- “The picture does not justify the damage.”

- “You’re the only shop we are having problems with.” 

- “Your severity is the highest in the area.”

 

These guys must think we don’t talk to one another! They keep trotting out the exact same stories in every shop they visit. The thing that really set me off is that I chose to stop being part of their program for various reasons. Their rep in the area and I sat down in my office and I told him loud and clear that I wanted to get off their program. He said that wasn’t what he wanted, but that he understood my pain and frustration and it was my choice. He told me his people will know as soon as he leaves that my choice was to be  taken off the program as of that day. Not a very complicated deal. We shook hands and he left. He even followed up our conversation with a letter that was very honest and to the point. 

 

A couple of days go by and I receive a letter from the upper management telling me that I have been terminated. Imagine that. I still have the first letter, though, and I can prove that we left the program, not the other way around. 

 

They’ve got the nerve to tell other shops that we were terminated from the program, and now there are brokers telling customers that they won’t guarantee our work if they come to us for repairs. Shame on them! We send our staff for constant training on all of our brands. We fix the vehicles that come to us according to factory training specs and we’re constantly investing in new equipment. Shame on the brokers who send customers away while feeding them a line of crap. 

 

It keeps me up at night that they do business in a corrupt way and seem to get away with it. They use scare tactics to prey on people and shops. It’s pretty bad when these vultures come into the shop and tell the techs how much time they’ve got to fix the car. I would really like to see these wannabes try their hand at doing the work. Some of them have never fixed a car. 

 

Others haven’t had their hands on a new vehicle in years. If you take a look at their age and compare it to the amount of time they were on the bench, it adds up to very little actual repair time. I’ll allow some credit for theory and training, but this doesn’t give them the right to call the times. 

 

What are these guys trying to prove? Our industry is struggling with a shortage of people, and it’s no wonder that existing techs don’t encourage apprentices to get involved. 

 

In closing, there are a lot of excellent insurers that we work with in great partnerships. Do you know why it works? BECAUSE THEY GET IT.