A female customer's question

A female customer asked me, "I am moving to another town.  How do I find another mechanic that I can trust?"

Wow!  That is a tough question to answer.  And even tougher answer to post.  Let's establish something about the female repair customer, before I try to answer this question.

One would assume the female customer is looking for a great deal.  She clips out coupons before she goes grocery shopping.  She calles serveral retailers before she buys that Christmas present.  And, she spends all Saturday dragging her husband all over the city through various stores just to find one item, and then she may not even buy it.  What's that about?  We men may never know.  I don't think she even knows. But she seems to love doing it over and over.

So, many years ago, when a new resident of our town came in to have her vehicle's oil changed, she said this; "You know, finding a new mechanic is like getting married."  I had to have several long talks with my mother and my wife to figure this one out.  At least understand it a little bit anyway.

What does that statement mean?  My personal belief is that it means, "I want peace-of-mind."  She wants to know, and not only know, but feel, that what was wrong with the car, is no longer wrong with the car, when she pays the bill and drives off.  She wants to feel assured that if something goes wrong with what you repaired, that you will make it right.  In other words, "A mechanic she can trust to do the right thing, and admits it when he makes a mistake(we are not infallable)."

She is not buying a "great" deal, or looking for a discount(even though she would like one).  She is buying peace-of-mind.  She does not, "shop", for peace-of-mind, or get a coupon for it.  She finds it.  Once she finds it with a mechanic she can trust, she will return again and again.  She has found what she wants and she will rarely go anywhere else.  And if she does go somewhere else she might give her established mechanic a call, just to verify, and assure her, that what the other mechanic is doing is the right thing.

With the concept of "peace-of-mind": The next post I will attempt to answer the question, "....How do I find another mechanic I can trust?"