I'm getting tired of dealing with people

[Silk]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
It seems to be the late 50's and up age group and up that try to change the price after the fact.


It was the opposite for me - older people of my parents generation very happy and never complaining, younger people from the YUPPY generation (I'm a baby boomer,between those) were always complaining.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
You sound like a quality customer. But, some of us may react better to say a $150 estimate then getting a bill after repairs for $135 versus vice versa

Absolutely. Some years back, I got some work done on a bike, and the estimate was actually higher than the final bill. And, in the final bill, they did more work for less money. Of course, that pleased me to no end.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: GMFan
Not surprising. I hear of plenty of people who take out six figures of student loans and default on them. Entitlement society is growing. The thought of arguing over a bill after an agreed amount is absurd in my opinion. People are slowly losing integrity. If you owe money for work performed be an honest person and pay your bills. This is fundamental in being a decent human being.

I have a buddy who works at Midas. He said about half of their customers take out a Midas credit card to finance their repairs. Perhaps Chris lives in a very low income area and they have no money?



I hear ya. I was just standing, looking at sodas in a cooler and some black girl said excuse me. I was still looking then out came the attitude with excuse me even louder then pretty much brushed me and stormed by. It was apparently my duty not to be in the young girl's way. I do not quite understand.

 

[Shannow]

Mat 7:12

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28


I hear ya. I was just standing, looking at sodas in a cooler and some black girl said excuse me. I was still looking then out came the attitude with excuse me even louder then pretty much brushed me and stormed by. It was apparently my duty not to be in the young girl's way. I do not quite understand.

Do you not know what "excuse me" means? What does her biographical information have to do with this story?

 

[Shannow]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

Do you not know what "excuse me" means? What does her biographical information have to do with this story?


He seems to forget it probably wasn't a white guy with a beard washing feet...and normal good manners.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

When I have one of my vehicles worked on, I'll ask for a rough estimate. My mechanic is 14 miles out of the city and he charges significantly lower than other places. I'm not going to haggle and ruin my relationship.

The purpose of the estimate is so I know how much to withdraw from the ATM before I go pay; I don't want to pay with a credit card and have him pay up to 10% fees on it.

 

[javacontour]

Sounds a lot like my indy shop.

I used to live in the town where he is, but I moved 8 years ago to a nearby community in the same county.

I drop off my car. Sometime it's a pain because it's a 20-30 minute drive through urban traffic and I have to get one of the surly teens to follow me, pick me up, etc.

He'll say you can take the shop truck if you need a car. I'm like no Mike, I have five cars, one of the teens will have to share.

He's like pick it up, you can drop by and settle up another day. He'll lock the car up with they key under the mat. I'll pick it up and drop by the next day and settle up, or just call him with my CC#.

Of course, I usually bring a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to keep the techs happy.

They always do good work.

Sometimes he gets bad parts and he'll make it right. I tell him if he wants more donuts, he doesn't need to put in parts that generate a call back, get the best quality available so we both win.

He just laughs and makes it right.

Working in a customer service related field myself, I have more appreciation for what it is working with the public. You often see people at their worst. What is a routine day for the tech or field engineer is often a crisis for the customer.

They don't have their car or computer. They need it to make money and in the case of the car, it was likely an unexpected expense. In the case of the computer, it's an unscheduled downtime that could be a money making application.

So I try to give difficult customers a bit of slack, because they are going through some unexpected stress. If they are still jerks AFTER I've made it all right, that's another story.

Some customers just need to be fired. Others are gold.

Originally Posted By: JTK
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I trust my mechanic/garage such that most works were not estimated before start, I just paid whatever he told me when I picked up the car. Most of the times he charged me less than I expected.


I'm lucky enough to have a few shops like that nearby, but I'm in more of a rural area. Never an upfront quote. I've had a few $400-500 jobs done at one of these shops where the owner told me to grab the car when I need it and pay him when I can. I don't really even know the guy other than name and small talk.

I couldn't imagine trying to haggle price after the fact. I'd completely loose my mind being a shop employee in that situation. Want you car back? Pay your bill. End of story.

I have had shops work with my on price ahead of time. This was only with dealership service though. They were able to use aftermarket parts which reduced cost considerably.

 

[javacontour]

I've taught that lesson in Jr High Sunday School.

"Kids, J was not the 'Breck Girl' carrying a baby lamb you might have seen in earlier classes. He lived with 12 other guys. They didn't always live indoors. They were homeless if you really think about it, relying on the kindness of strangers. J was sarcastic. He had a sharp tongue when it came to the religious and political leaders of the day. He enjoyed a good time. The first recorded miracle was turning water into wine. (Now that wine isn't exactly what we have today, but it still had alcohol in it.) So that blue eyed, 'Breck Girl' image isn't realistic."

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: eljefino

Do you not know what "excuse me" means? What does her biographical information have to do with this story?


He seems to forget it probably wasn't a white guy with a beard washing feet...and normal good manners.

