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Stories from the Sales Frontlines
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Caught nothing but sun burn and buzz :sick:
The sun burn I got was a good one...
This morning I am getting ready for work and I know I have to shave because it has been 2 days with out shaving... I also know it is going to hurt with a sunburn.
The first swipe of the razor felt like I was shaving with a cheese grater. I finaly finish shaving... grab the old spice as I ussualy do... Put some on
I now understand what it might feel like when you put battery acid on your face.
It felt like my face was melting when I put the old spice on....
I think I'll take the write up for not shaving the next time I have a sunburn...
GP
I know I see it all the time. Not really sure what it stands for.
GP
I think that you are much more likely to get ripped off at the franchise(brake/transmission/muffler/quickie lube) stores. In my case I have a good dealer service department and an independent tech for each brand of car/bike I own. They are all dead honest and I trust them completely. Here's just one example: About ten years ago I had installed a rebuilt alternator on my Thunderbird Turbo Coupe, and one day the charging light came on when I started the car at lunch. I drove over to my indie garage and told one of the techs that my alternator was most likely shot. He popped the hood and almost immediately found a broken ground wire. Five minutes and $5 later I was back on the road.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Richard
I had a woman tell me one time that the only time she was attracted to a man wearing cologne was when the only time she could smell it was when she was snuggling on his bare chest.
-5 pts for spelling, it is spelled cul-de-sac.
Wikipedia reference
Zen.
Anywho, she told me that she referred to me as "Polo." My first conjecture was that was due to the brand of golf shirt I was wearing that evening. Wrong, the nickname came from the contents of the swimming pool in which she thought I may have swam prior to coming out that evening!
Hey, it attracted a lovely, yet unbeknownst to me, engaged lady! Although, interestingly(?), she began a string of three straight women who, after dating me, got engaged or married their current fiance... So, I owe Ralph Lauren: His cologne kept me single longer!
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
If it was listed on the invoice that the belts and hoses should be replaced and she denies replacement, I don't know of a judge that would rule in her favor. Not to mention the fact that she continued to drive without coolant can be blamed again on the father for not teaching her common sense.
What am I missing here?
http://toyotaofrockwall.com/Default.aspx
More about Rockwall, TX
http://www.rockwallchamber.org/life/pages.cfm?id=17
Richard
You have to assume a shop is honest and trying to do the right thing unlike that chain store your son went to.
Most shops won't shortchange a job. They know the pitfalls and they also know the customer who was grateful to save a few bucks will turn on them like a rattlesnake if something go'w wrong later.
Richard
Because we were Sears and back in those days, anyway, the customer was always right. Her father got to the Store Manager who instructed me to do whatever was necessary to satisfy the customer.
He also scolded me for not doing the job right.
Another time I tried to save a starving student some money by reusing his old throwout bearing in his VW while doing a clutch job. It looked fine so we saved him the 20.00 or whatever it cost.
Well, it went bad a month later and I was told "Everybody knows you should replace throwout bearings at the time you install a new clutch" by HIS father.
Another job for free and probably the last time I tried to do a customer a favor.
There seems to be concern over gang activity in the triangle now, but I'm not sure the extent to which it is being overstated. I think to some extent the stories are being exaggerated.
Don't get me wrong. We love Raleigh. Also, there is gang activity in nearly every city and town now. It doesn't speak well of the times in which we live. It is especially harmful in schools. When a student is afraid to go to the toilet during the day, something is wrong. Some children even check out of school just to go to the toilet. Where are the teachers and administrators? They're afraid to go to the students' toilets alone to correct behavior.
To stay on topic: Much damage is done to student cars during the school year, if a gang member takes a dislike to you.
Richard
No Irishman ever will. :mad:
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I had it happen the other way around. My water pump failed at 66,000 miles and while they had everything apart they replaced the timing belt too. Mine is a 90K belt but I'm glad I had it changed. The car has 105K on it now and my timing belt is good to go another 50,000 miles. It would have cost $500.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
The crime rate for our village last year was 1%! A child took a neighbor's bicycle for a joy ride, and a wife slapped her husband. He called it in to scare her.
