Re: suposid qualifyed mechaincs
I absolutely agree that auto dealership sales departments drive the service departments nuts. I used to watch my fellow sales people promising all kinds of stuff that couldn't be done and I saw all kinds of antics just to make a sale. In fact, it is the commissioned sales mentality creeping into service departments that is at the core of the problem.
Many service managers are honest, concientious people who want fair treatment and quality work for their customers. So are many of their mechanics. Ultimately, however, they all work for a GM who's focus is on numbers - number of units sold, number of finance deals done, number of units through the shop and, most importantly, the profit margin on each of those transactions. Additionally, car dealer GMs don't typically come from the ranks of their (or other dealership) service departments. They usually start as sales people and work their way up through various positions, such as sales manager, finance manager, used car dept. manager, etc. So, what now goes on at most dealerships, even if it doesn't at some, is a push from senior management to sell, sell, sell. Service writers live or die by commission and even the mechanics typically earn a wage and a commission.
There can also be a reverse of the situation where the sales person promises the customer a lot of stuff that can't be done. For example, I had one sale that turned into a mess because I had a service writer promise me something that he could not deliver. My customer bought an F150 with no cruise and only bought it because we told him that we could install the cruise just as it is from the factory. He specifically stated that he wanted the control buttons in the steering wheel, as they are when the truck is built with cruise to begin with. He also specifically stated that he would not take delivery if the set up was not that way. In order to close the deal, I gave the customer some coffee and ran back to the service dept. to make sure that this could be done. I was clear about every aspect of the situation - exactly what the customer's desires were, what needed to be provided and what the consequences would be if we didn't do what we said we could do. A day or so later, I got the call from the service dept. to come get the truck to take it to the detail shop and, you guessed it, no cruise buttons in the steering wheel. What they installed instead was the cheap turn signal type control that mounts on the column with a couple of pop rivets. While the customer ultimately did take the truck, there was a huge "rucus," which took a lot of my sales time away, and I had to cut the deal to basically no profit in order to save it.
As for independants, sure, many of them do the same sorts of things. Some even use service writers and have a commission structure for that person and the mechanics. The one and only time I ever tried to get a decent quote from an independant who worked that way, the service writer involved tried to charge me over $700 to put a remaufactured carb in a 1985 S10 pickup. I ended up buying the carb on the internet for about $200, after the core rebate, and put it in myself. Considering that gasoline was about a dollar a gallon at the time, the difference in price probably paid my fuel cost for close to a year.
Really, its a shame that so many dealers have sullied the waters for the better dealership service departments. I agree that these shops often have very well trained mechanics and top notch gear. They also enjoy a direct line to the manufacturer from both an engineering perspective and a service bulletin perspective. They get the info "from the horses mouth," so to speak. But, from a customer's perspective, "that and 50 cents ($5.75 at Starbucks) will get you a cup of coffee." Customers don't care about all that - what they want is a job well done the first time, at a reasonable price. They don't want to have their arms twisted to do all sorts of unneeded work and they don't want to pay 30% more for what must be done. They also know that, if they choose mechanics wisely, they can have all of that.
