Parts Replaced During Service.........

[RJAMed]

What would forum members expect to be a satisfactory level of customer care during a (main dealer) engine service?

a) Parts which are defined as inspect (i.e. not automatic replacement) in the service manual are replaced without reference to owner at his expense

b) Parts as above are only replaced after owner confirms agreement and items removed are made available for inspection

c) Parts are replaced without owners consent but items are made available for inspection

 

[rbcoomer]

FWIW I think it depends on the conversation with the dealer. If it's "Can I book my boat in for an engine service?" and no further qualification of that statement then I'd expect (a) or (c). If however the conversation is qualified by "Please can you also let me know of any items over and above a standard service" or "Please contact me if bill is likely to exceed £x..." then I'd say (b). I always qualify what I require and how much I'd expect to pay first, but you have to expect there will usually be 'something' out of the ordinary so I'd always assume 50% on top of any quote for this. Thus if a 'standard' service is £1000, then I'd expect/ask for confirmation if bill is going to exceed £1500.

I ran my own IT business for years and always contacted customers if their bill was likely to exceed anything I estimated or indeed if I spotted anything that I felt should perhaps be done on a preventative basis. I usually over-estimated too - much on the basis of above, so 4 out of 5 times the bill would have been less than customer expected. Not all businesses work on that basis however and I've been astonished by the number of people that commented to me along the lines of "why would you charge them £50 when they were willing to pay £75 etc?"...

My best advice is get at least a couple of quotes/estimates so you know if a price given is too low/high and wherever possible go on recommendations rather than cheapest etc. The guys who looked after a couple of old Jags I had many years ago had customers from all over the UK and even from across the Channel for exactly the same reason! You'll notice a few names pop up on these forums time and time again for those same reasons.

 

[oldgit]

We always take a phone number to be able to contact owner if "stuff" needs doing other than agreed work and always try to find out what customer thinks he is getting for his money.
Just not interested in stand up rows about unexpected work cropping up .So always call owner get OK and explain why this or that needs doing.
If not happy then easy to stop work there and then, keep the bill down and customer can go elsewhere.

 

[Croc]

Interesting...my local BMW dealer invariably gives me an estimate for work to be done that makes my eyes water......and when I roll up to collect the car and pay it is £50 -100 less than the estimate....and I go away with a sense of fairness and everything being right with the world.
This has been going on for over fifteen years....do you think I am missing something and they are really looking after me as well as I would like to think?

 

[penfold]

Interesting...my local BMW dealer invariably gives me an estimate for work to be done that makes my eyes water......and when I roll up to collect the car and pay it is £50 -100 less than the estimate....and I go away with a sense of fairness and everything being right with the world.
This has been going on for over fifteen years....do you think I am missing something and they are really looking after me as well as I would like to think?

Neither; the only thing I can deduce is that they are good at managing your expectations!