Have you ever gone to another hair salon or stylist to get your hair cut? Not your usual stylist. Maybe you heard about a new stylist, and you weren’t unhappy with the current person keeping your ‘do looking good, but you thought, “Maybe this new person will create this incredible new look?” I’ve heard it called a hair affair. Most woman have done this at least once. I know I have. I don’t know that I expect anything magical to happen but it’s fun to see what someone different has to offer. I have the same hair I’ve always had, maybe not quite the color I was born with or the color it has changed to, but still the same hair. Remember Jennifer Aniston and her ‘Friends’ hairstyle, the Rachel? Everyone wanted that look. I knew there was not a stylist on the planet who could coax that look from my hair but, maybe? The thing is, if you go back to your original stylist, she knows you went somewhere else. I asked Paula, the boss of my hair, a while ago how she felt about it if that happened t ... read more

Kevin, our go-to I.T. person is also a customer. He called because he was having immediate car issues. A while ago, I was having immediate I.T. issues and called Kevin. He had his young son Paul with him but came to the shop to fix the problem. I gladly entertained Paul while Kevin worked to diagnose and fix our computer issue. Kevin’s vehicle was towed in to be diagnosed and repaired. Paul, in the meantime, was worried about his Dad’s car. Kevin told him it was at Miss Debbie’s shop to be looked at. Kevin later told me that Paul said, “Miss Debbie will fix your car.” He had every confidence the vehicle was in good hands with Miss Debbie. While I love the fact that Paul believes I have the ability to fix cars, I do not. We are lucky to have a gifted and well-trained staff. They are the ones that diagnose, repair and maintain all of our customer’s vehicles. I work on the business and customer service side and understand a lot about automotive repairs but I’m not a technician…..at all. R ... read more

Have you ever been in a situation where you find yourself needing an automotive repair shop and you don’t have a “regular” [shop] that you normally visit? There was post on Facebook recently about being prepared before you need a repair shop for either body or mechanical work. It happens often enough. Someone will call or come in and say that they’ve never been to us, but their vehicle broke down and they need repairs immediately. It kind of reminds me of visiting an urgent care clinic. You don’t know the person that is helping you but you are dependent on them at that time. You’ve not had the time to research because you need to visit “urgently.” My suggestion is to get some recommendations from friends regarding repair shops they trust and make a visit. Stop in, have a cup of coffee and talk to the service advisor. Let them know what you are doing and why. Tell them what make and model of vehicle you drive and ask if they have had any recent experience with that manufacturer. See if ... read more

I could tell you that our logo, a drawing of a crankshaft and pistons, was created by a large marketing company. That we had focus groups come in and tell us what feeling the logo invoked. That we reviewed the feedback, adjusted the design, spent large amounts of cash to get the color just right, and concluded the project with a launch party. Possibly with crowd- sourcing involved! In truth, what really occurred was that Jeff was taking a high school graphic arts class. His father, Arie, was running his newly-opened auto repair business where Jeff worked every day after school. Jeff had created a drawing in his graphic arts class of a crankshaft and pistons. He brought it home and his Dad thought it was well done and decided to use it for the logo for Arie Nol Auto Center. Some adjustments were made to the original drawing to make it more ‘logo friendly’ and it has been the logo for Arie Nol Auto Center for forty-one years. We’ve tweaked it on occasion but it has remained the same logo ... read more

I was just reading something that said that you should have a gratitude journal and write in it each day. The goal is to find a moment, person, or event to be thankful for and to record it. Why? Because no matter where you are in life, no matter what you’re going through, there is always something to appreciate. The point of the article was that by journaling something positive, you overshadow any negatives and give them less space in your life. I’m thankful for the people that I work with each day. We truly believe in the Team Arie Nol philosophy— not just in the workplace but in our personal lives as well. We’ve all had to be there for each other during big life events; births, deaths, health issues, etc. All of it has happened in the time we’ve worked together and the support our team shows for one another humbles me each time. They’re here because they have a love for the automotive industry and automobile repair. We hired them for their skill and attitude and we’ve built a team th ... read more

