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Quote:

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler (Post 6458636)

How my post relates to this thread is: Clearly, (to her) I was considered nothing more than a "mechanic/grease monkey" who was wasting HER time and money by not "googling" the problem, and thus the fix. In her view my skills were worth-less because "the answer" is supposedly a few "clicks' away and the repair........"minor"

I found her take on this situation almost incredulous because SHE was in IT!! Whether she was on the nuts-n-bolts side OR in programming, she was in a technical profession herself - I would have never thought her view of this would be sooooo narrow.

Tell you the truth, I hate working for technical professors. People with PhD knows everything especially the ones in education. don't let them get to you. I restore an historical home for a USC prof. His wife has a PhD in art. She starts telling me about wood joints and how she wants her stair case made.

If you think I talk too....

much, then this is related to the PHD type telling u how to do your job.Teachers even retired ones cant stop talking. That is what they do in the classroom and not so good at listening. Hopefully all teachers are not like this. I imagine it comes down to how much you can take or stand your customers. That is where your income comes from and you have to decide how much bs you put up with. I have seen employees abused by customers and their boss. I have seen customers abused by emplyees. I think that there is a lot of stress out there but heaping it on your repair guy is not the answer. :eek:

Quote:

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler (Post 6458404)

The "google IT issues" comment reminded me of a somewhat ironic/funny situation a few years ago. New customer with a E39 comes in with all sorts of odd electrical gremilins that over a course of a few weeks rendered the car almost not driveable. This customer had an aftermarket mechanical warranty with a $250 deductible.

Issues were: wipers had a mind of their own, so did the audio/nav system, check engine light on with the trans in limp mode and after scanning the vehicles network more codes/symptoms than you could imagine.

Because these vehicles are networked (like an office building) this was a huge task given to me especially when dealing with a warranty company. Short story was after nearly two complete days of diagnosis and fault-tree elimination the core problem traced back to a shorted wiper motor park contact switch from water intrusion; resulting from a partially plugged firewall compartment drain (leaves and plant debris) It wasn't noticable right away because there was very little debris. BUT if it rained hard enough OR long enough, the water level would just get high enough to come through the shaft seal and soak the control board.

Customer, a VERY impatient woman starts calling at lunch time the first day. The service writer said that the problem was complex and may require more time but that the warranty company had already approved it. Further more if she needed a rental car we could provide one.

I finished the car the morning of the third day and she picked it up at lunch time. The warranty company covered the entire bill ($2300) but for the deductible. I am eating liunch and she INSISTS that she wants to speak to me directly.

She walks into the lunch room and looks at me (name tag ID) and starts BERATING me on how incompetant a 'mechanic' I must be taking sooooooooo long on finding the actual cause of her breakdown. That SHE is in IT and ALL THEY ever do is "GOOGLE THE PROBLEM" for an IMMEDIATE resolution.

She finishes her 'rant'. I finish my mouthfull of sandwhich. I said WE have a DIRECT LINK to BMW FACTORY technical support as well as 2 other BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS technical resources that this company PAYS for. Why would I do that? Furthermore, when I was in IT back in 2000 there was no "google IT issues" you had to actually FIND the CAUSE of the PROBLEM!

I had to physically fault tree diag down to component level to eliminate all possible contributors ..........which led me to my final diagnosis and correct repair. Which means in laymans terms I removed both front seats pulled the trim and carpet up. some of the console, the main wiring and harness ground connections. Unplugged and re-assembled modules; there are over 30...... until I isolated the core component.

That is what skilled, experienced technicians do. Whether it is your vehicles network or an office building network someone has to actually find the specific problem and prove it defective so as to not waste time, money and other resources.

I do not know why you are upset?? The warranty company footed the bill, the car is fixed correctly.

She turned and stormed out the door in a 'huff'.........................muttering "UH!!!..........Mechanics!"

Should've told the ***** to "fix it yourrself next time then" and bluntly kicked her out of the shop.

Take no **** from someone like that. Not worth it. Tell her she's overpaid and her next job will be in India.

rjp

I take it Randy....

that you dont believe in the old axiom "the customer is always right"? Thank good ness I am retired.

Quote:

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie (Post 6459104)

that you dont believe in the old axiom "the customer is always right"? Thank good ness I am retired.

They are right until they break the policy. This one being courtesy and respect. You dont act that way in public, you definitely don't get to act that way to me since you paid me.

You can do without certain customers- ever notice the best ones are the ones who never call you? They are the happiest.

rjp

I can't believe I'm sitting here reading and replying on this. Oh, well I guess its all in good fun, but when I was selling high line cars and dealt with many types of individuals it brings back memories.

When those rare times of getting trashed at by obnoxious individuals, it wouldn't matter but I could classify some celebrities, professionals such as doctors, lawyers or the usual 'know it all' teacher thinking I'm their pissing post, it was a great feeling when I would politely and calmly tell them "we'd rather not sell you anything and this little need of yours wanting a Porsche seems to leave you frustrated and rude". Then I'd continue with "our aim is to have you enjoy and have a pleasurable buying process and appreciate the product that thousands of others have put into it and how bad it would look to everyone having a mean attitude individual owning it". The shock on the faces of those were priceless. A complete change of attitude, a few would huff off to the sales manager or owner but eventually they came around.