Being a golf area and a retirement area, the dealers certainly do move the cars. There is no limit to the restaurants and entertainment. The winters are great, but the summers are pretty hot. We have many lakes if you like fishing. Our village alone has four lakes. The house next to me is for sale---just the right size for you and the wife---and for a son to visit. Check us out.
Richard
I'm normally a pretty calm guy but if that happened to me, the police would have to be called to rescue the shop owner.
You should have sued the place for "emotional distress".
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
You've been out in the sun on that tractor again. :P
I'll have to turn you over to Team Jipster for some new conditioning.
Richard
You've got example 1 right!
:shades:
You mean the one with the double AA? MCO?
Wouldn't that spell AAAAMCO :confuse:
:shades:
Richard
I was absolutely livid. I left work. Went to this shop. Had to do everything within my power to not jump over the counter and drag him to the ground to get him "to come to my way of thinking". There were two other customers waiting for their cars to be repaired (not on the rack yet). They demanded their keys back and both left.
I have to admit, I was in this guy's face, demanding the car back. The guy was as totally obstinate since I chased his customers away. He's the one that actually called the police, on me. He told me if I wanted the car back, I'd have to put it back together myself. I was headed out to the shop to do just that when he said company policy prohibited me from doing so.
By this time, the police arrived. They heard both sides of our stories. Made the shop's manager put the car back together (which they took their leisurely time doing). I insisted on being in the shop to make sure they did it right. The Mgr kept protesting I wasn't allowed in the shop. I went anyway. Police said I could file theft charges, if I wanted. I just wanted the car back together and to get out of there.
Shop manager gave me a bill for putting it back together as I was leaving. I tore it up in front of him and the police. Told him to just try to get any money out of me. Never heard another peep from him, nor the shop. Wrote a nasty letter to Monro. Never heard anything back from them, either.
Point being, there are enough shady shops and mechanics around. You tell them what you want done. If you don't know if they're being honest with you, (or in Isell's case, they don't have enough money to have it fixed properly), take it somewhere else.
Isell's shop was a good one, obviously. They did exactly what the customer wanted. I wouldn't consider that a favor. She had X money. All she could afford was for the pump to be replaced. Was it unfortunate that the hose blew out? Yep.
Personally, I think the shop laid down on the cause of the motor seizing. They should have pointed out that the cause of the problem was due to a blown hose, one that they didn't replace per her request. I also understand since it's Sears, that they'd do whatever they could to make the customer happy. It was a bad situation, all the way around. I'm certain "blowing the engine" wasn't something the customer planned to have happen and all the associated hassle that had to have been.
Not many know auto mechanics. They gas it when it 's empty. Put tires on when the old ones are bald. Maybe change the oil every once in awhile. That's the extent of it. With my son, the Monro store was wrong, and I knew it for a fact. They were trying to pad the bill.
While you can guess that the hoses would fail in a short amount of time, they weren't failing at the time the pump was replaced.
Sticky situation but I still contend that's more the exception than the rule. All this lady and her father knew, they took it to Sears. And immediately after the repair, the engine seized up.
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
The above is from a poster at ToyotaNation. I've had the same experience with my Camrys.
Last year my middle son (Honda kid) had the timing belt/water pump done at our Honda store at the 90k mile mark. They replaced the water pump too. About a month later he took it to a TireMerchant (not the real name) down the street to get it inspected. I usually take the car to our store for the inspections and for some reason he missed the inspection date so now it was overdue. They came back with a "laundry list" of things that needed replacement, one which was the timing belt. :confuse: I was really ticked at him for taking the car there to begin with since this is the same shop that I took some tires to get put on that I bought at TireRack and they were a recommended installer. I still remember the guy over charging me and when I drove back to complain he pretty much called me a liar saying "How do I know you really bought the tires at TireRack?" and I told him. "Well duh, the shipping label with my name and address are still on the tires." :mad:
:shades:
LOL...
