Several garages call themselves female friendly and perhaps they are. But the true sign of a female friendly garage, in my opinion, is surely one that meets a set of quality, value, customer service and cleanliness criteria and joins the UK’s only female friendly garage network to prove this, prepared to be policed by members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club and other women drivers in their area
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Which makes a FOXY Choice approved female friendly garage one of the best out there, although perhaps I’m a bit biased here.
So why would a female friendly garage be good for men too?
Here are ten reasons why, based on our experience of family motoring and the mind-boggling range of garages purporting to be good enough despite the lack of regulation or demanding industry standards in this area.
1. Most men want to know where the best garages are in their area; they are as interested in quality, customer service and value for money factors as women.
2. Women are professional shoppers and tend to be more demanding when it comes to value for money than (many) men ie to pass the FOXY female friendly test, standards have to be higher.
3. You mightn’t have to take her car to the garage any more when she realises which ones know what she wants and are anxious to get service levels right for her…
4. If the garage in question is a member of the Club’s car check network you mightn’t have to check your wife/mother/gran/daughter’s car so often for air conditioning, tyres, lights, oil level, emissions, brake fluid and battery efficiency… This is a free service provided by many FOXY garages.
5 ….and men can have their car checked for all this too providing they can take a current members’ card.
6. Chances are garages listed by FOXY are ATA, BSI, car manufacturer or OFT approved. These are measurable signs of quality in an industry that isn’t regulated and which uses mechanics who aren’t qualified. No other UK garage register includes this independent information about workmanship standards.
7. Garages that are part of the FOXY Choice network have signed a promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell motoring services that aren’t needed.’
8. You can check out and compare the facilities and customer services offered by a franchised dealership or an independent garage depending on the work required, the car and your budget. No other garage network provides this detail.
9. If anything goes wrong you can ask FOXY Choice for advice and support.
10. FOXY Choice approved female friendly garages are more likely to employ women in customer facing roles (although they don’t have to). Not only does a friendly female make a welcome change in such a male dominated and jargon inclined industry but it increases the chances of getting a cuppa while you want and perhaps the customer washrooms will be cleaner because she’ll be keeping an eye on this for you.
Finally, do remember that complimentary testimonials are often about the front of house customer service and whilst that is undoubtedly very important it can disguise a lack of credentials where this really matters – to do with standards of workmanship. Once again FOXY Choice is the only garage network to identify all signs of quality workmanship here and if you’d like to know more, you can always read our Good Garage Guide for women.
FOXY Steph
