Lessons Learned

Feu Vert

I took my car to Feu Vert to have the annual service. They identified the back brakes needed changing, so I booked it in for the 1st July 2025. They had an advert about making sure your A/C is working, and as we were going on a 2 week driving vacation on the 19th July across Italy and Slovenia, I thought it might be wise to get it topped up as I wasn’t sure when I’d last had that done, so booked that at the same time.

When I drove my car in, the A/C was working perfectly. They filled it with half a canister, and when I drove it away… the A/C wasn’t blowing cold anymore. Not warm, but just not cold. Also, they noted other things to have done on the car. I asked if these were things they missed during the service I’d had done 2 weeks ago. They didn’t know.

I checked on ChatGPT and it could have been a problem with the internal pressure and how much they filled it up by. I called them and explained. They said when they filled up, they have a note that there was no gas in the system, so it couldn’t possibly have worked before. Red flag, are these mechanics competent? So I asked what can we do and they booked me in for them to search for a leak. 

I took it on the 10th July. When I went to connect it, the mechanic who had worked on it had left and not given any notes to the guy on the counter. So the guy on the counter started the car, left it for a few minutes, and it still wasn’t blowing cold. He said it was cold. I left.

The A/C was definitely broken. My kids were getting ill from the heat in the car. I phoned up Feu Vert again. I explained the problem. I told them, the sound you hear when the A/C turns on has been missing since they first touched the car. I’d checked ChatGPT, and again, the compressor might not be kicking in if the fluid pressures are off. He booked me in for a full charge. At least then, the levels should be correct.

Tuesday 15th July – I took it in. I picked it up. Feu Vert noted the compressor wasn’t working. They had emptied all the gas. Now the A/C was blowing hot air.

We phoned another garage, they said this isn’t the first time these big chain garages make this mistake, it is the fluid levels, probably not the compressor. We asked the woman on the counter, she said there is nothing she could do.

Disaster, no garage would take us for an A/C appointment with such a short deadline in the middle of summer. I was leaving in 4 days, with no A/C and 3 kids. We contemplated taking the in-laws car, but I need a high up driving position due to my sciatica. My wife said she could drive and I take the train and meet them. What was supposed to be a nice holiday, ruined with extra train costs because I had disobeyed the old rule, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

Luckily we got an appointment with a local garage recommended by the in-laws 2 days later on the 17th. The guy knew what he was talking about, when I explained what Feu Vert had done, breaking my A/C he said, “they’re good at that”. 

An hour later, he’d fixed it. I asked if there was any problem with the compressor, he said no. Just the fluid levels needed to be topped up correctly.

Someone else we knew who used to work on air conditioning in cars said, Feu Vert have one mechanic, and all the rest are apprentices, and that isn’t enough. They are incompetent, a label which in my opinion is overly kind.

But I understand, all this trend towards maximising utilisation rates and lowering costs, can and often does lead to what we see at Feu Vert. An attempt to systemise expertise out so anyone can be dropped in and follow the SOPs. It creates a nice model for the people running the company through the finances. 

But when it goes wrong, which anecdotally seems to be quite common, the pain is felt by the customer.

Feu Vert has lost a customer for life. I will only be frequenting small garages where the mechanic’s expertise is the competitive edge, not a cheap labour business model.

Automatic blinds

To emphasise, I do not believe you are safe avoiding large companies in favour of small ones. My automatic blinds broke, so I checked on Google for a company to repair them, and found one with many 5 star reviews. They fixed my problem but never reconnected it to the centralised system like I’d originally asked. I followed up for weeks and they ended up just hanging up. I was never rude. I just didn’t follow their business model of:

• Provide a standard service (repair blinds), without any customisation (linking it back to the automatic system).
• Responding rapidly and with high costs (1400 €) for the simple call out and fix
• Actively solicit testimonials to boost your 5 star rating

I understand the business model. It is the same as Feu Vert, and as advocated in the Lean StartUp, having lower cost labour train on your SOPs. And getting “social proof” by actively chasing 5 star reviews. But the consequence is a terrible experience for the customer, to the point I know now you cannot trust Google reviews, as a good business that doesn’t solicit these reviews will be outranked by a bad one that does.

This particular situation angered me so much, I signed up to learn plumbing and recently passed my CAP with a “very good” (A*) grade.

Boeing and Amazon

Boeing is another example of finances driving decisions, and the customers reaping the consequences. I’m seeing a story every week now about another Boeing problem.

Amazon is an exception. They have managed to provide excellent service, at a massive scale. Hats off to Jeff Bezos, that scaling doesn’t necessarily mean a dip in quality.

But generally, if you encounter a company scaling or attempting to, stay clear.