Fixed Ops Information

Are you are leaving future revenue on the table and risking $7.5m in litigation?

Most dealerships conduct multipoint inspections and inform customers about the repairs needed. But what happens if those recommendations aren’t documented properly?

A Sacramento based Ford dealership recently received a fine reported to be nearly $7.5 million dollars. A Fixed Ops journal article revealed the settlement was a result of the dealership’s failure to advise a customer to replace worn ball joints on a 2004 Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup.

The California Bureau of Automotive Repair requires technicians to document the degree of wear on certain parts and, if applicable, record recommendations for replacement on the invoice. On this occasion, the technician failed to complete either of these actions, leaving the dealership liable.

Most dealerships will conduct multipoint inspections and inform customers about any repairs that are needed. However, if these findings and recommendations aren’t documented properly, you could be facing a hefty pay-out putting the financial stability of your dealership in jeopardy.

Using automotive repair app, SnapCell, you can easily record a video of the defective component and send it to the customer directly. This automatically acts as documentation of the fault and there is an electronic trail to prove that it has been passed over to the customer.

You can track whether the video has been opened and watched to determine if you need to follow up with this customer. What’s more, the video can be securely stored in the cloud ready for any follow up that needs to take place making it easily retrievable, should you need it.

Unfortunately, this dealer wasn’t using SnapCell. Initially, they had bought the truck at an auction and sold it to a customer who returned it after numerous steering problems. The vehicle was then resold and bought back by the new owner with another steering complaint.

After inspection, a service technician determined that all four ball joints were worn. The crucial mistake here is that this prognosis wasn’t documented anywhere or passed onto the customer. Instead, he stated that the problems were “normal” for a truck with over-sized wheels and a lift kit.

The new owner loaned the truck to a friend who used it to tow an Econoline van when the right front tire blew out at 65 to 70 mph causing it to roll two and a quarter times leaving the man permanently injured.

By following a simple procedure of informing the customer about the condition of their vehicle, the events outlined in the Fixed Ops Journal article could have been avoided.

Don’t put the safety of your customers at risk by adding SnapCell into your service departments. Investing in our video software can extinguish the risk of a multi-million-dollar litigation as well as provide documented and traceable evidence that you have adhered to the state’s automotive regulations.

Dealerships using video relationship management technology have seen an increase in upsell opportunities in their service departments by giving customers a personalized and informative experience.

Take a look at this article FIXED OPS JOURNAL $7.5m Settlement

Using SnapCell, you can easily record a video of the defective component, send the video to the customer and store it securely in the cloud ready for follow up. You can also retrieve the video, should you need it…