About FOXY Lady Approved© garages and repairers

FOXY Choice is using a new badge in 2013 to indicate that a business is FOXY Lady Approved© as female friendly.

So far this applies to GARAGES and REPAIRERS who sign the FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women anything they don’t need’ and where you see our Female Friendly Standards Certificate displayed (see below) you know they meet this too.

Very soon it’ll be available for insurance advisers too, subject to a FOXY Lady Insurance Promise that addresses the needs of women after the Gender Directive 2012 – more about this very soon.

It’s a shame that some businesses, usually ones whose staff are paid hefty commission bonuses to sell the likes of tyres and fast fit repairs, can’t sign the FOXY Promise but it’s good to know which ones ie those that have joined our FOXY Lady Approved© scheme as listed at FOXY Lady Drivers Club, won’t (and don’t) do this.

Signs Of Garage/Repairer Quality

We also look for measurable quality indicators such as ATA (this is the motor industry’s accreditation scheme which needs topping up every 3 years), the BSI Kitemark in vehicle body repairs, OFT Code of Approval schemes (run by Bosch Car Service, VBRA and Motor Codes), manufacturer approval and Trading Standards schemes including Motor Trade Partnerships and Buy With Confidence.

We’d prefer the industry to be regulated so there was only one standard to amalgamate the best features from them all, but we have to accept that we are where we are and do our best to ease the confusion in the minds of motorists!

When a small business isn’t a member of any of these schemes (they’re optional indicators remember because UK garages don’t have to be licensed or mechanics accredited to repair our cars) but it’s still obvious they’re going the extra mile for females, we ask for independent female feedback, make our minds up on that basis and monitor all performance levels through ongoing feedback in any case.

There are other considerations for us. We also award brownie points for quality awards, female staff in customer roles and businesses that organise ladies evenings but by and large we let the female customer decide what type of garage or repairer she prefers.

Providing the business signs the FOXY Promise as a minimum we’re happy to approve good independents alongside good franchised dealerships alongside good fast fits, bodyshops and/or mobile repairers. Subject to female feedback of course.

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