Im an ex-service writer, what do you want to know?

[HEMI LOL]

I had a buddy in the AF who had to take his 2003(ish) Roush into the dealer for some reason. While it was parked in the back it got jacked, basically everything that made it different from a GT was stripped off and it was found on milk crates. We all thought it was an inside job. Another friend's dad was the parts manager at the dealership and couldn't dig anything out of the other employees. It was just hard to believe that an insured car got parked behind a dealership, locked behind a gate and stripped of every specific part without it being a service employee who knew it was there and what it had that was valuable. You ever hear of that type of thing?

yes, this happens more than you'd think. especially if the store is in a rough part of town. we had this happen at least 3 times to cars on our lot that where down waiting for parts.

about 98% of dealerships employees in the service department are a "fan" of the brand. like just because dude is at a ford dealer does mean much, he might well hate em. I knew a lot of guys like this. not saying what happened to your buddy isn't suspect, and might very well be a lot kid or something but id be shocked if it was.

 

[HEMI LOL]

How much were you "forced/pressured" to up-sell and how many people took it? Do you feel like you took advantage of the unknowing because of this? Do you feel like your morals changed while there?

*I know there are plenty of good people and dealerships out there that do their best. At the same time, the lines can get shady over time when you're working on commission, pressure from above, etc. This applies to many professions but car dealers definitely have one of the worst reputations.

there is a lot of pressure to push push push. its retarded imho. I never did that to the shagrin of my manager but I also sold well and had stellar CSI so I didnt hear to much about it.

but yes, enormous pressure to push flushes and the like. I only ever sold trans/diffs/brake/coolant flushes at normal intervals. I didnt feel like that was wasted money. fuel induction services can be a snake oil scam and many others.

and my morals didnt change enough for them, hence the "ex" part. I had to go.

 

[HEMI LOL]

I worked at a dealership in F&I years back. Bought my used jeep there. After I purchased, a service advisor told me what they had done to it and said I could easily fix. They pulled the vacuum hose off so my blend vents wouldn't work. They also loosened a airbag connection under my seat and a few other similar things. All designed to get customers back in to pay to fix things. We also told people we filled tires with nitrogen and charged them....we didn't even stock nitrogen.

After working at a dealership and knowing what I know now, I will never, as long as I live ever take any vehicle I own to a dealership for anything.

Sent from my SM-G986U using the svtperformance.com mobile app

sadly a lot of truth here. we never did those kinda shady things with loosing connections and such, but the FI office is criminal, I agree 100%.

 

[HEMI LOL]

Obviously there are exceptions, but are the majority of service advisors car-illiterate? On a rare occasion, I get someone who actually enjoys cars and is an enthusiast. It seems the rest of them don't know the difference between a lug-nut and an air filter.

many are total morons. I often wonder if my success as a write came because Ive turned wrenches and know what im talking about. but most are just reciting lines. just like a telemarketer.

 

[Mpoitrast87]

many are total morons. I often wonder if my success as a write came because Ive turned wrenches and know what im talking about. but most are just reciting lines. just like a telemarketer.

From my personal experience the best advisors are ones who have never touched a car in their life. Our top guy knows nothing about cars while our lowest guy was a tech at the same dealer for 15 years.

 

[me32]

From my personal experience the best advisors are ones who have never touched a car in their life. Our top guy knows nothing about cars while our lowest guy was a tech at the same dealer for 15 years.

What about them makes them the best? Highest sales/goals/surveys?

What was the reason for the tech being the lowest? What was he good at and not good at?

 

[AustinSN]

I worked for a local Honda dealer as an advisor, and I will say that dealership (when I was working there, it's since changed drastically for the worse) was over the top fair.

We were never pushed to upsell, it just was a pretty sizable pay increase if you did. We had 14 master techs, one of which was ranked #4 in the world IIRC by Honda.

If a customer needed an engine and it was just outside of warranty, we would always push for a goodwill from Honda. I remember a Civic came in with a nastttty knock, the QC techs went out and tried their hardest to blow it up because we knew we could get it completely covered if that happened. It didn't happen but we got Honda to cover 90% of it, and then cut some labor for the customer pay so she was out just under $600 total.

I sent a trainee over 100 miles away to a customers house because he didn't swap out the wiper blades they paid for, and didn't put the oil change sticker on the window. He was gone for like 5 hours and my lead tech said he hoped he would **** up again so I could send him off and give him some peace lol.

Our director told us constantly that we would never be in trouble if we went out of our way to make a customer happy. So we did. If it ended up costing too much or something we would sit down with him and determine what happened, and how to avoid it in the future.

We also had free reign to cut parts prices/labor/offer loaners where needed. It made it a piece of cake to sell timing belts/valve adjustments because of it.

