“It’s challenging for our team as well, because you can imagine disassembling a vehicle six months ago, and then going back to do a reassembly or start the repair six months later. So we’re often reading repair procedures over and over again.”For what parts exactly, Stebner says it’s a multitude of shortages.
“Plastics, things like that … with all sheet metal; we’re seeing shortages with glass. I know there was also a shortage of clear coat for refinishing for quite some time as well.”“The chip issue is an issue for us too,” adds Stebner, referring to the semiconductor chip shortage, “which just in turn creates all sorts of other challenges throughout the repair process.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a major culprit for the delays. Stebner says she first noticed longer arrival times about a year ago, but it has amplified over the past six months. “We’re seeing the results now. So when everybody says we’re getting back to normal, in our industry, we’re far from normal.”Saskatchewan small businesses struggle to get back to normal sales despite lifted COVID-19 restrictions
Paul Amante, a business student at the University of Saskatchewan, is one of several who has had to deal with being without his vehicle for an extended period of time. It was in the shop for more than two months between Feb. 17 and April 22 this year, before being ready to hit the road again.“I kept getting dates of next week,” began Amante. “Next week comes and I call and they say ‘oh next week.’ That week comes and I call and it’s like ‘oh we still don’t have that part.
as planned