How much did you say?

A number of garages expect me to start the buying process before they tell me how much my car servicing is likely to cost. But I’m foxy, remember; I’m used to comparing prices first and I have no intention of being fobbed off in this way.

If I pick something off a supermarket shelf or High Street clothes rack, for example, I expect to see the price before I buy it.

If it’s more than I want to pay I can keep looking or go elsewhere. Whether it’s a tin of beans, a car service or a fitted kitchen…

And I don’t expect to be asked for my personal details before I’m given a price. That’s enough to send me packing elsewhere…

So when my car needs servicing or repairs I want to know what my choices are and to be able to compare, like for like, what it’s going to cost for my car and model. Because otherwise it’s nigh on impossible to judge what’s best value for money for me, the car and the occasion.

As things stand…some garages publish car servicing tariffs online and others don’t.

Most dealerships and leading independent garages include car collection services whereas few national chain garages and fast-fits do…

And some garage brokers publish a price tariff and collect your car but don’t tell you which garage will be doing the work. This worries me because a low price can be a function of quality workmanship and this is an industry where garages aren’t regulated and mechanics do not have to be accredited as fit for purpose...

Yet many garage and main dealership websites expect motorists to book car servicing and MOTs via their website without confirming a price or giving an estimate for starters. And one assumes people trust them sufficiently to do this…

Well, knowing what I do about the UK’s garage industry I wouldn’t buy expensive garage services without knowing
1     who the garage is
2    whether it’s up to the job ie what are their credentials
3    what my local choices are and
4    that the price is a fair one in my circumstances (from a value for money point of view).

So my advice to all foxy lady drivers is to check the garage in question for measurable signs of quality (like ATA, BSI and OFT logos), look for a tariff (or ask for an estimate in advance) and shop around. And my advice to garages is to publish some sort of estimate before they go to someone else who does.

It’s a very competitive world when it comes to buying car servicing and/or vehicle repairs and this means that independents, dealerships, fastfits and bodyshops must each set out their wares to attract the right customer and car. Prices, customer services and amenities – not just the work they do.

Having said that, it is rarely in any motorist’s best interest to buy a used car or garage service on price alone and no-one should be fooled into buying any garage service or repair without getting a quote in advance…

Sadly too many foxy lady drivers are paying more than they need without realising this until afterwards.

To find out about your choice of garage solutions and signs of garage quality to look for, see FOXY’s Good Garage Guide. And if it’s female friendly garages you’re after, visit FOXY Choice’s website and email selected businesses direct to compare their prices and service levels first.

Finally let us know how you get on and, whilst this offer stands, we’ll thank women who give us garage feedback with a free gift of membership of FOXY Lady Drivers Club worth £23. Where we share the word about the best businesses to benefit foxy lady members and their families…

FOXY Steph

This thought provoking story reminds us that parts of the motor industry are in urgent need of a radical female friendly makeover to challenge and banish old fashioned views and stereo-typical ‘blokey’ comments about jobs women can and can’t do…

Because the fact is that women can do any job they want to; as well as men and often better than them.

Fortunately there is a happy ending to this story, thanks to Grants SEAT in Braintree and you must forgive a shameless plug here because Grants SEAT is, of course, part of the FOXY Choice approved Female Friendly garage network…

But how many young and talented women like Faye Gates have been put off an exciting career opportunity in the UK motor industry today because of similar misogynistic views that have gone unchallenged and remained entrenched?

This is Faye’s story…

Colchester Institute student Faye Gates was beginning to lose hope of ever finding the apprenticeship she needed to complete her three-year vehicle maintenance course after receiving more than 200 knock-backs from garages.

Reasons for rejection included ‘we don’t employ women in our workshop’, ‘you’ll be too worried you’ll chip your nail varnish’, ‘you’d be better suited to a job on reception’ and ‘we just don’t have the facilities for women.’

But after reading about her plight in the Braintree and Witham Times earlier this year Faye was offered a trial by local car retailer Grants SEAT and, after impressing them in that role, she was taken on full-time as the dealership’s latest apprentice and has since been enrolled on the SEAT Advanced Apprenticeship Programme at the Volkswagen Group’s state-of-the-art National Learning Centre.

And, after finally earning the confidence of a forward-thinking employer, she has regained her ambition and is once again determined to work her way through the ranks to become a SEAT Master Technician.

An excited Faye said: ‘I’ve wanted to be a technician since I was about 14 when I started hanging about with people who were really into their cars but I was beginning to give up hope of ever finding an apprenticeship.’

