Seeing Red about the Rip-Off Story

I tuned into CBS Evening News on Wednesday evening, February 10, to watch the segment I had heard would be examining collision repair facilities and was to include an interview with Ron Pyle, president of ASA.

I had even, much to my dismay that evening, taken some time to share background information about our industry with CBS’s Tom Flynn, thinking (O innocent one!) that the story would be fair and balanced information - you know, like what we read here in INSIGHT!

I knew I was not going to be a happy viewer when the tease lead-in before a commercial break was "Repair Rip-Off."

Didn’t we think we were past that old stereotypical repair image?

I am pleased that the NABC has responded to this. The NABC letter to CBS Evening News is printed on page 9.

Initially in the report segment, the camera panned a Caliber Collision sign, but it could well have been the sign of any large collision repair facility. The implication, both in the evening story and in the following morning interview, was that the little guy is a better choice for repair than a big shop.

Gone are the days when someone who likes cars can intuitively know how to mechanically repair one, and body and paint work demands a very high level of expertise, too.

Certainly collision repair demands sophisticated equipment and training. Our industry's top-notch facilities ARE big businesses and they need to be! What is wrong with being a big-business, high-tech facility??

AND in business, the reality is that we should be competitive, offering safe, quality repairs at reasonable prices for our customers.

To do business together, insurers and shops must cooperate for their mutual customers, and I believe that both can prosper. Whether an insurer owns some repair facilities or not may not really change that equation. As in any other service operation, the lesson to be taken to heart if and when Allstate’s Sterling moves in is to never allow your business to depend too much on one customer.

In a free economy, a successful businessperson welcomes competition - one’s reaction to it is to provide the best product, service, and value in the marketplace.