Greetings!                                                         December 2011                                                        

Recently, I happened to be sitting at the front counter when a customer I had never met, walked in to have a noise diagnosed.  As he stood filling out a drop-off envelope, I couldn't help but notice he seemed ill at ease.  In reality, he seemed upset.  Now, when someone is upset,  I usually have a sense of why, but this was not the case here.  As he filled out the paperwork, I took a quick glance at his vehicle's history.  His Volvo had 45,000 miles, and although we had performed several services, I saw no record of the 30,000 mile maintenance.  Realizing that he was probably here to have something checked that he felt was covered under our warranty, I introduced myself as the owner and asked how we were doing so far.  Obviously upset, he leaned forward and pointing to a recommendation on the bottom of his previous work order, whispered: "This was not needed, there is no leak."  I understood at that moment why he was upset.  I also realized that he probably hadn't reached that conclusion on his own.  At the bottom of his last invoice we had noted that his radiator was leaking and would need to be replaced at some point.  Whomever had performed his last service had probably told him there was no leak in his radiator. 

I realized I faced an uphill battle based entirely on the assessment of another shop.  Now it was my turn to feel frustrated, not with the customer, but with the other shop.  This customer was caught between two very different opinions.  A less thorough shop had obviously worked on his car and not seeing any leak, wrote off our recommendation.  I asked him if he had a minute to look at his car with me.  Knowing I was the owner, he agreed.  Before we walked to his car, I took another quick glance back through his history.  Twice he had been in for a low coolant message, twice we had indicated there was a problem with the radiator.  As we drove around the block I listened intently for the noise that was his original reason for coming by.  The noise as it turned out was baffling, a strange fluttering noise that was louder on acceleration.  It was certainly not a noise I was familiar with.  I told him I would have our technician check into it.  Bringing the car back to the shop, I located the technician who had last worked on the car and asked him to show us the leak he had noted.  Now my staff is seldom surprised when I put them on the spot like this.  I am always pulling technicians aside and asking them to explain or justify assessments.  Despite this, my staff is very cooperative.  Simply put, they do not recommend anything that is not needed.  They are a good crew.  Not because I watch them, but because that is who they are. 

Although it had been several months since he had last seen the car, the technician remembered the recommendation.  In a matter of minutes he had the car up on a lift and waved us over.  The leak was in the lower right corner of the radiator, completely hidden from view except to a trained eye.  At this point the customer's demeanor softened somewhat.  However, there was still the noise.  Although I was baffled, our technician politely agreed to look into it.  Taking the customer aside I apologized that our service writer had perhaps not gone into sufficient detail when noting the radiator leak.  As we spoke the technician once again waived us over.  Motioning towards the back of the engine he pointed to where the turbo boost pipe attached to the turbo inlet.  Looking carefully, I could just make out where the turbo pipe had popped out of its hose and was suspended, by its own weight, directly over the turbo.  The clamps that were on the hose were a generic style and had been used to replace the original clamps that must have been lost when the last service was performed.  That pipe had been removed to replace the spark plugs and the clamps were probably misplaced during reassembly.  Not only were the clamps too large, but they were installed in the wrong position and had allowed the pipe to slip completely out of the hose.  The car would have probably stalled or died if it had accelerated with any urgency, possibly endangering both our customer and anyone with him. 

By now the customer was almost appreciative in his demeanor.  "What should I do now?" he asked.  "You don't need to do anything" I told him.  "The radiator, although it is leaking, is still fairly new and unlikely to fail suddenly.  When you are ready, we can replace it.  However, you will need to keep an eye on your coolant and may want to replace it for this reason alone.  After all, it is far cheaper to replace a radiator than to risk overheating and possibly damaging your engine.  As for the loose hose, we will secure it, install the correct clamps and your car will be fine.  After that, you are done." 

By this time I had spent over an hour with our customer and his entire attitude had changed.  He actually seemed happy.  "Any charge?" he asked.  I replied, "No, anytime you have a question about our work we will look into at no cost".   In this case the problem was not of our doing, but he was still "our" customer, and we have always extended this free courtesy to all our customers.  As he left, he turned and mouthed the words "Thank you."  I smiled and nodded.  Returning to my desk I couldn't help but wonder how many customers have faced a similar situation.  Very few shops have our expertise and even fewer offer our level of integrity.  Unfortunately some shops will discredit another shop's work simply to make themselves look good.  Unless, that is, they are taken to task  as this shop was.  And that is not to say that we are perfect.  

There have been those rare cases where my staff has made mistakes. The point is, these mistakes never cost our customers a penny.  We don't make excuses.  We simply accept responsibility, fix the problem and move on.  In fact, we generally go far beyond what is required to make matters right.  There is a simple reason for this.  It is because of the type of people we employ.  I know, I spent decades seeking out and retaining our current staff, some of whom have been with us for three decades or more.  At every step in this process I have sought out individuals who were not only the best in their respective specialties, but who were also willing to put integrity before all else.  Our current staff is the result of this painstaking process.  Because of our expertise, we are, by default, frequently at odds with less talented or truthful shops.  This is why good communication with our customers is so crucial.  This is why I tell anyone willing to listen: "Find a good shop and stick with it."  In the long run you will save yourself a good deal of time, money and grief.  For now, I am just glad I was at the counter that morning.  I think our customer is as well.

Mark Bredesen

P.S.

I hope anyone reading this will take the opportunity to contact me directly if they ever have questions about either work we have performed or recommendations we have made.  Providing second opinions on our own recommendations or work is never a problem and will be given top priority and handled objectively.  I enjoy earning your trust.  I am happy to look into any concern,  no matter how trivial, and will always apply the same objective standards that I do when inspecting work performed by any shop.  This is the way all businesses should operate.  This is the way our's always has.