‘But I sent out so many CV’s and got nowhere and people were often really blatant about the reasons why they didn’t want to hire me. On one occasion I was told by a garage that they had no vacancies only to discover they’d given an apprenticeship to one of my (male) classmates at college a few days later.’

‘It’s absolutely brilliant to be at Grants where they value all their employees and treat everybody equally. There’s just a really nice atmosphere and everyone genuinely gets along. I’m learning loads here and am really enjoying getting to work on all the cars in the range and using all the latest equipment. It’s also brilliant being on the SEAT Advanced Apprenticeship Programme and the facilities they have and the way they teach is just amazing.’

Grants SEAT Managing Director, Darren Williams, said:
‘It  beggars belief to hear some of the comments made to Faye as she tried to pursue her dream career. The reasons people gave for not employing her would have been totally unacceptable decades ago but in this day and age they’re absolutely outrageous. Thankfully though, they’re not representative of the modern motor industry.’

‘We were absolutely delighted to give Faye a shot after reading her story in the Times but giving her a job was no sympathy vote – she earned it. She was really impressive on her trial and since joining the team, her enthusiasm and willingness to learn has really shone through. Now she’s started her training properly on an industry-leading apprenticeship programme I’m sure she has a very bright future.’

Anthony Aldridge, a qualified Technician at Grants SEAT, said: ‘Having Faye join the dealership has been no different to when anyone else comes on board. She’s been a great addition to the team and is getting on really well.’

If any young women are reading this and wondering how they might find a job in the motor industry today I suggest they browse through the database of FOXY Choice female friendly garages and dealerships for starters. Another good place to look for career information and opportunities is the IMI (Institute of the Motor Industry) career website.

And for 1:1 advice, by all means email me direct, Steph Savill via steph@foxychoice.com.

FOXY Steph

The Ladies evening at Wessex Garages Penarth Road dealership in Cardiff

Wessex Garages in Cardiff organised a very successful evening event for their female customers last month at their Penarth Road showroom.

The event attracted an impressive 60 women on a dark and dreary October evening who were entertained whilst a dedicated team of hard working valeters treated their cars to a special Primp & Polish makeover.

Wessex’s Penarth Road showroom represents the Kia, Hyundai, FIAT and Abarth franchises in Cardiff so this was a great opportunity for everyone to give the latest models the once over.

And in case the Abarth brand isn’t as well known as the others, members of the all female audience were treated to a ‘Top Gear’ like review from a panel of  motorists who had just test driven the Abarth. Their feedback was fun and favourable which is what you should expect about such a smart and zippy car with female appeal.

Next on the agenda was an excellent presentation from Conflict Solutions covering road safety issues and survival tactics in the event of the dreaded vehicle breakdown when you are on your own. Undoubtedly the highlight of this talk was the clever self-defence moves that were demonstrated, just in case this know how ever might come in handy!

At this point in the proceedings Wessex Garages female technician, Natasha, joined the party and led a number of fun challenges (for the mechanically less experienced…) including changing wheels, checking tyres and topping up oil levels. It’s always good to have a go for ourselves, even though we know that the professionals are likely to be there to do it for us on request…

During the evening there had been a few exciting prize draws but the ultimate one that most time-strapped motoring maidens would surely covet most was a professional car valet service for a whole 12 months! Just imagine that…

To demonstrate their female friendly credentials to more women drivers, Wessex Garages Penarth Road has recently joined the new FOXY Choice approved FEMALE FRIENDLY garage network and are the first dealership listed in Cardiff.

To tie in with this initiative, all attendees were offered gift memberships of FOXY Lady Drivers Club with Wessex Garages’ compliments.

As one guest said in her feedback after the event ‘It was a cold and wet October evening and I was tempted to go home after work …but I was really glad I forced myself to go!’

Well done Wessex Garages. This was a big event that was professionally managed and organised for the benefit of the lucky ladies who attended. From FOXY Choice’s point of view we have just awarded you a generous handful of female friendly brownie points as part of our garage monitoring processes!

FOXY Steph

How can you tell if a garage is female friendly or not?

A good start is to look for the foxy logo because FOXY Choice is the UK’s only female friendly garage network to identify, approve and monitor female friendly garages, promoting them to women drivers.

No other website lists or checks a range of quality credentials such as ATA, BSI Kitemark and OFT logos. Such is the importance of measurable quality workmanship to fussy FOXY that we even give garage holders with these a discount on our subscription rates!

So if you see a FOXY branded (2011-2012) Female Friendly Garage Code on reception walls you know you can trust that garage, dealership or accident repair body shop to have made a commitment to

• Industry accredited staff
• Ethical behaviour
• A fixed price menu
• Local car collection or courtesy car
• Jargon free explanations
• No hidden costs
• A warm welcome
• A drink made available
• A comfortable waiting area
• A clean washroom
• Current magazines for females
• Books or toys to entertain the children

Whereas if a garage claims to be female friendly but there’s no sign of the fox logo in evidence you can’t know what their service levels are going to be.

