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Car Forum / Chevrolet / Chevrolet Malibu / December 2003Consumer Advocacy Organization Takes Aim at Auto Repair Shop Rip-offs. Please Help!
We're all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair shop. Think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. I spent fourteen years trying to clean up the auto repair industry from the inside. I even owned a big auto repair shop for three and a half years. I know exactly what's going on in the industry. Nobody can BS me about it. Many shops are using misleading advertising, poor quality parts and unskilled personnel. Shops routinely misdiagnose problems, charging consumers for unnecessary work. The shops that try to do things right struggle to compete in a marketplace that is out of control, unstructured and largely unpoliced. Auto repair is a perennial top five most complained about category and the problems are not improving. Women and the elderly are especially vulnerable. There needs to be a rallying point for consumers who have had enough. That's why I founded the Board of Consumer Advocacy. We have counselors available for members to: discuss a problem you may have with a shop, discuss whether recommendations made by a shop are appropriate, and discuss whether estimates made by a shop are reasonable. That will help protect us until things change. To force change, we'll have to join together. We have launched a website at www.automotiveservice.org where you can get more information about the organization and how you can help. Together we can improve the quality of service at our neighborhood garages and reduce the fraud that victimizes so many of our friends and family. Thank you!  SignatureKenneth Brotman, Board of Consumer Advocacy www.automotiveservice.org Helping to improve the quality of service and reduce fraud at auto repair facilities. To reply, remove the NOSPAM at the end of the email address provided. Adrian...are you reading this? :o) Signature-|>|- Diode -|<|- 68 L79 Coupe 79 Triumph Bonneville > We're all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair > shop. Think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Thank you! If they fix a car right the first time, then their customers will never come back! That's not good for business... isn't it?? A lot of people driving cars have no idea what is going on under the hood. Its just transportation to them. There are a lot of people that don't even know how to change a flat, or where their spare tire even is. Sure the auto repair industry is cheating and ripping people off, but the customers don't know any better. The customers need to improve their knowledge of cars, as well as improving the honesty of the repair shops. I am not saying anyone on here knows nothing about cars, but I am sure we all know a lot of people that just don't care to know about cars. I have had many people tell me " I put gas in it, and it goes, that's all I know" > We're all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair > shop. Think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Thank you! >> We're all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto Snipped > If they fix a car right the first time, then their customers will > never come back! That's not good for business... isn't it?? Wrong, that's fraud which is a criminal act, even in the 'states - isn't it? Besides, if you keep a customer happy then they WILL return and even recommend the company to their relatives and friends - THAT has to be good for business - doesn't it? > A lot of people driving cars have no idea what is going on under the > hood. Its just transportation to them. There are a lot of people that > don't even know how to change a flat, or where their spare tire even > is. Do you know how EVERYTHING works, if not, you are in the very same position as the car owner who has very little knowledge and trusts their garage (shop) to carry out the work correctly. How will you feel when you are ripped off? > Sure the auto repair industry is cheating and ripping people off, but > the customers don't know any better. Does that make a criminal act legal, and the majority do know when they are ripped off but the may be too timid to complain. >The customers need to improve > their knowledge of cars, as well as improving the honesty of the > repair shops. I am not saying anyone on here knows nothing about > cars, but I am sure we all know a lot of people that just don't care > to know about cars. I have had many people tell me " I put gas in it, > and it goes, that's all I know" Surely if you are prepared to pay for a service then it is not necessary to have any knowledge of cars (or anything else) - that's what you pay the garage (shop) for and the expectation is that they will do the work correctly first time. Brian So you are saying it's the customers fault for not understanding the technology so they deserve to get ripped off? I think you are pointing the blame at the wrong people here. Why don't we police the people who are breaking the law. > If they fix a car right the first time, then their customers will never come > back! That's not good for business... isn't it?? [quoted text clipped - 51 lines] > > > > Thank you! When people come in and ask to have the air in their tires changed, then you really have to worry (its happened) I know, the ones breaking the law are the ones we should go after. Its hard to find an honest mechanic. > So you are saying it's the customers fault for not understanding the > technology so they deserve to get ripped off? I think you are pointing the [quoted text clipped - 74 lines] > > > > > > To reply, remove the NOSPAM at the end of the email address provided. The other side of the coin is that so many people assume that ALL mechanics are crooks. My buddy owns a repair shop and tells me that happens all the time. People come in with cars that have serious problems but the owner just assumes that he's trying to rip them off. Mostly because of all of the hype (like the post that started this thread). My buddy spends a disproportionate amount of time convincing people that he's not a crook. Very sad situation. I have to believe that a certain percentage of the hype is just that...media BS. What I call "road rage syndrome". A fictitious "problem" totally created by the media. Signature-|>- Diode -<|- '68 L79 Coupe '79 Triumph Bonneville > When people come in and ask to have the air in their tires changed, then you > really have to worry (its happened) [quoted text clipped - 86 lines] > > > > > > > > To reply, remove the NOSPAM at the end of the email address provided. Yeah well, if you read the screed that started this, the guy has an axe to grind. He thinks that it was crooked shops that ran him out of business after 3 years. I'm sorry, but the honest shop's reputation gets around. And if they fail, it's usually their own fault. > The other side of the coin is that so many people assume that ALL mechanics > are crooks. My buddy owns a repair shop and tells me that happens all the [quoted text clipped - 109 lines] > > > > > To reply, remove the NOSPAM at the end of the email address > provided. But why? Anyone with a problem with a dealer service can contact the dealers franchise manufacture, the BBB, the States Attorney General, the local Business Licensing agency, as well as local tv station, if they have a problem. > We're all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair > shop. Think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Thank you! If you owned a large shop for only 31/2 year, then you're aware of one of the biggest problems. I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest you no longer own it because it wasn't profitable enough or you outright went broke. The difficulty with the present situation is that the consumer wants the lowest possible price without actually concerning themselves with what they get until something goes wrong. In addition to that it's very expensive to properly equip a facility and hire properly trained technicians that actually give a sh.t. The properly equipped and trained shop has to compete with the guy that hires the bottom 50% of the technician class, if they went to school at all. And his $10 thermostat has to be competitively priced against the $2.50 offshore one that the low-baller is selling. Job1, convince the consumer that they get what they pay for. As it is, I think things work out fairly well for the most part. The guy looking to deal with the backyarder and the discounter gets exactly what he pays for. My gripe is the cases of shoddy workmanship at the high priced dealers, but at least there you have the manufacturer to go back to . FWIW > We're all finding it increasingly difficult to find a quality auto repair > shop. Think of how often you have had a problem with an auto repair shop. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Thank you! |
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