How to lose a customer - forever!
Want to know how to lose a customer, forever? What did the garage do so wrong during a WOF (Warrant of Fitness) inspection, and what should they have done?
Cash Cow
The Warrant of Fitness inspection is a mandatory safety inspection for all vehicles in New Zealand, and is a vital source of income for many repair garages. It really is the goose that laid the golden egg; any technician with over 3 years experience can apply to become an inspector, and once they are certified the garage is ensured a steady stream of income from failed WOF inspections. Why would they screw around with such a gift?
Misplaced Trust
This story is of a customer who had frequented the same garage several times over the past few years. Because of this relationship, the customer, let’s call him ‘Ian’, decided to use the garage again for his latest WOF inspection. After all, Ian had received a reminder text telling him it was due. Good sales, and showing a good effort thought Ian, so he rolled up at the garage for the inspection.
So why does Ian now vow never to go to this garage? It betrayed his trust. It tried to ‘rip him off’. And the scary thing is, Ian also worries that it may have pulled the wool over many other unknowing customers too.
How it Played Out
Here’s what happened:
Ian delivered his car to the garage.
The garage phoned him to say it had failed on steering play and dirty, non-retracting rear seatbelts.
Ian asked how much to repair the steering play if he supplied parts.
The garage told Ian it cost extra to diagnose the root cause.
Ian gave permission to diagnose and quote.
The garage told Ian his car needed an inner tie-rod, and quoted $620 using aftermarket parts, including a wheel alignment.
Ian took the car home to fix the seatbelts and order the steering part.
Ian inspected the rear seatbelts, no issue found. However the front seat belts were slow retracting.
Ian called the garage to confirm what was wrong with the rear seat belts.
The garage suggested that its inspector may have failed the rear seatbelts because there was a hammock-style dog cover on the rear seat, ‘preventing’ them from accessing the buckles and confirming their operation (despite the check sheet saying the seat belts “need cleaning”).
Ian cleaned the front seat belts, but did nothing to the rear.
When the part arrived, Ian took the car to his franchise dealer to have it fitted.
The franchise dealer said that there was no need for the part, and that the steering play was within spec. And that there was nothing wrong with the rear seatbelts, which Ian already knew.
Ian asked for an estimate of repairs should the part need to be replaced at the franchise dealer. They said between $200 - $300.
What Went Wrong?
Unexpected Charges
“4. The garage told Ian it cost extra to diagnose the root cause.”
Ian is an ex-mechanic, and knows how easy it is to quickly establish what the root cause of play in the steering is. He found this extra charge to be suspicious.
Corrective Action
The garage should either tell the customer up front that diagnostics will cost extra, or simply include it in the inspection. They will most likely be getting the job, so it is part of the sales process!
Not Listening to the Customer
“6. The garage told Ian his car needed an inner tie-rod, and quoted $620 using aftermarket parts.”
Ian told the garage he would supply parts, but it quoted for aftermarket parts. Ian no longer trusts the garage because it is not listening to him.
Corrective Action
Staff at the dealer should be trained to listen to the customer, and told their priority is to satisfy the customer, not generate revenue. This is basic customer service.
High Pricing
Ian, being an ex-mechanic, feels that the quote for $620 is wildly out of whack. He is now extremely suspicious of the garage and thinks it is trying to rip him off.
Corrective Action
The quoting staff member needs training on how to accurately quote a job.
The mechanics possibly need training on how to work quicker, or the supervisor needs training on how to manage the workshop.
And possibly the garage needs to revise its mark-ups on out work.
Contradictions & Excuses
“10. The garage suggested that its inspector may have failed the rear seatbelts because…”
Rather than confirm with the inspector directly, the garage guessed why the inspector failed the seatbelts. Ian is now concerned that the staff don’t communicate with each other, which makes him nervous. Ian is positive that the inspector simply made a typo in the failure report.
Ian also feels the garage is cutting corners, and not carrying out a full inspection, just trying to generate revenue. How hard can it be to roll back the corner of a fabric cover? This makes him feel the garage is being dishonest and lazy.
Ian also is annoyed that the garage has contradicted itself by first saying its inspectors don’t diagnose faults and charging him for the time, then has written ‘seatbelts need cleaning’, a diagnosis, on the fail sheet. He feels he’s being disrespected, and not taken seriously.
Corrective Action
The garage should have provided Ian with the facts, not guesses. In its worst form, a guess can descend into a straight out lie.
If the comment about not having access to seat belt buckles is true, then either the inspector needs training on how to efficiently pull back a cover without causing any damage, or the customer needs to be informed ahead of time that items like seatbelt buckles and spare tyres need to be accessible.
Lack of Technical Skill/Knowledge
“13. The franchise dealer said that there was no need for the part, it was within spec.”
Although Ian understands that the franchise has more brand specific knowledge, because he has experience doing this very inspection he also knows that for steering to move, it has to have some play. He now knows that the inspector has limited knowledge of car steering systems, and is also concerned that the inspector may have failed many other cars that have no fault. He has no confidence the garage is competent enough to carry out a WOF inspection, nor to fix the faults found during them.
Corrective Action
The inspector needs more training.
The Outcome
Some may think Ian made a mountain out of a molehill here, but the end result is that he’s never going back. On top of that, Ian has already told at least 10 of his colleagues, clients, and friends about his bad experience. The garage has lost at least 10 potential customers, but probably ripped off even more.
How To Change Your Ways
The challenge here is changing the ways of the garage. To do this the garage not only needs to know what it did wrong, but acknowledge that it did wrong and attempt to correct its ways.
Unfortunately, many businesses in New Zealand do not listen to customer feedback, and often become defensive, which is why Ian didn’t bother bringing this up with the garage owner. It’s like telling an aggressive driver to drive nicer, it isn’t going to happen. They are what they are. Changing one driver is enough of a challenge, but changing the culture of all the staff in garage? Not worth the effort.
So the solution is to prevent the bad feedback before it happens. Like in Japan. If your business is actively monitoring what it does and how it does it constantly, is always trying to be transparent, trustworthy, and professional with customers, they are more likely to tell you when you get it wrong.
Not run for the hills like Ian did.