Yes we ask the customer while we are making the repair order. Before the car is brought in
Tire tech/service writer up selling at TireKingdom
- Thread starter Mr Nice
- Start date
- Status
I worked at a tire shop and yeah we did the multipoint inspection.
40% of the cars coming in had under 80-100k and were showroom perfect.
40% were decrepit beaters, especially 5 year old work trucks, and I had no idea how they were on the road or passed inspection. They wanted no part of my detailed inspection report, but I filled it out anyway to show management I was semi-competent.
The middle 20%, the owners actually thought were perfect, and were amenable to the idea of an air filter or battery. The midtronics battery tester was a gold mine money maker. Of course there is a percentage of people who run a battery to the very bitter end. Something like a Cobalt would have its air filter buried under seven torx screws so the owner wouldn't check it and neither would some of our techs if busy. And yeah I'd stick dirty air filters back where they came from if we didn't make a sale.
We tracked customers by phone number. Our multi point inspection found a leaky brake caliper that got replaced for free under warranty b/c the previous repair order was in the computer. Bonus for being a repeat customer! A customer could opt out of the inspection, but few knew to ask. My "rank" in the place meant if I found bad wiper blades, I got the 1/10 hour to change them. If I found bad ball joints, the master tech did that. It was a fairly perverse system. I had enough work-- they never had enough techs-- so I had no reason to invent problems.
This tire store advertises a $23 oil change now... or you can DIY for $16 with materials from WM. How does one really think they keep the lights on?
40% of the cars coming in had under 80-100k and were showroom perfect.
40% were decrepit beaters, especially 5 year old work trucks, and I had no idea how they were on the road or passed inspection. They wanted no part of my detailed inspection report, but I filled it out anyway to show management I was semi-competent.
The middle 20%, the owners actually thought were perfect, and were amenable to the idea of an air filter or battery. The midtronics battery tester was a gold mine money maker. Of course there is a percentage of people who run a battery to the very bitter end. Something like a Cobalt would have its air filter buried under seven torx screws so the owner wouldn't check it and neither would some of our techs if busy. And yeah I'd stick dirty air filters back where they came from if we didn't make a sale.
We tracked customers by phone number. Our multi point inspection found a leaky brake caliper that got replaced for free under warranty b/c the previous repair order was in the computer. Bonus for being a repeat customer! A customer could opt out of the inspection, but few knew to ask. My "rank" in the place meant if I found bad wiper blades, I got the 1/10 hour to change them. If I found bad ball joints, the master tech did that. It was a fairly perverse system. I had enough work-- they never had enough techs-- so I had no reason to invent problems.
This tire store advertises a $23 oil change now... or you can DIY for $16 with materials from WM. How does one really think they keep the lights on?
There are many competence and honest mechanics/service writers and there are some not so honest. The few that try to rip off consumers are on the evening news and everybody talks about it.
The service writer should ask customers if they want to have "free multi-point inspection", then perform only task(s) that customers want.
The service writer should ask customers if they want to have "free multi-point inspection", then perform only task(s) that customers want.
My Tire Kingdom Horror Story:
Back around 2002 I was on my way to a family vacation in Hilton Head and hit a pothole, ruining the RF tire. I was driving the Club Sport, which does use a bit of oil(1 qt. every 2500-3000 miles or so), so I had checked the oil at every fuel stop AND when I got to Hilton Head. I NEVER needed to add any oil.
Fast forward three days-I'm at the Hilton Head Tire Kingdom having my tire replaced. On the way back to the condo the CEL illuminates and I begin to smell burning oil. I pull over, pop the hood, and find that my oil filler cap is missing. I call Tire Kingdom and they treat me like an idiot- "Sir, you need to go back to the shop that changed your oil. We never opened the hood." That's funny; I drove the car from the KY to SC and never smelled any oil or noticed the missing oil cap OR the CEL...
Luckily, I found the cap laying on top of the top strut mount. After an hour of scrubbing and a roll of paper towels the engine bay was presentable again. My guess is that some idiot at Tire Kingdom thought the car was in for an oil change and got ready to pull the drain plug when someone yelled "No, Goober! That 'uns jest here to git the tar changed." So, Goober closed the hood without replacing the cap.
Morons...
Back around 2002 I was on my way to a family vacation in Hilton Head and hit a pothole, ruining the RF tire. I was driving the Club Sport, which does use a bit of oil(1 qt. every 2500-3000 miles or so), so I had checked the oil at every fuel stop AND when I got to Hilton Head. I NEVER needed to add any oil.
