Any interest in "zagat" type rating on..

def a good idea. Maybe you should also break it down into service and sales. Sometimes those are completely different at dealerships.

 

EXCELLENT IDEA. After all, the people on Fchat are really the most direct consumers of these goods/services, and it would be great to have a standard criteria set so that you can really get an "objective" average of opinions rather than have to search threads and add up positive and negative feedback to arrive at a conclusion all the time...

 

Id like to hear pchop weigh in on this topic

 

Just curious as to whether there have been any more thoughts on this... The thread seems to have fallen silent.

Cheers,
J.

 

I think it's a terrific idea, but I think ultimately it wouldn't work as intended. Zagat works because the sample size is huge -- thousands of people answer the surveys, and they're able to get a really solid picture of the restaurants.

In our world, customers can only be counted in the dozens (usually), and in particular, many of the dealerships/independents have a tremendosuly, shall we say, "vocal" customer base -- falling on both sides of the fence ("OMG I love them I would have the owner bear my child!!!!!!!" or, say, "They destroyed my car, my life, my wife, my family and then tried to sell me a car with a resprayed mirror!?!?!?!?!").

If we can find a way to solve that problem such a guide might be valuable, but a good solution would be needed first.

 

Noah, I think this is a very good (and funny) statement of the problem. I agree, it's a fairly small sample size and a self selecting group. One part of a solution I'll try to offer is to see if we can come up with an objective set of criteria -- that should neutralize much of the "familial loyalty". Maybe have a questionnaire people could fill out (some things yes/no, others rating on a scale). For example, we could ask about whether deadlines are met (yes/no), whether cost estimates come out close to actual cost (again, yes/no, or could be graded). You could ask about attitude, perceptions of experience with the cars/parts, cleanliness of shop, etc. People who know more than me could maybe provide some basic technical categories that lend themselves well to "grading".

These are just some suggestions. You've stated the problem very well -- hopefully we can collectively find a solution, but you're right that one would be needed before this could work.

Best regards,
J.