User opinions are usually a thermometer to assess the quality of a product or service. According to Ontsi (National Observatory of Technology and Society), nine out of 10 people find information on the Internet before buying, which gives an idea of the importance that customer ratings have for companies. Based on 58,243 reviews corresponding to 630 garages of the Aurgi, Euromaster, Feu Vert, Midas and Norauto brands with a listing on Google Maps, Ipsos has just published a report analyzing the degree of user satisfaction with these establishments.
The study is entitled 'Google and the experiences of Spaniards in the workshop' and has been prepared with nearly 60,000 ratings that users published in Google my Business in 2022. The first thing that stands out is that most of the comments from customers refer to employees (40%) and not to repairs (16%), and in terms of price, one of the great myths that mechanical workshops are expensive is dismantled.
70% of the opinions highlight the low cost of the service compared to 14% of the comments that indicate that the bill for the workshop is very high. The data is relevant if we take into account the current inflation context and that 2022 closed with a CPI of 5.7%.
Most of the reviews about the employees talk about their professionalism. In general terms, the kindness received (29.9%) stands out. Humane treatment is "fundamental" for the client, who seeks not only to have the problem resolved, but also to make it easy, although the study also highlights the speed of the workers when carrying out their work (25.1% ).
Likewise, references to kindness accounted for 16.4% of the comments and attention when managing a claim, 14.3%. On the other hand, 11% of the evaluations allude to a particular workshop worker.
After people, repairs are the ones that generate the most comments online. In fact, each car makes an average of 1.66 visits to the workshop per year, which in Spain, with more than 22 million vehicles, represents a total volume of 770 million experiences.
The element of the car that generates the most comments in Google my Business is related to the tires, be it punctures, problems with the tires or the tires themselves. More than half of the reviews are about the wheels. Users also explain their experiences with the oil change operation (11.4%), the battery (10.3%), the brakes (6.8%) and the lights. (6.3%). 5.6% of comments are about reviews.
The report makes a detailed study of the evaluations of the users of each one of the five chains of workshops analysed. After counting the stars received in various concepts (employees, repairs, prices and hours), the sum of all the evaluations and comments places Euromaster as the best valued workshop network with a score of 4.5 out of 5. This chain has already achieved first place in the previous year's edition. They are followed in this order by Midas (4.3), Norauto (4), Aurgi (3.9) and Feu Vert (3.8).
The Ipsos report highlights that delivery times and telephone service are the aspects that cause the most negative comments from users. In general, they complain that the car remains in the workshop longer than expected and that they find it difficult to follow up on the repair through a phone call. Despite this, only 6.7% of the comments refer to these two concepts.
The study makes it possible to outline a model workshop profile based on negative and positive comments. This ideal workshop would be one that does not waste time, that meets its opening and closing hours and within the agreed budget. Likewise, it is expected that the car will be at its facilities for an acceptable time, without causing long waits for the customer, either at the reception or during the repair process.
