Letter To The Editor… (May 01, 2009)

Dear Mr. Ross:

I am contacting you to share in your enthusiasm regarding your comments in the January 2009 edition of Jobber News (Editorial Comment, “A New Promise”).

A similar era has already been experienced by those of us that were involved in aftermarket service and repairs during the recession of the 1980s. Consumers made a decision to keep their older vehicles on the road, and although maintenance dollars spent dropped, repair dollars exploded. Our service bays were booming with repairs of all kinds, due to the fix-it-when-it-breaks mentality that was commonplace for the time.

In anticipation of this return, I offer this old topic for discussion.

List, trade, and jobber prices seem to be a thing of the past.

Consumers are able to buy products directly from most jobbers in the [Greater Toronto Area], simply by dropping in. Usually identification is not required, and [wholesale] pricing is offered to these walk-in customers, which competes with repair facilities that are struggling to keep current with their parts purchased from suppliers.

Fair parts profit expectations are being prostituted by parts counters that are willing to sell for the sake of the sale. Long-term damage often is overlooked, and the shop that fails is usually written off as [failing] due to poor management.

Our customers have been allowed to share in what was once privileged information, and now look at us as if we are thieves when we show parts pricing on their repair and service estimates.

Other trades (heating and refrigeration, for example) do not allow part sales to be sold to unauthorized personnel. Good luck buying a compressor for your home air conditioner!

My focus here is [on encouraging] the return to traditional jobber relationships with the shops that have kept them in business, and disallowing sales to walk-in clients, unless they are either mechanics (with certified current identification) or business owners in automotive service and repair. I am sure there would be other circumstances that would arise, which would be the exception to the rule, but initially, this would be a great start.

I have been in the automotive service and repair business since 1976, and in the service business since I could make change, having worked at a family-owned general store and service station. With this in mind I don’t feel qualified to offer all the solutions to such a sensitive topic, but usually a start is needed before change occurs. I offer this email as an attempt to start this needed change.

Making a fair profit on a part sale should be part of our daily routine, and not the taboo that it has become. I expect that an accounting genius is likely to pick this communication to pieces with “therefores and what ifs,” but remember, they too will need their car serviced or repaired eventually.

I sincerely hope we are here to help!

Brian Baier

Master Performance

Brampton, Ont.