Customer: “I need a part for my ‘pad sander.'”
Me: “I am sorry, sir, but we sell automotive parts, not tools.”
Customer: “No, I need part for my pad sander. ‘Pad sander!'”
Me: “Again, sir, we only sell automotive parts. Perhaps you should check with [Other Store]?”
Customer: “No, no, no. I need part for my ‘pad sander.’ My Nissan ‘Pad Sander.'”
Me: “Do you mean Nissan Pathfinder?”
Customer: “Yes! Are you an idiot or deaf?”
(I’ve been using the same garage for a few years. I even get a discount as my company partially owns it, so they are pretty trustworthy. This time I drop my car off with a new worker. I get a phone call to tell me that my car is ready.)
Me: “Hi, it’s [My Name]. You have my car ready for me?”
Mechanic: “Yeah sure; one second.”
(He disappears for ages. I can actually see my car keys through the window, so I have no idea what he is doing.)
Mechanic: “Okay, so we had to do a bit extra work to get it sorted for you.”
Me: “Extra work? I didn’t agree to any of that.”
Mechanic: “Well, it is easier for us to fix it whilst we had the car in pieces then it would have been to put it all back together again and do it later.”
Me: “Okay, so what is the damage?”
Mechanic: “Your total is here.” *points to the figure with his pen, it is £600 more than I was told*
Me: “Whoa, wait, wait, wait. What is all this?!”
Mechanic: “Well, we had to replace several parts and it took us most of the day. The sensor we changed cost us 200 bucks alone.”
Me: “Okay, first you have only had the car for half of the day, secondly I didn’t agree to any of this, and thirdly if you check your records you will see that last year you replaced that sensor and didn’t charge me anywhere near that much.”
(The mechanic’s mouth is wide open.)
Me: “So what is it going to be? Are you ripping me off, or is your work last year so shoddy that it fails every year?”
Mechanic: “I just have to speak to my manager…”
(He disappeared. Later he told me that due to my circumstances my whole bill would be free. I’ve been there since and never got served by him again.)
(I’m the customer, waiting for my truck to be repaired. This is a very honest shop and they do great work, too. Another customer has an appointment to get new tires. When they were putting new tires on they notice his right front wheel bearing was almost totally gone.)
Shop Manager: *to customer* “You must get this replaced right away. If you brake hard or turn hard, the front wheel could snap off!”
Customer: *dismissive and rude* “Bah, you just want me to spend more money. You folks are all alike. Just give me my d*** keys.”
(He gets into his car and peels out, burning rubber. He takes a right out of the parking lot and we hear a loud BANG. We see his right front tire rolling forwards and that he has slammed into a light pole.)
Shop Manager: “Hope he had a nice day.”
(I’m a manager at a fairly large automotive repair. I am in my office the day after Christmas, and I hear an angry customer yelling at one of my workers. I came out and take over.)
Me: “What seems to be the problem, sir?”
Customer: “I just had my car here to get a brake job done at this shop. When I got my car back nothing had been done.”
Me: “Okay, sir, let me pull up your information so I can see what all was done. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, and I’ll do my best to solve this for you.”
Customer: “She already tried to pull up my information. She said I’m not in the system, but I know I’m in there.”
(I get him to give me his information, have him look at the screen to make sure it was all correct. Sure enough he isn’t in the system.)
Customer: “No! I know my car is in your system. My son brought it in to get worked on.”
(I get the information for his son, and still no car in the system.)
Me: “Sorry, sir, but we have no record of any work being done on your vehicle.”
Customer: “That’s BS! My son brought in my car just yesterday to get the work done. It cost me $700!”
Me: “Sir, we were closed yesterday for Christmas. No one was here. There is no way we could have done the work on your car.”
Customer: “Then why did I have to give my son $700 for the wor…”
(All I could do was shrug as I watched him piece things together and realize that his son had probably spent $700 on something else.)
Me: *on the phone with my mechanic* “Do you do body work?”
Mechanic: “I’m afraid not.”
Me: “Could you recommend someone?”
Mechanic: “Recommended?”
Me: “Yes.”
Mechanic: “Okay.” *long pause*
Me: “So, do you know anyone?”
Mechanic: “Recommended?”
Me: “Yes.”
Mechanic: “They’re out on Highway 24.”
Me: “Who?”
Mechanic: “Recommended?”
(We go back and forth until he finally spells it for me: Wreck-a-mended.)
