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Customer service isn't often stratified when it comes to men versus women, but there is one shopping experience many women cringe over: automobile shopping. Ask any woman about her experiences in car buying, and you'll probably hear the following: “They were patronizing.” “They took advantage of my lack of car knowledge.” “I feel taken.”

To keep track of the car dealerships that deal honestly with women who are less-than-car savvy, Delia Passi, an expert in marketing to women and former publisher of Working Woman and Working Mother magazines, founded WomenCertified, a list of dealerships that performed well with female respondents on customer satisfaction surveys, including the all-important measure whether they would recommend the dealership to others, reports Forbes.

While men and women often have many of the same items on their list of important features -- quality, warranty, brand reputation and value -- for women, it's sometimes harder to form a bond of trust with a dealership.

According to Passi, “Women also have to put up with extra baloney.” It's still not unusual, she says, for salesmen to advise women to “come back when your husband is available.” As a result, many women have learned through negative experience to never car shop alone. They bring a man along – any man – in order to be taken seriously and cut down on the patronizing.

For some of the highly ranked WomenCertified dealers, it's about hiring female employees. Women are often more comfortable when they enter a car dealership and see female faces among the employees. For some dealers, it's about small things as well, such as keeping the bathrooms and the offices clean.

Passi told Forbes that by meeting female car shoppers' approval, you're doing the dealerships – and your sales – a favor. After all, says Passi, “When you satisfy a woman’s requirements, you exceed those of a man.”