 

[me32]

I worked for a local Honda dealer as an advisor, and I will say that dealership (when I was working there, it's since changed drastically for the worse) was over the top fair.

We were never pushed to upsell, it just was a pretty sizable pay increase if you did. We had 14 master techs, one of which was ranked #4 in the world IIRC by Honda.

If a customer needed an engine and it was just outside of warranty, we would always push for a goodwill from Honda. I remember a Civic came in with a nastttty knock, the QC techs went out and tried their hardest to blow it up because we knew we could get it completely covered if that happened. It didn't happen but we got Honda to cover 90% of it, and then cut some labor for the customer pay so she was out just under $600 total.

I sent a trainee over 100 miles away to a customers house because he didn't swap out the wiper blades they paid for, and didn't put the oil change sticker on the window. He was gone for like 5 hours and my lead tech said he hoped he would **** up again so I could send him off and give him some peace lol.

Our director told us constantly that we would never be in trouble if we went out of our way to make a customer happy. So we did. If it ended up costing too much or something we would sit down with him and determine what happened, and how to avoid it in the future.

We also had free reign to cut parts prices/labor/offer loaners where needed. It made it a piece of cake to sell timing belts/valve adjustments because of it.

That awsome to hear sounds like at the time you worked at a great dealership.

 

[Mpoitrast87]

I worked for a local Honda dealer as an advisor, and I will say that dealership (when I was working there, it's since changed drastically for the worse) was over the top fair.

We were never pushed to upsell, it just was a pretty sizable pay increase if you did. We had 14 master techs, one of which was ranked #4 in the world IIRC by Honda.

If a customer needed an engine and it was just outside of warranty, we would always push for a goodwill from Honda. I remember a Civic came in with a nastttty knock, the QC techs went out and tried their hardest to blow it up because we knew we could get it completely covered if that happened. It didn't happen but we got Honda to cover 90% of it, and then cut some labor for the customer pay so she was out just under $600 total.

I sent a trainee over 100 miles away to a customers house because he didn't swap out the wiper blades they paid for, and didn't put the oil change sticker on the window. He was gone for like 5 hours and my lead tech said he hoped he would **** up again so I could send him off and give him some peace lol.

Our director told us constantly that we would never be in trouble if we went out of our way to make a customer happy. So we did. If it ended up costing too much or something we would sit down with him and determine what happened, and how to avoid it in the future.

We also had free reign to cut parts prices/labor/offer loaners where needed. It made it a piece of cake to sell timing belts/valve adjustments because of it.

This is how most dealers operate IMO. My dealer was the same way til COVID hit. Now we are not allowed to give any discounts of any kind no matter how big the job. If a customer will only do the work if they can get a discount we let the customer walk. Which sucks.

 

[AustinSN]

What about them makes them the best? Highest sales/goals/surveys?

What was the reason for the tech being the lowest? What was he good at and not good at?

A good advisor is a people-person before anything else. Once a customer can relate to you and trust you, they will listen/purchase from you.

My lead tech was a psychologist and had worked face to face with tons of different people before becoming a tech, he was covered in tattoos and gauged earrings, he was aggressive as hell but could flip the switch and get a customer to eat out of the palm of his hand if needed.

Techs aren't generally like that. They want to get away from people and it shows when you bring them in to talk to a customer who wants to talk to them.

 

[HEMI LOL]

This is how most dealers operate IMO. My dealer was the same way til COVID hit. Now we are not allowed to give any discounts of any kind no matter how big the job. If a customer will only do the work if they can get a discount we let the customer walk. Which sucks.

we had the power to discount, you just better have a good reason for what you did. I usually comp'd the LOF on a bigger job for the customer, I felt that was a good way to show I understood the cost factor.

 

[Mpoitrast87]

What about them makes them the best? Highest sales/goals/surveys?

What was the reason for the tech being the lowest? What was he good at and not good at?

Sales an surveys determine how good you are. Our top guy usually has great surveys and he sells work like crazy. I don’t know how he does it. I sit right next to him and he honestly does a shit job explaining issues to customers but people always say yes. While the tech does the opposite. Since he has a mechanical background he tends to over explain issues to customers. Most customers don’t really care about the fine details. They just want to know how much it’ll cost and when it’ll be done.

 

[HEMI LOL]

I worked for a local Honda dealer as an advisor, and I will say that dealership (when I was working there, it's since changed drastically for the worse) was over the top fair.

We were never pushed to upsell, it just was a pretty sizable pay increase if you did. We had 14 master techs, one of which was ranked #4 in the world IIRC by Honda.