And in case they don’t know of FOXY Choice and our services, please introduce us!

We’re always looking for good garage feedback from females so please tell us what you think and we’ll thank you for taking the time, with a free subscription to FOXY Lady Drivers Club that’s worth £23.  While this promotion lasts…

Yet another female friendly gesture to share important feedback so other lady drivers can be foxy (as in shrewd, canny and astute) in future and look forward to better customer services in future…

FOXY Steph

AA Motor Medic in Ipswich used FOXY Choice approved FEMALE FRIENDLY garage logo without joining the network first.

I would like women drivers in Ipswich to know about a misleading garage leaflet that was printed and may have been circulated to them by AA Motor Medic. We are not sure how many copies were distributed because we only found out about this when a motorist checked the FOXY Choice website register and saw they weren’t there.

The leaflet features the distinctive FOXY Choice approved Female Friendly Garage logo. We would like to make it clear to all female motorists in Ipswich that, despite them using this logo, AA Motor Medic is not an approved member of our garage network and had no right to use our logo or claim to meet our standards in this way.

On contact, AA Motor Medic claimed they sent us an application form and a cheque. We hadn’t received this but knowing that the post is not as reliable as it might be, we decided to look at this case again and asked to see their application form. Because the business was so eager to join our network… we even held an interim Board Meeting (on their insistence) to discuss their application.

We were given several assurances that the initial leaflet printing/circulation was a genuine mistake, that they are a young and enthusiastic business, that they meant to check with us before circulating this leaflet, that they will be employing female staff, that a member of their staff had inadvertently circulated some of their leaflet stock without checking with the boss and so on…

After studying their application we noticed that they were featuring the Motor Codes industry scheme logo at their website but our checks (we check all garage quality claims as part of every application) revealed that they weren’t registered there either. After speaking to Motor Codes about this, we now see that this logo has been removed from their website…

That clinched it for us because AA Motor Medic didn’t have to be vetted by Motor Codes at the time of their application. All they had to do was fill in the online form and pay there and then. Or to claim a mistake and do that when Motor Codes contacted them about their logo? So it was quickly clear to us that AA Motor Medic chose not to pay for the credentials they were using to lure in business under false pretences – they thought they could just publish our logos instead.

So women in Ipswich will not be at all surprised to read that FOXY Choice has rejected their application to join our FEMALE FRIENDLY garage register. As we see it, if WE can’t trust a garage to tell the truth in a leaflet or at their website why would we want to promote them to women who are looking for genuinely good garages THEY can trust to look after our cars?

Sadly other garages do make similarly extravagant claims and we don’t always find out about them unless we are told about these by vigilant motorists.  But when we do, we expose them for passing off standards of course because they are using our services to pretend to be something they obviously aren’t. The motor industry needs to be MORE open and transparent in its dealings with all motorists, not LESS.

We always check for quality first…

Rest assured that false claims to do with quality do not get past our checks when we receive their application form to join the FOXY Choice FEMALE FRIENDLY garage network. We check all OFT, BSI Which is why we prefer our manual and thorough check of all applications before we accept them into our network.

We also welcome recent garage feedback via the FOXY Choice website so we can share this with other women.

FOXY Steph

PG Mitchell Motor Engineers is a privately owned and female friendly garage in the west end of Lincoln, within walking distance of the city centre and easily accessed from the Lincoln bypass.

A member of the FOXY Choice approved FEMALE FRIENDLY garage network, PG Mitchell also provides specialist services for members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club and their families. In addition to the usual MoTs, car servicing and general repairs, these include time saving maintenance services such as a free tyre pressure check and free levels check (meaning oils, coolant and brake fluids) to members producing their membership card on arrival.

And during September they have an even better offer for women drivers in Lincoln – pop in and they’ll offer you a gift membership of the Club, worth £23, for free.

This comes with all sorts of reassuring and handholding support services so that women can save time, money and stress levels when it comes to every aspect of their everyday motoring.

You could say we’re the equivalent of a girl’s best motoring friend because we’re totally independent, put women’s best interests first and we know who the good guys are because of the female feedback we receive about cars, garage services, dealerships, road accident services, insurance and finance matters.

If you live in Lincoln and you’d like to try a FEMALE FRIENDLY independent garage in Lincoln, why not call 01522 539137 and speak to Mr Mitchell about this now.

