Last post a joke......lighten up people, don't get your panties in a bunch, I got the same problem

Your affraid of a going to a dealership , but you take it to " Jiffy Lube " ?

That's a good joke !

LOL.

H

So it's a waste of time to establish good customer relations?

It's called "customer relations", an alien concept to auto dealers in USA, maybe the whole world. I've never bought a car in a foreign country.

Here is an example of the concept...someone goes to Les Schwab and gets a flat tire fixed for free. Where do you think that person will be inclined to go when it's time for a new set of tires....Sears? Montgomery Ward? Local Dealership? Hell no, you're gonna go to Les Schwab cause you have a good "customer relationship" established.

You people are goofy. All you want to do is jump on someone's back and beat on them, put down opinions. You would probably like to deny my 1st amendment rights too if you could.....

First a dealer, or anyone else in any kind of business, has to start with a good customer.

You can take it from there.

The independent versus dealer can of worms is a complex subject and is usually blessed with more than it's fair share of emotion.

In the states, there is very little in the way of regulation governing the automotive trades.. in Canada, I served four years as an indentured apprentice. The apprenticeship period is no guaranty that I will be a good technician, but it forms a ground work. Along with knowledge, a tech needs the attitude that will make him/her a good tech... these attitudes are the things that society breeds into us. Add flat rate (essentially "piece-work") and things can change again, but this to is bred into us by society and our parents.

The shop we work in can influence us.... I am strong willed and, in every shop I have worked, I will do MY repair MY way.... I will not provide an inadequate repair. My reputation is much too valuable to risk on gambles. Every time I set out to save a customer one dollar, it wound up costing me ten dollars. Similarly, all my estimates are "worst case scenarios".... The consumer is much happier seeing a bill less than he/she expected than they are to get a phone call saying "we took it apart and....". There is an added cost reduction since I already have permission to change a part that I might otherwise have to stand idle while permission is gained. I'm at work,,, I want to spend my time productively - I don't want to stand beside a customers car listening to his/her cell phone ringing all the while knowing that the call is from our service advisor. It is counter productive for me, it is counterproductive for the shop and it adds inconvenience to the customer.

We look at the shop... it costs money to keep a shop clean.... it costs money to keep a shop up to date inregards to tools and it costs money to provide staff with adequate, relevant training. If the shop is clean, you can expect your car returned to you clean. Again, staff attitudes and up-bringing will determine if tools are used to their best advantage and if training is used to it's best advantage. All the while, we remember shops that guess. I belong to one e-mail forum where members requests and problems are e-mailed directly to any and all that have signified an interest in a perticular specialty area.... there are many questions I leave unanswered because the people asking them should know better and there is no way to reply (fr me, anyway) to avoid sounding insulting.

Many customers feel driven to make their own diagnosis in a vain efort to make themselves sound knowledgeable (I know all about cars so don't try to screw me...). A repair order is a mandate. It spells out what I can and what I cannot do. If the customer says "change the muffler bearing" (someone has to chuckle over that), I will change the "muffler bearing". I might even wonder why the customer wants that changed since this piece over here is obviously a real concern.... If the customer has a concern, it is not enough to say "my car is broken". The repair will cost much less if the tech knows how or when to reproduce the concern, if any repairs or additions have been made recently, if the problem "just appearded" or has been getting steadily worse.

On the flip side, I have no patience with service advisors that rush through the repair order process. There are worksheets available fromFord to guide the SA through the process. The customers next in line need to realize that quality service is not like a fast food hamburger. For everyone to have quality service, time will need to be spent with each customer... if the last guy in line wants to be mad at someone, he needs to be mad at himself for being late.

I have no patience for customers who can't show up on time. Like a doctors office, there will be appointments that take longer than the allotted time. Like a doctors office, if they call your name and you aren't there.... you just got bumped. Refer back to what I said about standing idle.

I am well recompensed for my efforts.... you wont find Bobby Flay or Emeril waiting for the french fry dinger at your loal drive through and you wont find talented techs working a Cheap Charleez Bargoon Auto or KwikeeLoob. Is there any logical reason to believe that there is someone out there getting

10 bucks an hour that is better than someone pulling down 20/hour?

Before I get to my long winded close, we should talk about the consumer.... some consumes have different expectations from others. While most of my customers are not high end consumers, they expect good value and cars that remain as new as possible. Reliability, dependability, freedom from squeaks and rattles, no spots on the driveway, repairs in a timely fashion at an expected price, repairs that wont make future repairs difficult, repairs done safely in an accepted manner, repairs that aren't unsafe, repairs that are explained in plain English. There are those (and I have driven their cars) that are happy to have a car that starts.... mention that you noticed their brake pads are getting a little thin and should be inspected closely and they will get upset (knee jerk reaction to the specter of future expenses... face it - the cheapest thing we can do with a car is buy it).... people that guffaw at those getting good service because of the difference in price..... $300 for a brake job??? I got some pads at Walmart for $9.95 and my car stops (but the steering wheel shakes, the rotors can't handle one more panic stop and this guys has a very real chance of killing several people).

