Do you wait at your mechanics ? Small shops, do you take waiters ?

[Jeff Alton]

It all depends. Getting your car serviced can be a pain in the A$$. I never wait.

That said, we do allow some waiters. This is generally on a first appointment of the day time frame for a routine service with no surprises, and they must be on time. A business like ours needs to make efficient use of our equipment and labor to survive. If we are waiting for you to arrive this does not happen.

To help make it easy for customers to not need to wait we invested in 3 courtesy cars. Something none of our local competition has done. (Boxster, GTI and Mini Cooper JCW). We also offer very flexible drop off and pick up times, including weekends or at my home (secure lock box available).

There are certain times we encourage a customer to wait around. This may be a new Porsche owner who has never seen the underside of his car or has no idea what sort of service is required. If they choose to wait we can invite them into the shop (escorted) and show them their car from a view they can't get otherwise, show them what we check and how/what is required when we perform a service. They can see wear items first hand and get an idea about what they may be up against expense wise in the future and gain a little understanding of their vehicle.

The whole idea depends on the customer and their individual needs. We always ask when booking an appointment if they would like to drop off or need a courtesy car (or ride in the local area) and schedule appropriately. At the end of the day it all comes down to us accommodating what the customer wants, but we provide as many options as we possibly can to ensure their needs are met and this helps us schedule our work.

For me it isn't all about earning a living. I chose to open this business to help serve like minded car enthusiasts (there are a million ways to earn a living). So I knew we would need to make it easy for people to use our services and we would need to be flexible and accept everyone's needs and desires in terms of scheduling.

[petrolhead611]

My dad had a shop, and deliberately had no waiting area( it was located 50 yards from a busy shopping area and major bus routes so there was plenty to do for the customers).
I always wait in the waiting area when any of my cars goes for its annual inspection,
because at the end whilst the car is still on the lift the proprietor will let me inspect the underside of the car and will point out any areas he thinks might need protection against future corroding etc.
For tyres I always watch the fitter to ensure 1. they jack up in the right spot rather than cheerfully crushing the sills or in one case the exhaust(never went to either of those places again),2.put the correct tyres on-this just happened but fortunately I spotted the wrong tyre brand going onto the second rim and the guy had to redo the work with the correct brand.3. they torque the wheel bolts correctly( some monkeys just power whizz up the fasteners so tight that only a breaker bar would free them). I don't talk to the fitter unless I have to intervene. I always thank them if the job was done right.