Customers, Sheesh!

I don't know if it's the economy or the fact that some folks just don't care about their rides. To top it off, if they find out that a repair costs more than what they expected, due to their severe negligence, they flip. Some just don't want to put factory equipment in and then suffer the choice they made due to the part failing. Some things are safe to install from the aftermarket and some are not. I had this one guy ask if I would install JUNK YARD rotors on his Nissan Sentra. Needless to say, I measured them, told him that they were severely under spec by .100"... He didn't understand why that was the case. I know what you all must be thinking and I agree with you completely. "Dude", I said to him in the nicest way possible, "The key word in JUNK YARD PARTS is "JUNK". He smiled and then began to back track on his excuse as to why he went that rout. I told him that he could have purchased rotors for $40.oo each minimum and they would have been "NEW". You get what you pay for. He got the rotors from the junk yard for $25.00 each... All I could do was shake my head.
Another story that made me shake my head was of a costomer that only came for free oil changes twice a year... only free oil changes. Eventually the shop closed down due to the economy and when this customer came in for her twice yearly free oil change the shop was nearly empty and only had the manager working that day. She asked what was going on. The manager told her that the place was closing for good and she got mad. She said that she had to get her other car in for an oil change as well and that she needed to know where she was going to get it done. The manager got into his computer and pulled up her service history and with a smile he said, "Maybe you can take your vehicles to where ever you've been getting you vehicle serviced and have them do it for you. If you and others like you performed much needed services in my shop I wouldn't be closing for good. My shop doesn't operate or survive on giving you free oil changes, mam. No shop on this whole planet does. The woman got mad, but had nothing to say in return. She got the picture.
Another issue is people and their attitudes. I've noticed that people are more angry about every thing and take it out on the shop or the call the car they drive a hunk of junk and relate it to the dealership when it's their own neglect that's causing the problem with the car... Other times, people just don't read their owners manual to do the simplest things, like reset the oil monitor or, ( my biggest pet peeve), check the tire pressure when the TPMS light comes on or open up the manual to know how certain functions work, like MPG monitors and average MPG monitors... It's two different functions! Any way, things have changed over the years as have people. I think I need to retire. It's too violent!
 
How you drive is your buisness. Remember that you're not the only one on the road!
Educate, don't hate.

SOOOOOOOOOOO true... I remember this old lady came into the dealership where I was working complaining about automatic transmission problems on her 1998 kia sephia (this was in 2007)... Diagnostic came back as a litterally cooked tranny & I advised her that it would be a 1000.00 job with a used tranny. All of a sudden she goes haywire & says this should be done under warranty... I ask her why that is, she replies: my car only has 40000 km (25k miles +-)& is warranties until 60k miles for powertrain... I unfortunaltey had to advise her of the difference between her beliefs & the actual meaning of 5 years OR 60k miles, stressing on the OR... She went on insisting on mileage & I then asked her what type of maintenance was done on her car... Oil changes once a year was her reply, at which point I take out an owners manual & point out the necessity to change the atf fluid once every 2 years OR 25k miles. Same story with the mileage again & she asks us to change the atf to fix the problem... Too late I tell her, we are past the preventive maintenance & need to change the whole assembly... I never thought a little old lady could have such a potty mouth & she litterally had to be 'escorted' out of the dealership with her screameing obsenities the whole way out thru the showroom... It's funny & saddening all at once, dont you think??  
Nothing smells better than that new car scent... Except maybe for ***

Brother, I feel for you and I do agree that it's sad. This past Friday a customer called up at the end of the day to ask if his vihicle was done. The service advisor asked his name and also about what vehicle he was reffering to. Apparently, the customer dropped offf the keys into the night drop, which has no bin or bucket that the envelope would drop into. The funny thing about it all is that I work in the bay where the night drop is and didn't see any envelope any where near or around the door. The advisor asked him if he used an envelope and the customer responded (in a really rude tone) "I never use an envelope! I'm coming to get my car!" Now, at this point the advisor and I go out to the door with the slot and begin looking for the key, since there wasn't an attempt by the customer to use his flippin' head and use an envelope, we looked and looked and suddenly the advisor found the key under an AC service machine that sits near the same door wih the key drop slot. WOW! I said, shaking my head. Is that dude for real? I added. We both shook our heads all the way back to the office. The advisor looked into his service history and the last service the customer had done at the dealership was back in 2009... We're in 2011... he never had the car serviced at the shop in all that time... Needless to say, the customer came in completly irate and blaming us for not fixing his car because he had a long trip planned and we ruined his plans... How do you respond to a customer that won't listen to reason? Just say sorry and don't make him any more irritable than he already is. Most people know that they made a mistake and beat them selves up and most of the time they blame others to make them selves feel better. They know and we know who the moron is. Making them more mad doesn't make them admit to their stupidity.
Keepem' coming, peoples. Oh, before I forget to say it. Don't use a customer's name so that it stays descrete.
Hehe. The stories are true, but the names are witheld to protect the true victims. (us techs and advisors)
   
How you drive is your buisness. Remember that you're not the only one on the road!
Educate, don't hate.