Any mechanics/garages out there that give credit?

Darragh29

Just a question for drivers out there... Has anyone ever come across a garage that gives credit to a customer, say you get a service or a timing belt done or a water pump and you can take your car away and pay like 2-3 weeks later??? I don't know of any, all garages/mechanics I know will not release a car unless the bill has been paid, plain and simple. I had an idea for my garage that could let a customer spread the cost of work over a certain value, over a fixed period, say 3, 6, 9 or 12 months or something like that, depending on the cost of the work done. Would appreciate any feedback or comments, positive or negative. Obviously I'd be worried that I'd give people credit and would ultimately never get paid, but on the other hand, Dixons and PC World and other retailers in those industries seem to be able to manage it. Obviously this would be properly done and a formal credit agreement would be the way to go. I know some of my customers would appreciate this facility, especially when bills start going over 500 Euro...

patrickc

is it a good idea in principle, I know a motor dealer in Carlow who currently has the debt collectors out to the tune over 1 million euro.. they got lax on people paying being such a big firm and hence have the men in balaclavas out!!

Darragh29

patrickc2006 wrote:

is it a good idea in principle, I know a motor dealer in Carlow who currently has the debt collectors out to the tune over 1 million euro.. they got lax on people paying being such a big firm and hence have the men in balaclavas out!!

Jasus I never heard of that! I didn't know of any dealers who gave credit. Is it a main dealer? I've sounded this out through a few other people in the trade and also with a few friends and they say I'd be fu*king mad/insane to try this, when I have a set up at the moment where people pay cash, VISA or Laser Card..

junkyard

Haven't you enough to worry you fixing their cars and trying to meet their deadlines besides worrying about how their going to pay you? Giving credit is the rock you'll perish on, believe me.

Fey!

PC World and their ilk use credit agreements; they're so big that they own their own credit company.

Possibly talk to HFC/Woodchester/Irish Permanent about setting up a system where the customer can take finance on the job. That way, you're paid up front and don't have to worry about the customers repayments. If you have a sales department, then you're probably dealing with one, if not all, of the above.

Doing it on your own runs the risk of people not paying, and has been the cause of business' going to the wall in the past.

Hope this helps.

Darragh29

Fey! wrote:

PC World and their ilk use credit agreements; they're so big that they own their own credit company.

Possibly talk to HFC/Woodchester/Irish Permanent about setting up a system where the customer can take finance on the job. That way, you're paid up front and don't have to worry about the customers repayments. If you have a sales department, then you're probably dealing with one, if not all, of the above.

Doing it on your own runs the risk of people not paying, and has been the cause of business' going to the wall in the past.

Hope this helps.

Yeah I'm going to forget about it, could put me out of business to be honest!

BrianD3

Don't do it! IIRC you posted before that your garage has policies to minimise hassle from bad customers. By giving credit you'll be dong the opposite i.e. maximising hassle!

Let's say you change a timing belt and give them 3 months to pay, in that 3 months the car develops a totally unrelated fault like a holed exhaust, can you predict what happens then? You get accused of causing the hole in the exhaust and now the customer doesn't want to pay for the timing belt work.

patrickc

Darragh29 wrote:

Jasus I never heard of that! I didn't know of any dealers who gave credit. Is it a main dealer? I've sounded this out through a few other people in the trade and also with a few friends and they say I'd be fu*king mad/insane to try this, when I have a set up at the moment where people pay cash, VISA or Laser Card..

yes it's a main dealers, they basically used to let people wait till their bill ran up to perhaps 1,000 then go looking for the cash and not get it..

Oryx

If you do give credit without an official agreement, wave bye bye to your money cos youll never see it again. And youll never see that customer again because they owe you money. When we started out, we gave credit to people we thought we could trust, and in every case, we got done. So we never ever ever give credit, and neither should you.

$Leon$

The vast majority of dealers give credit. But to get credit you need to be in the trade and have a few good references. You get a bill every month and then pay it.

maidhc

KtK wrote:

If you do give credit without an official agreement, wave bye bye to your money cos youll never see it again.

Most small local garages in the countryside give "credit". I got a few things done to my car last month and I have yet to see a bill, he generally posts out the bill after a few weeks whenever the bookwork is done.

junkyard

maidhc wrote:

Most small local garages in the countryside give "credit". I got a few things done to my car last month and I have yet to see a bill, he generally posts out the bill after a few weeks whenever the bookwork is done.

It's a bad idea tbh. it only means extra work writing up bills and some people just won't pay on time or ever in some cases.

maidhc

junkyard wrote:

It's a bad idea tbh. it only means extra work writing up bills and some people just won't pay on time or ever in some cases.

Probably.

oilsheik

Most garage's offer some type of credit but only to customers who have well esablished relationships i.e. local businesses who always buy there transits from the garage. Some private customers also have credit facitilites but these are loyal customers who always buy from the garage. Typically both private & business customers are only offered 1 months credit, anything over that and interest should be charged. To offer credit to any Joe Bloggs that come in off the street is expensive and not worth the hassle I'd imagine you'd need to access the Irish Credit Bureau database to spot bad credits and need proper documentation drawn up...not worth the hassle and expense.

rebel.ranter

I know a garage near Coachford that gives a month's credit. In fact you cannot pay on the day of collection. The way they operate is that they will send the invoice out to you once all the paperwork has been completed for the work done.
I used to use them while I was in colloege for the more complicated jobs & it was frustrating as I wouold have the money to pay when I checked in to get the work done but it was gone (student!) when the invoice arrived.
I think you'll find that people are not as interested in paying once the car is fixed, some people will pay over the odds to get their car back in action quicker. The garage I was talking about had a full time accountant working for them and I'd say he was kept busy.
Maybe only offer it to customers that you have been dealing with for a long time (the reliable ones) as a trial or something?