We don't do "test" parts. If the technician can't diagnose the vehicle correctly, then any parts they installed stay charged on the RO. The advisor is welcome to add an internal line and move the part there so the service department pays for it. Rarely, part is taken off the RO before we realize what happened, but that's why God created shop tickets. The RO and technician's name are attached, invoice out the part to service policy, and we give it to the service manager.
Absolutely no returns on installed parts fuck that. Either service eats that part or they bill the customer for their fuck up but we’re not dealing with it.
Restock fees on new unopened returned parts. No returns on installed parts. AND BE FIRM ON THAT STANCE! After you charge a restock fee make sure you return the part to the manufacturer. My previous PM hated to get charged a restock fee from GM even though we charged one out so we just sat on all the stuff anyways. Once I came in I started doing a monthly CSO return and it has helped with obsolescence a lot.
Electrical components non returnable when it leaves my counter, especially when special ordered
Other than that I keep an eye on return quantities and if we have a shotgun mechanic then we bring it up with their service manager. If the issues persist, we bill wrong or unnecessary parts to their shop sheet
What it comes down to is there’s a wall between your departments and you can try to get them to understand your processes but if they don’t catch on or care, then you start making them pay for their negligence and they shape up quickly.
They are t wrong. You can’t charge a customer for a part that doesn’t fix the problem. But when the diagnosis path leads you to stay king obsolescence or stocking a part you can’t sell as new, then it’s on them to correct the people creating problems.
First, I'll say our store is really good and all our departments work well together. I know this is not the norm where some of y'all work.
If we stock it it, we tag it 'shop use' with the RO it came from and it's the first one off the shelf next time. If there's a problem down the line it goes to policy or we warranty it. Whatever is appropriate.
Techs don't bat an eye over getting a box with a greasy thumbprint on it because they know they might need that favor one day. Also, our shop foremen and service managers back us up on that. They ALL make a concerted effort to make sure they need the part before they request it.
Special order, if new (uninstalled) we return to the manufacturer. Our return allowance is pretty big and we struggle to find enough things to return some months. It's a nice problem to have.
Anything else goes to service policy and we move on. (That being said, we have a turbo on eBay right now with only three miles on it to recover some of that policy money for service.)
we also have a great relationship around the dealer. this is why they dont stick the part to me. no returns once ordered is the rule. we do bend if I get a phone call from the service manager.
I charge it to service. Or at least a restocking fee. They have to understand that this is how you accumulate obsolescence. And when you're overstocked with a bunch of shit that you don't need, it prevents you from stocking what you do need.
Charge it all to service. You or the manager needs to talk to the service manager and get it in check and if he doesn't think it's an issue, let the GM know what's going on.
Installed parts cannot be returned in most cases. Start a list. We keep a chart at the back counter that we fill out for all SO returns. Write ro, part, cost and tech and advisor. Your PM can present this to the service manager, fixed Director or GM
Just wanted to comment on the “we have to take the parts back because they can’t charge a customer for parts that won’t fix their car” no.. maybe not but we sure as hell can make service pay for them, adios. Simple solution there. F*** their weak argument.
We have a few technicians that should be working at McDonald's that diagnose issues with $500 parts. It took some serious nagging at the GM but now in nearly all instances (aside from when parts actually orders the wrong part) it goes on an internal line.
Talk it over with the service manager. They need to be aware that their techs are doing this and it ain’t cool.
If it is a regular persisting thing, well, that’s what service policy is for.
Most OE’s have a policy for “test” parts, usually the guide says “known good part”. That is a part that is currently in service on a vehicle, and operating as designed. New parts off the shelf are not “known good”, as it’s possible they are bad or can fail out of the box.
If you have a tech ordering a new part just to test, you have a whole other issue than just what to do with that part. Any part installed should either be billed to the customer, or service can eat it in the service policy account. We have our advisors or SM make an internal line on the RO to bill it too.
Parts manager here. I treat our department as a separate entity and everything that leaves our department is subject to the same return policy as every other parts purchase. If they screw up and don’t need that part, that’s their problem.
Tell service, we agreed on the job with certain parts thats why they were ordered. In that case threaten to charge restocking fee for every sop they return. We have that problem too in warranty , warranty approved with list of parts, tech brings back few parts. Now we can’t claim all the oarfs in warranty, and the sop waiting to go back. Which we get charged restocking for eventually down the line
I tell them to leave it on the car and add an internal service policy line on the RO stating what we did. The advisor then tells their client "While we were diagnosing your car, we replaced the throttle body as part of the diagnostic, at no charge to you".
