The Hat Squad

By Kit Sullivan

For years it seems that the entire quick lube industry has suffered through the indignity of having the general public place us very low in their personal rankings of automotive service facilities.

Generally speaking, the typical consumer seems to place the service they receive from their local new-car name-brand dealership as the best place to get service, with the big name-brand franchise service centers (Firestone, Goodyear, etc.) right below them. Next in line come the local repair shops, followed by the muffler and tire centers that offer our type of fluid-maintenance services. All followed by us: the actual quick lube service centers who specialize in fluid maintenance services.

It may shake out slightly different in your particular area, but by and large, this is how the hierarchy of respect in the service business is perceived by the public in most areas around the country.

Sadly, the truth is that we have ourselves for the most part created and encouraged this unfortunate public perception to flourish in the public’s minds-eye.

I know that situation is only a perception, and in reality is not true: Nearly every quick lube facility I have encountered around the country over the years has pretty much been of the professional, extremely competent variety, with only a few poorly run shops. But there are always a small percentage of poorly operated businesses of every stripe, so that is not an abnormality.

The first question is: Why is it that the typical new-car dealership service department enjoys such a stellar reputation amongst most car owners when we know that they are no better, and sometimes comparatively incompetent to a typical lube shop when it comes to the subject of fluid maintenance and the like?

Well, the answer to that is multi-faceted but easily understood: When a typical customer seeking service on their vehicle arrives at the local dealership service department, what scenario are they usually greeted with? They will generally find a relatively clean and comfortable waiting area, and the service writer they encounter will typically be very clean-cut and conservative in appearance. The service writers at large dealerships are nearly universally hired for their neat appearance, ability to comfortably and confidently talk to most customers and, of course, for their talent in describing, promoting and selling services on customer’s vehicles. At no point in this service writer’s career path did he take the time to learn any actual functional mechanical or service ability on a vehicle, for in his narrow-focused job description it is not necessary. His whole job entails appearance and communication skills. Certified technician status is completely secondary to his ability to perform his job well.

All of this encourages the typical dealership service-department customer to perceive the standard of service they receive on their vehicle as equal to the standard of treatment they receive personally from the service writer. At no time is the average dealership service customer aware or even privy to what is actually going on behind the scenes in the inner workings of the actual service area of the dealership. Whereas the customer may perceive that the service bays are spotlessly clean (just like the waiting and service-writing areas they have seen) and that all the ASE-certified master tech mechanics working on all the vehicles in the service department are as intelligent, caring and honest as the service writer they encountered, that ain’t what’s happenin’, folks!

Continued
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