customers ....ugghhh

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I was at the Buick dealer at the service desk for 13 years. I could write a book.
 
I do appliance repair, I don't know how many times I've heard some variation of "You worked on my washer, now my dryer squeaks. You need to fix it for free because you obviously messed with it while fixing my washer."
 
yup

i do most of my own maintenance and a LOT of maintenance on family cars
one of those cars was our old chevy aveo

it used to be the wifeys and when we bought her the charger we passed it down to her brother
one of the rules was, i will work on it BUT if i find anyone else has worked on it you are on your own

well, one day he asks me to look at it because it is running rough
i know a few years ago i replaced the plugs and wires with a set of lifetime warranty wires from autozone so i figured i would start there

i popped the hood and noticed there were two mismatched plug wires on there
i closed the hood and that was the last time i ever touched that car
 
I am not sure if it is just the class of clientele I am dealing with here which are mostly female college students from my former university but WOW.

Is car education that low among the average non- car person? I would think some of it is common sense.

People are hearing noises and choosing to ignore them until they are a huge problem!!

Some of the customer stuff I have been getting through the door is showing that people are taking the idea of "driving the wheels off" literal.

Is it just me dealing with it or have those who turn wrenches for a living seen this kind of stuff before.

Why complain about stupid people when they keep you busy and $ in your pocket? Can always work at Mc Donalds........."Can I take your order please?"
[ame]https://youtu.be/_pgPq4FGWfk[/ame]
 
Ignorant customers exist because no one has taken the time to educate them. Sure there are some you can explain things to, but you can't make them understand, but others will take the knowledge you give them and learn from it.

It's one of the things I've always loved about owning my own place, taking the time to educate my customers in the ins and outs of why things are designed the way they are, why things are important, how things work. It truly does make them better customers, and loyal customers, who are more than willing to spread the word about the honest "guy" (sic) who takes time to explain things, doesn't rake them over the coals as just one giant dollar sign.
 
so far the only problem I have had from a customer was from her dad.

Most of my work comes from word of mouth from my former university. Girls tend to think a girl mechanic wont rip off another girl. :???:

But anyways I had a customer come and her front brakes were trashed and the rotors were toast so I told her the only way is to replace the rotors because I wont turn them and I surely wont "pad slap" them in that condition. Her dad comes the next day and he is quizzing me with car questions and asks what I have into parts and how much am I marking up and crazy stuff.

He takes the car to two other shops and they told him the same thing about the rotors being too far gone and gets their quotes.

He ended up bringing it back and I did the job LOL

I would have told sorry to busy or the price would have gone way up!!!!!!
 
"customers ....ugghhh"

Remember one thing: Customers make pay days possible.

This... A lot of people forget. Rani, yes there are some yahoo,s out there. Those "yahoos " maybe proficient in something you might not be in. It all becomes ,a karma & balance thing....
 
what "guy" .....who are you talking about?

no one in particular, but I have seen more than a few people claim all the benefits of "owning their own business", which I agree is much better than being a slave for the " company", many times. just saying there are few businesses where the customer is NOT what puts the $$ in the owners pocket?? still actually "working" for the customer in the end??
I agree with the reply where the mechanic, tries his best to educate his customers. lets face it, people are gun shy of the garage. and wouldn't lots be? high labor rates, inferior parts, horror stories told by stupid uninformed folks.
when my youngest daughter turned sixteen, ( now 23 years later).... she had already been working at the local DQ after school, weekends. she found an old LeBaron vert, out in the sticks at " country" used car dealer. car was already on its second engine. yes cheap car!... I had already told her, I am NO mechanic, especially on " modern" vehicles. I told her when it has a problem, go to my buddy's garage, let him fix it, and let him explain ALL the details, and learn from him. I told her he would always treat her fair and honest, BUT learn about your car..... it had 400,000 mi when she sold it to someone to " restore" LOL....
no, she doesn't turn wrenches, but she does not ever worry about auto repairs, as she is comfortable talking with any mechanic about her car.
 
so far the only problem I have had from a customer was from her dad.