FOXY Steph

How much is it going to be guys?

Some companies clearly think you can buy customer loyalty but that’s often a very short term marketing strategy. It is grossly unfair that she who haggles hardest gets a better deal than she who doesn’t know to haggle or what her choices are…

But should we need to haggle to get a price we should all be offered in the first place? It’s not very British after all. I prefer to know where I am, with businesses publishing a fixed price menu, and/or promising me their best price and then offering me a simple price matching guarantee should I find a lower price elsewhere after paying my money (terms apply of course). I’m usually suspicious of cheap prices anyway, especially in garages I don’t know, for fear of being ripped off in the end.

And whilst successful hagglers are usually assertive types (more often male, truth be told) who enjoy the chase for the lowest possible prices, I suggest that for every one woman who enjoys negotiating, there are two of us who feel this is probably below our dignity…we don’t have to do this on the High Street after all.

Which is why comparison websites are so popular of course because we can see our price choices without any stress; even though we all know we get what we pay for and that it’s vital to read the small print before we buy car insurance, for example. If only to see the excess we’re underwriting and whether it’ll cost us more to choose a FOXY Choice approved female friendly bodyshop for our accident repairs.

But why should those who don’t like to haggle be expected to live with a second rate deal? In fact, these females can be ones that tend to trust a business yet they are often the ones exploited by unscrupulous businesses. They don’t get a deal because they didn’t like to ask…

Take the following telecoms and insurance organisations, for example, who MoneySavingExpert.com tells us will reduce their prices if existing customers threaten to take their business elsewhere…  AA Breakdown, Admiral, BT, O2, Orange, Sky, T-Mobile, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and Vodafone.

Those customers that threaten to take their business away save money, often quite a lot, whereas those that simply pay up regardless, pay more. Is that style of caveat emptor behaviour really fair? And what is even worse in my opinion is that very often existing customers are better off cancelling and signing up again because of preferential deals many offer new customers. Women don’t necessarily do this, because of the hassle involved at the time, but we aren’t stupid, the rot has set in and many of us will jump ship as soon as it suit us.

I am particularly interested in the subject of customer loyalty in the UK motor industry because many car dealerships will do a better new car buying deal at the end of a month or a sales quarter; whenever there is a sales target to be met. But who realises this when they walk into a showroom – the car salesman, who is often on commission, is not going to tell you this…

In FOXY’s experience the majority of women find haggling stressful and this mindset, in an unfamiliar shopping environment like a garage or car showroom, may explain why we often feel ill at ease and like to take a man with us for support. In 2011 for goodness sake; when women are the professional shoppers and the BIG gender spenders!

On the flipside, businesses that adopt and stick to a ‘What You See is What You Get’ (WYSIWYG) ‘no haggle’ policy are likely to be trusted more than others. It seems a more open and honest way to do business, it’s definitely less stressful and it’s clearly fairer for all.

If only the price we were quoted was always the best price at the time! Then the motor industry wouldn’t have the reputation it has for ripping off solo females (and many men who are less likely to admit that it happens to them too) who don’t know how to react in garages, dealerships or when dealing with a stressful accident claim.

FOXY Steph

PS: Visit the FOXY Choice website to find out which female friendly UK garages, dealerships and fastfits have signed a commitment to not ‘overcharge, patronise or sell women anything they do not need or want.’ That’s the FOXY Promise and whilst it is primarily for women (because FOXY is a female brand) it’s also the sign of a measurably better and more trustworthy business for men too.

Women who are wary about male dominated garages and mechanics that tend to baffle them with technical jargon will be impressed by Volkswagen’s new 100% transparent garage service at their Stourbridge showroom in Worcestershire.

Not just a promise to be more open in future Volkswagen has gone that extra mile and opened up their Volkswagen Stourbridge showroom by removing its workshop walls.

This then provides a glass encased inspection area for customers so everyone can see exactly what’s going on. They can also ask for the work to be explained to them by a qualified technician whilst their car is being inspected.

As you can see in the photograph, the inspection area is actually a glass framed enclosure and customers can see precisely what is being done to their car, even when it is on a vehicle ramp.

This sort of transparency is precisely what is needed to reassure worried women about garage workmanship standards and ethics. If you have nothing to hide, you will get brownie points for showing this off.

Not just transparency but extra value for money as well… because every VW to visit Stourbridge Volkswagen in Audnam will receive the offer of a complementary 34-point express visual check. Those that want to take advantage of this can then escort Vince Baker who will explain this in layman’s terms, providing a greater insight into the car’s condition and helping to build a much needed relationship of trust with a view to the future.

The pilot service has cost Volkswagen UK £70,000 to install we are told, and if successful it may be rolled out across the UK network.

