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When I need to vent about the stresses of dealing with the public, I got to http://www.customerssuck.com . Unfortunately, I am seeing here, that people who do not have to deal directly with the public, don’t realize how stressful it can g
Quoted From hondaslave1342:
@3sheets…..i hope you get your answers to your problem…your replys were longer than a SAT exam…did you get it all out? done venting? feel beeter?,,,maybe you might check out http://www.dr.phil.com….man it was painful to the optic nerve to read your book….good luck with the business at hand
um….wow….your…avatar…explains…pretty…much…everything…about…who…and…what…you…are…
I’ve had some more silly customers over the past several days. Trying to avoid writing a novel, I’ll give the quick and dirty versions. Anything noted as being said by the customer was just what was written on the work order when I picked it up.
2010 Dodge Grand Caravan, towed in with a no-start condition. Customer said they were driving across an intersection and the van just died and wouldn’t restart. It had no fuel pressure, but I could hear the pump running and nothing was wet underneath to indicate a leak. I lowered the tank a little so I could pull the pump out and check for a possibly torn hose inside, only to find that the tank was bone dry. Fixed that problem with 5 gallons of gas. I found out from the service manager that the customer would just wait until the little light on the dash would come on, but since the dash was now covered in Post-It notes and photographs, I guess they must have not seen it.
2003 Dodge Grand Caravan, repeat customer, shopping list of problems with this van. They want to know what the clunking sound is when they go over bumps. Strut mounts are knocking in the front, the struts are leaking, it’s got 2 broken motor mounts, the passenger side window doesn’t work, I forget what else is wrong with this van, but it’s well past being on it’s last legs. I overheard the customer say to the service manager that they were tired of how unreliable this van had been and that they were going to replace it with a Volkswagen Routan. I had to bite my tongue and go back out into the shop when I heard that. The VW Routan is built by Chrysler, and it’s nothing more than a Chrysler Town and Country with a VW badge on it.
2000 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, in for an engine diagnostic because “Costumer thinks it might the fule pump”. I had to ask the salesman who spoke with the customer exactly what they meant. It turns out that the check engine light keeps coming on, and the customer thought that the fuel pump was the culprit. It’s got a nasty vacuum leak right behind the throttle body, replacement parts have been ordered but had not arrived as of the time I left work today.
Quoted From hondaslave1342:
@3sheets…..i hope you get your answers to your problem…your replys were longer than a SAT exam…did you get it all out? done venting? feel beeter?,,,maybe you might check out http://www.dr.phil.com….man it was painful to the optic nerve to read your book….good luck with the business at hand
I really dislike posts like this. You did not have to read his posts nor have to comment.
@3SheetsDiesel – That deaf guy story made me laugh, not at the deaf guy per se but at the situation at hand.
I really enjoy your posts as it gives us all an insight into trouble shooting vehicle issues.
Quoted From dreamer2355:
@3SheetsDiesel – That deaf guy story made me laugh, not at the deaf guy per se but at the situation at hand.I really enjoy your posts as it gives us all an insight into trouble shooting vehicle issues.
Yes, As a deaf guy I find this amusing. Ha ha ha….. But at least my brain isn’t so whacked that I continously work at a job that one hates so much.
It really burns my biscuit to see some jackass bad mouthing his customers. No offense sir, but that’s horse shit! Your whole mentality is going to foster the continued belief that we are ALL con artists who are trying to take advantage of a customer. I’m getting ready to graduate Tech school and start working, and it scares the hell out of me that I could end up with you for a mentor, or have you in my shop.
The fact of the matter is, when it comes to their car, most customers don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. They have more important things to learn about, such as their own career. It is our DUTY to give them our best efforts at trying to explain to them why they are spending their hard earned money.
For example: Say a car comes into your shop on Monday and long story short, you have to flush the brake system due to water contamination. Fine. The customer pays, and leaves happy.
9 months later, the same car comes back with that all-too-familiar brake squeak. Now the customer is pissed because they just bought a fluid flush that they barely understood at the time, and they want to know why they need pads now. So you explain it to them. They don’t understand. You try a different approach. Nothing. What you have to realize is that, you can explain things to the customer all day long (and choke on Flat-Rape pay while doing so), but you can’t understand it for them. If you can’t convince the customer of the benefits from this or that particular service, you should smile, get it in writing that they refuse the service, and wish them a pleasant day.
You don’t have to be an asshole because the customer is an “idiot”, or a “know it all”. Obviously, they are showing confidence and trust in you, your abilities, your shop, and our profession as a whole. I think they showed us that when they brought their malfunctioning vehicle into the shop. The least you can do is be courteous and professional during your interaction with the customer and STOP giving the rest of us a bad name.
Pricks like you REALLY chap my ass and rub me the wrong way!
Now that my angry rant is over and done with: How may I (try to) assist you today?
Warmest wishes,
Jason
SPAWNEDX its obvious who is struggling here and hates their job and people who aren’t genetically perfect.
Quoted From twiggy02919:
SPAWNEDX its obvious who is struggling here and hates their job and people who aren’t genetically perfect.
