sales department is decorated finely, the showroom is handsome and high-ceilinged, each vehicle is polished to a high sheen, the sales representatives are doing well, Sullivan Diaz himself, was a perfect sales man, who just adored the process of selling a vehicle, here presented the promotional tool, advertisement and so far everything necessary to grab attention of potential customers. The showroom was situated in a modern facility, while the service and repair bays were in 30-year-old building. The service departments, when fully staffed, consisted of a service manager, a parts supervisor, nine mechanics and two service writers. The job of service writers entailed scheduling appointments for repairs and maintenance, writing up each work order, calling customers with repair estimates, and assisting customers when they returned to pick up the cars and pay for the work that been done. Being a service writer is a stressful job. These are the people, who handle customers complaints, who could sometimes be quite abusive. Selling at service writers were less motivated. Carol had seen an exasperated service writer respond sharply to complaining customer or hang up on one who was being abusive over the telephone, Carol's father had never been very interesting in the parts and service business, seeing it simply as a necessary adjunct of the dealership. The service facility was not easily visible from the main highway. Being hidden behind the showroom, the building looked old and greasy, the environment was not appealing at all; customers could bring their cars before 8.30 A.M. and they were required to pick up their cars by 6.00 P.M.
After parking their cars, they had the enter the service building and wait for their turn to see service writers. Customers stood while work orders for their cars were prepared; ringing the telephone interrupted the process; filling cabinets containing customer records and other document lined far wall of the room. The process as a whole was not arranged properly, all the filling process was done by hand. Thus being the time-consuming and irritating for customers. One of the main problems of the service departments was the service manager himself. Rick Obert, a technically skilled employee but the one whose manner with customers could be gruff and argumentative. Overall level of satisfaction with service at Auto World was considerably low especially for interpersonal variables, such as department personnel, understanding of customers problem and explaining of work performed.