GP
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
The friend telling me this is a mechanic for a local city and told the friend to ask for the old filter back the next time. He had asked how long it took them; apparently it should take 30 minutes or so because of the location and parts that have to come off to get to the air filter. The next visit after 45 minutes or so the mechanic came out looking very frustrated with the original filter that came on the car that he'd removed. When the owner confronted the store about all the bills for replaced air filters that weren't he was give lots of free oil changes into the future as compensation.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Noun 1. typo - a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind
A "Typo" is actually a mechanical failure of some kind, but this error seems to be a human error. Please use the correct term for spelling mistakes in the future, "I am spelling challenged".
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
On his first day, he was told that if a car came in for an oil change and it already had one on it that was the brand they sold to simply take a rag, use some solvant and wipe it clean. Of course the customer paid for a new fliter.
A couple of days later a Corvair came in. The woman made the mistake of telling the owner she thought her starter was bad. My buddy was assigned to check out the Corvair's problem. Ten minutes later, he informed the owner it had a corroded cable and that he had it fixed. He was told to put the car on a hoist and lower the starter and let it hang on it's wire.
" We have to rebuild her starter, now, don't we?"
Once the starter was hanging, it got a solvent cleanup. Then the owner came with a spray can of black paint and he carefully "rebuilt" her starter.
In the week my friend worked there, he saw severalevents like this take place and he quit. The same guy ownerd that station for years and retired a very wealthy man.
Yea, you can get rich doing that, but you can also get beat up or dead if your customers find out. Not to mention civil suits, government penalties and jail time.
Great rewards involve great risks.
BTW, why didn't your buddy tell some one what was going on? It obviously upset him enough to make him quit.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I just wanted to add, I have had some extremely honest mechanics too. Once the Jeep dealership told me the whole a/c unit had to come out to be replaced. I tried this garage which was always honest in the past and he said that was ridiculous. I paid $90 to get it going instead of $800! I often think a good mechanic is worth his weight in gold. They are far and few but when you get one treat him well. I guess by definition they have to be independent....all the chain garages have commission and bonus schemes...or your out the door if you don't produce :sick:
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I love that!!!
By the way, tell driver that he must be "grammatically challenged". He used "your" instead of "you're".
Richard
I took the car to the dealer and they found ONE LEAKING SHOCK. It took three days to get the part and Toyota paid for the rental car. The SUV has 51,000 miles on it.
I wrote a letter to their Corporate Office questioning the "Ethics" of this store. Corporate was quick to point out that each location is franchised. They said they would call once I faxed a copy of the bill and maintenence they wanted to do.
BTW-they said they would send me a coupon for a "FREE" oil change. Such a deal!
Well, if nothing else my grammar and spelling might improve from this sight
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Reminds me of a couple years ago I take my 99 Honda CRV with 130K miles in for some brake pads. They check everything over and come up with a laundry list of things to do, one of which is the timing belt. When he recommended that, I decided to play him since this same Honda dealer had replaced the timing belt a couple years before. The dumb [non-permissible content removed] SA never checked his own records. So I'm asking hm what's involved with the timing belt, what happanes if i don't get it changed etc. etc.
After a few minutes of this I told him his recommendations were out the window since you guys have already changed it. He says, Oh sorry, I'm just relaying what the tech recommended. I had him do just the brake pads and had to do everything to convince him to just turn the rotors if they would still be within specs.
Richard
To be honest I think it is poor manners to correct things like that in such an informal setting as message boards.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
He did tell someone and that's how you found out about the story.
That reminds me of a story. A friend of mine used to spend a lot of money at the bars. We'll call them hostess bars something like what Mack had run into with that Korean lady. This friend would spend on some nights up to $5K. He owned a Union 76 station.
I asked him how could he spend money like Bill Gates? Guy next to him tells me he charges $2K for rear drum brakes and $1K if only the front discs. Oil changes? Average $300. Makes sense to me as he had a captive elderly market. Oh what a feeling!!
We certainly rely on you to correct us regarding accounting matters. We all have benefited from your comments. Try to view it from that perspective.
Richard