The Dealership in Laconia

[upthesaukee]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

Ever notice when waiting for service in the waiting room at your dealership that the service tech comes out frequently to tell a customer that they found a problem while doing service and do they want to take care of it.Usually it's a battery,tires ,brakes or maybe a coolant flush or some mysterious part that's worn.
Dealerships encourage their service people to upsell and are paid commissions for extra (some times unneeded) service

Back in the early - mid 1960's, I worked at a gas station / repair garage. One of the first things I was taught working the gas pumps or doing oil changes was "TBA". I was going to Bentley College of Accounting & Finance and the owners explained what margin was all about in retail. TBA is Tires, Batteries, Accessories; this is where money was made. We didn't sell something that didn't need replacing, but would check for dirty air fillers, check wiper blades, look at tires (putting a penny in the tread to see if the tread reached the top of the head of Lincoln), etc.. Soft sell, but it did reap benefits when the customer would have it replaced then or at the next maintenance appointment.
Providing a service is one thing, ripping off a customer by suggesting a totally unwarranted repair is something else. For what it's worth, we stopped dealing with one dealership in town for some of what Professor says: saying brakes would not pass inspection when they had been replaced about 6 months earlier, advertising oil lube filter for one price, say $40, and then charging close to $10 more.

Pay attention to their recommendations, ask to see the items in question before repair, and take the old items.

Dave

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