I don’t know any mechanics who hate working on cars, that’s their job, educating customers on automotive repair is not their job, that’s for teachers at schools. I also don’t know any mechanic who has a problem explaining why something has to be fixed. If you aren’t genetically perfect, than you shouldn’t walk into a shop and think you know it all when you get an answer you don’t like. If you knew better than the mechanic, you wouldn’t be there to begin with.
I wonder if you tell the doctor how to do his job too, probably explains the horrible condition of most Americans health.
If you think I’m going come in your shop and kiss your ring and bow to the Almighty mechanic- not happening
Quoted From twiggy02919:
If you think I’m going come in your shop and kiss your ring and bow to the Almighty mechanic- not happening
Good.
Quoted From Chevypower:
It really burns my biscuit to see some jackass bad mouthing his customers. No offense sir, but that’s horse shit! Your whole mentality is going to foster the continued belief that we are ALL con artists who are trying to take advantage of a customer. I’m getting ready to graduate Tech school and start working, and it scares the hell out of me that I could end up with you for a mentor, or have you in my shop.
The fact of the matter is, when it comes to their car, most customers don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground. They have more important things to learn about, such as their own career. It is our DUTY to give them our best efforts at trying to explain to them why they are spending their hard earned money.
For example: Say a car comes into your shop on Monday and long story short, you have to flush the brake system due to water contamination. Fine. The customer pays, and leaves happy.
9 months later, the same car comes back with that all-too-familiar brake squeak. Now the customer is pissed because they just bought a fluid flush that they barely understood at the time, and they want to know why they need pads now. So you explain it to them. They don’t understand. You try a different approach. Nothing. What you have to realize is that, you can explain things to the customer all day long (and choke on Flat-Rape pay while doing so), but you can’t understand it for them. If you can’t convince the customer of the benefits from this or that particular service, you should smile, get it in writing that they refuse the service, and wish them a pleasant day.
You don’t have to be an asshole because the customer is an “idiot”, or a “know it all”. Obviously, they are showing confidence and trust in you, your abilities, your shop, and our profession as a whole. I think they showed us that when they brought their malfunctioning vehicle into the shop. The least you can do is be courteous and professional during your interaction with the customer and STOP giving the rest of us a bad name.
Pricks like you REALLY chap my ass and rub me the wrong way!
Now that my angry rant is over and done with: How may I (try to) assist you today?
Warmest wishes,
Jason
You are going to struggle in a shop environment.
During this post, I may type things that sound mean-spirited. I’m not trying to come across as mean, I’m just explaining my point of view. Trying to clear the air as the saying goes.
Chevypower, I used to share a mentality with you. Way back when I first got into this business. There were times when I’d actually go and fix some problems that I noticed that the customer didn’t and not even mention it to anyone. I did it just because it was the right thing to do. As time went on, I eventually stopped doing that because customers started to expect me to fix their clunkers for free. Well, warm fuzzy feelings don’t put food on my table and gas in my tank. The only thing I work for now is a paycheck. If you think that makes me a jackass, well, I guess I’ll just have to live with the fact that someone I’ll most likely never meet in person doesn’t like me. I don’t know why you think I’m taking advantage of the customers that come into my shop just because I charge them for my time. That’s how this business works.
As far as the customer not knowing anything about their car because they have better things to learn about, picture this. If you just spent tens of thousands of dollars on a piece of equipment, wouldn’t you want to know how it works? Even if I wasn’t in this line of work, if I just spent a boat load of money on something you better believe that I want to know how it works and how to fix it if it breaks. If that means going and spending a few bucks on a service manual, then so be it. If it means something as simple as reading the owners manual that came in the glove box, then I’m going to read it.
From what I read in your post, it sounds like you think I either don’t respect my customers at all, or that they should be treated with the same sort of respect one would give to visiting royalty. I’ve got news for you kid. Respect is a two way street. If I tell you what wrong with your car, and even show you the broken/worn out part and you still say I’m wrong, or that you don’t believe me, then you’ve essentially called me a liar to my face. That gets old after a while, and I’ve been dealing with it for a decade now. As I’ve said before, I very rarely ever actually see the people who own the cars that I work on. That’s the job of the sales staff/service manager. Occasionally a customer will come into the area where I work for whatever the reason, which is when I use terms like “sir” or “ma’am” as appropriate, and I will answer the questions they ask without trying to make them feel stupid, nor do I talk down to them in that situation.
If you think that I’m giving the rest of us service techs a bad name, then you should be happy to know that I’m getting out of this business just as soon as my security license gets approved. I’ve been looked at as the scum of the earth for a decade now and it’s gotten old.
SpawnedX, I’m a mechanic who hates working on cars. I’m only doing it because I’m stuck in this line of work until I get my security license and get hired on with a security company. My wife already does security as an unarmed guard, but we can’t survive on her income alone, so once she gets hired by an armed security company and starts drawing a paycheck, then I’m going to get hired by an armed company and stop turning a wrench for a living. Actually, let me ammend that first sentence. I don’t hate working on cars. I hate working on other people’s cars. They don’t do the maintenance recommended by the manufacturer, they don’t fix the little problems that I point out before they become big problems, and then they act all surprised when their car shits the bed and leaves them on the side of the road needing $2000 worth of work to fix. I think the saying is “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”.
