Derek & all,Obviously the spare is only a minor point but there are a couple of things to consider.
Firstly, it does become a safety item as soon as it is fitted, and it's a real pain to get a puncture, go for the spare and find it is U/S.
The more important point though, is how we are perceived by our customers. Remember, when we service a car the customer gets to see very little of what we actually do for the money. What he can see and check are items lke the spare and lights.Whether he can easily do them himself is not the issue,he is paying to get them done.
If attention to detail is poor the customer will tend to think, if they can't be trusted to get the easy stuff right, what about the important areas, did they check the brakes properly?
I picked up my motorcycle from having some warranty repairs done. The clutch had absolutely no free travel, it only took me a minute to fix. It just tended to sow seeds of doubt about whether the mechanic cared very much about getting the job done right.
Tom Williams