Tag Archives: good garage

garage services

Fabulous female garage feedback

welldonegiftcardfrontThis is a story in its own right so I thought I’d simply cut ‘n’ paste Dane’s garage feedback so all could see it in its entirety.

This is how a genuinely female friendly garage should look after its customers and why this makes good business sense in the end…

It’s rare for customers to want to tell us so much good news but we’re delighted of course and this simply means a fight to see who will carry out their evidently straightforward compliance visit later this year.
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Name of garage: Toronto Garage Ltd
Purpose of visit: MOT & tyres this time
Location/town: Wallasey, Wirral
Car make/model: Ford Fiesta
Month/year of garage visit: August 2014

Comments: I’ve just had my MOT done at Toronto Garage. As always, I received friendly, top quality service at a reasonable price (I’m so glad they send me a letter reminding me when my MOT is coming up, I’d forgotten this time!).

Toronto Garage was recommended to me just over 10 years ago by a colleague who has been with them for many years. Being a girl and not knowing much about cars, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first went, but they have always given me great prices and only done work that really needed doing. When the company moved premises a few years ago, I kept going to them even though they were further away from my home because I trust them to do a great job and not rip me off. They have never let me down.

Over the ten years I have been going to Toronto Garage, I have had MOTs, services, mechanical repairs, new tyres etc (I’ve had two quite old cars). Every time I need something doing, they will explain it to me first and say how much it will cost before I decide to go ahead with it. Shona, Mike and the team have always been very friendly and welcoming, it’s a pleasure doing business with them. I know that even when they are busy they will find a way to fit me in somehow. It takes the worry away when you know that you are dealing with a company that is so reliable.

I’m not usually confident about getting a courtesy car out of it’s parking place. Mike has always been very helpful and will drive the car onto the road for me, making it very easy to use. Sometimes instead of choosing to use a courtesy car, I have a walk around the shops in Moreton. It’s a lovely way to pass the time while my car’s being fixed. Or you can walk down to the lighthouse and the sea if you don’t want to sit in the waiting area. It’s a great location.

I would highly recommend Toronto Garage to any female (or male) drivers. If you have any worries or questions just ask them, they are so lovely. It’s worth travelling a bit further for a garage you can really rely on. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Marks out of 10 = 11!

Female Friendly Garage Rating:
Cleanliness: 5
Female Friendly: 5
Quality of workmanship: 5
Value for money: 5
Welcome: 5
Full Name: Dane Shadows
Permission to include name: Y

Lovely to read how it should be even if I can’t get it to add up to 11!

Congratulations Toronto Garage – that’s going some…

FOXY

female friendly

The female friendly acceptance test

The UK's only female friendly garage networkHow 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

female friendly, garage services

Women running garages makes business sense

Female friendly FOXY Choice approved garagePlease see our latest interview with FOXY Choice’s Female Business Ambassador, Eileen Jack, who runs female friendly Lambert Street Garage in Halifax.

Eileen has been a supporter of the FOXY Choice approved garage scheme since its very early days.

Unlike some opportunistic garage owners who want to see if what we do means foxy ladies queuing at their door without any effort on their part, Eileen takes the female friendly business agenda very seriously.

She understands the female dynamics of course and that it’s often the very sight of a female in the business that reassures wary females; convincing them to visit Lambert Street Garage rather than another local garage. Right or wrong, many women are distrustful of males in the motor industry either based on their past experiences or the stories they have heard from others.

But it’s only when you interview someone that you start to get a feel for the person, their business principles and the other loves in their lives.

It is clear that Eileen loves horses as well as engines and we now know Lambert Street Garage is a female friendly family business which she runs with her son. Her husband brought her into the business and it’s equally evident that she does her job well and it’s sorting out her customers’ motoring problems that really turns her on.

And that is what makes a successful business of course. We’re not just here to make money on one-off sales, we’re here to make a difference through customer relationships. Get things right for the customer – exceed her expectations wherever you can, and she’ll pay back in spades through loyalty, referrals and by acting as your brand ambassador whenever she can.

Which is why having a Female Brand Ambassador in any business (but particularly in one with such a male dominated image) makes such good sense. And why, if you are female, it makes good sense to promote your existence and the fact that any wary customer (male or female alike) can speak to you about their car if they’d prefer.

And if the Female Business Ambassador isn’t the business owner, who is likely to do all this sort of thing instinctively, it surely makes business sense to appoint the right female to represent women’s best interests in this business. And to back her judgement and ideas to bring you more female business in future.

FOXY

“I don’t mind living in a man’s world if I can be a woman in it.” Marilyn Monroe

car dealerships, female friendly, garage services, women drivers

What is a garage?

Is a garage a one man band, a family-owned SME, one that’s part of a national or regional franchised network, a fast-fit centre like National Tyres or a franchised new car dealership appointed by the main car manufacturers.

Taking a straw poll at a local women’s business meeting last night I learned that a garage may be many things 😉  to female motorists but it is not considered to be a main car dealership in many women’s minds because….

  1. Women drivers that were shopping for good garage services, driving an ‘older’ car perhaps, suspected that they’d pay over the odds for a service/repair in a car dealership and perceived that garages delivered better value (for them..)
  2. Many female motorists thought that a franchised car dealership could only service or repair the make of car they advertised and sold
  3. Those women that wanted to go to a franchised dealership often considered that this was better than risking a ‘dodgy’ garage and were prepared to pay a premium to get [what they saw as] superior service levels.

Needless to say few knew they had a choice and how to find out where the really good and female friendly garages (and dealerships) were so I was able to introduce the female friendly  FOXY Promise and our garage services guide as well as FOXY Lady Drivers Club to good effect!

FOXY