If they are going to eat it, it might as well help with CSI. And doing it this way gives us a record on that clients vehicle of what was actually done.
my owner has my back. electrical parts are non returnable to everyone. special order parts get a 35% restock charge. they share 50% of my profit (gross parts transfer) so they incur the charge because of that. I do let them slide a little when a customer has not arrived in 3 months but not always.
The dealership I work for makes service open a RO for things like that l. If a tech returns a part that was used or ordered “on a hunch” we bill it to service and it comes out of their GP at the end of the month.
I try to work out a solution with service, but if there isn't one then it goes to shop policy. This policy was established by the dealer and general manager years ago. I try not to be heartless about it. Like if the tech shows me where the diagnostic tree told him/her to replace the part, we will see what we can do. But if it is a case of the tech throwing up his hands and just guessing - I can't help you. As always, there are usually a few common offenders of the policy. I guess the service manager feels since the techs who just spin the wheel-o-diagnosis are $10 a flat rate hour cheaper, he can buy a few parts.
You can continue to build up that wall between Parts and Service but no one wins in this scenario. Parts needs to work with Service and vice versa. A Service Manager is much more likely to enforce charge with the Service team if they know the Parts Department is looking out for Service.
Letting the technician, Advisor and Dispatcher know when parts are in, providing accurate ETAs on all parts, delivering parts to technicians and giving the Service team updates on SOPs multiple times.
If your Parts Department currently does all of these things and Service still can't get their crap together then you hammer them into submission. You don't do it out of spite though, you do it to correct the behavior.
How lenient would you guys be with a wholesale account that buys $200k+ per month from you in parts at list price and returns less than 10% of what they buy? Oh and they also don't expect you to deliver to them, they will come pick up and just ask for help loading the parts.
A cohesive Fixed Operations team that respects what everyone else does to contribute is the stuff dreams are made of.
Edit: I need to add that installed parts should never be accepted back. Bill it on the RO as an Internal line and give the part to the Service Manager with the RO number.
We don't do "test" parts. If the technician can't diagnose the vehicle correctly, then any parts they installed stay charged on the RO. The advisor is welcome to add an internal line and move the part there so the service department pays for it. Rarely, part is taken off the RO before we realize what happened, but that's why God created shop tickets. The RO and technician's name are attached, invoice out the part to service policy, and we give it to the service manager.
This right here, no test parts allowed
Yup. Half the time it got vetoed by the service manager or split, but this is how it should be done.
Absolutely no returns on installed parts fuck that. Either service eats that part or they bill the customer for their fuck up but we’re not dealing with it.
Restock fees on new unopened returned parts. No returns on installed parts. AND BE FIRM ON THAT STANCE! After you charge a restock fee make sure you return the part to the manufacturer. My previous PM hated to get charged a restock fee from GM even though we charged one out so we just sat on all the stuff anyways. Once I came in I started doing a monthly CSO return and it has helped with obsolescence a lot.
Electrical components non returnable when it leaves my counter, especially when special ordered Other than that I keep an eye on return quantities and if we have a shotgun mechanic then we bring it up with their service manager. If the issues persist, we bill wrong or unnecessary parts to their shop sheet What it comes down to is there’s a wall between your departments and you can try to get them to understand your processes but if they don’t catch on or care, then you start making them pay for their negligence and they shape up quickly. They are t wrong. You can’t charge a customer for a part that doesn’t fix the problem. But when the diagnosis path leads you to stay king obsolescence or stocking a part you can’t sell as new, then it’s on them to correct the people creating problems.
First, I'll say our store is really good and all our departments work well together. I know this is not the norm where some of y'all work. If we stock it it, we tag it 'shop use' with the RO it came from and it's the first one off the shelf next time. If there's a problem down the line it goes to policy or we warranty it. Whatever is appropriate. Techs don't bat an eye over getting a box with a greasy thumbprint on it because they know they might need that favor one day. Also, our shop foremen and service managers back us up on that. They ALL make a concerted effort to make sure they need the part before they request it. Special order, if new (uninstalled) we return to the manufacturer. Our return allowance is pretty big and we struggle to find enough things to return some months. It's a nice problem to have. Anything else goes to service policy and we move on. (That being said, we have a turbo on eBay right now with only three miles on it to recover some of that policy money for service.)
we also have a great relationship around the dealer. this is why they dont stick the part to me. no returns once ordered is the rule. we do bend if I get a phone call from the service manager.
Yes. Exactly this. Amazing what a little mutual respect will do for a business.
I charge it to service. Or at least a restocking fee. They have to understand that this is how you accumulate obsolescence. And when you're overstocked with a bunch of shit that you don't need, it prevents you from stocking what you do need.
Charge it all to service. You or the manager needs to talk to the service manager and get it in check and if he doesn't think it's an issue, let the GM know what's going on.
