You Only Get What You Tolerate

by Evangelo “Lucky” Papageorg, AASP/MA Executive Director

There are many well-worn adages we have all become familiar with over the years: “If you don’t ask for it, you will never get it,” “If you shoot for the moon and miss, at least you will still be among the stars,” “Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves” or “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” 

At our recent “Getting More In ’24” General Membership meeting, our speaker referenced the saying, “You only get what you tolerate.” Sadly, this sentiment has been lost in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of getting vehicles in and out of our collision repair shops. Far too many body men, who have not yet transitioned into businessmen, have lost sight of the fact that no one is going to just hand them a collision-damaged vehicle and let them fix it correctly and charge accordingly. These body men, who are not yet businessmen, will be bullied into doing – and only getting paid for – what insurers want to “give” them. They will continue to “tolerate” the bad behavior of insurers, behavior that is detrimental not only to them but to the entire collision repair industry.

For those collision repairers who have made the transition into businessmen, the future is looking brighter! They have “flicked the switch” and have been “Breaking Free” and are now intent on “Getting More In ’24.” No longer are they tolerating being abused by insurers who use bullying tactics to coerce vehicle owners into going to “their” shops to get the vehicle repaired “their” way at “their” price. Just a few shops began the “Breaking Free” pushback a while ago. Since the movement began, more shops have said, “Enough is enough. I can no longer sustain a viable business doing what I have been doing!” Shops tolerating insurance appraisers coming in and dictating how a vehicle will be repaired and at their price has become a thing of the past. They are no longer satisfied with only getting what they have been getting!

These service-providing businessmen in the collision repair space have looked at what all other professional services have done while being faced with escalating costs across the board. They know the only way to stay viable is to charge fairly and reasonably for the work performed and the liability that comes with it. They have found, more often than not, that vehicle owners are NOT just price-driven, and those who are, are NOT necessarily the customers they want in the long run. These professionally-minded independent businessmen remember why they got into business in the first place, which is to perform a valuable needed service for their customers while proudly providing jobs within the community. They did not choose to become independent professional businessmen to have a bully tell them how to run their business by becoming an unofficial partner. This is exactly what insurers have done without any investment and without accepting any of the liability. Keep in mind that some 30-plus years ago, some insurers tried running their own facilities and failed miserably. They opted out because they could not tolerate trying to run a business under the same constraints they impose on others. Now they stand back and watch you struggle; that is, if you are among the ones who will tolerate their bad behavior.

Tolerating is letting someone walk in and out of YOUR business as if it were “their” business, which leads to some shops only getting what the insurance appraiser, on behalf of their insurance bully dictators, is willing to “give.” It is YOUR business, right? The insurance appraiser, whose only job is to “negotiate” a lower figure from your “blueprint” or repair plan figure, should not be dictating to you in your business when they show up. Their goal is to disrupt your day and waste your time. You have the right to require an appointment be made to view and negotiate the damaged vehicle. Once the appraiser arrives, you have the right to require them to sign in. Furthermore, you have the right to require signed field notes if that appraiser is not going to write the supplement on the spot, with the final version being delivered to you the very next day. These are your rights as an independent professional business owner, so why would you tolerate anything less? Tolerating an individual who is not willing to follow the simple requirements of their appraiser’s license puts the shop at a disadvantage right from the beginning. These requirements are developed to allow you to repair a vehicle and be paid in a timely fashion while keeping YOUR customer satisfied.

If you decide independently, as other shops have done, to hold appraisers and insurance companies accountable based on the MGLs and CMRs which spell out their obligations and time frames, it means you have decided NOT to tolerate having your bottom line destroyed. You (as others have learned) are under no obligation to store repairable vehicles for FREE while insurance appraisers ignore the time frame guidelines. Shops across the state are making it clear to their customers what their insurer is obligated to do in the claims and repair process. They explain that neither the vehicle owner, nor the shop, should tolerate anything less. In many instances, shops and their customers have been successful in collecting for storage and administrative costs as well as extensions on rental coverages when insurers have caused delays. It all boils down to NOT tolerating bad behavior.

Insurers have become even more difficult to deal with in many ways: speaking to a live person is a challenge – coupled with long wait times on hold, they fail to respond to requests, they are deceptive in the manner they present their position and obligations to the intentional attempt to defraud the vehicle owner; therefore, it has become imperative to NOT be tolerant! Vehicle owners and collision repairers must be willing to point out the fraudulent original estimates (in the hope the vehicle never gets repaired) and the blatant manipulation of ACV (actual cash value) calculations on total losses by information providers to the benefit of insurers by under-writing original estimates (see CJB vs. Progressive, USAA, CCC Intelligent Solutions and Mitchell International).

“If you always do what you have done, you will always get what you have gotten,” is a well-worn adage! It is time that you stop being the doormat for the insurance industry and instead be part of the growing number of consumers and collision repair shops saying, “Enough is enough. We are NOT going to tolerate this any longer!” If you want to learn how to make the transition from being a body man working and trying to run an auto body shop to a professional collision repairer in an independent collision repair facility, AASP/MA is here to help every step of the way. See the application on page 7. 

As our featured speaker, David Luehr (Elite Body Shop Solutions) stated at our “Getting More In ’24” seminar, “Right now is the best time to be in the collision repair business, even if it doesn’t feel like it. If you are as passionate about fixing your business as you are about fixing cars, I promise you: anything is possible.” 

Stop tolerating standing alone and being on the outside; JOIN THE ALLIANCE TODAY! 

Want more? Check out the August 2024 issue of New England Automotive Report!