Automotive Repairs and After-Sales Service Company for Women - Research Paper Example

Automotive Repairs and After-Sales Service Company for Women Introduction It is a common observation that automotive repairs and after sales services are regular activities of individuals who are associated with automobile maintenance. At the same time, regular maintenance is indispensable for car owners around the globe (Kapoor, Dlabay & Hughes, 2007, P.255). The most common sources of automobile maintenance in the forms of repairs as well as after sales services are car dealers, service stations, autonomous vehicle repair shops, mass merchandise dealers and specialty shops (Kapoor, et al., P. 256). Car dealers are generally equipped with a service section that provides an array of automobile care services. On account of being authentic, these services are normally available at a higher price as compared to those provided by other repairers. The service stations provide maintenance at reasonable prices. As far as the autonomous vehicle repair shops are concerned, they exist in large numbers as the secondary and tertiary components of the huge automobile industry and owing to stiff competition their services can be availed at reasonably competitive prices. A major concern about these repair shops is that the quality of services may vary and hence feedback from their previous customers should be taken into consideration before taking their services. Mass merchandisers such as Sears (Sears, 2009) also sell tires, batteries, brake oil, etc. thereby curving a reasonable portion of the market pie. Finally, there are the specialty shops that blend reasonable pricing with promptness and offer services such as oil change, automatic transmission, etc. For obvious reasons, the different types of organisations that provide the wide spectrum of services related to automobile maintenance, have to manage the experience that they can provide their customers with, i.e. they should be careful enough so that the customers are satisfied and in turn publicise their experience thereby enhancing the customer base of the organisations. The present research will be centred on the experience of the female customers in Australia. It has been observed that Australian women are becoming increasingly independent and are nearing equality with their male counterparts (Australian Government: Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2009), despite which they are still battling institutional as well as social barriers (Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2008). This research will try to unveil the extent to which social bias is reflected in the quality of automotive repairs and after sales services received by them. The Australian Context The Australian Government’s initiative since December 2007 has been to continually strive towards improving the standards of living of both the country’s women as well as their families. Though a lot of women are flourishing due to the benefits of such enormous efforts, it is also quite apparent that challenges still linger (Australian Government: Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2009). From the beginning of this decade it has been observed that the purchasing power of Australian women has been increasing and this has made them potent consumers of the nation’s automobile industry. This upsurge has also triggered the necessity to employ more female staff on the shop floors (National Working Party, 2001, P.17). The car dealers have realised the fact that their operations can be more profitable if the female segment of the automobile industry is captured. Keeping in mind the necessity of catering to the feminine requirements in a sensitive as well as sensible manner, they have been showing the tendency of having more female employees as part of the repair and after sales activities. Though the Australian motor vehicle industry is highly regulated, the regulatory measures vary across the nation. With the exception of Tasmania, jurisdictions in the rest of Australia run licensing machinery in order to control the actions of automobile dealers. False representations about automobiles are prohibited by legislations pertaining to fair trading. Apart from these there are other provisions as well that in operation across the country. In this context it is worth mentioning that the continual perception of Australian women has been observed to be quite negative. They still believe that the treatment as well as the quality of service that they receive in connection with the automobile industry are inferior than those received by male consumers, thereby indicating that the legislations are not self sufficient. Such a perception points to the importance of relevant behavioural measures over legislative remedies and necessitates innovative as well as pragmatic solutions (National Working Party, 2001, P. 19-20). The Female Customer Profile The findings of a 2001 survey that was aimed at analysing automobile repairs and after sales services in Australia reveal the women constituted an impressive 77% of the respondents. It was observed that while 86% of the women consumers were satisfied with the recent service, only 64% were satisfied with the repair and 53% were of the opinion that the manner in which they were treated was not patronising. The findings further revealed that 81% of the respondents believed that the repairer understood their requirements, 68% admitted that the repairer clearly explained the services and/ or repairs that were necessary, 54% were satisfied with the fact that the repairer facilitated their understanding by avoiding the use of complex jargon. 