My Popular Tow Bill Helper Software is Now New and Improved
For all of you using my Tow Bill Helper software, a long overdue overhaul is finally here. I’ve completely rewritten the software from scratch, making it more versatile and adding many features. The software can now be used to write invoices of any kind, not just tow bills. If you have been having a hard time getting paid a markup on sublet tows, this software will solve that problem. Read on, an I’ll give you a quick overview of the new Tow Bill Helper 2010.
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CCC: Helping Insurers Nickel and Dime You To Death
Have you seen this yet?
Yes, your good friends at CCC are at it again. While you were working hard trying to eke out an existence repairing cars, CCC was conspiring with insurers to whittle down paint times again. First the bumper prompt reappears, now this new gem.
This little window popped up on me for the first time the other day when I entered a hood replacement in a Pathways estimate. What a surprise.
Apparently some appraiser saw one of those rare instances where a hood had just been painted around the outside edges underneath. You know, where the hood insulation doesn’t cover? Looking for some brownie points this person brought this information to the idiots in the suits and suits pressured CCC to come up with a new time chiseling prompt. What company do you think it was? Nationwide? I believe they were the scoundrels behind the bumper prompt reinvention.
Are you ready for your very own estimating system yet? As long we keep using estimating software paid for by insurers, we will continue to see these cost cutting options.
The sad part is that Pathways is still the best of the big three.
If anyone has any information on this new prompt, please post it here. I’m not going to bother calling CCC. It would be a complete waste of time.
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More New Software. Diminished Value Calculator
I have had many requests from people wanting to buy my diminished value calculator software separately from my BodyShop Office suite. And one of the most popular keyword searches that bring people to this site is “Diminished Value Calculator.” So here it is. I’ve finally created a separate application.
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New Tool From BodyShop Solutions: Supplement Request Generator
I’m sure I’m not the only person fed up with insurers causing us more work. The recent trend of insurers demanding supplement requests be in writing, and on their own forms, got me a little fired up. In protest I managed to anger Geico enough that they threatened legal action. They don’t like their logo being desecrated (I used some digital magic to make the gecko on the top of their supplement request form flip Geico staff the bird.) and hired some high profile legal firm from Washington DC to let me know it. Liberty Mutual may not know it, because I haven’t had the chance to use it yet, but I’ve defiled their supplement request form also. Their logo of Liberty holding a torch has been changed to Liberty giving the middle finger salute.
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Geico’s Gecko Gets Grumpy
Geico whined about copyright infringement so I had to remove the image. They are wrong and don’t understand the Fair Use act, and I could easily win in court, but I’m not sticking my neck out for this industry any more.
Photoshop is a wonderful thing. Insurers creating more work for us is not. For those of you not on either Geico’s or Allstate’s DRP program, you’ve probably been acquainted with their new supplement request forms. I first received one from Allstate. Instead of picking up the phone and calling the supplement hot-line, I now have to fill out a full page form and fax it to a supplement fax number, then pray it got through and was processed.
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Screw Lean, Get Mean
Pick up any trade magazine from the past couple of years and you’ll probably find an article about “lean production” or cutting your cycle time. Anyone whose mind is a jumbled mess from having to deal with the daily BS involved in running a shop would think little about the meaning and intent behind those articles. In fact, many of you have invested time and money to follow some of the advice in these articles.
From people intimately familiar with Toyota’s lean manufacturing processes to the freelancers who write for our industry’s trade magazines even though they have zero experience working in or running a collision repair shop, everyone seems to be banging on the same worn out drum trying to get you to dance. But these writers are no musicians. They are herdsmen, and you are their brainless sheep.
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The Folks at AIG Have Lost Their Minds
AIG has had a hard time in the past year or so. Bad publicity from less than squeaky clean business dealings has caused a panic, prompting a name change. They were losing thousands of policy holders every month due to the stigma of the AIG brand so they changed their name to 21st Century Insurance. Sounds so clean and modern, doesn’t it? Apparently the stress of their identity crisis has caused them to lose their minds altogether. Their legal department–those tasked with creating the disclaimers printed at the end of AIG’s estimates–has decided that the law shouldn’t stand in their way of taking back control of their company, and trying to take control of the collision repair industry. Their disclaimer page has been expanded, now containing some pretty inventive statements.
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The Enemy Leading the Ignorant
A recent story at Autobodyonline is one sad commentary on the state of our industry. Though there is no author listed for the story, it appears to be a press release from the National Auto Body Council. And judging by the content of this press release the NABC is another “industry” organization that has fallen to the lure of insurance money. In fact, the new president of the NABC is none other than Mr. Feather-edge, Prime and Block himself, George Avery from State Farm. I’m curious, does Georgie get paid by State Farm based on how much of our industry he can take over? And who are these ignoramuses who keep electing insurance people to head up our organizations?
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The Insurance Company’s Taj Mahal
Today’s Body Shop Business newsletter profiles what is being called the “Bellagio” of body shops in Fremont CA. I Think “Taj Mahal is more fitting and I’ll explain why in a minute. This is a must read for every one of you. More importantly, you must visit their website to believe what I’m about to tell you. I’ll have a link to their site at the end my little rant.
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CAPA and the Law of Unintended Consequences
The insurance industry’s meddling in parts manufacturing and so called “certification” is putting them in a difficult position. Since CAPA is the preeminent entity in the pursuit of aftermarket excellence, all aftermarket parts manufacturers endeavour to capture the esteemed certification for the parts they make. But what happens when a part doesn’t pass CAPA’s rigorous (don’t worry, I’m not smoking any thing. Just using CAPA’s propaganda) tests? What does it mean when they fail?
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