I am a service writer for a well-known national company. Everyday I am confronted with issues at work, much like everyone else in the world. One of the most irritating problems i have at work is my lack of “Man Parts”. Now, I know that my uterus and boobs do not preclude me from doing my job, but some of my customers see things a different way.
Today, a gentleman called about some wheel bearings for a ‘89 Ford E-Series Van. It was bad enough that he barely had any vehicle information, but I persevered and gathered all the info i could to help him. He wanted his front wheel bearings packed. This is a normal service that is usually performed at the time of brake service. This being said, you have to remove the wheel, caliper, and the rotor (and sometimes a few other misc. parts) in order to get to these bearings. Since all of this has to be done in order to service the brake system, the bearings are usually done now to save extra labor cost. Basically, it’s like paying for a whole brake job, without ever doing the brakes. Well, this customer was floored when I quoted him the hefty pie of $133.99.
“I could get the whole damned brakes done for that price!” he ranted, “you mut not know what you’re looking for, see, I just ant the bearings packed.”
So, I assured him that I knew quite well what I was looking at, and then I explained to him about the whole taking the wheels and various other parts off the vehicle, but he was adamant.
“You know, any mechanic that almost knew what he was doing could get that done in less than half an hour!”
“Well sir, I have repacked wheel bearings before and although it probably wouldn’t take a long time to do, Mitchell calls fo 1.8 hours.”
“Well, that’s a load of crap! I could do this myself for a fraction of that cost. There’s just something wrong with that price, is one of the guys there? They know what i’m talking about.”
“No, Sir. The guys are all working right now.”
“Well, you’re a rip-off! i’m going somewhere else!”
*click*
I hope he got his bearings packed…
Although I try not to let it bother me, I feel like I get less respect than my male counterparts. I went to school to be a mechanic, I choose to work in service. I don’t proclaim to know everything, but I’ve been in the automotive worls for five years, so I do know something. But not as much as this gentleman (using the term VERY loosely) who came in today with his “Police Interceptor”. Shaaaaa, WHATEVER!
He wanted an oil change.
“With Mobil One fully synthetic, it’s a “Police Interceptor” Crown Vic, so i’ll need the Ford oil filter also.”
“The MotorCraft filter, Sir?” I was just trying to verify his info you see, cause Ford makes MotorCraft. He knew better than me though…
“No, I said the FORD filter. It’s an “Interceptor”, and I try to take care of it.”
Ignoring his stupidity, I selected the MotorCraft filter, and told him what the final cost would be. He signed his papers, and went off to where pricks go when their car is being serviced. After all was said and done, the tech working on it told me he needed another quart of oil. Although this vehicle specifications call for five quarts of oil, they tend to take a bit more.
The dipstick read low. So, I tell this guy about the oil, and he loses his freakin’ mind!
“That care only takes five quarts, it’s always taken only five quarts.”
I told him that judging by the dipstick, he was like half a quart low.
“Well, I just want my five quarts. I’d rather run it low that put too much oil in it and blow the head (WHATEVER!!). The “Police Interceptor” can’t be treated any kind of way.”
Yes, he’d rather run it low. Because it’s sooo much better for the car to be run with not enough oil. He was a bit upset by the time he left, all over a quart of oil. A quart of oil. What a freak!
Well, tomorrow is another day…a good day I hope.
April 24, 2009 at 11:27 am
My fellow on Facebook shared this link and I’m not dissapointed at all that I came to your blog.