'What Would You Do?'

The shop owner who told us about the following dilemma asked that his name not be used. But the problem is interesting, and we wonder how you would have handled it.

A regular customer had her 1994 Toyota Camry towed in because it had no brakes. The left front brake hose had burst. Because the vehicle had more than 200,000 miles on it, the shop recommended doing both front brake hoses.

The very next day the customer called and said her son was driving the car when the brakes seized up again. She said her son was going to be late to work.

The service adviser told the customer that the information he received from her yesterday was that the brakes went out and were smoking, not seized, and that a brake hose had burst, which is a different problem, and that she would need to bring the car back in. She hung up on him, then called back and asked for the owner.

She told the shop owner that the service adviser had been “flippant” toward her regarding her vehicle’s brake problem. When the owner reviewed the recorded phone conversation, it was evident that the adviser had not been disrespectful or flippant, he just hadn’t shown any empathy for the vehicle breaking down again. He also didn’t offer to have the vehicle towed or send the shuttle driver out to pick up her son.

After the vehicle was towed back in, it was determined that the brake master cylinder was intermittently not releasing, causing the brakes to overheat and fade. The master cylinder probably caused the old deteriorated brake hose to burst when the fluid got hot and pressurized.

So that is what the shop owner was facing! What would you do?

Tad Lucas

• Tad Lucas, general manager, Hubbard Woods Motors, Winnetka, Ill. – “Unfortunately in the service business, when dealing with machinery and humans, something is going to fail. We have all experienced situations like this in some way. When these sorts of issues occur, I try to look at where the system failed so we don’t make a similar mistake in the future. I also try to look at it from the customer’s point of view. Whether or not there was an error in handling the customer or the repair process makes no difference. The customer’s perception is the rule.
“This Toyota had 200,000 miles on it. There are two parts on that car, those that have failed and those that are going to fail. We cannot, as a business, replace every part on a vehicle because of this aged condition. We can spend a little more time advising our customer of the ramifications of having an older vehicle and the costs and risks associated with that (if they didn’t already know).
“In this instance, we would have reimbursed any cost the customer incurred with the tow. We would have installed the replacement master cylinder at no labor cost to the customer and asked them to pay for the replacement parts needed. We also would have diplomatically reminded the customer of the age of the components on their high-mileage vehicle.
“The master cylinder was likely compromised when the brake hose failed. If their paying for the part were met with any verbal or non-verbal dissatisfaction, we would have absorbed the cost of the part also. We would do this only to ensure our customer was not left with any ill feelings about what was already a difficult situation.
“Fortunately, no one was injured in a situation that could have been much worse. The cost associated with the retention of a customer could be accounted to advertising or a continuing education program, i.e., the ‘school of hard knocks.’ Even if no mistakes are made, remember: ‘the customer’s perception is the rule.’”

Steve Geiling, AAM

• Steve Geiling, AAM, owner, Geiling Service Inc., Metairie, La.; and member, ASA Mechanical Division Operations Committee – “First, I don’t think the vehicle was properly inspected in the beginning. Had the complete brake system been checked, evidence of the overheating caused by the seizing of the brakes may have been noticed and evaluated.
“Second, I don’t think the car was properly test-driven after replacing the hoses. I know sometimes we don’t have much time to test drive a vehicle for any longer than a few minutes, but seeing as the problem reoccurred so soon after the customer picked up the car, it may have happened on a more thorough test drive.
“At my shop, after any brake work we will raise the vehicle up to check for any possible overheating or binding in the wheels. To address the problem with the customer, I would have apologized and offered to tow the vehicle in at no charge. Upon finding the master cylinder, I would have asked the customer to pay for the part only and I would have covered the labor.”



• What the shop owner did – After apologizing for the car breaking down and for the way the customer had been treated, the shop owner sent his parts driver to pick up the son and arranged to have the vehicle towed to the shop at no charge to the customer. Because her conversation with the service adviser had not been handled properly, the shop owner also replaced the brake master cylinder free of charge to the customer.


• TJ Reilly’s thoughts on the dilemma – “I’ve made the same mistake many times in the past that this service adviser made. It’s so easy to get into the fix-the-car mode. We forget that when a customer is upset, the very first thing that needs to be ‘fixed’ is the customer’s emotions. To remind myself and my employees, I developed the following company policy:
Under all warranty situations, real or conceived, employees are to:

1.  Allow customer to vent his or her frustrations without interrupting
2.  Show empathy for the customer’s situation
3.  Apologize for the car breaking down without admitting fault
4.  Thank customer for bringing situation to our attention
5.  Use customer’s name
6.  Identify with customer’s problem and situation
7.  Make the appointment without fixing problem over the phone
8.  Arrange towing if needed
9.  Offer free rental car if needed (ask customer)

Feel free to comment.  TJ

Heater Core. What Would You Do?

The following situation comes from Nate Smith, owner of Nate Smith Optimal Auto Care Inc. in Santa Cruz, Calif.

