Harmony Motor
Motoring with Peace of Mind - Honesty, Sincerity and Integrity are our beliefs!
Posts: 1,761
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Post by Harmony Motor on Nov 28, 2012 19:53:14 GMT 8
Dear all bros, Maybe I just comment on some facts. Harmony Motors are not as good. Their technicians are forgetful. Always forgot to fix back covers and leave it in my seats. Small workshop space, can't do much. No tyre balancing equipments. They always charge for everything. Actually we are driving KIA, most general workshops are able to repair and service. Unless we are driving BMW or Mercs or Aston Martin. I service my Pica at Stamford Tyres at Loyang. Excellent service. They will show you the worn parts and you decide whether to replace. I told them my rear drum brake got noise when braking, immediately they serviced it FOC. Boot door cannot open, repaired FOC. Front marking light fused, replaced FOC. They do not charge for labour, only charge for parts. I bought rims and Conti-tyres from them, so free tyre balancing and rotation, free nitrogen gas. free wheel alignment which cost $60. Joey wanted to charge me $50 for repairing the boot cannot open, in the end I went to Stamford, they said no charge. I even offered $20 tips but rejected. Really want to thanks Bro CoolbluePica to give us such a good 'wash up'. I think complacency has creep into Harmony Motor. Thanks for the wake up calls. Will certainly remind my colleagues to be watchful when serving customers. Will try to give as much freebies as possible. One problem I find is we receives many phone calls for quotation everyday. Most of the time is for price comparison. Most of the time we did not see and check the car and were asked to quote from the brief description by the caller. Mostly callers will paint an easy pictures. To avoid argument, we usually will quote the whole system or the higher side but then in this case, we are painted to be an 'expensive' shop. Think it is quite unfair. From now onwards, I will ask my colleague to refrain from tele-quotation. We will request for full particulars and also quote only after inspection. Gentle reminder that our checks is chargeable at $60, however will be refunded if the repair is carried out by us. Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Hope that you can understand as we always see 'customer' coming in hoping for a free check and car ended up at neighbour shops. That is because we have the latest equipment and information for Korean Cars than other workshops. We do not want to be taken for a ride.. Thank you and safe driving. Joey Lim Harmony Motor
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Post by coolbluepica on Nov 28, 2012 20:20:58 GMT 8
Hi Joey,
I think it is reasonable for consumers to ask for a quote and compare. And service providers need to provide quote to consumers. Consumers have the choice to compare and select their preference price.
By charging $60 for inspection, it means that consumers die die have to accept your quote, if not the $60 will tio makan.
Hmm, okie.
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Post by forte3737 on Nov 28, 2012 20:32:34 GMT 8
Hi Joey, I think it is reasonable for consumers to ask for a quote and compare. And service providers need to provide quote to consumers. Consumers have the choice to compare and select their preference price. By charging $60 for inspection, it means that consumers die die have to accept your quote, if not the $60 will tio makan. Hmm, okie. i agree with you. why should we be hold ransom by this $60 checking fee?
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Post by coolbluepica on Nov 28, 2012 20:38:13 GMT 8
Ya bro forte.. First time i heard charge for quotations, and once quoted have to do with them , if not, $60 tio makan.
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Post by Gresini on Nov 28, 2012 23:28:38 GMT 8
If said charge is for a customer to send in a car for full inspection prior deciding whether to buy it, I will say its reasonable.
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Post by coolbluepica on Nov 29, 2012 1:16:01 GMT 8
still i think asking for quotes should not be charged. its just like asking how much before buying something... What is there to inspect? unless need special diagnostic equipments to inspect, charge for this I agree. But not charge even for quoting how much to replace brake pads etc..
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Post by picanyeo on Nov 29, 2012 8:57:03 GMT 8
Both sides have their valid points too. I think we have to be fair to Harmony Motor as well. Let's quote an example. Let's say an equipment at my workplace stopped working. I called a technician and describe the symptoms to him eg. there is no power. Technician can't see the thing. Based on his knowledge, he quoted me the price for replacing the whole power control unit. Taken aback by the high price, I brought the equipment to another technician to have a look. The technician open up and check and found that it's only a component that spoiled. I was quoted a much lower fee. In this case, I found the first technician charging a higher price. Another example: Similar case, my equipment makes some funny noise. I brought the equipment to the technician. The technician spend his time, diagnosed the problem and quote me. After which, I asked around for the same parts and found another technician charging a lower price. Good for me because I got a 'free' diagnosis and got the same parts at a lower price. From what I read from Joey's post, this is what I understand. I feel that both situations are at the workshop's disadvantage in any case. Each workshop usually have their own advantage and disadvantage. People usually paid for added convenience (deposit of vehicles), lower pricing, workmanship, or simply they feel assured having their vehicles at this particular workshop. Some will place pricing as their top priority, while others place added convenience or reliability as their priority. In summary, different workshops cater to different target groups of consumers. How I support my paragraph above: 1) The car park lots of AD are 90% full when it comes to vehicle collection. I'm not sure about other branches. But it's always full for the AD I visited previously. Many of these vehicles are the early SJ plates, meaning their warranty has already expired and have no free servicing. (100,000km batch) 2) The job schedules at Harmony Jurong are always full. Technicians are always occupied with their vehicles when I visited them. So no right or wrong. Just a matter of different target audience. Please don't shoot me. Just an opinion..
