by "RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
Published 06/09/2017 at 14:08
by "RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
Published 06/09/2017 at 14:08
No Tags
STARS: 12
If you go into the automotive repair business, you’re gonna have a bad time. The people are more defective than the cars. Maybe I need a job with the Forest Service. Give me a truck, a shovel, and a chainsaw and send me into the woods.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:11, STARS: 14
“The people are more defective than the cars”
Is there a YELP to complain about car repair shop customers?
"jimz" (jimz)
06/09/2017 at 14:11, STARS: 6
The worst is how many people assume that just because they weren’t expecting something to need repair, you must be trying to rip them off.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/09/2017 at 14:13, STARS: 6
If we can make this about customers in general I need this in my life
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 3
indeed!
The quote of my day today was, “well, the tire should have held up better in my opinion. I don’t know why I should get charged” That statement after he smacked a curb and cracked the wheel on his brand new XC90. Control arm is R3KT also
"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
06/09/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 5
Oh man, give Tech Support a try. I was speaking to a young guy today who was having some issue I later attributed to a SQL error.
Though, while troubleshooting I asked him “are you using Mac or Windows?”
Him: “I DON’T KNOW??!?!??”
Me: “I mean...do you see an Apple logo anywhere on your computer? Do you see a black apple at the top left of your screen?”
Him: “I guess I may be using a Windows computer? My screen says Dell and there’s a little box with other boxes in it towards the bottom left...oh and something that says Cortana.”.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:19, STARS: 0
They come in thirsty to find ANY reason to think we are ripping them off.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/09/2017 at 14:22, STARS: 0
Um dude
Apart from anything else, he’s OK with paying for a control arm but thinks the tire should’ve held up? The other way aroud maybe, but... U GAT URSLF UN IDJIT
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
06/09/2017 at 14:22, STARS: 2
I can agree with all of that statement.
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
06/09/2017 at 14:23, STARS: 5
"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem)
06/09/2017 at 14:26, STARS: 2
The people are more defective than the ...
This is a universal truth.
"Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever" (rustanddust)
06/09/2017 at 14:28, STARS: 9
Customer: My door is out of alignment.
Me: Nope, fits this quarter perfectly, flushness, gap, and height. The fit to the fender is off, though, the fender may need to be adjusted.
Customer: My boyfriend just put that fender on the car, it can’t be the fender.
Me:
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
06/09/2017 at 14:28, STARS: 1
Same with the printing business which I’ll be spending my last week working in. I was actually looking up forest service jobs, and almost took a summer job building trails in the Saguaro National Park outside of Tucson. They keep relisting the job on their website. I guess it’s hard to find people to build trails for $15/hour during summer in Arizona. I’m still thinking about just camping out in the Catalinas and building trails all summer. I’ll be like a migrant worker sending my salary to Phoenix.
There was also a job listing for trail building in I think the Hawaiian NP paying $25/hour but it was only open to Hawaiian residents.
Burn it down:
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
06/09/2017 at 14:31, STARS: 1
I’m in the “make incredibly huge expensive industrial equipment custom to order” industry, which is also the “hey, you remember that thing you drew 3 years ago?” industry, the “installers have no idea how this works” industry, the “building contractors can’t find a fly in a shithouse” industry and the “what schedule? Oh, you mean that schedule” industry.
Consequently, the time frame on me getting drawings out is always in flux, I always have multiple projects, arbitrary and hilarious changes come from above all the time, and I have to nursemaid every one of those projects all the way through fab, welding, assembly *and* installation because it’s never been made before and things will go wrong, guaranteed. And any of those phases can be happening at any time.
Kind of hard to ever rest easy on time off or even take any time off, because of something stovepipes, either it won’t get fixed AT ALL (and thus the whole thing is allowed to stall), or it will get fixed by boss in huffy “must I do everything myself” manner which often involves fixing it by brute force/ added plates/horrible things which screws up something *else*.
"Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer" (smallbear94)
06/09/2017 at 14:34, STARS: 0
urm oakhaaaaayy
"JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t" (jawzx2)
06/09/2017 at 14:35, STARS: 0
I mean, Uber has a customer rating system, maybe Independent Auto Repair shops should create a data-base like that... I’m convinced some dealer networks already have such a thing, or maybe it’s just that there are so few dealerships in Vermont that they all know each other and have heard each other’s “this one asshole customer....” stories.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:37, STARS: 1
lol EXACTLY! :]
Saving the word idjit for future use
"My X-type is too a real Jaguar" (TomSlick)
06/09/2017 at 14:37, STARS: 0
Preach it! Why did I choose this career path? At least I’m a trainer now.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:39, STARS: 0
within the same brands, we know some customers to float around different dealers causing headaches. Funny how that works. Nothing “official” but sort of.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 14:43, STARS: 2
That, yeah, but it’s not much of a problem because (and this is going to sound bad, but seriously), I’m really good with clients, and people understand I’m just trying to educate them, not in it to take their money.
It’s pushy used car salesmen trying to force in pre-purchase inspections and bitching because we don’t have their appointment (we have a very specific system for making appointments, it’s not our fault), shitty aftermarket hot-rod parts not fitting despite every assurance they would, pushy kids who know just enough to think they know more than I do and ask to call my $12,000 BMW tool’s technical support because their janky manual swapped car won’t communicate, 41 hours of work on 16 cars for 3 guys to do on 5 racks (two of which are occupied by dead cars) because the owner doesn’t pay attention to the damn schedule and fucked the parts on a big job that’s now blocking a rack, two permanent resident cars occupying space in the shop (one the owner’s, one a long-term project the owner is managing), an overflowing parking lot because people don’t pick their cars up when they say they will, people adding items (and thus time) at the counter, a shophand who just checked into rehab, the City parking Nazi telling us to move cars from a driveway we have permission to park in, primadonna technicians bitching about goddamn everything, 47,000 sales calls about credit card processing or phone accounts, my kids waking me up screaming at 5am... and it’s only 11:30.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 14:45, STARS: 0
I can sympathize, because I am basically Technical Support for anyone with a phone and a German car. Hours on the phone. I am better and know more than the Tech Support we are offered in many cases.
"for Michigan" (formichigan)
06/09/2017 at 14:47, STARS: 0
When I was a pizza delivery driver, I had more than one person ask me why I didn’t use the skills I acquired keeping my shitbox Civic on the road to become a mechanic. My answer was pretty much the same as yours. These people can’t even get ordering pizza right, why would I want to be responsible for keeping their unmaintained jalopies on the road?
On a related note, I have seriously considered a career in the Forest Service.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 14:47, STARS: 0
Man, I could write some amazing reviews. Gold, Jerry, Gold!
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 14:48, STARS: 1
Universal Truth, I strive to speak it.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:48, STARS: 0
I feel more for our service advisers (especially in our Aston side) because that sort of thing happens to them exactly...... but still :’(
We’re all aboard the same type of crazy train when dealing with customers
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 1
My finger’s would literally wear down to the bone from typing as well
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 2
I’m serious, you’re one of maybe 5 good parts guys in the entire county. I want to throw so many under the bus.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
06/09/2017 at 14:52, STARS: 2
Just had another car shop call that wanted a part warrantied because its “on a recall”.. it isn’t on recall ... we won’t warranty it ... he is pissed. I don’t know what he miss interpreted from the internet but he did. Of course, we all know EVERYTHING you read on the web is true. Just because Joe Blow in bum freakin wherever says his dealership fixed it for free doesn’t mean its true and that dealerships are stocking 10 zillion of the item just waiting for them to walk in the door so we can give them away like candy.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 14:52, STARS: 2
Jesus christ. I’m in a college town, there are a lot of boyfriends fucking cars up, I’ve heard similar before.
"EL_ULY" (uly)
06/09/2017 at 14:52, STARS: 2
“I am the world that hides, the universal secret of all time”
"CaptDale - is secretly British" (captdale)
06/09/2017 at 14:54, STARS: 0
Well I am pleased to hear that even if you don’t use us mouch. But I agree, between the customers and some of the other people in this industry it can be very frustrating.
"Frenchlicker" (frenchlicker)
06/09/2017 at 15:05, STARS: 0
I’ve sloppily thrown a fender on before but was smart enough to make sure the door was not impeded. I’m not surprised people are that dense though.