63% opined that they were not cajoled into unnecessary repairs and 64% said that the repairer whose services they had availed could be trusted to accomplish the tasks and to satisfy the specific requirements (National Working Party, 2001, P.22). Another set of findings from the same survey, when compared with the previous set, helps in understanding the overall situation prevailing in the Australian automobile market in a better way. The second set of findings reveals that 49% of the female respondents were dissatisfied with the quality of automotive repair and/ service received by them. It also indicates the presence of gender discrimination in the Australian society as 36% of the respondents said that the treatment received by a customer depends on his/ her gender and being female definitely makes a difference. It is significant to note that 40% of the female customers who were not satisfied with an earlier service, as well as 28% of the female customers who were discontented with an earlier repair did not express their grievance. Moreover 26% agreed that they had received a demeaning treatment and 20% said that the repairer used jargon. Parallel telephonic surveys have generated certain interesting information from which it was observed that 10% of the female respondents were dissatisfied with the behaviour that they received while getting their automobile serviced and/ or repaired and 58% felt that the reason behind their receiving ill treatment was their gender (National Working Party, 2001, P.23). The surveys have also summarised that a third of the female respondents had at some point or the other had disappointing transactions with the automobile industry. In Canberra as well as in Tasmania, the situation is perhaps the worst with 44% of the female respondents from those areas have reported sexist behaviour. These findings points at the blatant fact that gender discrimination does exist in Australia. From these findings it has become increasingly evident that most of the female customers strongly believe that their gender has a negative impact on their experiences. As a reiterative feedback, most of the female respondents have also been found to feel that the behaviour they received in connection to automotive repairs and services was suggestive of the common male perception that women lack knowledge about automobiles as well as self confidence (National Working Party, 2001, P. 24). It is even more interesting to note that, though a considerable percentage of the female respondents did agree that their lack of familiarity as well as confidence being a major hindrance contributed to their negative experience, another factor that demoralised them is the discriminatory assumption that women know nothing about the technicalities of an automobile. The situation can be best expressed in the words of a female respondent, “Initially I had problems with the salesman until he realised I knew a bit about cars and that I wasn’t an idiot” (National Working Party, 2001, P. 36). Conclusion It has been repetitively observed that the automotive repair and after sales service, as integral parts of the Australian automobile industry has a pathetic track record when it comes to satisfying female customers. The trends that prevail in these sectors in terms of customer service are uncouth, rough and often sexist and the female customers increasingly feel that their being women has a definitely significant impact on the way they are treated by automobile repairers. It is quite shocking to discover that in a country like Australia where the government has been trying to bring about radical changes in the social setup in order to improve the status of women, such biases still exist. It becomes difficult to accept such a fact more because, “Women have made significant contributions to every aspect of Australia’s development, including its society, culture and economy” (Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2008). The situation can be alleviated if the automobile industry and its members give up the malpractices related to a social curse called gender bias, respectfully acknowledge the continual development and success of women, and in the true spirit of the service industry that says ‘customer is the king’ treat them equally as their male counterparts, to enhance the quality of services they receive and hence their experience, thereby manifesting customer delight. References 1. Australian Government: Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. (2009). Women in Australia 2009. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/women/pubs/general/womeninaustralia/2009/Pages/default.aspx 2. Australian Government: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2008). Women—towards equality. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/women.html 3. Australian Government: Department of Immigration and Citizenship. (2007). Life in Australia. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/values/book/english/lia_english_full.pdf 4. Ellis, K. (2008). Speech to the Australian Sporting Goods Association Conference, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne. The Hon Kate Ellis MP: Minister for Sports. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.health.gov.au/internet/ministers/publishing.nsf/Content/sp-yr08-ke-kesp200508.htm 5. Kapoor, R. J., Dlabay, R. L., & Hughes, J. R. (2007). Personal Finance. 8th ed. Tata McGraw-Hill. 6. McIntosh, G. & Phillips, J. (2003). 'Caring for the Elderly' - an Overview of Aged Care Support and Services in Australia. Parliament of Australia: Parliamentary Library. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/sp/agedcare.htm 7. National Working Party. (2001). the Way Ahead: Women and the Motor Vehicle Industry. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.women.nsw.gov.au/PDF/Archived/Women%20as%20Consumers%20-%20The%20Way%20Ahead%20Report.pdf 8. Retirement-Homes. (2006). Why Retirement Homes? Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.retirement-homes.com.au/retirement-about.htm 9. Sears. (2009). Automotive. Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.sears.com/shc/s/v_10153_12605_Automotive# 10. William, W. K. (No Date). Is a Continuing Care Retirement Community an Alternate Model for Australia? Retrieved February 18, 2010, from http://www.agedcareassociation.com.au/content/Kim%20Williams.pdf Read More