You think this could never happen in your shop.

Being a parent of two boys, I learned quickly not to say,”my kids would never do that.” As soon as those words came out of my mouth, I knew I would be doomed because they inevitably do whatever it was I said they wouldn’t do.

At AWN, we find this same analogy is true when it comes to service managers, technicians, and advisors. Just as soon as the words “that would never happen in my shop,” leave a service manager’s lips, someone does something you never thought would happen.

Here is an example of the latest to come across our screen:

CHECKED BLOWER MOTOR AND FOUND A DEAD MOUSE IN DASH AND BLOWER MOTOR HAD A NEST BUILT IN IT WITH DAMAGE TO THE BLOWER CAGE, ALSO CHECK AI INLET DUCT AND FOUND DAMAGE TO THE SEALS AND REPLACED BOTH THE BLOWER MOTOR, CAGE AND THE AIR INLET DUCT.

Our administrator caught the claim in the booking screen, which enabled the advisor to call the customer to change to customer pay. Unfortunately, now the customer is unhappy because of an unexpected charge after assuming it would be covered under warranty.

Sometimes these items are not caught in the booking screen or until after the customer has taken the car. In these instances, the service department gets to pay for the repair. As we have discussed in previous TIPS, you didn’t just write the repair off, you actually PAID that customer to come to your service department.

Let’s talk about where this went sideways:

There is no customer complaint even present, so we need to educate the advisor.

The tech should have:

- First, verify the customer complaint.
- Stopped as soon as he found the mouse.
- Gotten with the advisor to call the customer immediately for approval to repair the vehicle under customer pay.
- After contacting the customer the advisor should have immediately changed the pay type to avoid confusion and eliminate an error being made.

I am sure there is even more that was missed here that I didn’t mention. Just educating everyone on these processes will help eliminate future “oopsies” from happening.

Remember that even after using this TIP in your meetings, learn from the phrase, “that would never happen.” Your kids or your shop WILL do that “never would happen,” thing!

Never say never.

For more information visit www.awninc.com