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Post by Gresini on Nov 29, 2012 9:12:14 GMT 8
How I wish everyone understand this picanyeo... esp my boss....
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Post by forte3737 on Nov 29, 2012 9:20:04 GMT 8
Both sides have their valid points too. I think we have to be fair to Harmony Motor as well. Let's quote an example. Let's say an equipment at my workplace stopped working. I called a technician and describe the symptoms to him eg. there is no power. Technician can't see the thing. Based on his knowledge, he quoted me the price for replacing the whole power control unit. Taken aback by the high price, I brought the equipment to another technician to have a look. The technician open up and check and found that it's only a component that spoiled. I was quoted a much lower fee. In this case, I found the first technician charging a higher price. Another example: Similar case, my equipment makes some funny noise. I brought the equipment to the technician. The technician spend his time, diagnosed the problem and quote me. After which, I asked around for the same parts and found another technician charging a lower price. Good for me because I got a 'free' diagnosis and got the same parts at a lower price. From what I read from Joey's post, this is what I understand. I feel that both situations are at the workshop's disadvantage in any case. Each workshop usually have their own advantage and disadvantage. People usually paid for added convenience (deposit of vehicles), lower pricing, workmanship, or simply they feel assured having their vehicles at this particular workshop. Some will place pricing as their top priority, while others place added convenience or reliability as their priority. In summary, different workshops cater to different target groups of consumers. How I support my paragraph above: 1) The car park lots of AD are 90% full when it comes to vehicle collection. I'm not sure about other branches. But it's always full for the AD I visited previously. Many of these vehicles are the early SJ plates, meaning their warranty has already expired and have no free servicing. (100,000km batch) 2) The job schedules at Harmony Jurong are always full. Technicians are always occupied with their vehicles when I visited them. So no right or wrong. Just a matter of different target audience. Please don't shoot me. Just an opinion.. WE, AS CONSUMERS, will seek out the best competitive price and will not be held ransom by $60.
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Post by MK1 on Nov 29, 2012 9:28:45 GMT 8
$60 is way to ex for a check....
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Post by picanyeo on Nov 29, 2012 10:36:10 GMT 8
If it's items like brake pads, it's relatively straight forward. But it's something more complicated like chirping noise from the pulleys, unstable idling, or how about loss of power at high rpms and even tuning can't solve the problem? Certainly we would need more attention besides a phone call.
I won't comment on the $60 thing because that is the company procedures. But I would say it's relatively unfair to the workshop that it spent the effort to make the correct diagnosis. But when it comes to the repair/replacement of parts, the consumer seeks out other alternatives. However, this only applies to difficult problems. For simple problems like metal-rubbing noise when braking, the solution should be straight forward.
A patient went to see a doctor because he has been having headache, fever and feels the chill. The doctor diagnosed him as having a flu (pardon me if it is wrong. I'm not a doctor) and let him know which medicine he should take to recover. The patient says 'thank you' and heads towards the pharmacy to get the medicines at a lower price. So is it fair that the doctor charges the patient a consultation fee in this case?
But if you got a minor headache, would you spend the money to see a doctor? Some would but some may not. Just take some painkillers will do.
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Post by picanyeo on Nov 29, 2012 10:42:52 GMT 8
How I wish everyone understand this picanyeo... esp my boss.... Hmm.. You referring to the technical part or the target audience part?
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Post by Gresini on Nov 29, 2012 15:46:42 GMT 8
How I wish everyone understand this picanyeo... esp my boss.... Hmm.. You referring to the technical part or the target audience part? The quotation against actual part.
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Post by picanyeo on Nov 29, 2012 16:10:50 GMT 8
I used to source for quotes almost everyday. But now no longer doing so..
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Harmony Motor
Motoring with Peace of Mind - Honesty, Sincerity and Integrity are our beliefs!
