FOXY Lady Drivers Club and FOXY Choice identifies good garages that are ATA employers, BSI Kitemark holders or operate to an OFT-approved Code of Practice.
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.
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.
Every year 35,000 cars are MOT’d at some 21,000 MOT centres.
Thank goodness for that I say because the Government tells us that in 2010-11 44% of vehicles failed their MOT test initially and 28% of vehicles had one or more car defects that were either missed by MOT test centres or incorrectly assessed.
This matters massively because the MOT is supposed to be a safety snapshot on the day and often it’s the only one older cars get each year.
VOSA (Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) data also showed that the roadworthiness of one-in-eight cars (12.4%) was being incorrectly assessed by MOT test centres.
Minister for Transport, Justine Greening said:
“Our garages are crucial to ensuring that Britain’s roads continue to be among the safest in the world. Most are doing good work but the latest data shows that there is room for improvement.”
“I want each motorist to be confident that a visit to the garage ends with their car repaired to a high standard by reputable mechanics rather than uncertainty about cost and the quality of service.”
“Giving drivers the very best information about garage performance is absolutely key to achieving this goal. It means that responsible garages will be well placed to reap the commercial benefits of transparency. Garages where performance is not up to scratch will find themselves under pressure to do more for their customers.”
Nicely said but drivers wouldn’t need performance information at all if all garages were regulated to perform to minimum and policed standards. As things stand, bad garages can pay to join good garage schemes, thus appearing to be responsible garages, without employing qualified or accredited mechanics.
And from the female motorist’s point of view, especially one who prefers her Yellow Pages Directory to any online listing, how is she to know that a garage listed as ‘Good’ doesn’t employ qualified mechanics to fix her car? Undoubtedly she thinks it does.
One interesting footnote to today’s Press release about all this states ‘The garage sector is regulated in several ways. The sector has to comply with business laws and consumer protection legislation. The MOT scheme is regulated by VOSA, an agency of the Department for Transport.’
All well and good but sadly, in our experience, none of this stops motorists being overcharged, patronised or sold things they don’t want to buy.
So I shall be interested to see how the Government assesses ‘reputable’ mechanics when they aren’t qualified or accredited as fit to do the job before being allowed to tinker with our brakes, for example.
All in all, I’m pleased to see that there will be a spotlight on garages again but wouldn’t it be easier to have one regulation system for all garages? Not just the ones who choose to self-regulate themselves via Motor Codes because the majority of these are franchised dealerships who have been told to sign up by their manufacturers but who presumably operate to higher standards than the Motor Codes Service & Repair code in any case? Which doesn’t include MOT centres as it happens.
And how will the industry judge value for money here? The likes of moneysavingexpert website tells motorists to use local authority centres where they’ll pay full price but aren’t sold anything they don’t need. But motorists will head for the discount deals and garages that may or may not be part of a ‘reputable’ scheme.
All to avoid the inevitable which is surely a fully blown regulatory scheme that outs the bad garages for once and for all.
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…
Would garages be any better if they had more women in them to sort out the customer service side of things? It’s a thought…
Based on everyday feedback from women drivers we know that the motor industry has many genuinely good garages in it but sadly there are quite a few bad ones out there too. Inevitably the motor industry doesn’t air its dirty washing in public and whilst the complaints continue about garages and used cars, nobody seems willing to ‘out’ the bad garages and the unscrupulous dealers we read about (or only use once).
In our experience the regulatory bodies lack the teeth to do the job here. Nice and understanding as they always seem to be, they will not name and shame offenders for ‘legal reasons’ they say. So the customer is expected to take the bad garage or dealer to Court and we suspect that few women do this in the end because it’s complicated, they’re often fed a load of lies by the business about the likely outcome and they worry it could end up costing them even more.
FOXY’s approach is different when it comes to problems that women drivers experience. We run a helpdesk for members so they know to come to us for the advantage of our practical advice. This can be important when it’s a technical matter and there’s a need to know or understand the jargon. Having given our independent opinion we then support the member to get things resolved. If it involves a female friendly approved FOXY Choice subscriber (yes it has been known…) it’s usually a case of our giving them a nudge, their resolving the problem quickly & amicably with us all learning from the experience.
Where the lady driver is a non member and FOXY doesn’t know the garage or dealer, we’ll help to check out their credentials so she knows if the garage is part of a trade organisation or complaints resolution service. She usually joins the Club at that stage, to be sure it doesn’t happen again.
Where there is no evidence of ANY commitment to quality and the garage doesn’t have a website, it’s hard to understand why any female motorist would buy from them in the first place. The reason this happens is because it is reasonable for motorists to expect garages to be licensed (they aren’t) and mechanics to be qualified (which they don’t have to be). So they trust a garage because they can’t imagine a garage wouldn’t be licensed or their staff unqualified. Which is a secret the garage industry can be truly ashamed of.
In a nutshell few motorists realise the risk they run, choosing a garage on the basis of price too many times, but without doing any homework first.
