A Hole In His Story You Could Drive A Truck Through

(I work in the front office of a car repair shop. Late one afternoon, a middle-aged man storms inside angrily.)

Man: “Where is your manager?”

Me: “He’s out back in the shop, but I can certainly call him up for you. But maybe I can help. What seems to be the problem?”

Man: “Your employee almost killed my kids!”

(My mind is now racing to see if I remember this customer having picked up his car recently from us, in case it was something that we either did wrong or that the customer thought was our fault — often we get blamed for issues completely unrelated to a wreck.)

Me: “I’m very sorry to hear that, sir! Is everyone okay?”

Man: “Yes! But your employee nearly killed us! I want the manager!”

Me: “Of course, let me call him up here.” *uses the intercom system to page the manager* “Did we repair your car recently? I can pull up your file to save some time when he arrives.”

Man: “What? No! No, you didn’t fix my car! I was driving on the road and he nearly hit me!”

(We do have a shuttle vehicle that is emblazoned with our shop information, so now I’m thinking that our driver nearly caused an accident, something our company does not take lightly. However, we are owned by the same company that owns two car dealers nearby, and they have their own shuttle vehicles, as well. Because our vehicles all include the company name on them, as well as the specific location — we’re “[Company] Collision” and then there is “[Company] [Dealer]” — I want to be sure the right people are informed.)

Me: “Was it the small white car there?” *gestures out the window to where our shuttle is parked*

Man: “No, not that car! It was a big black truck!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but our company doesn’t own a black truck. Are you sure it was our vehicle?”

Manager: *walks up* “Hi, what seems to be the problem?”

Man: *before I can say anything* “Your employee almost killed my kids! I want him fired!”

(He’s screaming at this point, and there are other customers in the office, so my manager guides him outside. A few minutes later, we see the man peel out of the parking lot, and my manager comes back in.)

Manager: “Yeah, so, he almost got run off the road by a truck that he followed here and saw it pull behind the gate. He wanted me to fire the person who owns it. When I asked [Employee], he said the man had pulled out in front of him and nearly caused an accident. We offered to call the police to have them look at the traffic cameras, and he decided he was going to leave, instead.”