Posted by Vince Mosley on March 16, 2010, 5:11 pm Message modified by board administrator March 17, 2010, 3:46 pm
Hi, i have been approached by these people to service vehicles. Has anyone had experience of them? Good or bad. Looking at their website they appear to act as a middle man for the customer, making arrangements for repairs/service and presumably take their cut.They are asking for trade discount on labour and parts. Your views would be appreciated.
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Posted by Darren Cotton on April 10, 2010, 5:18 pm, in reply to "Sevice4Service #" Darren Cotton
My opinion, give them naff all and steer clear of them.
Regards Darren
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Posted by Keith Simpson on April 11, 2010, 8:56 am, in reply to "Re: Sevice4Service #"
I have had a few calls like this, wanting discounts on Mot,Servicing,Labour, Free collection delivery. I always tell them to go forth and multiply.
Keith
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Posted by John Ritchie on April 12, 2010, 9:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Sevice4Service #" John Ritchie
Posted by Dave Hill on April 12, 2010, 9:27 pm, in reply to "Sevice4Service #"
I have just taken a booking for this Friday. I had to quote for the job, but I was not asked to discount anything, just collect & deliver. We offer this anyway for local customers, so I don't have a problem.
Maybe I was cheap enough, without discount!
I will see how it goes, there is no long term commitment & nowt to lose in trying (I hope)
Cheers
Dave
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Posted by John Hancock on May 10, 2010, 6:53 pm, in reply to "Sevice4Service #" John Hancock
Hi Vince. we had a call from these and they asked how much for a service and how much our labour rate was, i was a little apprehensive but but as we pick up and deliver i thought give them a try. we had no problem sent the invoice and they paid no problem.that was a few months ago. coincidental they have phoned today to book a service in again, so we have no reason not to. hth john.
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Posted by Vince Mosley on May 11, 2010, 9:05 am, in reply to "Sevice4Service #" Vince Mosley
Thanks guys, nothing came of the enquiry but if approached again i may be tempted. I am always very wary of this type of call. Vince
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Posted by Dave Hill on May 11, 2010, 9:24 pm, in reply to "Re: Sevice4Service #"
I have kicked these guys into touch now.
To be fair, they have been very sensible to deal with & they seem to appreciate that they need "good guys" working on their behalf. The two services that we did for them, were both less than three years old & therefore, not likely to give us much trouble. They are expected to be washed, collected & delivered too.
We already wash all of our "Full service" jobs anyway & a local collection/delivery service isn't unreasonable. My problem came when the interim service costing was questioned. Our charge is approximately £120 (all inc) for an interim service. They needed a price nearer £80 (all inc) so that they could stick their mark-up on top. Quite simply there is not enough "meat on the job", to run to a wash as well as collect & deliver for just £80.
We will routinely remove all road wheels & brake drums, & the brake pads come out, on every service regardless of age & mileage. Some cars that come through the door, after three years of "dealer servicing", have never had the brake drums off! This is a standard that I have decided, suits the standard that I believe my customers should expect. So in order to fall into the costings of Service4service, I would be compromising my standards. Errm No Thanks!
I also had a call one day, asking for a quote on a 307 HDI clutch, Oh & it needs to be done today!. I asked "what am I up against" & they were honest enough to tell me.... "Mr Clutch has quoted £275". I was struggling to get anywhere near that price & decided "enough is enough"! I don't need to compete on that level!
I asked the question... "What happens in the event of any "interesting" diagnostic work?" The answer was.... "Hmmm in that even, we will normally refer them to the dealer!" OUCH!!! What a kick in the nutts!
Service4Service might suit some garages, but if you like to be in control of your own standards & costings & you are busy enough, then it probably won't be for you. On the other hand, if work is a little "thin on the ground", they might be worth a look.
I should mention, that both customers said that they would be calling us directly, as they liked the service. So that is something to consider perhaps.
Take a look at the Website (If Peter doesn't mind)
They are offering cheep this & cheep that. Do we really need to be associated with a sales pitch like this.....
"""Whether its service, parts or labour, at Service4Service we can save customers up to 65% off the price of a main dealer, with service prices starting at just £85"""
Sod that I think!
Cheers all
Dave
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Posted by Pete Mutlow on May 11, 2010, 9:45 pm, in reply to "Re: Sevice4Service #" Peter Mutlow
Well said Dave. Although I do not get involved in this sort of thing, I have been asked to compomise on service and price by dealers and garages. I tell them where to go because like you and most of us, we do not cut corners to save money for their benefit. Why should we prostitute ourselves for their benefit.
Regards
Pete M
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Posted by ROGER JORDAN on May 11, 2010, 10:36 pm, in reply to "Re: Sevice4Service #" Roger Jordan
Dave, Pete, I agree completely with your comments, Dave with regard to dealer servicing I`ve had cases where the rear wheels have never been removed let alone the drums, WD40, levers and blocks of wood being required on many occasions, how the customer would manage with a puncture I don`t know. The curse of this country today seems to be the "middle man" too many people want to make a living out of other peoples hard work, just handling a product for a large markup instead of getting off their backsides and doing a real day`s work. Like you both, we do a proper service for a fair price with no corners cut whatsoever, taking short cuts will always come back to bight you and profit margins are small enough today without having some parasite creaming off most of it, I have worked for two family businesses in the same village for the last forty years and we are flat out all the time and in that time have seen a lot of five minute wonders come and go so we and I should think the large majority if not all UKAT members must be doing something right!! so my advice is keep doing a good job and tell these people to get a real job also. Regards Roger.
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Posted by Vince Mosley on May 14, 2010, 5:07 pm, in reply to "Sevice4Service #" Vince Mosley
I am of the same opinion that i do not want to compromise my own standards, but as it has been a bit lean of late i thought i would ask about. Thankfully its busy again. Interestingly i had a call from another company today Vigilant Care Plus, so i thought i would indulge them on the phone , not only did they want discount on the labour and parts but were also looking for a 10% discount off the invoice total after everything else!! Suffice to say i told them to go forth and multiply. Once again guys thanks for your input.
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