After working here for 2 years I was thrown into this role with no previous experience in the service area. I have management experience and a ton of customer service experience so I rely mainly on that and ask my technicians a lot of questions.
In the past 2 years I have endured more screaming, name calling, crying and complete grown up hissy fits that put the terrible-two's to shame. I have also accepted donuts, coffee, thank yous, hugs and the occasional liquor store gift card. Yesterday was a day that included none of the latter.
I went home, popped a bottle of wine and was thankful that the day was over. Then I decided to make this list. If you're dealing with a larger shop with Service Advisors, or a mom and pop shop where you deal directly with the technician, please, please PLEASE keep this in mind!
1. Maintaining your vehicle is not an inconvenience. This is a thing that you have to do to ensure you don't have problems with your car down the road. (Kind of punny). You go to your doctor for a yearly physical, you take your dog to the vet. Please don't act like it's the end of your life because you have to sit in a leather chair, drink free coffee and watch TV beside a fireplace for an hour while we make sure your car is safe to drive.
2. Don't skip out on manufacturer recommended maintenance. I'm sorry if whoever sold you your car didn't explain this to you. Maintenance includes more than changing your oil and filter when the light comes on and tells you to. Where I work, we go with a 6 months or 8,000km (Canadian, sorry..eh) schedule that includes a tire rotation, brake inspection and a full check over. At certain mileage intervals we replace your air filter, pollen filter, change your transmission fluid etc... These are important. Please do them. If you don't service your transmission, don't complain when you're warranty has expired and I quote you $5,000 to rebuild your transmission. Preventative maintenance.
3. Don't act like I'm stealing from you. When we try to up sell you a filter, brakes, or wiper blades it's because you need them. That $40 pollen filter that's clogged up with dust, dead skin & hair is filtering the air you breathe in your car. The $400 brake job I'm telling you you require is ensuring that when someone slams on their brakes you don't end up in their trunk. I'm trying to help you, not rob you.
4. Diagnosis costs money. You told us that your vehicle is running rough and has a lack of power. We charged you for 1 hour and told you you need to replace your spark plugs. What we actually did was test drive your vehicle to verify the concern using diagnostic equipment that reads the data from your vehicles computer. The software and equipment we use is worth thousands of dollars. We then pin pointed what was causing the concern, verified it against workshop manuals and manufacturer recommendations, priced the parts, verified the labour times & created a quote.
5. We get paid by what we do. Service Advisors & Managers are paid either hourly or salaried and yes, we are given bonuses based on sales because it's a job. Most technicians are paid "flat rate". That means that if diagnosing why your engine light is on paid 1 hour and it took them 1.5, they got paid for 1 hour. When you complain about a charge for something they took their time to complete, you're telling them they just worked for free.
6. If I make you sign a waiver because your vehicle is unsafe I'm not trying to be a bitch. I once had a van in my shop that had basketball sized holes on the rear wheel wells. The only thing keeping the passengers in was the interior trim panel. The 3rd row seat wasn't fastened down because the latches were where the holes were now. There was car seats and booster seats in those seats. I explained this to the customer who got extremely frustrated and said they were going to continue driving anyway. I have to protect myself and my place of work so I made the customer sign a waiver. I still pray I never hear of a child falling out of a hole or being slingshot through a windshield because a seat wasn't latched.
7. Don't yell at me. As a manager I realize I get the brunt of peoples frustrations. I'm the one you ask for when you think my Advisors are being difficult. They're actually trying to resolve the situation themselves with what they are permitted to do without authorization. I get it all. You can be frustrated but you don't need to yell. You don't need to call me names. Chances are you're not the first person to yell at me that day. If you're the fourth in one day you're not going to get anywhere with me. I am a human, I have feelings and some people have left me in tears because I quoted them $1,000 to ensure their family is safe in their vehicle, or a $50 part is past is warranty period.
At the end of the day, just treat people how you want to be treated. Sometimes life requires you to open your ears, shut your mouth, and take in some information you may not want to hear. We're here to keep you and your family safe when you get in your car and try to make the costs of owning a vehicle as little as possible for repairs. And if you choose to be an ass, I've heard it all and no one can out-ass me!
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