I did NOT loose my temper with a customer today!

[fastfredracing]

But I wanted to!
I felt pretty bad about becoming a spaz with that guy last week, but yesterday, reminded me of how challenging dealing with the public on a day to day basis can be.
Tuesday morning, there is a Hyundai elantra , 2003 sitting in my lot with Oklahoma plates on it. It was towed in, and there is a note that the oil light is on , and there is an engine noise. I started it up, and upon the first rev, shut it down, no doubt, very loud audible rod knock, loud enough that this engines lifespan was down to minutes at this point.
So I call the contact # provided, and explain to the guy that I believe that he has spun a bearing, and will need major engine work. I did not provide an estimate at this point. I explained that I thought the cost of repair would probably equal , or surpass the value of the car pretty quick.( beat up Elantra with 135000 miles, and many dents). My recomendation was to bury it at sea and get another car, however, I also said that if they were leaning towards repairing it, let me know, and I would shop it out, an provide an estimate, and a few different options for them.
Later that day, Uncle Carl calls me. He was a factory trained Buick tech in the 70's , and wanted to make sure that I was not trying to hose them, would I mind if he stopped by and had a look/listen to verify the noise for himself. I said sure.
I am now probably 20 minutes or so into this , which I am not going to charge a dime for, it is nearly X mas, and these poor people's car blew up out of state, yada yada.
Uncle Carl shows up, with paperwork he has printed off the internet. He tells me , his buddy (also a mechanic ) tells him how these cars have problems with crankshaft position sensors. Can I scan the car and make sure that this is not the problem. I explain to him that I have also seen many failures of this part, and I assure him, this is not the problem, the car still runs, has a major engine noise, and metal flakes in the oil, not caused by a faulty electronic sensor. He then refers to his paperwork printed off the internet, which states that the timing covers also fail making rubbing noises coming from the crank damper area. I ask him if the noise he just heard sounds like plastic rubbing a pulley, or more like a hammer bashing into cast iron. He wanted to know if I would pull the damper off and verify that the timing cover was not cracked. I told him that I would be willing to do this, but would have to charge him, and would not be able to do it until tomorrow, but also told him that this was a waste of his money. I was 100% sure this car has major engine damage, not a broken plastic dust cover.
I was pretty sure that I was still being tactful, and polite, but I could tell Uncle Carl, was becoming frustrated with my unwillingness to jump right to action and check out his ideas.
Uncle Carl left, and did not thank me for my free time ( now over an hour). He called me later in the day to inform me that they were going to tow it over to his buddy's shop. After they had talked it over, they were pretty sure that a crankshaft position sensor would fix this car right up.
I told him " Good luck and Have a Merry X Mas!"

[slakjaw]

I did not lose my temper with RNET last night. I wanted to though. I hate those **** tards!

[recycled sixtie]

Fastfred, you handled it well and did not lose your temper. You did not charge for your diagnosis. You cant win them all. If I lived in your area I would bring my car to u anytime. Good luck in the future. You deserve to do well. However a customer has a right to a second opinion. Uncle may be back

[GH85Carrera]

Just think how every Dr. must feel now days. The patient comes in with a printout from the internet with a self diagnosis that is completely wrong and demands the Dr treat them for it. And even worse is some bogus treatment the patient found on the internet that may well do more harm than good.

[dennis in se pa]

I have been dealing with the general public since I was 13 when I started work as a busboy in a diner. How rude and clueless a certain segment of the population can be still amazes me. Now, at age 60, I work part time, self employed in sales involving the public. It's the fact that most people are worth meeting and dealing with that has made it all a generally pleasant experience. Some people are going to come with warts, that's just the way it is.

[drcoastline]

Fastfred I for one am very, very disappointed in you. Uncle Carl had had an internet printout. Don't you know that's as good as a factory repair manual? You should have fixed that car right then and there and given him a money back guarantee on your work.

Way to go. You did great.

[Steve Carlton]

Should have locked your door and worked on something else.

[wdfifteen]

You handled it admirably and professionally Fred. Kudos!

[Gogar]

How happy are you that you're not digging into that Hyundai?

Congrats.

[masraum]

Excellent. The best thing for YOU was to have those folks tow the car away. If they had actually talked you into working on it, you'd have been in for 100x as much of a headache as you had in that 1 hour.

Those folks are REALLY hoping that's it's something cheap. But if the oil light is on and it sounds like a midget with a hammer is having a rave in the block, it's not going to be good.

[Rick Lee]

Part of being successful in business is turning away bad customers. No good was going to come from your working any more on that Hyundai. Once your bill had gotten to an amount they didn't want to pay, you'd have ended up with an unpaid bill and a parts car taking up space on your lot. I have customers like that. They send in one tiny job, once a year, email me about it, ask the same questions as they did the last three years in a row, shop us against competitors and wonder why I won't give them a 50% discount. I really want them to go elsewhere. Let them burn up a competitor's time and pay almost nothing for it while I work on better paying jobs.

[McLovin]

That was ok, but I wouldn't have spent an hour of time on them.

If Uncle Carl comes over and wants to check out the car, why not just say, "Sure, there it is, have at it" and let him go do his thing.

When he comes back with his findings, I would have said "I disagree, the car has internal damage in my opinion, and the cost of repair is going to be way more than the car is worth. You should buy another used car and dump this one, that's the best use of your money. So, I can't help you, you won't be happy and it doesn't make sense. Have a nice day."

That's 10 minutes of time.

[vash]

i could NOT do your job.

i bet people walk into offices around the world armed with something printed off the net. doctor's offices even...good times

[slow&rusty]

Good job Fred.

Times are tough for people and you have to be delicate as a result especially as it relates to their check book and being around Christmas and out of town exacerbates the problem considerably...clearly this is the case with Uncle Carl.

Having been down this road...IMO the best bang for buck would be to call a local dismantler get the lowest mileage engine possible (usually $300-$400 range maybe less) and then your time to do the R&R..either way still alot of $$$ but much better (time and $$ saved for you and the customer) than trying to dig into the dead engine that has spun an bearing and attempt a rebuild.

Dealing with the public requires a special patience and skin tougher than leather..but hey you know that.

Yasin

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by vash

i could NOT do your job.

i bet people walk into offices around the world armed with something printed off the net. doctor's offices even...good times

Well, it's not like all mechanics are totally honest. You should see some of the "recommendations" my wife has gotten from the locall Mini dealer, telling her the oil looked dirty literally days after I had changed it or that tires were worn right after we had put new ones on.

My dentist told me yesterday I need to have scaling and replaning done and, because I think he's a bit of a used car salesman, you can bet I'm doing my due dilligence on this before agreeing to it. Just so happens my best friend from college is a dentist, so I have better resources than the Internet.

[pwd72s]

Fools are part of doing business with the public...I'm glad that part of my life is over. Now I can be the fool who pisses of the harried working stiff!

[Head416]

A mechanic that will tell you not to waste your money on repairs is putting your best interest above theirs. Too bad some people can't see that.

[Head416]

Oh, and congrats on this little "win" not losing your temper. Each little win matters, and they add up to a lot.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

You handled it well and as an added bonus you dumped a time-wasting, PITA customer onto a competitor. Advantage = you.

[craigster59]

I'm wondering if Uncle Carl will have the decency to phone you up and say that you were right.