This summer is going by so quickly! In Michigan the 4 th of July can be cold, hot, rainy, sunny or any other combination. Being a Michigander requires the ability to carry copious amounts of clothing in our vehicle so we can change when the weather does. It’s a day spent eating burgers, hot dogs, and brats—running around with sparklers and possibly even attending a parade. The day is wrapped up with the explosion of color and light in the sky, followed by ooh’s and aah’s. Going to a parade on 4 th of July is interesting because you usually see classic cars, fire trucks, the local politicians throwing candy, Boy Scouts, people on horseback, etc. I remember sitting at the Dorr 4 th of July parade every year and trying to keep three little kids from jumping in front of the beautiful classic cars for a tootsie roll that was just out of their reach. Watching the excitement on their faces as the fire trucks and police vehicles rolled past. Americans have a deep love for their vehicles. Wheth ... read more

Any seasoned, auto repair technician can tell you, at some point everyone is accused of using “scare tactics”. It's a common stereotype, but it isn't true of everyone in the business. Most technicians take their responsibility very seriously. Here a few things to think about the next time you feel scare tactics are being used at the repair shop. It is an automotive technician's first is job to make sure your vehicle is roadworthy. Ask them questions when you don't understand. The technician should be able to explain to you in detail why they think your vehicle is unsafe. If you still don't follow, ask if it's possible to have them show you what they're seeing. Technicians are aware of what bad brakes, shocks, etc. mean for the overall safe control of your vehicle. You don't need to settle for the response, “Your shocks are bad,” instead, ask what this means for your vehicle's overall performance. If you still feel like you're being told an untruth, have a different shop take a look ... read more

We were one of the 2016 Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Ethics winners last week. We were excited and humbled to receive this award, especially as an automotive repair business. We are honored that someone felt strongly enough about our business to nominate it for this award. Automotive repair has had a reputation of not being honest or fair to its customers. It was probably deserved at times. I think that most repair shops will agree that it is an uphill battle at times when you are dealing with a customer that has a preconceived idea of your type of business. We take it as an opportunity to educate them about their car repairs and hopefully have them walk away feeling comfortable with the repairs or maintenance we’ve performed. Our goal is to express a value system that shows respect for the customer and their car. It’s an honor to be recognized for our commitment to ethics and we are thankful that the West Michigan Better Business Bureau gives the opportunity for businesses t ... read more

Customers call when their brakes are making noise, their muffler gets loud or their vehicle isn’t starting. These are all part of car ownership. They also never happen at an opportune time. These are things that need to be taken care of either right away or soon. It’s the little things that get don’t really have to be taken care of immediately or, they may even be something you aren’t aware of that’s not operating. I remember getting pulled over as a teenager for a headlight that was out on my Honda Civic. There were no dashboard indicator lights to let me know this was an issue. Now, my car would tell me a bulb was out but not which bulb. A customer came in several days ago and we were chatting while Jeff checked her vehicle. She lives alone and had a light out indicator on her dashboard. She couldn’t identify which bulb was out. Jeff found it was a brake light bulb. It can be a two-person job to check the brake lights as the brake pedal has to be depressed while someone stands behind ... read more

Over the years, I’ve learned that quality makes a difference. There are some items that you can purchase and you can go with the less expensive item and it won’t negatively affect anything. Other times, it makes a big impact. Last year, I had two sons get married. This required some serious shopping. Dresses, shoes, etc. Believe me, I was up for the challenge. I’ve established that I love shoes. I have on occasion purchased shoes that I loved but they ended up being uncomfortable to wear. With wedding shoes, you need something pretty but that you can wear for a whole day. I found a pair of shoes that I loved that were made by Ivanka Trump. The heel were pretty high and I planned ahead and had back-up flats, for non-shoe lovers, comfortable but not as pretty shoes to change into later. This is where design and quality come in. I wore my Ivanka shoes for fourteen hours! They finally became uncomfortable at 11:45 PM. I looked at them and found several reasons that they were comfortable th ... read more