Time To Start Tow Shopping, Too

I work as a dispatcher for roadside assistance company. One of our rules is that we don’t tow vehicles from one repair shop to another repair shop unless the shop it’s at can’t fix it or can’t get to it any time soon. A lot of people don’t like what the shop is charging, so they want to go someplace else, but that’s price shopping and not covered.

We had a call where the member was at a dealership wanting to go to a different repair shop. The garage called the member to find out why it was going shop to shop, but they didn’t answer. Then, the garage called the dealership and the dealer told them that the member didn’t like the price they were charging. So, the garage called us and told us, and we called the member to advise them that it wasn’t covered.

It turned out the member’s wife was the one that placed the call and she was upset.

Member’s Wife: “I can’t believe you went behind my back and called the dealership! You ruined it! I was not price shopping. I don’t want them to use new parts; I want them to use used parts!”

Dealers don’t use used parts, so she claimed that just meant they COULDN’T fix it. No. They CAN fix it, you just don’t like the cost they’re charging you and want something cheaper, but because they can’t do cheaper you want to go somewhere else. That’s price shopping.

Me: “We can tow your car home for you, but we won’t be towing it again after that, and we will not take it to another repair shop.”

Member’s Wife: “That’s it! I’m cancelling our membership!”