Manny, Moe and Jack would not have been pleased at the customer experience I received at Pep Boys this week. I'm no longer a loyal customer because of it.
My steering wheel was vibrating so I took it to my local Pep Boys in Farmington Hills. They quickly filled out a brief amount of paperwork and for $19.99 they would diagnose the problem. I waited for 95 minutes and watched their operation the entire time.
Note: This was not the first time I've experienced their operations at this location. I've brought my cars here several times in the past.
What I saw during my "forced gemba" made me cringe.
While I sat there I observed someone calling to ask about the status of their car. The pepguy was very nervous with the customer on the phone and got word from the mechanic that the belt wasn't in yet so he couldn't work on it.
I'm not certain what he told the customer in the end but he then rushed around to find an open bay to pull the car into. Ques: Why are you pulling the car into the bay when you can't work on it?
They lost me as a customer when after waiting for 80 min the first words they said "You have 2 burnt out lights that illuminate your license plate."
I watched them pull my car in, pop the hood and 4 different people looked inside. About 15 min. later they called me up to the desk. It was obvious to them I had been waiting for a long time.
I understand that I'm getting a comprehensive check up but after 95 minutes of waiting and wondering what's wrong with my car you're going to start with my license plate lights. Next they told me "you need 2 new tires and a front wheel alignment".
I said that I've never known 2 wheels to go at the same time causing a problem so what's the bare minimum to get me out the door. He said "2 new tires and a front wheel alignment". The total was somwhere in the $400 range.
I thanked him and politely asked him to pull my car out, I decided that I wasn't going to have them repair it. A look of utter shock crossed his face.
The service manager came over.
He was polite and asked what the problem was. I said that I had been waiting for 95 minutes and I wasn't happy. I can just as easily goto Costco or Belle Tire and get new tires.
He apoligized for the wait and as the service manager he took responsibiltiy for my waiting. He wanted to make me happy as a customer so to make up for it he was going to give me a "sweetheart of a deal".
He brought the total down to $317 saying that there was no profit for them at this point but he wanted to keep my business. I give him kudos for that however my feeling is that good customer service starts at the beginning of a transaction and you can't make up for bad customer service with monetary compensation.
I left and went to Belle Tire where I paid $539 for 4 tires with warranties and had everything installed and was out of there in under an hour. They are going to get their own post about good customer service later this week.
What would have kept me as a customer would have been this conversation:
I'd like to start by apoligizing for the long wait. We've gone over your vehicle and the problem is that the tread is coming off your right tire.
You'll need to get two replacement tires because your car requires 2 wheels of approximately equal diameter otherwise your traction control system could have problems. The right has to be replaced so you would have to do the left as well.
We highly recommend getting a front wheel alignment because the vibrations you've been experienciing. We also noted the lights were burnt out on your license plate during our comprehensive check but otherwise your car is in great shape.
The total cost is $400 and for another $12 we can have those lights taken care of for you.
BTW: It was Belle Tire who explained to me about my traction control system and all wheel drive system and they recommended I get 4 tires. Pep Boys never had that conversation with me.
