For some time I've had a love/hate relationship with our car dealership service department.
Maybe the problem is expectations on my part. Traditionally I've generally had what would be an econo-car for myself. What do you expect from an engineer? Practical is the name of my game. I want decent mileage and room to haul things like yard signs, and BRIGHT RED so it's easy for my buyers to follow me.
But some years back we splurged on a nice SUV for Liz. She puts on a lot of miles in a typical year between real estate, volunteer work and trips to visit her family. And if I've got reason to think a potential client might be image conscious enough that my little car will be an issue, I'll borrow her SUV.
Both cars are the same age. Both have about the same mileage.
The number of times I've had to take my car for any service beyond routine oil changes and new tires? ZERO.
The luxury SUV? I lost count a LONG time ago. Things that IMO shouldn't have been happening, and the list is fairly long. We did purchase the extended maintenance program through the dealership, so we kept going back to them, but they were losing a step in their customer service quality. Making it harder and harder to get a loaner car. Taking longer to find the root cause of REPEAT issues. Me having to research the problem myself and finding out a leak that doesn't happen when flat WILL happen when inclined. The final straw was "we can't do an alignment because the adjustment bolts are frozen". We'll need to replace all the parts at a cost of about $3000. It didn't feel right at all.
Some research for other repair shops identified two independent places that were certified by the manufacturer. Online reviews were good for both, but one sounded more like what I expect from my mechanic.
It was easy to get an appointment. Drop box the night before. By the end of the next day, 3 significant issues were addressed. The "$3000 dealership repair" needed for the alignment issue? $120 in labor to address the seized up threads. No new parts needed.
The independent shop has quickly established their expertise AND that they value the customer. We have a new home for our car work. We'll live without loaners and fancy waiting areas.
What does this have to do with real estate? That failing to understand customer needs & to not have the expertise needed are fatal flaws. There are literally 6000+ agents in Greater Cincinnati. We fully understand that we have to continually EARN our business. Every email, every phone call, every text, every showing, every offer, EVERYTHING we do is on trial. We provide because we know if we don't, another agent will get the chance instead.
Want to discuss further? Just give Bill a call at 513-520-5305 or email Liz@LizSpear.com.
Serving Greater Cincinnati home buyers and sellers,
Bill & Liz aka BLiz
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