Motor Codes has teamed up with online service and MOT comparison website TootCompare to further extend its reach in the consumer marketplace.
TootCompare will award a star to subscriber garages in its seven-star rating system. Franchised dealers automatically get a star, too, while others are provided for workshops having toilets or having accredited technicians. Up to two stars are award depending on the feedback given by site users.
“By partnering with consumer-facing organisations we’re doing two things: exposing more car owners to the security of the Motor Codes garage network and, through the value people place on our huge bank of online reviews, ensuring that we keep as much car servicing spend as possible within the TSI-approved safe-spend community. And this means more money in the tills of Motor Codes subscribers.
“People will increasingly use online comparison sites like Motoring.co.uk and TootCompare. Sharing our online reviews through these sites can only be a positive thing for consumers and those business that are committed to transparency and scrutiny.”
Once again Motorcodes have shown their inability to think independent. As an avid supporter to date of the Code to date, I am seeing them jumping more and more towards Franchised biased schemes like tootcompare. On tootcompare why can my company not have a star for being in business since the days of steam, why can I not have a star for being dedicated to the MOT by having two MOT bays that are not only dedicated to MOT’s but to performing the MOT in a energy efficient way by using tri-level pits, why can I not have a star for offering my time to freely help VOSA and Motorcodes on a voluntary basis when asked. I could however have a Star for being a Dealer who will also get a star for being a code garage as the vast majority of dealers are required by their dealer standards to be in the code whether they believe in it or not.
Either Motorcodes needs to think independent or they may cause me to turn my back on them and in doing so I may need to also turn my back on some of my partners.
As for transparency and scrutiny there is a lot of work that needs to be done in our industry, but the consumer is being befuddled by too many schemes. Why oh why do they need Tootcompare that empowers the dealers with extra stars for having a sign and motoring.co.uk which is dealer oriented when motor codes rates us and allows us to be reviewed when they should be focusing on their website being the only port of call. It is beginning to feel that I as a professional independent that has an overwhelming ethos of ethics, quality and value is being disadvantaged by these tie ups by the code that is making arbitrary decisions to the detriment of my business.