The Importance of Ratings and Wrenches

The Wrench and Rating system is your best way of determining how well this Repair Shop has performed with respect to their commitment to the mission of ExtremeWrench. ExtremeWrench accepts no payments from Repair Shops. All levels of membership are completely free. There are no "upgrades", all of the Repair Shops have a level playing field to compete upon. There are no payments accepted for preferential ratings or listings. The search results are merit based upon ExtremeWrench's proprietary ratings algorithm. The major components of the alogorithm include consumer ratings, commitment to the ExtremeWrench mission, ratings from Industry Organizations, and the Repair Shop's affiliations with community and industry organizations.  

If you see a shop with a multiple wrench icon,  that shop has made a commitment to the mission of Extremewrench. You can be relatively certain that any ratings you post for these types of active member repair shops will be received by the shop owner.  Basically, the more wrenches you see, the more important your ratings are to the owner of the shop. 

If you see no wrenches, than that shop has yet to make a commitment to the mission of Extremewrench and is not going to receive a courtesy email copy of the rating.   

ExtremeWrench Ratings and Wrenchs are merit based.
The more functionality the Repair Shop Owner configures for your convenience ie:

  • on-line appointments
  • car done status alerts
  • map and directions
  • contact communication form
the more Wrenches the Repair Shop is awarded. Each of the Wrench convenienc functions must be tested and confirmed before the Repair Shop owner is awarded the use of the Wrench icon.
The stars are awarded by
  • Consumers
  • Automotive Industry Organizations
  • Automotive Training Organizations
  • Goods Services providers to the Repair Shop
  • Community Organizations
No organization or individual is entitled to rate the shop more than once in a 6 month period. Each rating can be traced back to its originator for authenticity. ExtremeWrench gives the consumer the best composite rating of a Repair Shop based upon the opionions of not just the consumer but also the entire automotive repair industry. This multi-dimensional rating is the fairest indication of how the Repair Shop has performed with respect to the overall mission of ExtremeWrench.

Frequently asked questions about ratings and shop surveys
Question    Who is eligible to rate a shop?
Answer

Most of the ratings come from customers who have had their car repaired by the shop.  However, other businesses and organizations that have had  experience with the shop are welcome to rate the shop as well. 

For example, if the shop is a member of an automotive organization and maintains their highest standards, then than organization can rate the shop accordingly.  Conversely, if the shop has consistently bounced checks to its suppliers, a low rating from these suppliers would not be surprising.

Extremewrench encourages a large cross section of ratings from various communities:

Customers
Trade Organizations
Chartiable Organizations
Parts Suppliers
Technical Educators
OE Manufacturers

We feel this gives our users the best overall rating of a shop's expertise, professionalism and integrity. 
 
Question    I rated the shop, why don't I see it in the total?
Answer   

There are a couple of possibilities.  The most common reason is that you have not confirmed your rating by return email.  To insure that all ratings are from legitimate sources, Extremewrench requires you to click on the confirm link after you post a rating. 

The other possibility is that you have already rated this shop within the past 60 days.  To avoid duplicate ratings, Extremewrench will only allow one set of ratings per user per shop during any 60 day period.
Question      

Hey, I noticed that my ratings was removed, what Happened? As a matter of fact the shop is gone too!

 
Answer Part of the mission of Extremewrench is to monitor your ratings.  Extremewrench wants to list only the highest quality Independent Repair Shops who share our mission to provide the best quality service to our users.  If a shop fails to provide satisfactory service, their overall ratings will reflect this.  When ratings fall below the minimum standard, the shop will be removed from the directory entirely.  If the shop is still listed, and your rating was removed, it means that you were contacted by the shop to reconsider your rating.  If the shop contacts you twice and offers to rectify the problem(s) and you refuse to acknowledge or give the shop the opportunity to fix the problem - the shop then has the right to petition Extremewrench for removal of the ratings.  Extremewrench will examine the correspondence and take the appropriate action.  If you do not agree, you are free to post another rating after 60 days.
Question         What is the difference between ratings and a shop survey?
Answer   

Ratings are more qualitative in nature.  They also require a verifiable source. 

Shop surveys are annonomous in nature and are used by Extremewrench to complile statistics for improving the overall customer experience at all independent repair shops.  Extremewrench compiles these surveys and publishes reports so that shop owners can better understand the needs of their customers. 
For example, a high percentage of  customers have responded that they would schedule service at independent auto repair shops if they were open on Saturdays.