Jose R. Costa is from Charlotte, North Carolina and is the President at Maaco, Driven Brands. Costa is a graduate of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and prior to working at Maaco, he held positions at Burger King Corporation, COSTA IMC (Integrated Marketing and Communications), Inc., and JMC/Young and Rubicam Group. Costa is a married family man with two children, who describes his experience on the show Undercover Boss as this:
There were so many humbling moments during my undercover experience. The work that is done in our shops to help customers repair and restore their vehicles is incredibly labor intensive. The most rewarding moments were being able to give back to deserving employees who may not have been recognized without the help of the show. I would recommend this experience to every boss. The friendships that I built and the gratification that I feel are indescribable.
Read on for more facts on Costa and his appearance on Undercover Boss.
1. Costa Messes Up On The Job
Jose Costa takes up spray-painting recycling cans when he goes undercover, but things don’t go as well as he’d hoped. He starts off a little slow and ends up messing up the paint job. As a result, his employee has to wait for the paint to dry, completely strip the paint and start from scratch all over again. Watch the whole situation go down in the above video clip.
This isn’t the only mishap that occurs this episode.
2. One Employee Infuriates Costa
(CBS/YouTube)
One of the employees, Body Tech Jim, on this episode tells Costa that he chooses what he can and can’t get away with on the job and this upsets Costa. The synopsis for this episode reads: When Maaco President Jose Costa goes undercover, he gets overheated after finding an employee is cutting corners.
The incident occurs when Costa is sanding a small dent in a car and Jim insists that the car needs to be fixed quickly, saying that not every dent needs to be perfect. Jim says that you learn what you can get away with once the paint is applied and explained that people come to Maaco for a cheap paint job, saying that Maaco is “sub par.” This infuriated Costa, though he kept his mouth shut.
3. Ronald Brand, AKA Rambo, Teaches Costa How To Drive
One of the jobs Costa tries to take on is moving cars around. This may sound easy, but it’s tough to do in a packed parking lot full of vehicles. Costa ends up running over a cone as utlity worked Ronald Brand, aka Rambo, shows him the ropes. Check out the above video clip of it to see why Rambo says Costa drives like an old lady.
The Trentonian writes about how Costa set the scene with Rambo:
Ronald Brand, was paid a visit by the CBS reality show during an October work day. Maaco Corporate President Jose Costa called himself Alberto and came in sporting a salt and pepper goatee and grey knitted cap that made in unrecognizable to Palmer.
4. Maaco Prides Itself On Quality
Maaco goes Undercover this Friday on CBS! #UndercoverBoss #MAACOVER http://t.co/9r7KX8FJ6T
The motto of Maaco reads:
With over 40 years in the automotive business, no one is better at turning the car you drive back into the car you love.
It’s company description states:
As America’s #1 Bodyshop, Maaco has services more than 20 million cars since 1972. Whether it’s automotive paint or collision services that you need, Maaco is here to help you transform your car and help you turn the car you drive, back into the car you love. We work with all insurance companies and guarantee our work with nationwide warranties … At Maaco, we stand behind our workmanship. Maaco offers various levels of service and warranties which differ as a result of your desire to economize. As all repair services offered by Maaco are predicated over repairing or painting over existing conditions, our warranties are limited to the workmanship we perform and the materials we use.
5. Franchise Owner Matt Palmer Said He Was Completely Fooled By Costa
[MercerCo Sports] Trenton Maaco to be featured in episode of Undercover Boss on CBS http://t.co/LlZGh7igum
Matt Palmer is one of the franchise owners featured on the episode, which shows his employee Rambo trying to guide Costa through his job. Palmer tells The Trentonian that he was completely fooled by Costa and had no idea they were filming Undercover Boss. Palmer stated:
They completely fool you. If you would have told me they were filming an episode of Undercover Boss I would have never believed it. Ronald had never met him and I couldn’t recognize him at all,” Palmer said. “They told us they were going to bring some contestants to our store to work for the day. They really fool you to think that you’re helping these two contestants. At that point you sort of get to know them a little bit and you’re talking to them and you interact with them naturally.
Palmer said that about a month after filming, the big reveal was in Texas. Palmer explains:
I didn’t know what they were doing with Ronald and he didn’t know what they were doing with me. They brought me in and [I was] waiting, thinking [I’m] going to meet someone famous and then the next thing you know Jose Costa comes in.
As a reward for their great service, franchise owner Palmer was awarded with new signage for his store, money to fix his roof, and Rambo was given a new truck.
