Independent Compliance Assessment Panel - Report 002

The second meeting of the Motor Codes Independent Compliance Assessment Panel (ICAP) was held on 28/05/09. ICAP is the panel that meets every quarter to independently assess the operation of Motor Industry Codes of Practice. To date this is the Service and Repair Code but from next meeting we'll be looking at introducing the New Car Code and Vehicle Warranty Products Code to the agenda.

For now, the Service and Repair Code gathers pace in terms of subscribers and contacts into the advisory service, as awareness grows.

In general terms the operation is working very well, something that the ICAP report confirms.

The report has already gone off to the Office of Fair Trading and Trading Standards, as part of our agreed approach to the self regulation of the service and repair sector. I'll be meeting with them to discuss content in a week or so.

Clearly an important report for many different reasons - primarily for me to demonstrate to any that has an interest that subscribers to the Service and Repair Code are the good guys.

See the press release here

All the best
Chris

Consumer Focus - making their point

The June edition of CAT magazine features this small but complete piece. Steve Brooker - Mr Super Complaint - making his feelings known on what he feels should be happening to accelerate the industry towards full subscription to an industry wide minimum standard of operation.

Steve Brooker is clear that more independents need to subscribe to keep our current status of 'Super Complaint withheld'. With the first year anniversary of the launch of the Code almost with us, I'd be anticipating a review of some sort from Consumer Focus.

It gets really important now that independent garages commit to open and honest business practices by signing up to the Code. We know you do it, you know you do it - why avoid it?

Have a look on the website and make sure you know what you're signing up for - a cost effective means by which to market yourself as one of the good guys and gain an advantage in your local competitive area - with all the benefits of a consumer code of practice setting out minimum standards of operation and customer service.

Don't wait to be told to do it by the government, do it today!

www.motorindustrycodes.co.uk

Drop me a line if you want to know more (cmason@motorcodes.co.uk), but really you know what you need to know already don't you?

All the best
Chris

GEA Technical Workshop

Tristan Holland, Motor Codes Team Leader and me headed off to the Aftermarket GEA Technical Workshop at Watford Hilton a couple of weeks back to have a chat with delegates about the Code and how it is relevant to them - some of the countries top technicians.

Here they are grabbing a cuppa, you'll see us talking shop with various people at the back of the shot. I'm pleased to say we had ample opportunity to discuss and clarify the Service and Repair Code throughout the day and put a number of names to faces from online forums that have been debating the Code for some time.


We finished off the day with a Q&A session which I really enjoyed. Delegates were keen to offer their opinion and thoughts, but also ready to listen to answers and did so with open minds. Glad to say we also took some subscriptions from the day, which means we must have made sense!

To demonstrate what a high class bunch we were mixing with here's Top Technician 2009, Richard Perriman and runners up Stuart White and John Tinham - congratulations to you all.

I suppose there's always a downside, Aftermarket magazine's Paul Dearing thought he'd get away with eating all the biscuits - not likely....

All the best

Chris

Unipart Automotive

I am absolutely delighted to post this news, Unipart Automotive are signing up their Car Care Centres to the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair.

We've been working with the team at Unipart for a little while and they've been very keen to introduce the Code and commit to industry led self regulation and provide garages and customers alike with consistent levels of service and operation.

Get more independents on board is the message we are receiving from Consumer Focus and the OFT - how's this for a signal of intent?

Clearly demonstrating that this Code is fast becoming recognised and embraced by franchised and non-franchised operators alike as the industry minimum standard of operation for service and repair.




All the best
Chris

Ferris Bros Consumer Survey

Andrew Ferris at Ferris Bros in Cardiff have got on with making sure their customers are feeding back their views after having used their services with this flyer, now handed out with every invoice.

Doing a good job it is too, with a number of customers providing excellent feedback on the service they have received from Andrew and his team.

The Survey results go live on each subscribing garages individual web page on the Service and Repair Code website from mid-July.

http://www.motorindustrycodes.co.uk/

This means that potential customers searching for a garage to use through our Garage Finder facility on the website will be able to gauge who the best operators are based upon feedback from people like them who have actually used the service before.

Here's how it works...

Garages signed up to the code have an individual page on the Code website like the one below:

Motorists are increasingly using the Garage Finder on the website to find a trustworthy garage to use in their area - 10% of all traffic to our website is people directly using the Garage Finder, currently that's around 3,000 a month.

Come mid- July a visual representation of the customer feedback through the Consumer Survey will be placed on the individual subscribers web page, like this:

Providing a real time and real life gauge on how actual customers rate a garages performance.

Neat huh? We like it and increasing our subscribers are seeing the value in it as a marketing tool - the better the rating, the more impressed the customers are!

So if you're a subscribing garage, get your customers completing the online Consumer Survey - have a look via this link

http://service.motorindustrycodes.co.uk/consumers/survey.html

If you're a motorist, make sure you check out the Garage Rating before you decide on your garage!

Don't risk a rip off, you can trust a Motor Codes garage.

All the best
Chris

More good news from the Office of Fair Trading...

More good news this week as the Office of Fair Trading announce stage 1 approval for the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Vehicle Warranty Products, another feather in the Motor Codes cap.

The vehicle warranty market is a complex business and through working with the warranty product administrators we have developed an excellent Code that takes the complexities out of the consumer information it provides.

We have been working on the refresh of this Code for for quite some time now, but we've had to hold back on it's relaunch a couple of times to edit it to reflect changes in the regulation of general insurance which caused some significant impact upon the automotive sector when introduced by the FSA.

So, a little longer in development than we would have liked, but as good luck would have it the timing is quite impeccable with the VWP Code as it's becoming known, fitting nicely into the Motor Codes suite of industry self regulation alongside the New Car and Service and Repair Codes - more consumer protection, more motor industry operators willing to sign up to demonstrate their commitment to open and honest working practices. Can't say fairer than that...

OFT press release
http://www.oft.gov.uk/news/press/2009/64-091

Motor Codes press release
http://service.motorindustrycodes.co.uk/consumers/latest-news.html

All the best
Chris

Motor Codes on the BBC

The BBC have picked up on the good work of Motor Codes Limited and the service and repair sector. Excellent coverage of the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair was aired by way of pre-recorded and live interviews on Saturday morning on BBC Breakfast and BBC News24.

Here's the pre-record film which while acknowledging the good work and progress to date helps us raise the current hot topic, subscription by the independent sector.

Whilst the Code is a clear success and doing a great job for business and motorists alike, we need to add more independent garages to subscription to satisfy the consumer lobby and government that the sector at large is committed to acknowledging minimum standards of operation and customer service.

Here's me, making the case for industry led self regulation - providing consumer choice and protection through consumer codes of practice.

Some terrific coverage has been generated through this coverage that ran throughout Saturday morning. Feedback has been really positive in support for what we are collectively achieving.

Here's the full BBC online report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8074350.stm

From the healthy number of independent garages that have subscribed over the weekend, the independent sector is getting behind the Code and their trade association have reiterated their support, see the link below.

http://www.autowired.com/news/article.aspx?Storyid=20250

If you're an independent garage operator, don't delay - sign up today!

All the best

Chris