If a customer needed an engine and it was just outside of warranty, we would always push for a goodwill from Honda. I remember a Civic came in with a nastttty knock, the QC techs went out and tried their hardest to blow it up because we knew we could get it completely covered if that happened. It didn't happen but we got Honda to cover 90% of it, and then cut some labor for the customer pay so she was out just under $600 total.

I sent a trainee over 100 miles away to a customers house because he didn't swap out the wiper blades they paid for, and didn't put the oil change sticker on the window. He was gone for like 5 hours and my lead tech said he hoped he would **** up again so I could send him off and give him some peace lol.

Our director told us constantly that we would never be in trouble if we went out of our way to make a customer happy. So we did. If it ended up costing too much or something we would sit down with him and determine what happened, and how to avoid it in the future.

We also had free reign to cut parts prices/labor/offer loaners where needed. It made it a piece of cake to sell timing belts/valve adjustments because of it.

this post triggered my writer PTSD LOL

 

[AustinSN]

this post triggered my writer PTSD LOL

Lol it wasn't exactly an easy industry but my dealer made it much easier, I believe.

 

[me32]

this post triggered my writer PTSD LOL

Did you experience not go this smooth?

 

[HEMI LOL]

Did you experience not go this smooth?

the job overall was franky easy money, but I remember those calls. my tires didnt get rotated. I got no oil change sticker. you curbed my wheels during the oil change(the Karen special). and plenty of times sending lot kids to fix mess ups to save CSI.

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

How much were you "forced/pressured" to up-sell and how many people took it? Do you feel like you took advantage of the unknowing because of this? Do you feel like your morals changed while there?

*I know there are plenty of good people and dealerships out there that do their best. At the same time, the lines can get shady over time when you're working on commission, pressure from above, etc. This applies to many professions but car dealers definitely have one of the worst reputations.

This was one I had to fight and push against constantly from my boss and some of the techs. I sell a job based off labor time and the system was set up to automatically add 10% to the labor times as a cushion, and then on top of that, if we knew that the job was significantly harder than the labor time suggested we could give it a few more hours to cover our ass. I don't see anything wrong with that because ultimately the customer agrees on the price. But when you are mid job and the tech is coming to me saying he needs 6 more hours because he did something that cost him longer, well then I have a problem with that because he is asking me to tell the customer I'm going to need about $700-1000 from you on an already expensive repair that we already worked out what the cost should be. Most times it is not the techs fault and we make it clear that there are unforeseen costs that can arise, like from say broken bolts in the process or if you are working on any VW where plastic parts will break left and right just from breathing on them. That is all normal and fair, but I had a tech that would come in left and right telling me he needed 5 or more hours on all these big jobs and I would have to push back against that because it isn't fair and I knew he was just trying to bank anyway he could off the job. In the one specific job I can think of, I also knew he had plenty of time in the job as it was a motor swap that he told me he could do in half the book time.

So as a service writer, and one who thinks honesty and integrity are important, I made some enemies and annoyed my boss at times when I wouldn't milk the customer, but ultimately I built a strong customer base who often left good reviews stating such about me and that is why they would be coming back. I always felt like my boss and the techs were just looking for the easy buck and to treat every customer like a cash cow and it is failing strategy. In that line of work the shops are going to have to take some small hits now and then because it is more important to ensure the customer keeps returning and recommending your shop to others.

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

Obviously there are exceptions, but are the majority of service advisors car-illiterate? On a rare occasion, I get someone who actually enjoys cars and is an enthusiast. It seems the rest of them don't know the difference between a lug-nut and an air filter.

A lot of them can be. When I would be out my boss would just have his gf man the position and she knew basically nothing about cars, but knew enough to get things going in the estimating system. Even when I started, I knew very little in comparison to what I know now 2 years later, but I would say to be proficient in the job and actually be able to meet goals and bring in good money you have to be proficient and knowledgeable. The techs find most of the issues you are going to be writing up, but as someone who knew what they were looking for and could diag fairly well, I sold a lot of repairs myself.

 

[Black Gold 380R]

not one bit. the general public is horrid to deal with.

Sad, but true. I hate working in an industry where you have to deal with public service. In general people suck or are just a pain in the ___ when they are paying for something LOL.

When I was a lot younger I had to work graveyard shift at 7-11. Customer came in and paid for his items. I gave him his change. Guess he didn't like how I gave him his change and felt all the presidents heads should be facing the same way or something. He held out his hand and told me to give him his change correctly. I smiled and told him if I took that money back out of his hands I was keeping it. He left all pissed off LOL. People are just ridiculous at times.

 

[RedVenom48]

what have you always wanted to know or suspected about dealer service departments? ill tell you the truth.

How much did the techs that were fed grease you to have the 30s 60s 90s preassigned to them?

Asking for a former Lexus tech.