Most of our clients are small businesspeople: folks who own automotive repair shops, SMOG check stations, and people who participate in the Bureau of Automotive Repair’s STAR program. We also get technicians and other technical folk who make their livelihood in the automotive repair industry. But all of them depend on the good will of customers, and live their (working) life in the market. The market is the law of supply and demand: if you aren’t the cheapest, the best, the greatest service, the repair shop with the good reputation, people will go everywhere.
Your job is not secure. Your shop is not secure. You fight every day just to make a living, and if the market doesn’t like you, you’ll go under.
Now, that said, there are some huge benefits, here, too. If you do a good job, if you please your customers, if you work hard at automotive repairs and SMOG checks… customers will like you, the word will get around that you are honest and efficient (and perhaps even cheap), and your business will grow. Hopefully, you’ll retire to some beautiful Southern California beach a rich man or a rich woman. Such is the American dream, and certainly the California dream.
Entrepreneurs vs. Government Workers
Risk, and reward, reward, and risk. You’re an entrepreneur at heart. Not a government bureaucrat, not someone who works within a big government agency or bureaucracy.
Now there is nothing wrong with the employees of the State of California. Don’t get me wrong. They are good people, and they are “just doing their job” when you get right down to it. But their mentality is often not at all like the market. They get paid, whether or not, they do a good or great job. The state pays them (meaning you and me, as taxpayers). But they don’t face the tension of customers, like you and I do. They are government workers.
Bridging the Gap to the Bureau of Automotive Repair
It’s not surprising then when or if you have a dispute with the Bureau of Automotive Repair that there is a “clash of cultures” between the government workers, on the one hand, and those who depend on private enterprise on the other. To a government work, “speedy” can mean weeks or even months: they don’t go out of business. To you, “speedy” might mean a whole lot faster. Your SMOG license is your livelihood; you want a clear resolution as soon as possible. You can’t wait. They can. You can’t survive for months. They can.
Our attorneys work with the government agencies day in and day out, and can “bridge” the gap between the cultures of a government agency and the cultures of a private businessman. That specialized knowledge is really helpful and can help you get a speedy resolution. Every case or situation is different, so please contact us if you are having any type of issue or dispute with the Bureau of Automotive Repair.