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Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by Keith Simpson on January 18, 2015, 11:08 am
Edited by board administrator January 21, 2015, 11:54 am

http://www.mukaumedia.co.uk/goodgarageschemecouk-how-do-you-respond-to-this/#comments

Re: Good Garage Scheme

Posted by Lee Mackintosh on January 18, 2015, 8:10 pm, in reply to "Good Garage Scheme "
Lee Mackintosh

We had a small courier company in the same yard as us who became a member of the good garage scheme, all they did was put an unsafe 4 post ramp in the unit and service there own vans and bought plenty of forte products.

so basicslly it seems anyone can get onboard without any trading history within the repair or maintenance sector of the automotive industry.

Good Garage Scheme I don't think. Still I bet forte off loaded a fair amount of flushing agents.

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by Peter Warman on January 21, 2015, 12:53 pm, in reply to "Good Garage Scheme #"
Peter Warman

Hi Keith

I agree Keith its now 2015, vehicle technology is advancing faster than ever. Its time for our Motor Industry to MAN UP!

Stop hiding behind schemes that are no more than a vehicle to sell a companies products or just pay an annual fee to be a member of a "scheme" that in all honesty means nothing to the motoring public, only the GOOD feedback cards / reports are ever shown (that applies to ALL the payed for schemes)

If you sell loads of additives then put a sign up on your garage wall, do not trick your customers into products that they do not really need

Time to look towards to a single company scheme that already does a great deal for our motor trade, not one that sits on the side lines and just takes an annual fee

2013 - 2015 has seen a proliferation of 3rd party companies that are making a living from your hard work by pretending to send more work your way (have a customer desperate for service in your area) all this is doing is driving down prices and quality

I understand that some garages may be struggling and take chances to get additional work, but it's about time our trade got the recognition it deserves and stop companies profiteering from our skills

Peter

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by sean savage on January 21, 2015, 3:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Good Garage Scheme #"

Couldnt agree more peter!! (we really need a like button on here :-) the trouble is while ever there are cut price cowboys out there doing half a job for half the price nothing is going to change.
You NEVER see electricians and plumbers undercutting each other!!!
Just had a good long term customer come in today with a face like thunder. she has come for years and a lovely woman. she has been to a friend of a friend for her car servicing (because it was convenient) he has serviced it (ford puma) and told her it has a leaking rocker cover gasket,now she stormed in with the old rocker gasket and her invoice,questioning if we had ever changed it in the first place,i explained we NEVER charge for something that hasnt been done.we had charged her £45 parts and labour. the guy chraged her £80, she demanded the £80 back!! i told her it still had 6 months warranty and i would have replaced it all free of charge had she come to see me so i could not refund her....she got more upset so i said if you bought a tv from currys you wouldnt but the same telly elsewhere for more money then demand that price back from currys and she said no i wouldnt!! i offered her a £45 mot free as a goodwill gesture she said no thankyou and left!!! tell me i handle it correctly please?? i explained no one is perfect and mistakes happed and parts go faulty but surely its how you handle that issue that counts if it arrises.... she had none of it and left.
I know this friend of a friend will have slagged us off and bad mouthed us and for some reason she has believed them.

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by Phil Dunmore on January 21, 2015, 6:54 pm, in reply to "Re: Good Garage Scheme #"
Philip Dunmore

Maybe she wasn't as good a customer as you thought Sean.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by Mark McGrath on January 21, 2015, 7:58 pm, in reply to "Re: Good Garage Scheme #"
Mark McGrath

As phil says good riddance.
The top and bottom of it is,we cant win !!!
We all have cowboys near us,no equipment,no data,workshops a mess,charge a little less than us,but not much.
'but' they still get work !
Basically a high percentage of the general public want their vehicle repairing as cheap as possible.
They don't care about quality workmanship,quality of parts,warranty,building a trusting relationship with you the repairer.
'Until' something goes wrong.then they go back to the Wild West,cowboy occupied garage and get no sense what so ever.
They fob them off with jibberish and lies until they go away.
Then they 'the general public' go to a garage who have invested hard earned money,spent hundreds and thousands of hours learning their trade.who want to do a job for a fair rate.
And when we tell them what's required to do the repair properly,we get the usual crap,
i've got no money left,it's a bad time,but my mate says,the other garage said it was so and so,I've been on the internet and the brake discs and pads are only £12.50 blah blah blah.
so we can not win !!!
But we keep trying .

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by Andy Mason on January 22, 2015, 8:29 am, in reply to "Re: Good Garage Scheme #"
Andy Mason

This post seems to have turned its self around to the quality of customer, not the quality of garage that is prepared to stuff there customers up with chemicals that they probably don't want or need, so the garage can claim to be a "Good Garage" rather than a vehicle to sell more products for a chemical company.
Don't get me wrong, the products are very good, we use them ourselves, but only when we, or our customer needs, not as the scheme says you must on every vehicle serviced.
As can probably be seen from many threads before, this isn't a new revelation, people have just chosen to ignore it for there own ends.
Andy

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by Steve Nicholas on January 22, 2015, 8:34 am, in reply to "Re: Good Garage Scheme #"
Stephen Nicholas

I left the Good Garage Scheme some years ago after it became blatantly obvious that it was just a money-making exercise for Forte.

They had tried to bully me as I was "not completing the paperwork properly". I queried what they meant and was told that I hadn't done forms for all of the services I must be doing.

They guessed that I must be doing 5 services a day to which I replied that I wished that was the case!

They also treated my rep very unfairly so I refused to do any more business with them and I believe that others in my area followed suit.

As for customers going to cheaper rivals and all of the BS that flies about... I've paid the mortgage so have to suffer fools even less than I used to. I understand that others are not so lucky and still have to earn well.

I have retained many good customers over the years. I think they even pay the premium for my cheery nature and (bad) jokes!

Regards,

Steve

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by Matt Seabrook on February 1, 2015, 9:34 am, in reply to "Re: Good Garage Scheme #"
Matt Seabrook

I have been asked about many schemes but have not joined any such good garage scheme. We see the work that some of these garages that are in the schemes turn out, it's laughable what is considered acceptable.

We also have a garage (I use that term very loosely) that has opened up in the last couple of years. They are doing cuts price work and cash in hand work for locals. Second hand tyres, vehicle repairs

etc. I know they have fitted track rods with out refitting rack boots and welding one broken track rod back together. They are going to kill some one one day. They brought them selves a code reader some time ago and a lady went in with a Rover 75 1.8 turbo petrol with a running issue. It came up with a boost fault among other issues so they told her to get a turbo. She did this and after a week she rung them to find out how the car was. This is when she realised the error of her ways and asked us to take a look at it. The car was running on three from cold start, steam coming out of the exhaust and a lack of coolant. It was no surprise there where HC's in the header tank. Five mins and the fault diagnosed correctly as a head gasket issue. But on saying that I bet these are the next garage to be in the good garage scheme.

Happy days

Re: Good Garage Scheme #

Posted by John Ritchie on February 6, 2015, 7:33 pm, in reply to "Re: Good Garage Scheme #"
John Ritchie

Loads of good comments as usual , i was approached years ago by a Forte rep for GGS but i told him & schemes like it, i,m independent for a reason, i don't like a company saying what i can & can't sell.
The problem i see with some form of ASE certification is we need to keep up to date on courses & in some cases that would be more training each year which obviously costs in loss of earnings & would reflect in our hourly rate.
The non qualified repair shop still trading & probably busier as they are now half the hourly rate as there is no investment in training etc.
I think an ASE type certification would be good but it would have to be implemented in over a long period due to the costs involved in training.

Regards

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