We would certainly support this female friendly approach in future. Indeed it’s one of the reasons why Stourbridge Volkswagen is a FOXY Choice approved female friendly garage that we are happy to introduce to members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club.

FOXY Steph

Just three in ten women take their own vehicles for a service, compared with seven in ten men.

New research from Bosch Car Service confirms that women are doing all they can to avoid garage visits for fear of being overcharged and patronised for being female.

30% of the female sample said that they take their own cars for a service with 35% stating they were not confident of a good experience from a car service.

This is because too few UK garages are genuinely female friendly places to visit.

“It is clear that there is still a feeling of discomfort amongst women drivers towards taking their cars in for a service, which could be why they are leaving it up to men” said Bosch Car Service Concept Manager, Howard Price.

And why FOXY Choice’s ‘Female Friendly’ marketing services are designed to identify, promote and monitor garages and dealerships that have gone out of their way to be measurably better (in terms of quality), to provide services that address women’s needs and expectations and that genuinely welcome females.

But just because a garage can demonstrate measurable quality doesn’t mean that it’s female friendly. This is because too many men think that men and women should be treated alike; as if women want to be treated like men!

All this can easily be sensed during phone contact, when visiting websites, when making  email enquiries and via female garage feedback – providing it’s genuine and independent…

When will the industry look long and hard at the number of female employees in garages, for starters? This is the UK’s last male bastion and a perfectly valid reason why women find so many of them intimidating and unfriendly places.

It’s time garages, dealerships and bodyshops got their Female Friendly act together behind the scenes. What FOXY Choice does is unique and specialist, requiring garages to sign up to our FOXY Promise ‘to never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need’ as a minimum standard. We then monitor this by encouraging genuine female feedback via the independent FOXY Choice website.

But just by saying they are a female friendly garage, women will not start to queue at the door. Nor does it mean that they understand what women want. There’s a lot more entailed and it may well mean they need to change the way they do things for women. Yes, they need to be seen to welcome local women with open arms but many will have to change their business culture in the process.

Employ more females for starters but make sure their needs are catered for – many do not stay in the industry because they don’t feel welcome.  Like many female customers for the same reason…

Garages also need to respond to the needs of busy women for stressbusting and time-saving services.

So garages need to work harder for women to be the richer for their efforts. By benchmarking performance standards to FOXY Choice approved Female Friendly levels women will be reassured and begin to trust garages, dealerships and bodyshops where they know they are understood and appreciated.

Once reassured they will recommend Female Friendly garages to others, men will be (secretly) delighted to share these higher standards and garages purporting to be good but not meeting FOXY standards won’t attract the female purse in future.

Bring it on guys – you know it is the right thing to do in the garage industry today…

FOXY Steph

Meet Mandy, a member of the Simon Dean garage team in Stoke on Trent

Real life video is a great way for garages to impress their female customers. I say real life because slick and impersonal corporate style videos don’t have the same effect on me.

I prefer the video style of Simon Dean Motor Engineers in Stoke on Trent. Have a look at this then come back afterwards to see why this one really works from a foxy point of view…

Simon Dean is a member of the FOXY Choice female friendly approved garage network. They have signed the female friendly FOXY Promise and in return FOXY Choice endorses and promotes their credentials to women drivers.

So we expect to see measurable signs of quality and like the fact that all the garage engineers are ATA accredited; this makes them among the very best mechanics in the motor industry.

We also like to see evidence of a female touch and it’s instantly clear that Mandy looks after the customer facing side of the business par excellence. Being women we also like the promise of clean loos and a great cuppa but of course it isn’t just women who are impressed to find this in the garage industry.

Where the video wins over words is that it tells us a lot more. It introduces the business brand, its owner and his approachability and evident business pride. And don’t let’s forget he’s done this video himself, not paid someone else to do it for him…

In a nutshell, this is an honest snapshot of what happens at Simon Dean Motor Services on a daily basis, it introduces other members of the team and takes us on a tour, behind the reception desk.

Listen carefully and you’ll hear Simon use words like trust, welcome, peace of mind and safety. These words mean a lot to women and we have the knack of remembering the bits that matter to us.

Look again and you’ll see ongoing examples of their Female Friendly credentials so women feel catered for from the very start. Even the relevance of the garage’s investment in technology, delivered with a ‘I know, I know…’ sense of humour holds our attention despite our alleged short attention span at the very mention of jargon.

In such a competitive industry, there’s no time to stand still and a video is a perfect way to communicate the human side of a business to potential customers. It would be hard to do this much better than Simon Dean already has.

FOXY Steph