Low Trust, Higher Transactions
Posted on 17. Sep, 2010 by The Relationship Era in Blog, Brand Stories
The air conditioner in my wife’s car went out the other day. We’re about 60,000 miles beyond the warranty life so anything that it takes to fix it is reallocating our money…which I hate. I’m not sure about you, but if possible, I try to avoid taking it to the dealership–really, it’s not the dealership, it’s any dealership. I simply don’t trust them. From the moment you begin shopping for a car until you trade in whatever you ultimately purchased, I figure 60-85% of what the sales and service people are telling you is a lie.
Theoretically, the power has shifted away from the auto dealers’ once airtight monopoly on information, but they still have an advantage. Cars are complicated machines and taking the time to understand what’s actually gone wrong and how much it should cost to repair is tricky when you need the car so you can get back to work to pay for it.
Anyway, to avoid taking the car to a dealer, we dropped it off in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood on the other side of town, in the parking lot of a mechanic we’d been told is trustworthy. It sat overnight, relatively unsecured, with the key resting just on the other side of a flimsy door. The crowd partying at the shop across the parking lot clearly saw us drop the key through the mail chute. One of the guys even waved.
I could see my wife’s resignation in the dim light and hear it in her voice, “It’s not going to be here in the morning.”
I thought the same thing. But I would prefer that we actually get robbed than to be ripped off by a dealer.
I know that everyone doesn’t feel as strongly as I do, but I also know that mistrust of dealers is widespread. I love the brand, (it’s a Honda, by the way). But I loathe the local faces of the brand. I have often wondered why a company that can engineer, build and market with such precision and skill tolerates a situation where their efforts and investment are so easily and routinely undermined by people who have a slimy grip on the customer relationship. I’ve come to the conclusion that they are complicit, to some degree, in whatever unsavory behavior is carried out in the showrooms and service departments of their dealer partners. And because of this, I love the brand a little less.
As my wife’s and my cars get older, there is no question that we’ll have more frequent repair needs (increasing transactions), but our trust in the dealers and to some degree, the brand, will likely continue a downward arc. Not good for us, Honda or dealerships in general.
Paul Drew
27. Sep, 2010
The reason there is a disconnect between the brand and those at the dealers is because their relationship only exists on the basis of transactions that they incentivise through rebates in order to move metal. Should the nature of that relationship change, you can bet the service we receive will improve. Until then, they are only your friend until you buy.