Many years ago, I was the office manager at a mechanical workshop that converted cars to run on LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) — both new cars (from dealers and private owners) and retroactively fitting to older cars.
Our normal schedule was booked about two weeks ahead with the odd appointment further ahead for people taking a day off to have it done.
The cost of petrol/gasoline shot up and our calendar filled up to a couple of months ahead. Then, the government offered a rebate to get cars converted that, in many cases, totally covered the cost of the conversion. That caused our calendar to fill up to six months ahead, at which point the boss closed the calendar. We’d reopen it one month before our last appointment.
I’ve got some great stories from that time, but one that sticks out was the guy who turned up to have his 4WD done. He claimed he’d booked in, but he wasn’t on the list.
This was May 15th, and then he dropped this line:
Customer: “You said July 15th on the phone, but I knew what you meant.”
I made a quick check of the calendar and, sure enough, there he was booked in for the 15th of July.
When I told him we actually did mean July 15th, he replied:
Customer: “Don’t be ridiculous! Who’d take a slot that far ahead?
Me: “Any of the five vehicle owners we’ll be doing each working day for the three-plus months after your appointment up to the point where we’ve stopped taking bookings.”
Customer: “What?”
Me: “If you don’t want your appointment, I can fill that opening with probably two or three phone calls.”
He very quickly confirmed that he did still want his appointment, and two months later, he was back with his 4WD, looking a little sheepish as he dropped off his keys and filled out his paperwork.
