Satisfaction is guaranteed

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 34

Satisfaction is guaranteed

Motorists who have their car repairs carried out , by Motor Trade Association repairmen will get the job they expect for the money they pay and without any hassles, under the association’s guarantee of satisfaction scheme. This is not a warranty on work undertaken or parts supplied by the M.T.A. member, but an assurance that it will be carried out in a businesslike and efficient manner and that neither the standard of workmanship nor the cost involved willl give cause for complaint. Warranties for work undertaken and parts supplied are likely to vary from one repairer to another under the free enterprisesystempertain-

ing in the automotive repair business. Cars were complicated in the early days of the M.T.A. 50 years ago. The motoring fraternity was a tightly-knit group of car owners and repairmen. Business dealings were sealed on a handshake. Nowadays New Zealand’s highly motorised community is serviced by garages and service stations spread across the country. It is probably not surprising that some are conducted by rip-off merchants whose shoddy workmanship and greed have given the automotive repair business a bad name. To remain members of the M.T.A., automotive repairers must abide by the association’s ethical code which, for them, is normal business practice observed by all members and laid down by the association when it was founded in 1917. That is not to say that complaints are not made against M.T.A. members by the motoring public.

However, experience shows that most complaints laid at members’ feet have their foundations in prices charged, rather than poor workmanship. Basically, such complaints arise because of poor communication between the repairer and the customer. Poor communication causes misunderstandings and the M.T.A. believes that there is no occasion for misunderstanding if the car repairer and the customer realise that they are entering into a contract, the conditions of which they understand and observe. The M.T.A.’s Guarantee to Satisfaction is based on the standard job order form that each M.T.A. member should place before a customer to understand and complete before he undertakes the repair job. With the completion of the order form a contract has been made. The repairer has undertaken’ to carry out the repair work in a certain time for an agreed sum of money.

The customer has agreed to pay the repairer for the time spent on the work involved in the repairs, plus the cost of any replacement parts the repairer might need. At the time of completing the order form, the repairer should give a firm quotation or at least an estimate of the cost of the job.

If it is impossible to give a firm quotation, it should be explained that any prices given are only estimates and they will not be exceeded by more than 15 per cent without reference to the customer. It may be that the repairer will have to dismantle a part of the vehicle to ascertain the nature and extent of the repair before a quotation or estimate can be given. In that event, the customer and repairer should come to a clear understanding about dismantling costs. Will they be charged if the quotation or estimate is unacceptable to the customer? Will they be included in the repair bill if the quotation or estimate is accepted? Then again, as the job proceeds, the repairer might find that work additional tp that authorised is desirable or necessary to complete tne repair, in such circumstances, the repairer should take all reasonable steps to advise the customer. Armed with all that information about the repair procedure, there should be no grounds for complaint However, as every ballroom dancer knows, it takes two to tango and if either party

misses a step the dance is ruined. For that reason, customers who have genuine complaints should discuss them with the principal or manager of the business. While in most cases complaints, resulting from misunderstandings, can be resolved at this level, there are some that can’t and for that reason each branch of the M.T.A. has its own conciliation committee, comprising two members of the motor trade and one other individual appointed by the branch, the appointments being subject to annual review. In the event of a complaint having to be taken to the conciliation committee, a prescribed form detailing the complaint is given to the customer for recording the grievance in writing. This is then referred to the principal of the business concerned and conciliation committee members. Before the committee will adjudicate, the customer must have met the terms set out in the method of payment of account for the original quotation with the M.T.A. member. For its part, the M.T.A. will pay for the cost of any independent or outside inspection required or recommended by the conciliation committee. Under the M.T.A. rules a member may be expelled on the recommendation of a suitably constituted authority — in this instance, the conciliation committee — if it . finds that specific violations of the M.T.A. code of practice which, to all intents and purposes of the Guar-

antee to Satisfaction, have occurred. In other words, the M.T.A.’s - Guarantee to Satisfaction has introduced a procedure which should make M.T.A. members’ customers into clients, who are defined as customers who come back because they are satisfied with the service they receive. Hopefully, motorists will continue to drive their cars away from their M.T.A. repairman whistling happily. However they should never forget that it takes two to tango. - ’ -