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eTyres care about our customers. The
following article may be of interest.
Did You Change Your Oil?
by Donovan Baldwin
The year was 1976, the place was Milton, Florida, a
small, semi-rural community in the Florida panhandle,
not far from Pensacola, where I had grown up. I had
recently returned to northwest Florida, after working as
an accountant for the Florida State Department of
Education in Tallahassee and Sarasota, to take the
position of Business Manager for the Santa Rosa County
Mental Health Clinic.
It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was standing outside
Red's service station on one of Milton's street corners
(You remember service stations, right?) while a set of
tires was being put on my car. I had a lot of my
automobile maintenance done at Red's, and frequently
bought gas and had oil changes done there. He was a nice
guy, his prices were reasonable, and the service was
great.
As he often did with his customers, Red came out and
visited for a couple of minutes. I had been watching the
activity on two of the other corners, and reflecting on
changes occuring. I asked Red if the two new convenience
stores with self-service gas pumps had hurt his business
much. I was surprised to hear him say that they hadn't.
In the few minutes I had stood there, I had seen several
cars pull into and out of the self-service setups, while
only a few cars had come into Red's.
When I pointed this out to Red, he laughed a little bit
and acknowledged that he didn't sell as much gasoline as
he used to, but his business had actually picked up in
repairs, oil changes, tire sales, repairing radiators,
and so on. He pointed out a lady who had just fueled her
car across the street and was driving away.
He said, "Actually, I'm doing more business now than I
used to, now that these self-service stations have
become so popular. Take that woman for example. She put
gas in her car, but she didn't check the oil, the
radiator or the tires."
He went on to explain that when a customer filled their
own tank, they seldom checked any of those items or even
looked the car over for possible defects or potential
breakdowns, such as frayed belts or leaking hoses.
Neglecting simple items such as these frequently led to
expensive repairs later. Not only that, failing to keep
the car tuned up regularly and do such simple things as
put air in the tires when it was needed could decrease
fuel economy. Failing to keep tires properly inflated
caused much more rapid wear, and, he pointed out, since
self-service stations had become popular, he was selling
more tires than ever.
He went on to mention that he and his mechanics got to
know their regular customers, checking all these points
for them, showing them wear and tear on belts for
example, or filling the battery or radiator when they
got low, and reminding them of the need for upcoming
maintenance events such as periodic oil changes.
I could certainly understand those points. When I was a
boy, my father always took the family car to Mr.
Allday's Pure Oil Station on Navy Boulevard, in
Warrington, Florida. The ritual was always the same. My
dad would get out of the car as Skippie or Slim or Mr.
Allday himself came up to the car. I could almost chant
the refrain. If my father didn't get to say it first,
Skippie or Slim would say it for him, "Check it all
around, Mr. Baldwin? You take 28 in the tires don't
you?" Then, they would open the hood, check the battery,
the radiator, the belts, the hoses, the air filter, and,
after that, they would check the tire pressure and fill
any that were starting to get a little low. They would,
as Red said, remind my dad that he was coming due for an
oil change or point out that one tire was showing a
little wear and might need to be replaced, "...not right
now, but you will need to take care of it in a few
weeks."
You know, it's a funny thing, but after several years,
when Mr. Allday decided to buy a Texaco station down the
road, my dad and several other customers who had sworn
by Pure Oil suddenly changed their allegience to Texaco
and became regulars at Mr. Allday's new station.
I took a couple of lessons from this. For one, I have
always tried to keep track of my car maintenance,
scheduling oil changes, checking belts and hoses, and
keeping the tires properly inflated. This has helped
with my fuel economy, saved money on tires, and probably
lots of money on repairs.
When I went out into the real world of work and
business, I always tried to anticipate what I needed to
do to help my customers, employers, or coworkers.
Anticipating their needs, or my own, could often prevent
a small or potential problem from growing into a big
problem.
It has become hard to find a good "service station"
attitude these days. Whether I go into a restaurant, a
book store, a department store, or hardware store, I
seem to find those who want you to "serve yourself".
When I CAN find a clerk and ask a question about the use
or effectiveness of a product, for example, I am often
met with a blank stare or have to listen to answers that
have nothing to do with my question. By the way, when I
do find that gem, the person who knows what they are
talking about and is willing to provide "service" I
almost always seek out the manager and let them know how
pleased I was.
That being said, here's my gentle reminder to you. I'm
not there to do it for you, so the next time you fill up
your tank, pop the hood, take a look under there, put
the gauge to the tires, and try to remember the last
time you had your oil changed. You DO remember the last
time you had your oil changed, don't you?
About the Author
Copyright 2006 Donovan Baldwin
The author's experiences as a longhaul truck driver who
owned his own truck led him to follow-up on various
methods of saving money on operating costs while
prolonging the life of his equipment. You may learn more
on this subject at http://lube2005.com |
