Posted by Peter Warman on April 1, 2014, 10:28 am Edited by board administrator April 2, 2014, 12:41 pm
Press Release today
Have a look at the press release below. This does not seem right to me, having to bid on line for jobs, surely this is going to drive down prices? and the quality of workmanship
What happens if you make a successful bid and win the job at a price and then run into a few problems which may incur additional labour or parts? will you have to swallow the extra cost? Customers will obviously be irritated if the cost is above the bid price
I hope this is not the future, after 40 years in the trade I end up in a bidding war to get work. It does sadden me that companies trade off the backs of hard working Sole Traders and Independents to make a living
"The Unipart Car Care Centre network has appointed new quality-focused online servicing, maintenance and repair concept Autobutler.co.uk as a preferred supplier.
The new agreement will enable Unipart Car Care Centre's 700 UK sites to bid for service and repair requests submitted by car owners via the Autobutler website.
Clive Thorpe, Autobutler's UK sales director, comments: "We're delighted to have secured preferred supplier status from such a leading name in the UK aftermarket sector. For Unipart to have chosen Autobutler is an endorsement of the strength of our track record in Europe and of our commitment to providing the highest quality standards. We're excited to have this fantastic opportunity to develop a positive ongoing partnership with Unipart Car Care Centres."
Since 2010, Autobutler has created more than 135,000 genuine job opportunities for quality garages in Germany and Scandinavia. It is now investing more than £1million in its expansion into the UK servicing, maintenance and repair sector.
Paul Dineen, regional director, Unipart Car Care Centre proposition, adds: "Unipart Automotive continues to strengthen the Unipart Car Care Centre programme and we see this opportunity as a key part of the programme going forward.
"We believe Autobutler.co.uk is in an excellent position to generate new work for the UCCC network through its online vehicle servicing website. We look forward to working with Autobutler and believe the enrolment of the UCCC network will be integral to its success."
Hi Peter. I wasa member of 'who can fix my car'. Same idea. You bid for a job and if you are the lowest bidder , you get the job. You have to pay a fee for every bid you make. Did bid once for a cyl head gasket on a rover 200. I put my competitive bid in but did not get the job. The labour for the winning bid was £60. Needless to say I have not bid again. We also did service work for a well known tyre supplier. You got paid for doing a manufacture service. Gave it up as was not as Thorough as we would like. You get what you pay for. I would not give unipart the time of day. They are not there to help their members but only themselves. Left them as well due to unrealistic demands. Regards Les
There will only be one winner if this sort of thing takes off, and thats the people collecting the bidding fees !! We,as a garage won't get involved in this scheme and I don't think anyone else should either ! Our chap in reception put his "Patio" job on one of these websites and it cost each bidder £15 JUST to give a quote !!
You will always get those who do not market themselves properly or just cannot fill the workshop support these sort of companies. True there will always be a middle person taking your profit and if you think that is the right way forward than carry on, But I can tell you its not. You are in the hands of people who want to save money and they will rarely be long term customers,to do a proper job, you have to charge the correctly or otherwise how do you keep up with technology changes and your forever increasing costs.
I am a c c c. After many arguments with the parent company I have established new T&C.s. Pointing out to them that they are trading of the back of a quality garages' reputation not the other way around. But thats another story.
The bidding schemes online, of which there are a number are not good for this trade. I have now bid on six jobs none of which I got. So will I get a rep as being expensive? I dont really care as I/we do a great job and all my physical customers (not virtual) know what they are getting and for how much. They trust us!
We don't want 'shoppers' so I see no point in getting involved anymore with any of the bidding sites. They should really all dissappear and we independents should boycott them.
We are constantly being told the future is online - website booking systems - bidding sites - Lease company portals. we don't need any off these if we are good at what we do. My customers are the best marketing agents I have.
Who really wants to read a tweet from there local garage? Most people don't want to have to think about their cars at all. The next gen of car owners (the tweeters and facebookers) generally cant afford to own decent cars. They spend all their money on redbull weed and rubbers!!!