The only one that sticks in my head who couldn't come off his high horse was some doctor who once claimed to be the personal physician to the Shah of Iran. Like I really cared... laughable and this jerk actually took his time to write a complaint letter to the dealer owner. (I actually told this jerk "it seems you can't afford a new car and perhaps should consider a used one.") The dealership owner showed me the letter and laughed and further gave me praise. I was a little confused at first but later learned a competitor dealership caved in and gave away for miniscule profit (rarely done) a 930 to this guy and every Saturday AM would come in with his family for the free carwash, donuts and hotdogs. Behind the scenes, Porsche zone managers would review transactions and margins. Giving away cars would be a red flag and hurt future allocations. Scored good points for our store.

Take the high road, leave the losers and tell them you don't need them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by intakexhaust (Post 6459288)

Take the high road, leave the losers and tell them you don't need them.

Reminds me of something I heard from a very competent Civil Engineer in private practice: "There are times you must fire your client".

My brother is a darn good welder, I just love what he can do with his hands, metal and fire!

When I worked for a large southeastern home bulder, he would sometimes tell a customer that while there is a customer for every builder, we were not the builder for that customer (or something to that effect).

ok, take no work from PhD's, women in IT, MDs...

got any lawyer stories?

In furniture sales we ran from:

1) non-English speaking people, (except Japanese) - esp. Russians and Indians (they "counterfeit buying signals!!" sez my buddy Jack)

2)- Volvo drivers (everything requires 6 mos. of research)

3)- Young couples on their first buying experience together. (just like #2)

There's more I'm sure I just can't remember 'em all.

One thing for certain, you don't have to do biz with the customer if you can't meet their expectations- intakeexhaust has it right. Fire the customer.

rjp

The best thing about working for yourself is that you can tell them to take a hike politely. My father's done it in his jewelry business. I have too. The customers are not always right. I don't care how much or little they are paying me. Sometimes its just so much easier to get rid of the ones that are bad before they sign. So much easier on your mental health. Rocket is right, some customers are just not right for us.

I should have clarified when I hire someone new at $15, that is for someone that has ZERO experience.

When I hire my tile sub-contractor he usually makes $50 an hour or better, as do I when I work for him.

KT

For me it is not so much that she was an *ss through-out the repair process, but the dig is she thought nothing of my years of experience and skill set.

I think the client's thinking...

like that is that she thinks she is so superior to everybody else and everybody else is beneath her. Whatevery skillset you have does not count in her eyes. Sometimes having too much education can hinder communication. eg. Kind of like your doctor saying to you, "son you have six months to live as you have cancer, get your affairs in order". You could do the same to that doctor if he came to your shop and the motor was screwed. Simply put, "doc you need a new motor". I think by choosing the words appropriately for the situation whether you are a client or business owner would help. Or you can count to ten and breathe freely before you say anything and this can induce more logic and prevent an angry response. If you get an angry customer, replying in an angry tone only makes it worse. What do you think?

.............or more recently with the economy I have added a new 'Term' to my automotive repair vocabulary................THIS repair order is an AUTOPSY, NOT an ESTIMATE!!

.........I'll be here all week - or until Friday, which ever comes first

Just to frost the cake, I have some douche nozzle working on the house behind me today and I'm home sick. He is cutting 24 x 24 ceramic tiles with a Ryobi 4" angle grinder dry, by hand and on his hands and knees. It takes him about 15 minutes to cut one tile. No mask. No hearing protection. No eye protection. Using a knotted up 50' 16 ga. cord.

He kind of reminds me of the Mexican Indians that stomped mud and straw with their feet and then made bricks on the ground in the sun.

He really couldn't be any more primitive. I'll have to look again and see if he is wearing any shoes.

I just want to go over and stand him in a bucket of water and throw the little POS grinder in. I hate these people that much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeke (Post 6463144)

Zeke- I'm laughing at your very illustrative comment. Don't worry, in a decade many will be dying off... don't mean to offend anyone but here's my theory.

Just yesterday I spent some time in a shop but adjacent to that one is a cabinet shop. OK, so they have all the fancy expensive paint booths, vent systems, etc. (did I mention THREE booths?). Well, I started gagging from the drifting urethane being sprayed from this mexi-can who had the doors open but wasn't in any of the booths, nor any fan on, nor was he wearing a respirator! I walked over to the open door and slammed it shut. IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!

These mexi-cans sand all day long without mask and are too d@mn lazy to do anything properly. Call me what you like but if you've been south of the border, just take a look at the infrastructure or for more entertainment, watch a linesman work with high tension lines.

Well, intake, a high voltage linesman doesn't get many 2nd chances. For 9 months of my life I climbed poles, the highest being 90'. I soon found something else to do.

I don't know if this sums up the thread, but I've had a LOT of jobs. I never seemed to have a problem getting one either. I just showed more interest up front than anyone and worked hard at learning while I was at the job. I've worked with some fook-ups, but mostly we all worked all the while even if there was talking. People today probably wonder what the hell I'm speaking of; you couldn't talk while working? Well, uh, no, not really.

Today, I see most employees taking quite a few liberties taking personal calls at work, texting while working (you can't do both), general BS'ing all day long and not a whole lot of effort going into the job at hand.

Now I've got 2 things going against me, I'm old and gray and there are no jobs. Yes, people get hired to bag groceries, but there's a friend or relative for every job that opens.

I'm having to cold call and it's a beotch. I think as soon as I get over the flu I'm going to hit up this custom putter company I know about. Probably some light machining and assembly going on.

I just keep thinking.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeke (Post 6463144)

At least the tile is hand cut.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeke (Post 6463294)

Now I've got 2 things going against me, I'm old and gray and there are no jobs. Yes, people get hired to bag groceries, but there's a friend or relative for every job that opens.

I just keep thinking.

You gotta to be Mexican or have a latin last name to get any of those jobs. Ever see a white boy bagging or working behind the counter of a fast food joint? They are out there, but very few.