Yahoo Autos
Online vs. Phone: Who Wins in Service Appointments?
October 2025
It should be easy, not annoying, for a customer to schedule a vehicle service appointment with a dealership.
But sometimes it’s a hassle, as evidenced by a Pied Piper Management Co. study. The consultancy measured how effectively dealerships by brand handled service appointment requests, both online and on the telephone.
Some dealerships did better than others. The ones with problems risk losing customer confidence and loyalty.
“All a service customer wants, whether online or on the phone, is someone or some technology to interact with them,” Pied Piper CEO Fran O’Hagan tells WardsAuto. “They don’t want to be put on hold for five minutes.”
If they are, they may start to wonder: If scheduling a service appointment becomes an issue, what hassles are ahead in the actual servicing of the vehicle?