The customer is always right?
 

I had a customers car here for a couple days to diagnose a strange noise coming from the fresh air fan. I painted part of the car about three months back and even though I didn't see any connection to the work I did I didn't charge him for the time I had into removing and inspecting the fresh air system. I had originally suspected that some debris had gotten into the system while I had the car. Which turned out to be NOT the case. When the customer came in to pick up his car he sat down and immediately turned on his radio. Nothing..... no tunes no sound of any kind. Well as might be expected he's pissed and insists that I had done something to wreck his prized audiovox and that I would have to replace it. Going into damage control mode I agree to replace it under protest.
The radio is replaced and I call this guys house to let him know its ready to be picked up. His wife answerers the phone and the conversation goes like this.
I. Let Jim know his car is ready to be picked up.
Her: Oh OK what did he have you do to it?
I. I replaced the radio.
Her: Well it's about time. He installed an alarm after you painted it and the radio hasn't worked since.

:eek: :mad:

Sounds like ol' Jim needs to open his wallet.

+1 to billing Jim for the work done. What an a$$hat.

wow! some people have no shame.

Tell him 3 things
you talked to his wife , and she told you about his install of alarm sys. and the radio being on the fritz since..
one he owes you for radio and time
he is not welcome at your place any longer.
he no pay=no get the car

Rika

So, in anticipation of what Jim's gonna say when you confront him with this little nugget: at what point do you call the cops on someone like this?

You're going to confront him with a bill. He's going to refuse to pay and call you a liar. You're going to hold on to his car and threaten to charge him storage fees until he pays you. He's going to call the cops. Then it's a matter of he-said-she-said. By then, Jim may have coached his wife to lie and say that the radio was working just fine until this most recent trip to the shop. (Possibly) What a mess. I don't envy your predicatment.

Absolutely! what an a-hole

+1

Noah,
we call her back /speaker phone/
Kevin..I want to check the alarm system..
so he installed the system and radio hasnt worked since..
her ..that's right.
no taping the conv.
witness she said..
Rika

The temptation is to re-install his original radio and then park the car out on the street with the keys in it. Hey its got an alarm, it'll be safe.

Mechanic's lein... he can't have the car until he pays you for your time/parts...

Mechanic's lien... he can't have the car until he pays you for your time/parts...

Kevin,

Know any cops willing to come by when he picks it up and casually explain the consequences of commiting fraud and theft of services.

I'm sure h'd be willing to pay.

Unbelieveable. I'd remove the radio and return the car to him as he dropped it off. You can't really bill him, as he never authorized charges for the repair. Engage in whatever mudslinging he wants to, then say good bye and tell him to never come back. Don't you love retail?

The purpose of business is to create profitable customers. Customers that are not profitable, given appropriate opportunity to become profitable, should be promptly fired.

Invite "Jim" to come and pick up his car. "Jim, there appears to be an alarm system in the car that was not here before I painted it. Might that have been the problem? Perhaps you should have taken it back to the alarm installer to correct your radio problem instead of me." If he has one of those head slapping moments, present him with the final invoice which includes the time and materials for the radio install.

If he does not come clean, after he pays, you can suggest that for future body work he take his business elsewhere.

i beg to differ about" the customer is always right",
i say," the customer is always the customer".

Won't work. The guy is trying to pull a fast one and knows it. He'll just claim it worked when he dropped it off. Now he has dug himself in a bit deeper and will not be as easy to get him to admit it. Liers are like that.

Best course of action is to let him know he is busted. He knows he's wrong. Be calm but let him know you are pissed as hell.

He is blatently trying to steal from you. Why be nice?

Tell him you found the actual problem with the radio had to do with the wiring from a new alarm not with anything which you did.

He can pay your (possible inflated cause he is a liar) parts/labor or you can put his old bad radio back in and send him home. His choice.

I think he'll opt for the new radio since it is already installed.

I'm just going to cut my loses. Jim insists that the radio worked when he dropped it off. He admits to having problems with the radio after the alarm install but claims to have solved the problem.
The way I see it I'm confident that I provide a better than average service to my customers and that he will now have to go somewhere else to have his car worked on. We'll see if the next shop treats him as well. And I did make a little profit originally when I painted the front. The radio didn't cost enough to get too concerned with. Noone likes getting screwed but it could have been far worse.

Yup, you wouldn't have been able to get away with trying to charge him for the radio. Not without it being more of a headache than its worth, at least. No invoice = no authorization to fix and bill for it.

He's an as*hole, yet you did the right thing.