OF WOMEN AND THEIR MECHANICS…

If you are a woman, especially a single one, you will absolutely feel me on this one.

Women overall, usually choose to stick to their lane. What they feel is not within their forte, they couldn’t, in the least bit, be bothered to know about. For a majority of women, cars and mechanics fall into this space.

Granted, there are some women who can identify a wheel spanner, a few who can change a tire and the phenomenal rare species of female petrol-heads. The rest of the women fall into the category of classifying cars as a form of transport.

For this reason, women must have a rarely remembered but very important relationship with their mechanic. You see, women are generally thought to take better care of their cars than men. This is because, they have no clue what a serious problem is and a generally harmless noise. So for them, when the car is making a strange sound or is ‘not feeling right’ they must call the cavalry.

Any mechanic who handles women’s cars will tell you that it is an absolute waste of time trying to get an idea of what is wrong with the car from the client while on phone. One must treat each call as a dire emergency, I mean, the ‘baby is coming now’ kind of emergency when a female client calls. That means dropping everything and physically availing yourself to look at the car and reassure the client.

Women will call their mechanics before they call their spouses. They will provide free marketing by referring all their girlfriends to their mechanic. They will never cheat on their mechanic without his permission (and this will happen because she is out of town and stranded). Their mechanic will end up being their adviser when it comes to selling the car, buying a new one, taking motor vehicle insurance and many other things.

My mechanic has understood this psychology extremely well. He knows where I live, work and frequently visit because he picks the car and brings it back to where I am. He knows when I travel to the village, he calls to remind me about service when it is almost due and I have totally forgotten and he even knows when my tires need changing and my battery is to be replaced. I don’t even know where his garage is!

So why am I stuck with him again? Maybe because I am made to feel like a person and not a statistic when I seek his services? He will give me his car to use while mine is in the garage. He will never make noise when insurance delays his check, he will sort out my car even when I am broke and never ask to be paid till I do it. He will get parts for me at the friendliest costs possible, even if he has to go roaming in River Road in the hot sun all afternoon.

As a client, I feel special and so I stay. All my friends who are now his clients, feel the same way about him. As Consumer Insight found out in their survey, women place good customer service above all else. In my case, it is consumer experience at its best. I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Bless all mechanics who understand women car owners!!