Fast forward three days-I'm at the Hilton Head Tire Kingdom having my tire replaced. On the way back to the condo the CEL illuminates and I begin to smell burning oil. I pull over, pop the hood, and find that my oil filler cap is missing. I call Tire Kingdom and they treat me like an idiot- "Sir, you need to go back to the shop that changed your oil. We never opened the hood." That's funny; I drove the car from the KY to SC and never smelled any oil or noticed the missing oil cap OR the CEL...
Luckily, I found the cap laying on top of the top strut mount. After an hour of scrubbing and a roll of paper towels the engine bay was presentable again. My guess is that some idiot at Tire Kingdom thought the car was in for an oil change and got ready to pull the drain plug when someone yelled "No, Goober! That 'uns jest here to git the tar changed." So, Goober closed the hood without replacing the cap.
Morons...
Originally Posted By: MCompact
Luckily, I found the cap laying on top of the top strut mount.
Goober closed the hood without replacing the cap.
Fortunately it didn't leave a mark on the hood! It happened to my dad - his Accord had a mysterious round bump on his hood when it came back once from the shop.
Luckily, I found the cap laying on top of the top strut mount.
Goober closed the hood without replacing the cap.
Fortunately it didn't leave a mark on the hood! It happened to my dad - his Accord had a mysterious round bump on his hood when it came back once from the shop.
Suggested maintenance is really no different from them asking you if you want fries with that?.
Originally Posted By: lubedude13
I work at a Goodyear shop and every vehicle that comes in gets a 30 point check over which includes topping off all fluids at no charge.
I know that you mean well, but I would be extremely upset if a tire shop topped off any of the fluids on one of my cars without asking first. I don't care if the fluids are "compatible" or "equivalent"- that is MY call, not the tire shop's...
I work at a Goodyear shop and every vehicle that comes in gets a 30 point check over which includes topping off all fluids at no charge.
I know that you mean well, but I would be extremely upset if a tire shop topped off any of the fluids on one of my cars without asking first. I don't care if the fluids are "compatible" or "equivalent"- that is MY call, not the tire shop's...
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Suggested maintenance is really no different from them asking you if you want fries with that?.
The difference is, most people these days are completely clueless about cars and are hardly aware something is wrong until the car is either self-destructing, unsafe, or both. Most people could use a little education about their cars. You should already know if you want fries or not.
The problem is, most of those same people either don't care about maintenance regardless of how important it may be, or they are retarded. Shops target the latter group because they are an easy sell for stupid, low effort money makers. "Hey, you want to flush your engine? For $99.95 this will get all the sludge and gunk out and make your engine more powerful and fuel economy." Try to suggest changing trans fluid or coolant and they think you are trying to rip them off, but sell a "motor flush" and they are all about it. Go figure.
In a way the shops are to blame for even offering this type of garbage, but who can really blame them when that's what people want? Consumers largely really want some retarded [censored]. Not every customer is on this site...hardly any are.
The place I used to work at would tell us to sell a motor flush on any car that had gone over the sticker in the windsheild in miles. I refused to sell it. Sometimes people would come in with the engine knocking and out of oil and ask "well don't ya'll got that [censored] that flush the motor out?" I would tell them yes, but that it might make the siutation worse. The "motor flush" had been known to finish off a few engines that had been pushed to their neglect extremes.
Bottom line is, if people would educate themselves about their cars and proper maintenance just a little bit, they could avoid all these situations, and the focus of the industry would change. Instead, the majority of consumers (not BITOGers) would rather ignore the manual, ignore best practices, and hear some stupid [censored] about flushing their motor out, then pay money for it. It's stupid to the point of being really frustrating if you work in the industry and still give a [censored].
If you don't have a history with the shop, or KNOW for a fact they are reputable, then tell them upfront to skip the inspection. I took my truck to a Napa shop in Charlotte for years when something was beyond what I wanted to do in the driveway (balljoints), or kind of inconvenient to do at home (complete trans fluid change). I read every online review they had beforehand (all were good), and I told them exactly what I wanted done on the truck every time. Never a problem.
Check reviews, and don't wing it and just trust a shop because of their brand name. Shops are generally franchises, like dealers, and vary a lot. The place I worked for would occasionally hire good/competent techs, but they would get fed up and leave.
Suggested maintenance is really no different from them asking you if you want fries with that?.
The difference is, most people these days are completely clueless about cars and are hardly aware something is wrong until the car is either self-destructing, unsafe, or both. Most people could use a little education about their cars. You should already know if you want fries or not.
The problem is, most of those same people either don't care about maintenance regardless of how important it may be, or they are retarded. Shops target the latter group because they are an easy sell for stupid, low effort money makers. "Hey, you want to flush your engine? For $99.95 this will get all the sludge and gunk out and make your engine more powerful and fuel economy." Try to suggest changing trans fluid or coolant and they think you are trying to rip them off, but sell a "motor flush" and they are all about it. Go figure.
