way to do something. At our shop we use the book for estimates, and bill by time taken (if less), or max of 10% over estimate (laws protecting customers in action). I am not agreeing with them for doing what they did. I am trying to calm down people who trash talk ALL shops for screwing customers. I always hate to hear people come in and trash talk other shops, but it happens. If you feel the need to talk to me more about this drop a line at scout7411@msn.com

.

i owned a big shop for 20 yrs. and i know how to read a book. its obvious you have never put a dist. or wires on a 1993 LT1. i used the book 100%, if the mechanic could beat it that was a + for him, if he couldn't then that was a - for him. there are add on, on most every book job. when you get to the dist. on a lt1, it makes it a lot easer to put the wires on, so why would you charge full price?

Originally Posted by slowpoke

In my opinion, if you go to a dealer for anything other than warranty work, you are gonna get screwed. They have a new group of customers coming all the time, they don't worry about keeping us. Find a good independent shop and build a rapor.

Yea, only problem is, independent shops have no clue what theyre doing. thats why we constantly get cars in from the indy's at the dealer to fix stuff they cant figure out...

Originally Posted by Albrainya

Yea, only problem is, independent shops have no clue what theyre doing. thats why we constantly get cars in from the indy's at the dealer to fix stuff they cant figure out...

you're crazy as hell. I'll work side of you any where any time on anything you want to work on. Every mechanic I ever worked, worked in a dealer ship one time or another and I fired a lot of them for incompetency. working on one kind of car isn't what I find very challenging. when I left Acme olds and caddy dealer to open my first shop they sent me most all their used car business. because their mechanics didn't know or wouldn't work on nothing, but caddy, olds. when I was there I made a good living working on everything but caddy's. in other words, you don't know what you are talking about.

Originally Posted by lt1s10

you're crazy as hell. I'll work side of you any where any time on anything you want to work on. Every mechanic I ever worked, worked in a dealer ship one time or another and I fired a lot of them for incompetency. working on one kind of car isn't what I find very challenging. when I left Acme olds and caddy dealer to open my first shop they sent me most all their used car business. because their mechanics didn't know or wouldn't work on nothing, but caddy, olds. when I was there I made a good living working on everything but caddy's. in other words, you don't know what you are talking about.

I'm glad to see that you are feeling better, Mike.

Mike's right I knew a guy that worked at a Chrysler dealer as a mech. He couldn't open the hood on a chevy or ford, and if you opened it for him he had not a clue as to what was going on. An independent shop will most times be better for general and major repairs. Other than warenty work. When I bought my new truck I got a coupond for free lub & oil change. I brought it in for that service. After waiting an hour I asked where is my truck.. Seems it had been sitting out side the service area with the engine running and the keys locked inside. They need my spare key to get in??? I asked why they didn't just have there parts guy make a new one I was told they didn't think of that. Like it was mentioned earlier, dealers (or people who are employed by them) don't seem to care as they know someone else will call.

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Sounds like there are a lot of mechanics in the dealerships now that dont think for themselves to get "around the problem" . They are so used to being told what to do. I used to call using your own iniative "thinking on your feet". So sadly as I have allready said that seems to be lacking.

Looks like the Mike we are used to is gradualy coming back