ALF
SURE!?
- Location
- Taylorsville
In light of the previous thread whisch has now been closed. Greg please feel free to delete this one if you feel I'm out of Line
. I thought a good topic of the day would be how to properly obtain quotes for repair. Those who know me understand that my company pays me a good salary to do this very thing. I think my opinion on this could help old and new alike, from the experianced to the un experianced. I don't think I need to bore you with detailes so I'll give a breif explanation on how I process my repairs. I invite anyone who feels I'm wrong or have missed something to please chime in and post their comments.
First off the types of repairs i process have quite a wide range from the actual repair of goods to service of equipment. With this said even the types of these commodoties range greatly from service of light duty trucks (Ford, Chevy, Dodge) to heavy equipment repairs (Cat, Komatsue etc.) as well as motors, gearboxes, pumps etc. Although there is such a great range the process stays the same be it a $350 grease pump repair or a $500,000 motor repair.
Here are a couple hints I can provide
1. Get a quote
No matter what the repair is I never authorize the work unless a quote is provided before hand, prefferably in writing but in the case of emergency verbal. If a shop won't quote you upfront go somewhere else.
2. Read the quote
I will be the first to admit I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING. I review every quote thoroughly including checking historical history of the repair and if I don't understand something I have 2 engineers that work with me to help or I ask the shop. If a shop won't answer the question they don't do the work.
3. Research
Check the shop out. I audit all of shops for many things prior to even considering them for work. Looking for safety, cleanliness, organisation. I evenask their employees how they like working there, happier employees do better work.
4. Be Honest and communicate
Just today I received a quote from a shop I thought to be considerably low in comparison to the work done, turned out they used some spare steel they had from one of my previous Jobs. If we hadn't discussed it the next time I had that repair done I would have been asking why the price was so much higher than the last time.
5. Partnership
Stop playing the "I'm the customer and I'm always right card" I'm a firm beleiver in good customer service so if it's bad DON'T GO BACK. If it's good return the favor and continue service there and tell your friends. If a shop does bad work eventually it will end in it's closure. I need my repair shops to provide me a service just as much as they need me to provide them work.
6. Problem Solving/ negotiation
Some times issues arise. First off keep your cool, getting pissed off solves nothing. Discuss it with the shop and while doing it try and think of the situation in their shoes.
Thats about all I care to type right now...I could go on for days....but my hands are tired.
Please discuss
. I thought a good topic of the day would be how to properly obtain quotes for repair. Those who know me understand that my company pays me a good salary to do this very thing. I think my opinion on this could help old and new alike, from the experianced to the un experianced. I don't think I need to bore you with detailes so I'll give a breif explanation on how I process my repairs. I invite anyone who feels I'm wrong or have missed something to please chime in and post their comments.First off the types of repairs i process have quite a wide range from the actual repair of goods to service of equipment. With this said even the types of these commodoties range greatly from service of light duty trucks (Ford, Chevy, Dodge) to heavy equipment repairs (Cat, Komatsue etc.) as well as motors, gearboxes, pumps etc. Although there is such a great range the process stays the same be it a $350 grease pump repair or a $500,000 motor repair.
Here are a couple hints I can provide
1. Get a quote
No matter what the repair is I never authorize the work unless a quote is provided before hand, prefferably in writing but in the case of emergency verbal. If a shop won't quote you upfront go somewhere else.
2. Read the quote
I will be the first to admit I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING. I review every quote thoroughly including checking historical history of the repair and if I don't understand something I have 2 engineers that work with me to help or I ask the shop. If a shop won't answer the question they don't do the work.
3. Research
Check the shop out. I audit all of shops for many things prior to even considering them for work. Looking for safety, cleanliness, organisation. I evenask their employees how they like working there, happier employees do better work.
4. Be Honest and communicate
Just today I received a quote from a shop I thought to be considerably low in comparison to the work done, turned out they used some spare steel they had from one of my previous Jobs. If we hadn't discussed it the next time I had that repair done I would have been asking why the price was so much higher than the last time.
5. Partnership
Stop playing the "I'm the customer and I'm always right card" I'm a firm beleiver in good customer service so if it's bad DON'T GO BACK. If it's good return the favor and continue service there and tell your friends. If a shop does bad work eventually it will end in it's closure. I need my repair shops to provide me a service just as much as they need me to provide them work.
6. Problem Solving/ negotiation
Some times issues arise. First off keep your cool, getting pissed off solves nothing. Discuss it with the shop and while doing it try and think of the situation in their shoes.
Thats about all I care to type right now...I could go on for days
....but my hands are tired.Please discuss