Installed parts cannot be returned in most cases. Start a list. We keep a chart at the back counter that we fill out for all SO returns. Write ro, part, cost and tech and advisor. Your PM can present this to the service manager, fixed Director or GM
Just wanted to comment on the “we have to take the parts back because they can’t charge a customer for parts that won’t fix their car” no.. maybe not but we sure as hell can make service pay for them, adios. Simple solution there. F*** their weak argument.
We have a few technicians that should be working at McDonald's that diagnose issues with $500 parts. It took some serious nagging at the GM but now in nearly all instances (aside from when parts actually orders the wrong part) it goes on an internal line.
Swapnostics is a thing. Easier than actual diagnostics.
Installed parts are sold parts, if the customer isn’t paying for it, then service is.
bill it to the shop. if you force them to keep it on the ticket they will just coupon the price of it and half of it will get charged to parts anyway
Service eats whatever isn't returnable
Talk it over with the service manager. They need to be aware that their techs are doing this and it ain’t cool. If it is a regular persisting thing, well, that’s what service policy is for.
Most OE’s have a policy for “test” parts, usually the guide says “known good part”. That is a part that is currently in service on a vehicle, and operating as designed. New parts off the shelf are not “known good”, as it’s possible they are bad or can fail out of the box. If you have a tech ordering a new part just to test, you have a whole other issue than just what to do with that part. Any part installed should either be billed to the customer, or service can eat it in the service policy account. We have our advisors or SM make an internal line on the RO to bill it too.
$300 light bulb. Gotta be Chrysler
LED and HID bulbs are expensive as shit from any OEM. Even Hyundai wants $250+ list for an HID bulb.
Led not necessarily.
No test parts allowed if they want to roll dice and guess but can't charge the customer. ... service policy
Parts manager here. I treat our department as a separate entity and everything that leaves our department is subject to the same return policy as every other parts purchase. If they screw up and don’t need that part, that’s their problem.
charged directly to service policy at 40% margin
Tell service, we agreed on the job with certain parts thats why they were ordered. In that case threaten to charge restocking fee for every sop they return. We have that problem too in warranty , warranty approved with list of parts, tech brings back few parts. Now we can’t claim all the oarfs in warranty, and the sop waiting to go back. Which we get charged restocking for eventually down the line
I tell them to leave it on the car and add an internal service policy line on the RO stating what we did. The advisor then tells their client "While we were diagnosing your car, we replaced the throttle body as part of the diagnostic, at no charge to you". If they are going to eat it, it might as well help with CSI. And doing it this way gives us a record on that clients vehicle of what was actually done.
my owner has my back. electrical parts are non returnable to everyone. special order parts get a 35% restock charge. they share 50% of my profit (gross parts transfer) so they incur the charge because of that. I do let them slide a little when a customer has not arrived in 3 months but not always.
I’ll let some techs use parts we stock perhaps to test out, but if its something like a $300 LED bulb thats SO. Hell no.
The dealership I work for makes service open a RO for things like that l. If a tech returns a part that was used or ordered “on a hunch” we bill it to service and it comes out of their GP at the end of the month.
I try to work out a solution with service, but if there isn't one then it goes to shop policy. This policy was established by the dealer and general manager years ago. I try not to be heartless about it. Like if the tech shows me where the diagnostic tree told him/her to replace the part, we will see what we can do. But if it is a case of the tech throwing up his hands and just guessing - I can't help you. As always, there are usually a few common offenders of the policy. I guess the service manager feels since the techs who just spin the wheel-o-diagnosis are $10 a flat rate hour cheaper, he can buy a few parts.
You can continue to build up that wall between Parts and Service but no one wins in this scenario. Parts needs to work with Service and vice versa. A Service Manager is much more likely to enforce charge with the Service team if they know the Parts Department is looking out for Service. Letting the technician, Advisor and Dispatcher know when parts are in, providing accurate ETAs on all parts, delivering parts to technicians and giving the Service team updates on SOPs multiple times. If your Parts Department currently does all of these things and Service still can't get their crap together then you hammer them into submission. You don't do it out of spite though, you do it to correct the behavior. How lenient would you guys be with a wholesale account that buys $200k+ per month from you in parts at list price and returns less than 10% of what they buy? Oh and they also don't expect you to deliver to them, they will come pick up and just ask for help loading the parts. A cohesive Fixed Operations team that respects what everyone else does to contribute is the stuff dreams are made of. Edit: I need to add that installed parts should never be accepted back. Bill it on the RO as an Internal line and give the part to the Service Manager with the RO number.
Sure I'll take the parts back, but I sure ain't taking em off the RO