My Recent Experiences At Two Different Oil Change Garages

This is a true story and a needed perspective with the hopes of improving the situation and not just to be a critic.

Please recall back in February of this year I reported driving into a metro Atlanta Castrol Motor Oil Quick Lube garage for a needed oil change for my car.  The garage was located on a popular thoroughfare on the southside metro which has suffered as the original residents have moved outward to the "Second Ring" cities.

I noted as I drove in and rolled down my window as I negotiated the terms of service for the oil change that the staff at the garage had the local "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirate Radio Station" blaring from a radio as the "Musak" for all the customers and workers to hear.   I had never heard the song "Make It Rain Trick" previously.  I pulled out my smartphone, fired up the "Shazam" music id service and captured the title of the song for future research. 

A few years ago I decided that when I see a bunch of young people working in a customer facing business but acting inappropriately that I would no longer be "privately offended" but instead would provide them with some "constructive feedback".  The logic is that if I have these concerns, many other customers do as well and will vow "I will never come back here again".   In as much as the business owner has failed to provide sufficient supervision and guidance on what is appropriate in a business environment - he is also liable if the business suffers as customers vacate the business.  The entire staff working at this place were of young Black males (about 6 of them), all in their twenties (I estimate).

Yesterday I was due for yet another oil change.  This time I decided to give a brand new quick oil change business a try.  It is newly constructed and has been open for about a week.

I pulled in and one of the men walked out to my car as I rolled down the window.  I told him I wanted an oil change he told me "$38".  This is about $10 higher than what I would normally pay.  Then I recalled that I chose the 75K+ high mileage oil at the Castrol place and thus what was originally quoted as $29 ended up jumping up to $54 by the time I was done.  I decided to give them a shot for no other reason than they are new and I wanted to feel them out.

I noted that this business was an absolute inverse of the Castrol business:

• All White male staff
• All employees in standardized uniforms (work shirt and khaki pants)
• Brand new facilities that were clean
• NOT ONE OUNCE OF MUSIC PLAYING - Pure Silence

There was a woman in the waiting area getting her car serviced in the full service garage.  Otherwise I was the only customer at that time.  (I remained in my car).

I noticed that they had one lead service adviser that interacted with me as one guy worked under the hood and the other in the pit underneath my car.  The lead guy worked to establish a relationship with me.  He captured my contact information as a new customer and recorded it all into the computer.  The other guy returned with my air filter and (of course) told me I was in need of a new one.   I could not recall the last time I changed the filter so I agreed to have it done.   He came back to my window and asked me about most recent "30K mile service" (tune up).  He told me that they were a full service garage and could give a better price than the deal would.  I told him that I was planning on getting service in August but that I would take a quote from him (I was trying to put off the possibility that there was any chance of him convincing me to do the service today).

He returned with a custom printed estimate of their tune-up service.  He squatted down at my window and told me how other customers reported paying $750 for tune up service at a dealership.  I suggested that with new car sales slow they are likely trying to make money from the service side of the business.

The service agent told me that he was a permanent employee from another location but was sent to this new location for a short while to train the new hires on customer service.

In summary - My two most recent oil change experiences could not have been more different.
The key distinction - WAS NOT that one had a Black male staff and the other had White males.
The key distinction WAS that one chain saw the value in customer service and they invested the resources into ensuring that each of their locations operated at a level that would motivate their customers to return.

The Castrol location needs to hire a strong manager who spends time outside with the customers and the service agents.  The entire experience at this place needs to be reformed.  To fail to do so is a threat to the existence of the location.

• Customers disincentivized to come back after their experience
• The music being played should be of a quality that is not offensive
• The failure to "upsell" the customers after first establishing a relationship with them, showing that they are "trusted advisers" means that the location will only do oil changes and nothing more

I will never go back to the Castrol location.
I could go back to the new garage.
I will likely return to my usual garage which is about $10 cheaper

UPDATE:  There was one Black guy who works at the new oil change spot. He appears to work on the afternoon shift.  I noticed him prior to my visit but saw him again today.