ACtion Magazine - July 2013 - (Page 8)

Freeze Frame He did everything right, but… Jacques Gordon M y wife’s Audi needed service, and now that it’s writer called me first thing in the morning to ask for a out of warranty we decided to use the shop across clearer understanding of what we wanted done. On the the parking lot from her office. They specialize in rare occasion that I hire someone to work on my vehicles, European cars, have been in business I play dumb about cars because I for 40 years, have a good reputation don’t want to influence or mislead and always seem busy. I expected to them. It’s their job; they have the He kept me informed and pay top-dollar (their labor rates are car right there in front of them, right up there), but the car needed they have the tools and the service asked permission before only regular service, plus a diagnosis information and they do this work spending my money of the HVAC system to find out every single day. I stay out of the why air didn’t flow from some of the way and trust them, because if I hire vents. Trusting them with the car was them again, I want to be a welcome a no-brainer, and I didn’t feel too customer. uncomfortable trusting them with my wallet. Indeed, it started out well. We left the car and put The service writer called a second time to report the the keys in the drop box the night before, so the service tech’s findings, recommend specific services and ask for an hour of diagnostic time. It turned out the HVAC problem was simple to diagnose (with the right scan tool) and inexpensive to fix. His service recommendations went well beyond what I expected, but as I said, I decided to trust their judgment. He called a third time to recommend additional maintenance that wasn’t ‘critical’ yet, including some that I later discovered isn’t on the OEM maintenance schedule. I told him “not now.” I guess it’s a fine line. He kept me informed and asked permission before spending my money, but the bill was still a lot higher than I expected. A LOT higher. On a scale of one-to-ten, his upsell pressure was only about three, but if I had agreed to everything he wanted to sell me, the bill would have been almost a third of this 5-year-old car’s current value. Maybe his regular customers would have approved the work, but we’re first-time customers with a fresh-out-of-warranty Audi A4, not an expensive luxury car. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been on his side of the service desk and think I know what he was doing, or maybe it’s because I’m not his typical customer. Maybe every customer in the world feels like I do right now after paying for automotive service. Even though he did everything right, he did nothing to make me want to go back there again. ❆ 8 Reader Reply ACTION • July/August 2013 You can reach Jacques at Jacques@macsw.org http://www.macsw.org/imis15/MACS/Publications/ACtion_Reader_Reply/MACS/Publications/ACTION/ACtion_Reader_Reply.aspx?hkey=ac24bddb-c045-442a-813c-cbf05f88ac4d http://www.ACKits.com http://www.AutoACForum.com http://www.macsw.org/imis15/MACS/Publications/ACtion_Reader_Reply/MACS/Publications/ACTION/ACtion_Reader_Reply.aspx?hkey=ac24bddb-c045-442a-813c-cbf05f88ac4d

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ACtion Magazine - July 2013

ACtion Magazine - July 2013
Contents
Outlook
Freeze Frame
Virtual View
Leonard’s Law
Cooling Corner
Member Profile
News & Updates
Motorhome Air Conditioning
How Low Can You Go?
Quick Check
Association News
Classified
New Products & Services
Last Watch

ACtion Magazine - July 2013