In a way the shops are to blame for even offering this type of garbage, but who can really blame them when that's what people want? Consumers largely really want some retarded [censored]. Not every customer is on this site...hardly any are.
The place I used to work at would tell us to sell a motor flush on any car that had gone over the sticker in the windsheild in miles. I refused to sell it. Sometimes people would come in with the engine knocking and out of oil and ask "well don't ya'll got that [censored] that flush the motor out?" I would tell them yes, but that it might make the siutation worse. The "motor flush" had been known to finish off a few engines that had been pushed to their neglect extremes.
Bottom line is, if people would educate themselves about their cars and proper maintenance just a little bit, they could avoid all these situations, and the focus of the industry would change. Instead, the majority of consumers (not BITOGers) would rather ignore the manual, ignore best practices, and hear some stupid [censored] about flushing their motor out, then pay money for it. It's stupid to the point of being really frustrating if you work in the industry and still give a [censored].
If you don't have a history with the shop, or KNOW for a fact they are reputable, then tell them upfront to skip the inspection. I took my truck to a Napa shop in Charlotte for years when something was beyond what I wanted to do in the driveway (balljoints), or kind of inconvenient to do at home (complete trans fluid change). I read every online review they had beforehand (all were good), and I told them exactly what I wanted done on the truck every time. Never a problem.
Check reviews, and don't wing it and just trust a shop because of their brand name. Shops are generally franchises, like dealers, and vary a lot. The place I worked for would occasionally hire good/competent techs, but they would get fed up and leave.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
And yeah I'd stick dirty air filters back where they came from if we didn't make a sale.
I did too, but I saw a former manager of mine throw the cabin air filter for a Lexus in the trash because the owner refused to buy a new one. Inexcusable. It was about that point where I decided I needed to move on from bottom rung quickie type shops.
And yeah I'd stick dirty air filters back where they came from if we didn't make a sale.
I did too, but I saw a former manager of mine throw the cabin air filter for a Lexus in the trash because the owner refused to buy a new one. Inexcusable. It was about that point where I decided I needed to move on from bottom rung quickie type shops.
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I did too, but I saw a former manager of mine throw the cabin air filter for a Lexus in the trash because the owner refused to buy a new one. Inexcusable.
That could be construed as theft. Actually it IS theft!
The auto repair business richly deserves the reputation for being a bunch of shady, crooked, thieves.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
I did too, but I saw a former manager of mine throw the cabin air filter for a Lexus in the trash because the owner refused to buy a new one. Inexcusable.
That could be construed as theft. Actually it IS theft!
The auto repair business richly deserves the reputation for being a bunch of shady, crooked, thieves.
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
01rangerxl said:
Originally Posted By: Spector
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
01rangerxl said:
But what is the size of the detailing business market in terms of number customers as compared to auto repair? Less than 1% ??
Besides, I have to wonder why you think detailing business is filled with "bunch of shady, crooked, thieves" present company excluded!
Seriously, I will agree with you that many (most?) detailers are incompetent just like any other business. As a business, detailing is still in its infancy. When you see bunch of detailing chains sprouting all over, then you will have the situation that you describe. I understand why you feel that way though.
Besides, I have to wonder why you think detailing business is filled with "bunch of shady, crooked, thieves" present company excluded!
Seriously, I will agree with you that many (most?) detailers are incompetent just like any other business. As a business, detailing is still in its infancy. When you see bunch of detailing chains sprouting all over, then you will have the situation that you describe. I understand why you feel that way though.
I get the up sell a lot, but blame the corporations not the workers. The workers are trained to do that as a job requirement. Failure to do so often can result in termination. I worked at Dunkin Donuts during high school and it was the same thing. We had customers that came in every single day and ordered the exact same thing. To the point that when I saw their car enter the parking lot, I would already have their coffee made for them by the time they came to the drive-thru speaker. I was still required to try and up sell items to them I knew they would just decline. It was part of my job. I can see how corporations might gain another 1% in sales by doing that, but 99% of the customers I served already knew what they wanted and were just annoyed by the extra questions.
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Anybody else deal with idiots trying to constantly up sell services and parts ?
Yes so I no longer visit a tire chain for any work. That is normal and part of your bargain price. They don't make money selling you tires at Black Friday prices.
I don't get mad just state no thanks and if they insist just state I am getting rid of car soon.
Anybody else deal with idiots trying to constantly up sell services and parts ?
Yes so I no longer visit a tire chain for any work. That is normal and part of your bargain price. They don't make money selling you tires at Black Friday prices.
I don't get mad just state no thanks and if they insist just state I am getting rid of car soon.
- Status