PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

The Secret Door

by JERRY MCNEE

My painter and I recently attended refinish training down in Maryland, along with another painter from a big MSO who is ranked 14 of 48 in his market. Since he’s ranked so high, we were pretty dang surprised when he shared his belief that it would only require seven ounces of paint to refinish an entire bumper…and that’s when we found out that his ranking is largely based on his ability to use less product. That’s how they’re compensated and rewarded. This guy, who believes he’s a top-notch refinish expert, has been brainwashed into dust coating the bottom, spraying it down and feathering it. So, there’s never enough paint on the bottoms, but he insisted that’s “fine.” They’re Bentley-certified, yet they’re using a have been unfair to him since the damages he caused were miniscule compared to what was truly needed; they were just willing to overlook all sorts of stuff to get the car out the door. And that’s the same problem a lot of shops have. We’re so focused on getting this car out the door (and the next one in) that we aren’t paying attention to all the details – and that’s a really huge problem. Then, we’re coming up with all sorts of excuses. We often blame low labor rates when we can’t come to an agreement, but when there’s a $10,000 discrepancy (and we all know that occurs way more often than it should), there’s a lot more going on than just the hourly rate. That cost variance is coming from everywhere!

completely different paint system that’s not approved by Bentley, without the right products and processes. It’s sickening, but it’s just part of the insurers’ process, right? It’s just like the time a customer brought their car in for a minor repair – and all hell broke loose! Turns out it was a total loss, not because of the recent collision, but because this was the third repair. The first two repairs completed by other shops in 2018 and 2019 weren’t performed properly. It should have been deemed a total loss back in 2018, but those shop owners were too busy working in their business to work on their business. When I talked to the insurer, they acknowledged that this wasn’t the first problem of this caliber that they’d experienced with this particular shop, yet that shop remains in their network. I’d be kicked in the teeth for repairing a vehicle that way. And I’d deserve it!

That second shop owner felt horrible and even offered to cut a check for the damages, but that would “The insurer told us how to fix it. That’s how they wanted it done.” Well, you’re the one who is responsible for that repair. The liability is on you. Insurers have three options: replace, settle in money or elect to repair. Even though they often behave as though they elected to repair, that’s rarely the route they take. Typically, they settle in money, leaving the shop fully liable, yet they want to control the repair. Whose business is it? It’s yours, and you’re liable. And you’re the one who needs to make the decisions. But we get so busy that we just keep shoving concerns down in the corner, closing it up behind the secret door in our basement that nobody knows exists. And we close that door like nothing ever happened, but there’s only so much space down there. Eventually, that secret room is going to fill up and overflow…and all those mistakes are going to come back to haunt us. Maybe we should think about cleaning it out before that happens. NJA