Article by Wendy McCance
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My car has been acting up for awhile.  I had put off getting my car checked out at the dealership.   It wasn’t until I noticed my tires were looking bald that I finally gave in and decided I needed to get my car fixed.

I was apprehensive because my husband was getting ready to go out of town on a business trip and I didn’t want to take my car in to get it repaired myself.   I know this might sound absurd, but my concern was that the dealership would see a woman coming and jack up the price or tell me I needed things fixed that were actually in good shape.

My husband, although short on time, took my car in to get repaired because I was so uneasy about doing it myself.

The dealership looked over the car and told my husband that there were parts that were badly rusted.  They said that if my car wasn’t repaired soon, a piece might rust right through and break apart.  The news terrified me, but also made me wonder how valid their claim was.  We ended up getting the car fixed because the news didn’t surprise my husband.  He said that he knew the car wasn’t in good shape and that I needed a front-end alignment.  The bill was reasonable as well.  We had asked around and found that most people were surprised it hadn’t cost more to repair.

Two weeks later, I came across a site that I wish I had heard of before taking my car in to get fixed.  Sure, everything turned out well, but it would have been nice to have the peace of mind knowing I was taking my car to a reputable dealership.  It would have been a relief to hear that other women had taken their car in to get fixed and had glowing reviews about their experience.  If I had heard of www.carfolks.com my husband wouldn’t have had to worry about getting my car in before he left on his trip and I would have felt confident to take care of the matter myself.

I did a little digging and found out Carfolks just recently launched.  There aren’t comments under each dealership yet and it’s obvious that this site is still in the beginning stages.  Over the next few months, as neighbors find out about this site and begin sharing their experiences, communities will reap some incredible benefits.

Carfolks has developed a unique solution.   They have a “new old-fashioned idea called a neighborhood.”   They bring together consumers to share their experience at local car dealers and offer the local dealers the ability to build a personal page for each of their sales team and service managers.  Their goal is to highlight the good dealers in a community so neighbors patronize those stores and avoid ones with a bad reputation.

The way this site works is that you put in your address and several dealerships around the area will pop up.  What makes this site so impressive is that you get honest reviews from people who live in your own neighborhood.

I hate those sites where all of the reviews have glowing recommendations and the answers seem canned.  How could you possibly trust a site where no bad reviews pop up?  This site not only shows the good and bad reviews, but also shows how any issues were resolved.  The genius part of the site is that every employee is recognized individually and rated as well.  That feature alone stood out and made me more comfortable in trusting the rating system and comments that were posted.

Personally, I like looking for those bad reviews.  I want to see what a person’s worst experience might be and how or even if that dealership handled the situation.  I am more inclined to visit a dealership where someone wrote a bad review and the company saw it and cared enough to fix the problem.  That is impressive because in my mind, that shows that the dealership really is about the customer and wants to right a wrong.  Those are the experiences that can really give you an idea of what a business is made of.

Can you imagine how fabulous it would be to go to a site, read the good and bad reviews, find out who the exceptional employees are and feel confident going in to buy a car?  The best part is knowing how each dealership handles repairs.  I can’t tell you how many times I have bought a car but never returned to that dealership for service.  I just didn’t feel comfortable enough to put my repair in the dealership’s hands.  I would love to find a dealership that I feel comfortable buying a car from and getting service from as well.  Knowing which employees will take the best care of you is just the icing on the cake.  Who wouldn’t want to recommend a dealership to someone you know when you have had a good experience with a dealership and a particular employee you can recommend to boot?

I did some research and looked into the Carfolks company to find out what they were all about. I didn’t just want to know about the dealership, but wanted to know how the company behind these dealerships operated.  I came across their blog, and specifically this page, http://carfolks.net/the-code/  I believe this attitude says it all.  The Carfolks company looks to improve a customer’s service and experience when buying a car or having a car repaired.    They focus on creating good employees by holding them accountable for the service they provide.  They also believe that the good, the bad, and the ugly should all be represented on each dealer’s reviews so a potential customer gets an authentic representation of what that dealership has to offer.

It’s rare to see this type of honesty where a dealership is willing to let it all hang out.  These are the businesses that understand that a happy customer equals a successful company.  They understand how important customer satisfaction and loyalty truly are and work at achieving this goal.

I will soon be looking for a new car.  The car I just had fixed has almost 80,000 miles on it and quite a few problems that still need to be addressed.  Carfolks.com is the perfect site to check out before I walk into a dealership.  I am excited to know that there is a site I can go to when I need to check customer care how the overall experience was rated and if the dealership and employees come highly recommended.

I would recommend carfolks.com to any of my neighbors, family or friends.   Take a look at http://www.carfolks.com before buying your next car or having your current car repaired.  There is nothing like piece of mind when you have such a large amount of money to spend.

Disclosure:  We are a professional review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review.  We research each company thoroughly and give high marks to only the very best. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.

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Wendy McCance

Wendy McCance is a Michigan based freelance writer and social media consultant. Wendy has gained attention as the founder of the popular blog Searching for the Happiness which can be viewed in 6 local papers online, including the Oakland Press.The combination of writing skills and social media knowledge is what makes Wendy such a powerhouse to work with. Stay tuned for opportunities to advertise, guest post and as always, have your questions answered.

To contact Wendy McCance about a writing assignment, interview or speaking engagement, please email her at: [email protected]

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