Saphire Blue minds think alike!

 

If by the off chance you were speaking of my car.... here ya go

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Took my xfire into the dealer to fix a valve cover leak under warranty last week. Picked it up the next day and briefly checked it out before I drove off. I stopped by a friends house and we are standing there looking at my car and then I see it.....2 huge scratches on the passenger side fender right behind the headlight...thru the clear coat into the primer. Took it back and jumped the service manager's butt. He never said sorry, kiss my a**, nothing! Just said "We'll fix it" He could have cared less about what happened.

 

After 32 years of car ownership, I have tried car dealers, corner gas stations, national chain specialty shops, restoration shops. In all that time I have had few experiences with any one shop that were uniformly acceptable. That's mostly "my problem". In order to deal with it, I have developed ways to trying to make the chance of a bad experience less likely.

- clear explanation of problem
- clear explanation of what I want done
- clear explanation of how I want my car handled

In order to do that I do my homework. Shop Manual. General automotive knowledge. Past experience. If I know nothing, I have to admit that to myself and do the best I can.

When I pick up my car, I don't even go to the service counter until I have looked at the car to make sure it's in the condition I left it. If I find a problem, I bring the service manager to the car and go over it. I put aside that it should not have happened. It's over - it happened. I go to how it's going to be made right. And I don't negotiate. It's not my problem - it's theirs. But I stay "nice", "patient", and "flexible" so that they have room to figure out how they can make it right. Yelling doesn't work (I tried it).

There are two times when you may not get satisfaction:
1. You're wrong (the car was already like that)
2. You don't know what you're talking about.

Don't ruin your credibility trying to get something fixed for free that isn't the shop's fault. It's wrong and they don't owe you anything. All that kind of dispute achieves is to make the customer look like the jerk they are.

Part of the problem is that "car people" don't look at their vehicle as simply transportation. Many repair shops don't either. They look at the vehicle as a machine. It's a machine they work on and charge money against. They install parts, fix problems (well that's the idea anyway), and give them back to their owner. I suspect most would be surprised to find that the average tech sees a car no matter how nice as a piece of junk.

So when a car person brings their vehicle for service, they're leaving their "pride and joy" in the hands of somebody that sees it as a pile of junk waiting to generate revenue before being returned.

The gap in value systems is huge. The potential for car people to be disappointed is inevitable. A scratch? Car guy goes into mourning. Tech didn't even notice, or if they did, only cares if it stays out long enough without being noticed that they get away with it.

The service writer is in the middle between the customer who may have unreasonable expectations (their car really might be a piece of junk) and the tech whose job does not necessarily include treating the vehicle like a member of someone's family.

For those of us who "suffer" the car lover "disease", there is no way to avoid being disappointed. Sooner or later, the repair place is going to make a mistake. Big or small it will seem the end of the world.

The only way to avoid this is to do the work ourself. If that's not possible, then the second best option is to look far and wide for that special place where cars are not seen as "pieces of junk". Those places are rare but they exist. Most of the good ones are as clean as hospitals, have a staff full of car people, and sorry to say, cost an arm and a leg. But you get what you pay for.

 

Sad it is,
Many mechanics work on cars as if they were replacing a track on a military tank

 

I fully understand about having someone else work on my cars ! I can't STAND it when I cannot fix something myself ! I have a trusted shop that I have gone to for years, for stuff I can't do, or don't have the time to do. . .they know how **** I can get about the car.

Don't get me going about the dealership service departments around here. . . .they all SUCK !!! You are just another number with them. . . one dealership I went to, when I had my 1998 Dakota R/T, was soooo bad. I had took the truck in, telling the service writer that there was a noise from the rear end, and it was NOT tire noise (had just changed over to winter tires) (only 6k km - 3k miles) on the truck. I get a call back from the dealership saying the mechanic says it is tire noise - they didn't even road test it !! Anyhow, I complain and finally they said they heard it when it was on the lift - ?!?!??! - I heard it in the cab with the windows up !!! Sheesh . . . so they first try all the bearings, still noisey, then they finally replace the gearset . . . ok, so now it is Friday at 4:00pm, I am picking up the truck . . . for some reason I look underneath at the diff and notice one bolt is only held in by two threads ?!?!?!?!? WHAT !?!?!? . . . The service manager is gone, most of the mechanics (oops, sorry, technicians) are gone and I want the truck on the lift, cover removed, new gasket and re-fill . . . .they did it, but were looking at me like I was the only making them stay late !!! GRRRRRR . . . .

Anyhow, guess that is why I will do my own oil changes on the xfire, as well as the seat repair (can see full pics on the thread I did on that). The seat turned out perfect !

Where has the pride in one's work gone ??? Rather than pushing thru as much as possible to make as much $$$$ as possible, allow enough time and $$$ to do the job right the first time !

Mark

 

It's all about the work ethic. Only one or two out of 10 has it. About 1/2 out of 10 are "clock punchers" --- they do care about holding on to their jobs but they won't do any more than they have to do. The rest of them our the real burdens of this society. They don't give a rat's *** about themselves or anyone else. This applies to most jobs -- not only mechanics. Certain cultures have more of this work ethic. The Germans and the Japanese have it in their culture, handed down from generation to generation. You can feel it in their businesses when you go there. Their work is part of their self identity. They derive a sense of self worth from what they do. In this country? Well, we used to care more imo but certainly not like we used to.

 

China.

In won't be long now...