Real-Life Decision Making
In the autobody repair industry, there tends to be a great deal of customer
loyalty. As the knowledge involved in this job is rather specialized, clients
seek honest and trustworthy autobody repairers to take care of their vehicles.
Therefore, in order to guarantee a customer's return in this business,
you must try your best to accommodate all their needs, and to provide them
with a level of customer service that will exceed their expectations.
One day, just as you are about to finish off the paint job of a vehicle,
you hear yourself being paged over the speaker system. As you push the door
to the office, you are surprised to see your family physician standing on
the other side of the counter waiting for you.
As it turns out, he's the one who needs your expertise this time.
He hands you a damage estimate sheet, and you begin inspecting his car. His
newly purchased luxury car has just been hit by a truck, denting and scratching
the front right fender. You express your sympathy and reassure him that there
is nothing to worry about. You will make it look as good as new.
The doctor takes your arm and leads you to the front passenger door. The
side mirror is broken. The doctor whispers into your ear, urging that you
claim this broken mirror on his insurance as part of the accident damages.
The truth, however, is that right before he came to your shop, he pushed
his grocery cart into the side mirror and broke it. You're shocked. You
didn't expect such a request.
This is the same man who saved your mother from a severe illness, so you
feel somewhat indebted to him. You might be able to repay your doctor with
this one favor.
"You cannot risk your company's reputation with corrupt
requests from customers," says autobody repairer Morris King. "If [the insurance
company] ever finds out about these deals, your shop will be taken off the
approved bodyshop list. This means that [the company] will not reimburse or
take responsibility for the costs of repairs on claims, regardless of the
situation, therefore leaving the customer personally responsible for them."
What do you do?