Female Friendly mechanics
A new Adelaide business called Female Friendly Mechanics has created an accreditation system giving a pink tick to mechanics’ workshops they deem to be female friendly.
The business not only gets those dirty pictures off the wall, but also looks at things like clean restrooms, waiting rooms that cater for women and their children, and makes sure that any problems with your car are explained in terms you can understand.
With the amount of customers a workshop will have day to day, it is in their best interests to look after their female clientele – after all, customers make the books balance and keep the business alive. But as everyone with a car knows, this isn’t always how it goes…
Your experiences
When the mechanic or Service Advisor spoke to you did they explain what the problem was? Did they say whether it was a safety issue that needed immediate attention or if it was something that could wait until next service?
When additional work had to be done, were you consulted prior to the work being carried out? Or did you find out after the job was been done, thus being given a bill that you were not prepared for?
Did the language used to describe faults with your car mean nothing to you, or was it explained in a way that made you feel well informed and comfortable with your decision to carry out the repair?
We would like to hear about any experiences, both good and bad, that you may have encountered with workshops.
No related posts.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
My worst experience was years ago, when I came to pick up my car after a service at a place where I hadn’t had work done before. I was told the valves needed grinding and I would have to bring it back. Although I had no idea what a a valve grind is or why it would be needed, I smelled something fishy and called NRMA technical advice; the advice was to go to a different workshop for the job. I did so, and got a phone call soon after I had dropped the car off to inquire why I thought it would need a valve grind because the engine compression was fine and it didn’t need one at all.
Guess the mechanic thought I looked like a sucker…..
December 11th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
My best experience was a small-scale mechanic in Wyong, who not only told me what needed doing (brushes replaced), but also explained exactly what the brushes did, and why they needed replacing, plus got out a picture from the workshop manual and showed me exactly where on the car they were. I wish they were all like that!
December 11th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Earlier this year I had to have a major service done on my car. I was quoted $450.00 then when I got the bill it was $800.00 plus. Excuse was there was extra work that had to be done to get the job done. I was not called about this extra work, I paid and left. Needless to say I will not be back to that service garage!
December 20th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
i have a lovely mechanic. all i do is call and say i need a service. he knows what to do next and tells me the truth. the price is good, the service is good and he is honest. he never does anything without calling me first and always advises what is coming up. i trust him totally with my car and money.
joy
December 20th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I have a wonderful mechanic, who has been looking after my vehicle for several years. He is not the cheapest in my town, but I get what I pay for. He explains everything he finds and then what has to be done. I once had a serious problem, and my mechanic put my vehicle up on the hoist and showed me exactly what had to be done.
My daughter just purchased her first car, and she consulted my mechanic who ensured she got the best for the money she had. He gave the new car a thorough check, and the few small problems he found we fixed by the retailer before purchase.
Not surprisingly, all of my mechanics business comes from word of mouth.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
I had a friend who was very particular about getting her car serviced every year and every time she had it serviced the mechanic would always find something that needed replacing or fixing that always cost several hundred dollars. The car she had was a new model and I am sure she was getting ripped off to increase the cost of the job because the servce cost wasn’t expensive. She has since found a new mechanic who some how doesn’t find anything to replace or fix, he just services the car.
Their are so many mechanics out there that see women as dollar signs
January 26th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I have a question and am not sure where to place it.
It concerns the time it takes to get repairs done to my french car.
A very insignificant repair job took nearly 3 months.
The insurance company siad ‘this is not unusual for european cars’.
I would be interested to know if this is really the case – it seems extraordinary to me, that in this global world, this sort oftime delay could be regarded as acceptable.
I don’t have any perception that my being a woman influenced this.
I wonder where/how I can take my question further.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Taking 3 months to repair any car any where is an outrage. Cars can be completely built in 2 days. Find yourself another mechanic – an honest one. He probably is ordering parts that are being shipped via boat. Best of Luck!
April 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I have had 3 run ins just recently with mechanics. The first was to do a wheel alignment, I paid but didn’t get one. I only know because I took the vehicle to have tyres fitted by another person … I then needed my brakes done and asked for both back and front to be done. I was verbally assured both had been taken care of but again by accident when having another job done by someone different was it apparent the job had not been done. Again I attempted to get another job done such as oil change, grease and timing belt. Another mechanic. Did the oil change,grease and then gave my car a service instead of doing the timing belt. His answer was I needed the service more than the timing belt. My answer was I don’t have idiot nor stupid printed on my forehead and so I made a complaint to the RAA. I didn’t get anywhere really only the satisfaction of knowing that this last mechanic won’t look at all women quite the same again….he now has a mark on his record sheet.
August 1st, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I have a great mechanic but he is on the other side of the city to me. He always does the job quickly and efficiently and was recommended by a mechanically minded friend. Since it was a bit of a hassel to take my car across town I thought I would try a local mechanic. After he was an hour late in the morning, had the car all day and didn’t call, I called him and was told it needed lots of work but he couldn’t explain on the phone and would have to show me the next day. Despite the fact that all the car needed was a minor service he had taken the car apart and was telling me a long list of all the things it needed. Luckily I know a little bit about cars and know the service history of my car, so I could tell him that it didn’t need the more than $1600 plus of repairs. The timing belt had recently been changed, as had the battery and numerous other things I knew were perfectly fine, were going to need fixing. It was going to take at least a week and the cost was going to be more than $1600 but he couldn’t say how much. Instead I told him to put the car back together and I took it back to my good mechanic. Despite the fact that the local mechanic didn’t actually service the car at all, it cost me $154 to get him to put it back together. My good mechanic is having a good look at it now but given it is regularly serviced and a reliable car we will both be very surprised if there is anything major wrong with it.
The local mechanic basically had decided that I wouldn’t know any better so he was going to make as much money as possible out of me. I was so cross that this guy was trying to tell me it needed all these things including a new battery when I had personally changed it only a couple of months before. I was just lucky that I had picked up enough car related info from my brothers and my dad to know that this guy was full of it.
My best tip would be to ask your friends and family for their mechanic and get a second opinion if it sounds unreasonable. The local mechanic even tried to put me off by saying it was dangerous and unroadworthy to drive. I explained the problem to my good mechanic and was told that none of the problems were dangerous. It is amazing how dishonest some of these mechanics are.
September 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
It’s also amazing as to how stupid some “customers” can be.
Yes, there are quite a few idiots out there posing as mechanics, but believe me… there are a hell of alot of no brained customers wasting people’s time!