Finally, I don’t expect people to bring their cars to my shop and spend all sorts of money every time they come through the door. I know that it’s expensive paying someone to fix your rustbucket for you. I understand that. But we’re human, just like everyone else. We’re not mind-readers, so when you (speaking to a person who’s going to be a customer at any automotive shop) come to us with a problem, tell us what the problem is, not what you think will fix it. “I’ve got a check engine light on” is a lot more helpful than “My car doesn’t work right”. Also, please answer our questions to the best of your ability. I’m going to write out two example conversations, one good, one bad. Sadly, the bad one is a lot more common in this field.
Good conversation
Salesman: Good morning sir. Welcome to Rustbucket Auto Repairs. How can we help you today?
Customer: My brakes are making a squeaking noise and I need an oil change. Can you check that out for me?
Salesman: Certainly sir. We do ask that you drop it off with us and give us some time to diagnose exactly what the problem is. Can you leave the car with us for a few hours?
Customer: Sure I can. I’ll have my wife pick me up. Will you call me when you know what’s wrong with it?
Salesman: We sure will, let me get some information from your car and then I’ll get some contact information from you and we can get started.Bad conversation
Salesman: Good morning sir, Welcome to Rustbucket Auto Repsirs. How can we help you today?
Customer: My car doesn’t work right.
Salesman: Can you be a little more specific please? What do you mean by it doesn’t work right?
Customer: I don’t know. It just feels funky.
The salesman will now ask a series of open-ended questions that don’t have yes/no answers to attempt and get more information out of the customer. Often as not, the salesman will be unsuccessful.Quoted From 3SheetsDiesel:
SpawnedX, I’m a mechanic who hates working on cars. I’m only doing it because I’m stuck in this line of work until I get my security license and get hired on with a security company. My wife already does security as an unarmed guard, but we can’t survive on her income alone, so once she gets hired by an armed security company and starts drawing a paycheck, then I’m going to get hired by an armed company and stop turning a wrench for a living. Actually, let me ammend that first sentence. I don’t hate working on cars. I hate working on other people’s cars. They don’t do the maintenance recommended by the manufacturer, they don’t fix the little problems that I point out before they become big problems, and then they act all surprised when their car shits the bed and leaves them on the side of the road needing $2000 worth of work to fix. I think the saying is “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”.Finally, I don’t expect people to bring their cars to my shop and spend all sorts of money every time they come through the door. I know that it’s expensive paying someone to fix your rustbucket for you. I understand that. But we’re human, just like everyone else. We’re not mind-readers, so when you (speaking to a person who’s going to be a customer at any automotive shop) come to us with a problem, tell us what the problem is, not what you think will fix it. “I’ve got a check engine light on” is a lot more helpful than “My car doesn’t work right”. Also, please answer our questions to the best of your ability. I’m going to write out two example conversations, one good, one bad. Sadly, the bad one is a lot more common in this field.
I know how you feel, I am in the industry with you. I am just sick and tired of people who think we aren’t allowed to vent about bad customers when they feel they are allowed to vent about every bad worker they come across in their day, whether it be the 8.00 an hour burger flipper or the 9.00 an hour oil lube tech, or the actual automotive service technician.
Some customers have become really crummy, and I mean really crummy. Some people in this forum need to be forced to work at Burger King or Jiffy Lube for a few weeks so they can actually see how disgusting more and more people are becoming in how they treat the person behind the counter or on the phone. If someone wants to be treated with respect then treat the other person with respect. If you want to come into a shop and tell them that your car wouldn’t start this morning and that you need a new battery, and then tell the tech or service writer who is trying to explain to you why before we check the battery we would like to check for a parasitic drain or bad alternator, and you act like a jerk saying things like “my brother’s, wife’s, cousin’s, neighbor’s, son’s, friend’s, father” is a mechanic and this is what he said needed to be done so just do it, then get lost. All you are going to do is come back and blame tech A in a few days when your car is dead again because you refused to let us address the condition that caused the original problem. Even more importantly, why don’t you just go to awesome know-it-all brother’s, wife’s, cousin’s, neighbor’s, son’s, friend’s father mechanic?
But hey, whatever, keep attacking the tech’s on this forum for venting a little bit with other tech’s and car enthusiasts, eventually these people will have managed to anger us all and get none of their questions answered until poor Eric can finally get around to the 100s of weekly questions people ask.
Some customers have become really crummy, and I mean really crummy. Some people in this forum need to be forced to work at Burger King or Jiffy Lube for a few weeks so they can actually see how disgusting more and more people are becoming in how they treat the person behind the counter or on the phone
+1. We have alot of rude customers where i work as well as even in my wife’s line of work. Society these days is a mess. What happened to respect?
I not taking sides with anyone but Spawned’s comment here stands out alot to me.
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