It seems to me women are not taken very serious when it comes to car repairs. I am sorry to say that, since I come from a family of five brothers, four sisters, and a very strong minded mother who always taught us to
respect the opposite sex. I understand that lot of single mothers are concentrating on other things such as raising their children and having a dependable car to get them where they are going. So please pass my articles along to them and hopefully they might feel a little bit of stress relief when it comes to having their cars repaired.
As a single father my self, I can now see how much time and effort they put into raising their children and a must have dependable vehicle to get around! With this is in mind, I hope I have their support since I know a lot of mechanics and repair shops might give me a bad review exposing this content. It is not like we took an oath to be hush hush on how to treat women customers in the shop! I know I never took one! But sad to say, they are treated a lot different then the Male customers. They may deny it but it's like a secret shop taboo where it's never to be repeated and talked about. But here I go.
Women customers have always been easy targets for the repair shop guys! The reason I say that is, their knowledge of car repairs are the last thing on their minds. They have more important things to worry about. When a woman pulls up in the service bay she is already identified as a woman customer. Having children in the car tells the guys she is concerned for her and her children's safety in that car. They may view this sight and use it against them scaring them into a sale. They visually inspect how she presents herself by the type of car she drives, and the clothes she wears. They find out if she is married or alone so the shop won't hear any slack from her husband about selling her more services. They will see how knowledgeable she is on preventive maintenance services and they will reassure her they will take very good care of her by giving her confidence she is doing the right thing bringing her car in to them. Once she has passed all their tests of being an easy victim, they will ask her how long they can keep her car. This is a signal to them how long and how big they can write her repair order for. If she passes, They won and big commissions are on the way! The bragging in the shop begins on how easy that was and when will I get my commission on my pay check!
Here are a few tips for women drivers! Tell the shop you have a friend that will make sure the car is now up to working order after their repairs are made and completed. They will think twice about over selling and over charging you. Tell them how much money you budgeted to have to spend just to fix the car. Ask them if they will have a certified tech. performing the repairs and what his name will be if you have any questions. Even though you don't know what you are looking at, ask them to show you the parts that are going to be replaced. So you will be able to see the before and after parts. Ask if it's possible if they can clean and wrap up the old part so you can take it with you
If you have a car that is not running right, then just ask what it will take to fix the problem. Keeping these few tips in mind could save you a lot of money and avoid being ripped off in the future. Keep in mind, not all shops act accordingly, but some do!
