JOES66FURY, is this the life life of a service writer?

[Huskinhano]

[DanStokes]

When I worked for a friend of mine who had an independent repair shop I HAD that customer. Frequently.

Dan

[Gary 351C]

Um? YES! That's why I gave it up after a few years.

[JOES66FURY]

I had that same conversation in my head no less that 12 times this weekend.

I love the customer who brings the car in for a diag. We tell them whats wrong with it and they say "no, thats too much I'll just take it to my mechanic"

Your mechanic? are you f-king kidding me...why in the wild wild world of sports did you bring that turd here then since you mechanic is so good....The fact of the matter is you know someone with some tools that is semi-capable or replacing a part or two on your car.

Or when they ask how much is X,Y,Z and you tell them and they start bitching about the price...like I am going to change it for them. It;s 16 bucks to mount and balance one tire....take it or leave it.

I can do 4 tires mounted and balanced today for 365.83.....Oh thats just too much, I cant afford that....I am going to shop around I think I can get the cheaper at Costco...then WHY THE F-K DID YOU COME HERE AND WASTE 45 MINUTE OF MY TIME YOU DOUCHE!!!!!


LONG story short...yes....it is the life....the sad terrible life....of a service writer.....

[Huskinhano]

I think that carries over to every business. I use to have my own electrical contracting business. The only see you turning the screw driver, not the time you drove there, insurance, gas and so on. The best one was with the plumbers I worked with. He gave an estimate out to replace a water heater. The customer shopped it around and took the contractor who beat it by $5! What really got him was the fact the customer didn't ask him if he could do better.

I use to work the parts counter at a Chevy dealer in the mid 70's. Had a woman come in and buy a tail light lenses for her old Nova. A little while later comes back to my boss saying I over charged her. He looks up the price, yeah that's the right price. She says since she has an older car she should be charged older prices. She was known as " crazy lady" at the dealership a frequent flier. She was older, tons of pancake make-up, wore a pill box hat, faux leapord skin coat and a cigarette holder. She would proposition the mechanic who would work on her car.

[Beagle]

you guys are making me miss work.

[Beagle]

This should be posted on the wall at almost any shop -

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/where.asp

"Nikola Tesla visited Henry Ford at his factory, which was having some kind of difficulty. Ford asked Tesla if he could help identify the problem area. Tesla walked up to a wall of boilerplate and made a small X in chalk on one of the plates. Ford was thrilled, and told him to send an invoice.

The bill arrived, for $10,000. Ford asked for a breakdown. Tesla sent another invoice, indicating a $1 charge for marking the wall with an X, and $9,999 for knowing where to put it."

[Loren]

I had this gal want panels made for her xtra-special look-at-me sand rail (her whole family was into this sort of thing). This is custom work and can be pretty expensive, but I did a nice job and even added in more work than I'd agreed to being as I hoped to get more of it from her dad, etc. But I'm seeing way too much of her and she's getting pushy (I have a little rule about "pushy"), and it's time to get this thing out of the shop so I tell her I'm done, take it out. Well, she wasn't done...she just wanted to know, when was I going to do all the other work I promised? She's claiming I said things I never would have said, demanding more work, more features, all for the really-low price I gave her to start with.

"No you don't", lady. Out...the thing's out. She had already gotten way more of my time than what I originally bargained for, I didn't need this kind of customer who is just there to screw with me. So she's angry, bitter, threatening to tell everybody in the desert what a rat I am, telling me she'd have her husband come talk to me about what I "promised" her (sweet alluring baby-doll suddenly has a "husband" now...).

So anyhow I pushed it out, never did see her husband but her dad came with her to pick it up. Then when they've got it loaded up, of all things, he comes in and tells me he wants a gas tank. I just tell him no.

A couple days later he comes in and asks about "his" gas tank, what's my best price and when can I start? I tell him no, I cannot build him a gas tank.

Well this gal must have really gone out telling everyone what a sucker I was (except it must have been a real drag that I cut her off before she got all the other shit she wanted). Here's daddy to come be the next one to take advantage...a couple days later, he's back AGAIN. What about his gas tank? HE KNOWS I CAN DO IT! When am I going to start his gas tank? I kept telling him NO! And he kept telling me, HE KNOWS I CAN DO IT!

I finally had to position so that he was between me and the door, and then I started getting in his space. "Of course I CAN do it", I tell him...it's just that I cannot do it for HIM. "Your family, in general, needs a different fabrication shop because you haven't really worked very well with this one.

So just like daughter, he's ready to stomp out except I get one last look at his face, and (believe-it-or-not) it's all twisted up. he is literally ready to start crying. A grown man, ready to cry because he didn't get his way. Bizarre.

I did get a visit from an acquaintance of his but it was to tell me, yeah those guys try to rip off everybody...it's the way the whole family works. She already had the rail up for sale so she could profit from all the work done (none of the work was stuff she really wanted, it was just to increase a sale price).

Anyhow, as fun as it may sound, building toys for people actually sucks sometimes, just because of the kind of people you sometimes get. Better to stick with industrial stuff, w/ experienced customers.

BTW, about the OP video, find the one about the gal and the tire repair, it's good. It's what got me writing this post.

[Huskinhano]

Loren, I saw that one too, pretty funny. But you know people like the customer you had do get known by other shops and know their games. That's why they came to you and pulled that . My brother was a stationary engineer in NYC. For many years he was chief. He said salesman would come in and try to bribe you with kickbacks. He said everyone in his profession knew who all of these salesman were. And if you bought from them, the word got around that you could be bought. He was telling me he had summer help and the kids was a son of a chief in another building. This kid was a real piece of work who thought he didn't have to work because his father was a chief and that he would automatically get a paycheck. So my brother says one day this salesman comes and tries to bribe my brother. My brother sends him off. This wise add kid sees the salesman and says my dad does business with him. My break wasn't surprised in the least.

[JOES66FURY]

Most of the customers are easy to deal with and just want their car fixed. that is what I give them. I do not up-sell crap they don't need. I am honest and upfront about what to expect and how things are priced. I make the whole process very transparent to the dismay of my managers. However, they do not have a leg to stand on when I sell 2K out of a 3.5K day by myself.

the people that bug me are the ones that bring their car in and are just dumbfounded by the cost to repair it...Example. Jose had his SUV in this weekend. truck runs like crap, check engine light is on. We diag it/smoke it for lean code. We find an intake gasket is bad. By bad I mean smoke is billowing out of the gaps. I quote him 650 for this work plus the other items he wanted and he loses his mind. I dont have that kind of money, I cant pay that! Ok Jose, your truck is done come get it.

The other thing that kills me are grown ass men who have no clue whatsoever as to how to repair a car. New world order I guess.

Other customers feel I owe them something or when they get upset when they are down right rude or disrespectful and I get nasty back....I got the marked cornered on a$$hole pal...don't try to out a$$hole me...I'll win and I ain't afraid to lose the job over it. My dignity is worth more....