Choosing a tech or shop is like choosing a doctor or chef (deferring to the modern young adutl) or pilates instructor or homeopathic care-giver. The good ones are spendy.... amongst the spendy ones are charlatans..... Look for a shop with a full parking lot but make sure it isn't the same flock of cars day after day. Look for a shiop where the staff drive cars that are well cared for. Look for a clean shop where staff are rpoud of their accomplishments. Look for a shop that treats you with repect and makes you feel comfortable.

I can't offer a solution to a very real problem because things are just too complicated for me. There needs to be some sort of governing body... there needs to be some sort of referral system... the system needs wholesale changes to ensure that the car coming towards you is safe. It ain't gonna happen if people consider having a car that starts more important than having a car that stops....Sorry to get so long winded but the whole situation is complex. Consumers will continue to consider dollars over any other aspect and those involved in the trade are either ill equipped to produce a good product in an acceped manner or they are after the bucks. It is almost as if there is an agreement between consumer and shop that ensuresa rift. Cars kill way too many north americans each and every day. Even without statistics, I am sure that some of those are the result of unsafe vehicles.

I'm sure I have answered few questions and generated even more..... Most of us are likely less safe in our cars than anywhere else that we could plunk our behinds...

Resetting the light is hardly repairing the problem..... I can do a lot of things for "free"... each and every one of them is worth every penny of what you paid...I'd like to have the chance to study your logic.

Hmmmm...... if you develop gout, you could save on doctor bills by buying bigger shoes. If your kids sass back, you can turn up the stereo..... If your pants don't fit, stop wearing them.... There are many ways to address a problem... there is usually only one way to actually fix the prolem.

I can't see how that got past EPA...In either case, did anyone try a new gas cap? EVAP leak detected codes aren't really all that hard to fix with the right tools.

It's apparent that you don't understand the meaning/function of the "Service Engine Soon" or "Check Engine" light.

Do you think you got something less than the $30,000 truck you bargained for? Were you lied to about what would be covered under warranty and for how long? Were they ambiguous about where their responsibilities end and yours start?

It's got nothing to do with "customer relations." You had a warning light illuminated, your limited understanding of the problem only allowed to have the light [temporarily] extinguished. You think the Goofy Lube did you some big favor, in fact, they did no such thing, and I'd suspect that if you went to them for their services and they forgot to re-fill your oil after draining it, they'd merely unplug the oil pressure sending unit/switch when you subsequently complained to them that the oil pressure light was on and/or the gauge was reading zero. Good customer relations starts with knowing the proper repair procedure, it is NOT determined by what is handed out for free. SES/check engine lights have been around for over 25 years, the answer to the question "how do I turn it off" is always the same; Fix the problem that is causing it to come on.

Using your Les Schwab metaphore, all that was done was the nail was removed from the tire, the leaking air was totally ignored.

Goofy would be expecting the potatoes for free just because you bought a hunk of beef from the grocer.

Since you are unwilling to consider facts, little else is left to do.

First amendment rights are between an individual and the government, so you're right... ...if we could.

Here we go, Bone Head 101...

You have stated here (and then attempted to defend that statement) that you received something of value when the lube monkeys reset your fault code/check engine light.

WTF???

Now pay attention here!

There is no value in reseting the alarm without diagnosing and repairing the cause of the alarm!

At best they did nothing of value for you. At worse they masked a problem that potentially allowed more damage. Resulting in their actions costing you money, loss not value.

Your problems are illustrated by the fact that you would even let one of the idiot lube monkeys at Jiffy Lube look at your vehicle let alone touch it.

Take a deep breath, think about it before you go off half cocked with another asinine reply, that only serves to make you look even more stupid than the last...

lmfao only IDIOTS work flat rate it only rips off the customer as well as shoddy repairs

lmfao some customer service talking to your customer is unproductive lmfao U GO GIRL face it you are in a rush to make your flate rate hours

I like it when yopu say you know all about cars lmfao U go girl get the chain lmfao

with this mentality i am glade to see you can make it in slave lake lmfao'

so u can screww the hutterites ?

it is YOU that have failed by not provideing customere service u are luckey to have customers or is that why the country comes to the city where the real tecks are

i bet people come from edmonton just to see ya too rite lmfao

lmfao city rates are 100 /hour yes i would pay a smaller shop

50 an hour the teck still makes 20 bucks whats your point ?

only at sl ford

lmfao hurc ast

sl ford does not even have a smoke machine lmfao

hurc ast

You can't blame the DICKWAD after all, aside form being extremely ignorant, he is truly illiterate.

BTW, can you actually decipher his illiterate babbling?