Sadly there is no one independent body above all others (that would be called regulation which FOXY would welcome tomorrow) to either explain and rate the many competing quality schemes or check if the garage is actually a member of the scheme it claims to be.
Our experience is that many garages tick quality boxes when they apply to join our female friendly approved garage network not realising we’ll check this; we don’t list quality logos until we can prove eligibility.
Sadly I can’t see this situation getting any better because the many competing good garage schemes are merely adding to the total confusion in motorists’ minds.
Our approach is to give offending garages and dealers the benefit of the doubt for a reasonable period of time to sort things out. If they don’t show any interest in doing this, we then spread the word among women drivers within the Club. Few garages and used car showrooms like to think of local foxy ladies hearing of their unscrupulous antics so it’s that sort of subtle approach that means FOXY usually get things sorted out in the end ;-).
FOXY
Find out about other support services FOXY Lady Drivers Club offers women drivers and their families.
What a tangled web of misinformation there is for motorists to cope with when it comes to choosing the best garage for their MOT and/or car servicing.
For starters, the best kept secret in the UK motor industry is surely that the garage industry within it isn’t regulated, that garages don’t have to be licensed (so anyone can set one up at the drop of a hat), that mechanics don’t have to be qualified to repair our cars and there’s no fixed standard when it comes to the content of car services.
Trust me – this is all true.
And this disorder explains why there are so many complaints about used cars and garage services and why there’s a genuine need for FOXY to identify the businesses that sign our female friendly promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need.’
One possible reason why the industry doesn’t want us to know this is that this is an opportunity for individual trade factions to earn out of subscription fees to their respective ‘good garage’ schemes. Or am I being too cynical?
For example, the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) promotes the recent Motor Codes Service & Repair Code which is skewed towards franchised dealerships. So the competing motor trade association in England, the RMIF (Retail Motor Industry Federation) has recently introduced another similar scheme, called Trust My Garage, which all garage members can join.
But neither scheme promotes measurable signs of quality, just that their subscribers operate to a fairly basic code of conduct. But they do promise a swift complaints handling procedure which has a self-fulfilling prophetic feel to it I suspect…
Another scheme called The Good Garage Scheme promotes subscribing garages through clever product placement in TV soaps and in adverts. But few motorists realise that this scheme is run by a US oil company and is designed to sell oils not garage credentials. Granted many of their garages probably are ‘good’ but with no benchmark to say what ‘good’ is, I’d definitely want to question that adjective in some instances.
In FOXY’s book, there are three quality logos that distinguish measurably superior and genuine garage quality. These are ATA (Automotive Technician Accreditation), BSI Kitemark and the OFT Code of Practice. To us, each of them means that the business or employee in question has gone that extra mile to invest in being better than the rest.
Then it’s up to the motorist to choose, and we certainly don’t tell women drivers whether they want a dealership or an independent garage to look after their car. Providing they do their shopping homework first and know their choices; it’s their car and their money.
One thing we do feel strongly about however is that a cheap price from a garage you don’t know or haven’t checked (or who hasn’t signed the female friendly FOXY Promise) isn’t worth the risk of saving a few bob on the bill total knowing that shoddy garage workmanship can ultimately cost lives.
But in the absence of industry regulation and recognising that few garages are ATA, BSI Kitemark or OFT logo enabled, we all tend to look for garage testimonials from our friends. This is where it gets really hard for motorists to distinguish the good guys from the pretenders. Because we don’t know who to trust for honest and impartial advice…
And let’s face it, garages are one of the least popular places for women to visit for fear of being ripped off or patronised; if we can delay going or get someone else to do it for us, that’s usually a result. But mightn’t be a foxy decision in the long run.
You might think the Which? Consumer association would want to lead in this area and promote the same signs of garage quality as us. But they prefer member feedback within their Local website. The problem with garage feedback is that it’s often based on an impression formed by a friendly welcome and convenient customer services. Both very important factors of course but it’s workmanship and ethical standards behind the scenes that matter most in my opinion.
Honest John supports the Motor Codes scheme which is dealership skewed and he provides good garage feedback too. As honest as he undoubtedly is <I’m a Telegraph reader> his main interest is clearly cars not garages…
And whilst word of mouth is powerful, testimonials can be rigged to favour or damn. When these appear on a business’ website, for example, with no names and bland/devastating quotes, how reliable can they be?
PS: FOXY is a female brand meaning shrewd, canny and astute which is what we believe women have to be in the garage industry today. Since our daughter’s bad garage experience in the early 2000s I have made it my business to become an expert in this field, on behalf of other women drivers. Which may explain why FOXY Choice is the only website to explain and promote the different measurable signs of quality, judging ATA, BSI Kitemark and OFT fully approved code logos as the pinnacle of garage standards.
Yes I’d love to see the industry regulated so the bad garages would be put out of business. But the industry needs to realise this and after 70 years of trying to regulate itself and failing, we are still where we were and it just isn’t good enough!
FOXY Choice is using a new badge in 2013 to indicate that a business is FOXY Lady Approved© as female friendly.
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.
