Do Women get Ripped off at Auto Repair Shops? December 9, 2007
Posted by ratemyrepairshop in Automotive.Tags: going to an auto shop, women, Women at auto shops, women auto repair, women in auto repair
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Most people do not realize it but, 65% of auto repair shop customers are women. I have worked in 2 different auto shops over the course of 6 years. I soon realized that the women coming to the shop often felt uncomfortable. They felt that if they didn’t understand how an engine or transmission worked they would be treated unfairly. But, people are people. It depends entirely on which shop you go to, not your gender. If you go to a shop where they could care less about their integrity and more about the bottom line, then you may be in for a large bill. Again, even if a man were to go to a shop like this and didn’t know very much about automotive, he would probably be overcharged as well.
The best thing to do is, find a respectful shop that treats their customers with care. I am proud to say that both of the shops I worked at never took advantage of women or men. I was taught that a Service Advisor’s job is to help everyone with their automotive questions. I don’t believe it matters which gender you are, but, if you don’t know very much about your vehicle, then you had better make sure you are going to a reputable shop.
That is why www.ratemyrepairshop.com was launched. We want to give people the ability to find the best auto repair shops in their area.
I like the idea of ratemyrepairshop.com. It’s kinda like ratemyprof, which is actually very comprehensive. Every prof I’ve ever had is on there . . . maybe it’ll get to that level with your site. Good luck on it, and if I had a car, I would definitely use your site
Thank you for the feedback turvyc. Our idea is to continue to provide tools that encourage communication between Auto Shops and their customers. Hopefully when you get a car you will be able to find a great shop throught our site.
all thoes women got pwned, lawls
Not sure what you mean ham69. The women that take in the family car end up knowing more. Every time something on the vehicle gets repaired the service shop will explain what happened and how it works. Many shops have female service advisors and technicians. They know what they are doing.
As the “CarsDiva,” I figured I just had add my “2 cents” to your analysis on women and auto repair shops. I was not surprised to hear that 65% of the shop customers are women. In fact, this number correlates accordingly with the proven statistics that women hold the lion’s share of the buying power in the auto industry, responsible for purchasing over 50% of all vehicles in the U.S. and influencing the purchase of over 85%. Also, a statistic I’ve seen posted is that if you total up the annual used car sales, maintenance, repairs & service sales to women in the US it’s more than a $300B (that’s billion) figure…
I think this apprehension that women have stems from how they are treated, from the start, with the purchase experience at the franchise or independent car dealership, both on the front lines and at the service shop. Typically they consider their overall experience as “traumatic” to say the least, which doesn’t bode well for future repair shop service. They anticipate being treated badly in these situations. I find it interesting that you say gender really shouldn’t be a cause for discomfort. I agree that it shouldn’t be, but I think the reality is that women, in general, are assumed to know less about how their vehicle operates and thus are treated differently in most cases, (and I’ve seen it first hand). However, I agree that the critical point here is to find a reputable shop that treats the customer, man or woman, with respect and doesn’t look to take advantage of those they perceive to be “uninformed.”
Consistent with the above, until something like http://www.ratemyrepairshop.com, to my knowledge, the only way to really find out about a “good” place to service your vehicle was word of mouth. The opportunity exists and is needed for a mechanism to rate or review auto repair shops, and is a step in the right direction to eliminating, or at very least, decreasing the number of customers that get “ripped off” at the repair shop. I commend and support your efforts to create this service with http://www.ratemyrepairshop.com for consumers! Good job.
Demetra
CarsDiva.com
Now that was a most informative comment.
One thing: you guys don’t have my home town on the site! You have Lumberton and Lund, BC, but not Lumby BC! Sure the place is tiny and technically a village, but there’s a couple repair shops there!
We will be working on that today turvyc. No city, town, village or small gathering will be left off the list-lol.
I’ll let you know when Lumby is added.
I cannot tell you how many times I have had to approach this same topic.
Gender regardless, a very important way to ensure that you do not get “ripped off” is: to Know the auto shop. Know the people. Know the owner.
That way, the shop will treat you with intergrity.
That is great advice. I personally know 2 shop Owners and these are the shops I have the most trust in.