The Washington herald., 1916-01-23
MOTOR GOSSIP.
By "sI, GRoGAN.

Service? Just what does 1t con-
stitute: where does it begin and
where does it end? Every automo-
bile dealer and every salesman tells
his prospective customer in glowing
terms that his company is the one that
gives service. Unfortunately. they all
fail to describe in detail just what
they mean by this word. how much
of it is to be given gratis and where
the line Is to be drawn between work
done free of charge and work for
which a charge shall be made.
In the early days of the industry,
II was a case of sell the car and let
the man shift for himself. Like most
everything else connected with the
motor car industry. this condition to-
day is changed. No man in the busi-
ness who makes the least pretense of
being up-to-date (unless he is, he will
not last long) is without a service sta
tion. True, some are more elaborate
than others, but they are all built on
the same basic principle, to care for
the wants of the users and owners OF
their cars.
With the sale of every motor car
there goes the guarantee that the ma
Cnlne is IlShl. NhoN
II within a certain specified time any
part breaks through being defective.
the factory will furnish a new one free
of charge. In addition to this factory
guarantee, the dealer, as a rule, adds
his own. He agrees to make any
minor adjustments. such as carbueter.
valve, or the like, free OF
charge within a stated period. Some
go even further than that. agreeing
to make minor repairs gratis within
definite length of time.
Just where to draw the line on
making minor repairs gratis is where
the rub comes. There are some owners
who are under the impression that.
with the purchase of their car. the
customer likewise bought a controlling
interest in the service station and that
no matter what happens, he has the
right to drive up, call out me-
chanic. have him remedy the trouble
and when the job is done. drive of
without even the courtesy of thank
you" Naturally, ii is the desire of all
dealers to sell as many cars as pos
sible, but frankly most of them will
say they do not want this kind Of
customers
To make the minor adjustments for
a man is one thing, but to expect that
you shall clean spark plugs, drain gas
oline tanks, oil reservoirs, and mount
and remount tires is stretching a point
These are things that the average man
who owns car is supposed to do him
self or have done at his own ex-
pense They are every day necessities
of the automobile. and it must not
be expected that the time of an ex-
pert mechanic shall be occupied in
doing this sort of work.
To 1hr yt,ta Nrt nf h,,e
car representatives have adopted the
plan of a card system. A man brings
his car to the service station and
states what he wants done. 1t is
written on a duplicate card, one of
which goes to the shop foreman. and
the other is kept in the Office. After
filling out the card, 1t is signed by
the car owner. On this card there is a
printed list of just what work that
will be done gratis. and it Is ex-
pressly stated that a charge will be
made for all other repairs. When the
task is finished and before the car
is turned over to the owner, he is
presented with bill for all excess
work and asked for a settlement. Nat
urally, there are cases in which he
objects, but this plan has been found
to do away with great deal of abuse.
Another plan that is followed is a
coupon book, good for so many hours
of free labor. This is to include every
thing that is done on the car, no mat
ter of what nature. 1t Is explained to
the purchaser that he may take ad-
vantage of this book as often as he
wishes, but that once it is used up,
all future labor will be charged for
at the usual shop rates. This has a
tendency to make the owner careful
in asking for service and he only
comes to the service station when he
really is in trouble.