“I always read your articles in AutoInc. with interest. I’m now wrestling with a question, and I thought you might offer me some insight.
“The vehicle is a 1996 Audi A4 Quattro. Not a new customer, but one we have not seen for several years.
“A customer calls and asks for a quote to replace a heater core and clutch. We give him the quote. Customer then brings the car in and asks for us to replace the heater core.
“We asked if he would like us to diagnose the problem and he said no, just replace the heater core. So we replaced the heater core. It’s a big job on this car – like 10 hours, because you have to pull the dash to access the heater box.
“Of course, this did not repair his problem, which turns out to be water blowing out of the dash vents.
“When he returned the car a week later to show me the water leaking from under the heater housing and water droplets coming out of the vents, it sure looked like A/C condensation to me. Definitely not coolant. Yes, he’d been using the A/C. Yes, he can hear water sloshing around as he drives, and he can hear the noise of the blower fan picking up water.
“He is mad because 1) we didn’t repair his problem; and 2) now there is more water leaking out than there was before, so he thinks we made it worse.
“I suggested that perhaps the recharging of the A/C – which we did as part of the heater core replacement – has given him a more efficient A/C system, and so it is now generating more water than before.
“So, I offered to take it apart to see what was wrong – if he is prepared to pay the whole repair bill if we were not at fault for making his problem worse.
“With the advantage of 20-20 hindsight, I think first our service adviser should have asked for a symptom so we could tell the tech and he could know what he was supposed to repair. He could then test it when done to make sure it was fixed. Second, our tech – when he did not see anything obviously wrong with the old heater core – should have asked what it was he was supposed to be fixing. So perhaps we did not handle the original interaction properly. But we did specifically offer to diagnose and were turned down.
“To complicate this (it is the real world, after all), the guy is something of a jerk. He’s obnoxious and accusatory and found fault with our original job – scratches on his radio and scratches on a piece of wood trim on the dashboard that ‘weren’t there before.’ We have since replaced the wood trim panel ($400) and written him a check to compensate for the ‘damage’ to the value of his radio ($175), so nobody here is thinking this is a customer we want to keep. He even told our tech that his previous shop had tossed the keys to him and told him not to come back (so apparently someone else agrees with our assessment of him).
“With a nice, friendly customer – someone we would want to establish a long-term relationship with – I think I would bend over backward to help him out of this messy situation. But it is hard to want to help a jerk.
“Do we owe him anything at this point? Is there a right answer?”

What would you do?

Pete Rudloff

• Peter V. “Pete” Rudloff, owner, Pete’s Garage Inc., Newark, Del., and member, ASA Mechanical Division Operations Committee – “I would encourage you to look past if the guy is a ‘good’ customer or a ‘jerk’ and focus on the facts of the repair. If you can get an ironclad repair solution for the customer, you will likely find he is less combative and really just wants his car fixed.
In my book, any customer who sees the value of putting thousands of dollars into a 15-year-old car is generally a logical thinking person and only needs the right information to make a good decision. Coming up with the right info is your job.
“Logically speaking, liquid at the vents is going to originate from one or more of only three places: either an external water leak that is accumulating in the HVAC box, HVAC box condensation drain that is plugged or a leaking heater core.
“According to the service info, the HVAC box must be completely removed to replace the heater core, as well as to service the drain. I would consider it best practice to inspect, and if necessary, clean the drain at this time. Unless I was positive it was operating as designed, I would ask the customer for permission to inspect the drain. This may mean pulling the dash again; best-case scenario is that you could get this working without removing the dash.
“I would approach the customer with the following known facts:

“1. Heater core is not leaking.
“2. Water at the vents can be caused by a drain obstruction, and/or an external water leak.
“3. You would like an opportunity to verify if it is currently draining as designed.
“4. Even if there is an external water leak, it is possible the drain is not flowing as designed.

“I am inclined to believe there is a drain issue with the HVAC. I would feel obligated to address this issue in some way. You will have to decide for yourself if cleaning the HVAC drain, and verifying it works properly, is a reasonable part of a heater core or evaporator replacement. I believe it is, but some could make the argument that it is above and beyond standard practice. If that is the case, you should offer it as an additional service while the dash is removed.
“My advice is to inspect and repair the drain at your cost. If you can establish the drain is flowing, and there is an external leak, you should not offer to resolve that for free; I encourage you to pay your tech his full rate during the redo process. View this as a training opportunity. No shop runs flawlessly, and how the leadership responds to adversity is what separates the average shop from a great shop.
“If the customer allows you the opportunity to inspect the drain, and you are able to resolve his issues, I would offer him a sincere apology. I would explain why the situation occurred, and how you have modified your shop’s operating procedures to keep this from occurring again. I would further encourage him to keep your shop in mind for future repairs, and let him know how important it is to you to provide good service.”


• Here is what T.J. Reilly told the owner: 
“Having dealt with similar situations, I now have a company policy that states that the technician is responsible to make sure that the repair he is making has been properly diagnosed. Any technician who replaces a part that has not been diagnosed properly will not get paid for the labor performed.
“In regard to your ethical question, Dale Carnegie, the author of ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People has a saying in his book that goes like this, ‘Here lies the body of William Jay, who died maintaining his right of way. He was right, dead right as he sped along, but he’s just as dead as if he were wrong.’
“That being said, you need to decide what your goal is. Is your goal to ‘win the war’ or to ‘win the battle’?
“If you do what is legally correct (strictly honoring your contractual obligations), you will win the battle but definitely lose the war. Today, more than ever, you need to go the extra mile to protect your reputation. Just a few bad reviews online can cost you many thousands of dollars in lost future business.
“Now here’s the most important part. If you expect to keep an upset customer’s business and his referrals, you first have to fix his _______?, before you can fix his car.
“The correct answer is emotions! The customer needs to feel understood. He needs to know and feel that you empathize with his situation.
“After you’ve fixed his emotions, I would recommend that you ask your customer what you should have done differently in the repair process and what he would like you to do for him now.
“If your customer is out of control emotionally, ask him to go home and sleep on it. Don’t agree to anything while your customer is out of control. Put him in a free rental car if you have to.
“Strangely enough, if you can make a customer like this happy, he or she will send you lots and lots of new customers.”