 

[eljefino]

And our popular image of JC was painted by Italian Renaissance artists, so he looks like a stunning Anglo chap. Probably a bit more Middle Eastern in reality.

 

[javacontour]

You nailed it.

I would use the caveat "some."

If you fall victim to "easy, no, wait EZ credit" then you may be doing yourself in. If you are only looking at the monthly payment, or how long you can defer, you may be doing yourself in.

I've taken zero percent deals. The difference is, I know I can pay cash today. If they are not giving me a discount to pay with cash, I'd be a fool not to keep my money invested and pay back with future, inflated currency.

But if you sign for the "NO credit check" 27% APR car note, you may be doing yourself in.

Originally Posted By: dlundblad




We are getting poorer? Many folks don't realize their financial situations are in their hands.

People are "stuck" in poverty by their own doings. Just listen to the radio about all the new car deals.. "1 penny down.. dont pay until 2016." These adds work.. why else would they play them? It is so easy to buy a new car these days because people only look at their monthly payments and not the long term cost. They'll live in a run down house and (maybe even be on welfare,) but I guarantee they'll have a decent car and the latest and greatest smart phone.

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28


I hear ya. I was just standing, looking at sodas in a cooler and some black girl said excuse me. I was still looking then out came the attitude with excuse me even louder then pretty much brushed me and stormed by. It was apparently my duty not to be in the young girl's way. I do not quite understand.

Do you not know what "excuse me" means? What does her biographical information have to do with this story?


+1 eljefino

 

[Nate1979]

If a shop agrees to do a certain job for a certain agreed price, both parties agree and sign then both parties should honor the agreement. To me it goes both ways. If the shop is allowed to change their price without the constomers approval then the customer has the right to negotiate.

 

[eljefino]

And the thing is, if a shop finds something "in there" that doesn't add 20% to the bill, and the mechanic takes his own initiative to fix it, the customer should thank him and pay it off. Not wheedle after the fact. Sure, he might get a few bucks off this time, but the mechanic will cut him zero slack the rest of his life in an effort to "fire the customer."

There's more than a 20% difference in labor rates between the dealer and the indy anyway.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I trust my mechanic/garage such that most works were not estimated before start, I just paid whatever he told me when I picked up the car. Most of the times he charged me less than I expected.
How come this approach works for some people? What is the difference between them and the other customers? Think about it.

If you can find a place which does good work at fair price, do you still shop around for better price? Or worse, do you try to haggle with that place? Sadly, I have seen some people do exactly that! I have no sympathy for them when they get taken.

 

[Vikas]

For example, Al, Java and HTSS all gave pretty much the similar account how this works for them.

So what is the difference between these three and others?

Can I say the word "belligerent"?

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
I trust my mechanic/garage such that most works were not estimated before start, I just paid whatever he told me when I picked up the car. Most of the times he charged me less than I expected.
How come this approach works for some people? What is the difference between them and the other customers? Think about it.

If you can find a place which does good work at fair price, do you still shop around for better price? Or worse, do you try to haggle with that place? Sadly, I have seen some people do exactly that! I have no sympathy for them when they get taken.

Absolutely NO.

It's very difficult to find a honest shop with competence mechanics. If you found one you should go there for life.

This garage used to be about 4-5 minute drive, now it is 30 minutes(I moved). But I don't want to take chance with any other garage nearby.

 

[Brian Barnhart]

You work in the auto repair industry and are tired of dealing with people. I can understand that.

I am tired of dealing with people in the auto repair industry. As a result, I’ve stopped buying new cars and do almost all of the work myself.

I got tired of getting my car back with parts loose, parts missing, and even body damage after trips to the repair shop. And when I found out later that day or the next, they would say they would take care of it. But taking care of it also meant another inconvenient trip/dropoff/trip/pickup of the vehicle. And never any compensation for that. I’ve concluded it’s just a shoddy industry for the most part.

I have found a shop that hasn’t let me down yet. They are more expensive, but they are definitely a step above the typical shop or dealership. I still go there only when I simply can’t do it myself, since I won’t pay their prices for the stuff I can do. They charge about 50% more for their time than my time is worth (and I don’t come cheap).

 

[Benito]

Originally Posted By: Brian Barnhart
I’ve concluded it’s just a shoddy industry for the most part.

I have found a shop that hasn’t let me down yet. They are more expensive, but they are definitely a step above the typical shop or dealership.


I agree with you but I think your two statements above are related.

I suspect that since most consumers don't want to pay much above $100 an hour for labor, the quality of work is declining.

It may be that a variety of factors - lower skills, more complicated vehicles so more training and more overhead, other increased costs of running a business - all mean that while we think $100 an hour is high, it really is not.

 

[eljefino]

Don't forget HS guidance counselors direct the bottom 1/3 of kids toward "the trades" and the top 2/3 to "college material" even though how kids test in high school has little bearing on real life.

There's little honor in trades, so they attract those who can't do anything else. I respect the exceptions to this rule.