Most of my work comes from word of mouth from my former university. Girls tend to think a girl mechanic wont rip off another girl. :???:

But anyways I had a customer come and her front brakes were trashed and the rotors were toast so I told her the only way is to replace the rotors because I wont turn them and I surely wont "pad slap" them in that condition. Her dad comes the next day and he is quizzing me with car questions and asks what I have into parts and how much am I marking up and crazy stuff.

He takes the car to two other shops and they told him the same thing about the rotors being too far gone and gets their quotes.

He ended up bringing it back and I did the job LOL

I see two separate problems.
Did he not trust your judgment or honesty is the first question.
Secondly, he could easily find what parts would cost him at any store.
With word of mouth and the internet, I can't see the first question as being his problem.
Based on what you say and since he came back to you, I tend to think his big issue was the second item. He was shopping for spending less money.
 
the small town I live near, has basically 2 mechanic garages. I will not work on her jeep, but if needs work done, I will check over the bill and price the parts at the 2 local parts store. the mechanic gets his parts there at discount. I give her the info and let her form her own opinion. generally the garage will simple charge the retail price for the parts.
nothing wrong with shopping around.
 
the small town I live near, has basically 2 mechanic garages. I will not work on her jeep, but if needs work done, I will check over the bill and price the parts at the 2 local parts store. the mechanic gets his parts there at discount. I give her the info and let her form her own opinion. generally the garage will simple charge the retail price for the parts.
nothing wrong with shopping around.

The problem I have here is the area is small population wise ...a lot of farm land around and the nearest city is a very blue collar population.

I have had thoughts of going big time and moving to a bigger city like Denver or the like. (most people my age around here are moving to Denver in search of greener pasture)

I still have to make up my mind if I want to do this long term...I have a university degree in a different field which probably much higher paying. problem is I like cars too much and I went to auto school in the community college and I figure the only way to become a good mechanic is to turn as many wrenches as possible and get into everything I can auto wise.

One of my parts sources actually gives me the shop discount rate probably because I am in there everyday. lol

more than making a living its about experience.....I never heard of a seasoned mechanic getting that way from just talking about cars lol
 

sometimes people need to d ecide if they are happy making their hobby their business, and vise versa. I bought a '70 44o-6 challenger rt, off a guy way up in Mn. back in the 90's. he took it ALL apart, then had no desire to work on it, because he was a pro mechanic at a dealership. he was burned out when I got home! if he had a different job, he probably would have loved working on this car.

Quarter Horses have been my ( one of) passions since a child. I broke, trained, and sold for good money, my first one when 14. they have been my hobby, business, love for years. dealing with customers eventually, lead me to NOT train for the public. I am not a good people person. I tell it like it is. 90% of them, just like people on here that ask opinions, want to have you confirm what they WANT to hear! not what you actually think.??
after I decided to have my "real" job, and have my horse business on the side, I raised, stood studs, trained MY own horses, and sold what I wanted, and kept what I wanted, and sold to I WANTED, I was happy with life. just me.
 
Rainy, just keep tellin' yourself, "you can't fix stupid, you can't fix stupid, you can't fix stupid".

Once you have that conquered, it will all make sense, lol.
 
Over the years, mostly when I was in construction I would occasionally have people do what I called 'failing client'.

We had a no-brainer payment policy, free estimate up front, 1/2 down to cover materials & labor paid every Friday.

People would almost always add stuff they wanted done. "While you are here, can you also do this & that too?" So, by billing every week they could see what it was doing to their budget.

If a week went by without a check for labor, not a big deal.

Second week, no check, big deal. I would tell them that once paid, we would get them back in the schedule, but we had another job to go to on Monday. They would often bring a check to my house Friday evening after that happened. I was fortunate though, I always had other clients waiting for me.

Being in business, we will have clients that can not or do not want to do what we can do, so they need help & we are there to do it for them as long as they pay us.

I never asked a client to pass an IQ test, but I sure noticed when I did not get paid.
 
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