Posts: 1,761
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Post by Harmony Motor on Nov 29, 2012 16:49:59 GMT 8
Hi Joey, I think it is reasonable for consumers to ask for a quote and compare. And service providers need to provide quote to consumers. Consumers have the choice to compare and select their preference price. By charging $60 for inspection, it means that consumers die die have to accept your quote, if not the $60 will tio makan. Hmm, okie. I fully agree with you that you should check price before buying. If it is a straight forward things like a bulb, brake pads, Shock Absorber, there is of course no inspection needed and therefore no charge. How I wish a car is made so easy to maintain. What I meant, in my earlier posting, was diagnosis and not visual checks. There are times where expensive equipment needed to know what is going on, like ECU Scanner, 5 Gas Analyser, etc. The former has a yearly licence fee of $1500 and the latter's oxygen sensor will expire every 12 months. These are all cost. Alternatively, you can also go to another workshop and get the diagnosis done then you call us for a quotation by providing us the result of the diagnosis. I can guarantee you that I can be 10-20% cheaper than that workshop. We are not the only workshop that charges diagnostic fee, even Agent charges this. So...... Consumers has full rights to choose whoever to receive their jobs. I am always very happy for each of you to have found a workshop that you are very comfortable with and serve you well. We have our strength and weaknesses, that also let us have a group of clients that like our service and had been supporting us for more than 10 years. We really appreciate all feedbacks, whether compliments or otherwise. All feedbacks are meant good to Harmony Motor. Feedbacks will only make us improve ourselves, that no two ways about this. I hope to receive more feedback in this fantastic forum. What is good about this forum is that all the participants here are objective and have a sharing spirit. Seldom I see flamers. So keep up the good job and share as much as possible. Be it good or not so good feedbacks.
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Post by coolbluepica on Nov 29, 2012 19:45:43 GMT 8
I used to service my car with C&C, never encountered that they charged inspection or quotation fee.
Bro Picanyeo, as a competent Purchaser or when doing Procurement, always get 2 to 3 quotes for price comparison, to ensure that you are not paying out of pocket. And a Purchaser will never pay for a quote.
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Post by picanyeo on Nov 29, 2012 21:50:02 GMT 8
Yup.. That's my procedure. Minimum 3 quotes. Will take the lowest quote of all.
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Post by Gresini on Nov 30, 2012 10:04:14 GMT 8
From what I read, Harmony actually quote 60 for troubleshooting, but will offset this amount if repair carry out by them. Means user can troubleshoot and just request a quote for a specific job without this charge involved, but bear full responsibility if problem persist. Correct me if I am wrong.
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Post by aaur4man on Nov 30, 2012 10:29:32 GMT 8
car forums were initially set up to help owners exchange their experiences and find out where to get cheap/reasonable service for their vehicles.
turned out that due to "Business Models" we see less and less of bargains nowadays.
True enough, with rising costs, rentals, lemon law and with the new law on foreign workers, sending ur car to the hospital will only incur higher and higher costs.
By passing on these costs to consumers instead of offsetting or subsidizing it, will one day push consumers to the limits. Gone were the days of "i help u take a look" or "nevermind, next time then i charge u for labour".
Labour is now charged as a la carte for some or most workshops, L and R side. Spare parts are taken in with a specific markup which is not low just so to provide "warranty". And then the boss starts to complain how the govt is clamping down on their profit margins by limiting FW but still , are they out of business already? What they fail to realise is that following strictly on these models will filter out the less financially capable car owners; till one day too much of their customer base gets filtered out.
With quotes nowadays I am appalled at the markup rate of just spare parts alone; there is no longer incentive to purchase the "spare parts and labour package" at the workshop just for the "warranty", because given the prices I can simply replace the part and pay again if need be, or save on the difference.
I am not the only one with these sentiments.
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Post by forte3737 on Nov 30, 2012 10:52:29 GMT 8
have you all ever wonder why bosses of workshops say business hard to do, cost rising, rental rising etc?
but the bosses themselves are driving luxury cars
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tutuchia
I'm just a NO knowledge in cars NOOB
Posts: 493
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Post by tutuchia on Nov 30, 2012 13:36:10 GMT 8
actually not all bosses ba. I guess u just haven't see those bosses that drives lorry or opc cars nia. some bosses do drive luxury cars some dont. I bet many bosses also do have some other channels to earn money.
then I wonder who should drive luxury cars?
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tutuchia
I'm just a NO knowledge in cars NOOB
Posts: 493
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Post by tutuchia on Nov 30, 2012 14:02:53 GMT 8
sometimes others dun really understand when u cooked the food that was for own consumption but in the end the food kena jiak by others. and the best part is kept on kena jiak. u not pek chek?
u kena cancer just go to the normal Gp ask wat type of cancer can Liao Lo. then u go overseas and heal better.
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Post by aldenyj on Nov 30, 2012 14:22:09 GMT 8
have you all ever wonder why bosses of workshops say business hard to do, cost rising, rental rising etc? but the bosses themselves are driving luxury cars to all, please keep comments constructive instead of destructive or sarcastic. Not protecting our advertisers, but trying to keep this a healthy place. Thank you. imo, kindly do not stereotype all bosses. Thank you.
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Post by coolbluepica on Nov 30, 2012 20:30:33 GMT 8
Bro aaur4man,
May i correct "gone were the days i help you take a look". I have 2 workshops which will always help me take a look, not only look, but look already then fix it, at no charge. Of course no parts involved. For eg, tightening of belts, throttle body cleaning. Ya at no charge.
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Post by forte3737 on Nov 30, 2012 23:24:09 GMT 8
Please do us a favour by letting know which workshops. no point just giving examples
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