Perceptions, expectations, and definitions

The dealer has two buildings; a repair building and a maintenance building. They have words painted on them. That could have been thought out a little better, but, they have words painted on them. One is north and one is south. Maybe those are the key words. Still customers come in and have to be rerouted.

We understand what we mean when we tell customers which building their appointment is at, but the difference between maintenance and repair makes very little difference to someone who simply wants their car serviced.

We say we have a shuttle service; a customer courtesy vehicle. We have done little to define to the customer what we actually mean by that. My personal definition of shuttle is a group bus ride between two points. That is not what the dealer means by it. The dealer means something along the lines of a route defined by the particular group in a given time frame. So we use a word, twist the definition and occasionally run into surprises.

We have a new afternoon driver. She’s been with us for a month. I have heard that there have been a couple angry folks lately surprised that have not been picked up when they expected to be picked up. I don’t put this all on the driver. It seemed to be less of a problem with the previous afternoon drivers. I do not know how to factor that in the equation. 

 I suspect that the afternoon pickups are a bit trickier to negotiate than the morning. First off people have already put in a full day. I am the morning driver. I do not encounter these problems. Still, I do set some expectations and it finally occurs to me that I might have a say in this. Perhaps I could do more to enlighten the customers to our procedure.

Today I drafted some text that might be used in a sign in the waiting room. I wrote this before I examined my personal definition of the term. Maybe we do need to call it a courtesy car and not a shuttle. I’ll update someone besides you on this idea.

….

Courtesy Shuttle Service

We can take you home or to work and return you when your vehicle service has been completed. 

We regularly shuttle people up to 10 to 15 miles from this dealership.

We leave at 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. and other times as required. There is no set return schedule.

We make the most efficient route possible given the times and locations of those returning to the dealership.

There may very well be other customers on your ride/time.

If you have questions please ask your service advisor.

….

I started driving for Boucher Volkswagen in October 2010. They called it a courtesy shuttle. I don’t recall questioning it then. I called my blog ShuttleBug. Volkswagen. Bug. When I started with Toyota I gave myself the nickname ShuttleDave. Some say you can’t give yourself a nickname. That’s okay. If you ask me my name I don’t say Dave either.

I don’t think I am going to scuttle the shuttle or upend the industry, but it all gives me a little pause.