Whilst taking my boat back to its winter storage facility, my oil life went from 30% to zero (the truck has 11,500 miles on it and has had one oil change only at 7,000 miles)...so yesterday I took it in for 'The Works'. They did a good job, got me out in about an hour or so, but that did give me time to listen to the tactics of the Service Advisors when the service on the vehicles was completed.
In every case it was a VERY soft sell (well, except for one case where an alignment really was needed), it is like they have meetings and seminars on this. Tire replacement recommendations were heard a few times ("now, you are fine now, no danger of a blowout or anything like that...but you are only showing 4 to 5 thirty seconds of tread left, and with the bad weather coming it might be a good time to consider new tires...and we can take care of that right now if you wish..."), brake pads ("so, you MAY have noticed some noise while braking, and you DO have some pad left but if you wanted to take care of that today, we can do that...") and of course there was a push to get the scheduled service interval work done. And yes, the women were treated differently than the men.

I was a bit amused when the woman who was my Advisor said, "Okay, now...your green, green, green across the board here, with the exception of your air filter...it's getting to the point you might want to change it...and we can do that right now if you allow us a few more minutes of your time?" I just kind of laughed and said, "okay, well...it's only got 11,000 miles on it so I'll probably wait a while, but thanks."

I mean, I get it...I am sure there are quotas or at least contests for who gets the most 'extras' done, but at the same time it is kind of thinly veiled predatory tactics.

 

I guess I don't see it as that, I like when they tell people they have 30% of tire life of half of their brake pads left. It lets people start to budget for the item and not be surprised if it wears out. My friend that has a shop does this for all his customers also....it just gives them some warning that an additional expense is coming up.

 

It would be fun if a person like yourself were offered those but decline only to call back the following day asking for an appointment to have brakes done -see if they can still take care of you or if it will require a 6-week wait.

 

what exactly is a "person like myself, pray tell?

 

They all make commission now days, it's hard to find an honest mechanic. Thankfully I enjoy and capable of doing most maintenance to my truck and toys. I have 2 daughters, live out of state, they always tell the guy/gal at the desk, talk to my dad, I thoroughly enjoy those phone calls. I have them keep detailed maintenance journals, and review plans yearly with them. I like to help them out when they are in town with many basics like filters etc, even an oil change. Sometimes I even think the plan trips home for that, lol.

 

I worked as a service advisor/service manager for close to 25 years. While I'm sure that there are snakes in the grass out there, nothing that you described would be categorized as shady in my book. I'd rather be honest with people and tell them their options and let them decide how to maintain their vehicles. I've seen more pissed off customers from breakdowns and repairs they weren't aware of, than from following the wear progression (green, to yellow, to red) and keeping them informed.
And though I don't want to relish in anyone's misfortune, there have been times where major breakdowns have occurred because someone wouldn't take the advice of their service advisor or mechanic. Sorry, don't feel bad for you anymore...
As far as your air filter needing replacement in only 11,000 miles- this is a favorite of mine. Customers would say "I live in town, not on gravel", or "it only has 11,000 miles on it"... Do me a favor and set your truck outside without washing it for a year and let me know how how it looks afterwards- there is dust in the air, even in town (ask your furnace filter). This dust just happens get pulled into your air filters during normal operation. Maybe ask to see the filter next time, anyone worth his or her profession will show it to you.
And to be honest, some customers are just thinly veiled *****holes.

 

Good point.
My home HVAC filter doesn't get 11,000 miles out of it.
I can tell you that in 4 months my new car with fresh wax is filthy from all the dust on it (haven't washed it since it was waxed 4 months ago). That is a great visual that the filter is sucking in the air vs a little bit of dust on the paint in 5 days.

My Ford service center never did me wrong after my visits. I was actually skeptical if they did look things over because everything on the list was "okay at this time".
Since we do take are vehicle to them vs doing all of the maintenance ourselves (some of us and some more than others), we would like to know if there are issues upcoming.
Saves me from having to pull the wheel to see if my brakes are about to eat a rotor.
I don't however want them to say I have 30% (or maybe 8 months depending who the driver is) pad left and I could have the brake job done today. If brakes last 5 years and I have 30% left, I have a long time coming before I need to look at them again.

 

I'm surpirsed and shocked. This is the first I've ever heard of an auto repair facility trying to upsell service.

 

A lot of employees are rated on their upsell numbers, so it's not always on them for having to do it. Some companies will straight up fire employees that don't make upsells, others will deny them raises or promotions. Every employee is a tool to be exploited for gains for many companies.

 

lol...re-reading this now and I believe I completely missed the observation that I wanted to make: that simply being there were ZERO incidences (within my hearing range anyway) where people checked out and DIDN'T get some suggestion for additional service. And yes, I totally understand it from their perspective, given the likelihood of quotas being part of their job description and/or salary consideration. I was convinced that there was simply NOTHING they would try to sell me on a truck like mine that was only in for its 2nd service and less than 12,000 miles...but I was wrong!