"Roundbadge" (Roundbadge)
06/09/2017 at 15:12, STARS: 1
My FIL was a printer for 35 years, and just retired a couple of years ago. Interesting side note: he’s colorblind, yet never had a problem.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 15:17, STARS: 1
I would love that, I wish it was my last week here. I’ve built a lot of singletrack and lead crews here, we work with State Parks and all the relevant land agencies, and I already have a Forest Service B chainsaw cert, so it makes sense. The money is the hard part, being sole breadwinner for the time being sort of traps me, and the Service doesn’t pay that well for a dad supporting a family in CA. Still always looking at viable options though.
Great tune, i saved it to my YT list. This is getting played loud on the way home tonight:
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
06/09/2017 at 15:19, STARS: 1
Pretty sure in every industry customers are shits.
That said, if I had a job where interacting with the general population on the general basis (let alone trying to do something expensive and technical for them) I’d probably turn into a comical supervillain.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 15:20, STARS: 0
Maybe we should just write them up anyway for therapy and post them here...
"promoted by the color red" (whenindoubtflatout)
06/09/2017 at 15:35, STARS: 0
Some yelp reviewer gave my cousin’s shop a crappy review because s/he had to pay $500 for a clutch replacement on an $800 car. How dare my cousin not know the blue book value of literally every car driving into the shop (as if that means anything)!
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
06/09/2017 at 16:03, STARS: 1
My dad started selling printing in New York when he was in high school. Moved to AZ, then started his own business. He’s ran his own shop since the mid ‘80s, and I worked it all through high school, and started working as the production manager after college. We are closing up shop next week. He’s going to keep selling printing, but I’m going back to school to get my RN. I’ve been in a print shop since the day I was born. The industry is dying. I think most of the guys left are colorblind.
"Roundbadge" (Roundbadge)
06/09/2017 at 16:10, STARS: 0
Shortly after he retired, the print shop he worked in closed. No one could work on the old machines anymore. He offered to come in for double his wage, cash only, on an as-needed basis, but they weren’t interested. Honestly, I don’t think he was either.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 16:16, STARS: 0
One of the reasons I hate the review culture. We have bad reviews from people who never even came in, they just didn’t like the quote. I’ve never even seen the damn car. There’s one from another vindictive shop owner, people who I have no record of... it sucks. But I’ve had clients tell me they call us because those reviews make us real, and vast majority are 5 stars, across platforms. Yelp charges businesses to remove bad reviews, which I find to be deeply unethical.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 16:30, STARS: 1
*grabs cape & mask
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
06/09/2017 at 16:30, STARS: 0
Yep. Our first pressman was an old school guy. The new machines run themselves. We also own an envelope converting company which uses old school machines that you have to have a lot of knowledge to run. We had an old guy who trained some younger guys how to run them.
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 17:23, STARS: 0
Suppose I could have it worse, at least there isn’t engineering involved. I share basic versions of this, but perhaps without the liability of making large things that can hurt people. But still... people, man. They’re no good.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
06/09/2017 at 17:56, STARS: 0
Mostly the large things I design/come up with parts for won’t hurt people directly... other than “don’t stick your hand in this fan” and “is this support frame enough to support the one-ton item on top of the 12' room” kinds of things. I usually have a sales department interpreting customer wishes/intent, which has plusses and some huge negatives. Sales: “Yeah, sure, we can do < insane thing > “. Me: U wot m8
"gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee" (gogmorgo)
06/09/2017 at 20:36, STARS: 0
The forest service likely maintains a vehicle fleet... If not the parks service does.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/09/2017 at 20:59, STARS: 1
I’ll just leave this here:
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/09/2017 at 21:04, STARS: 0
This movie is in regular rotation for many reasons, this scene among them. And I’ve never considered myself a “people” person. I was a tech for 17 years before coming into the office at the owner’s behest. I want to be a tech again, because though I am apparently good at diplomacy and customer service, I hate my job on a level I could not have imagined when I started in this business. Capital H Hate, with the fire of a thousand suns.
"merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc" (merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc)
06/09/2017 at 21:10, STARS: 0
I’m sorry to hear that. I have my days, but never have I gotten to that point... yet.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/12/2017 at 02:47, STARS: 1
No better job in the world than a forrest ranger. If the job comes with a G-class or a Defender that is. Preferably the latter as it would still allow you to work on cars ;-)
"RallyWrench" (rndlitebmw)
06/12/2017 at 03:52, STARS: 0
It’d be an F150 4x4 with a winch, most likely. Might need more work than that Landy, but I’m game :)
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/12/2017 at 07:00, STARS: 0
F150!!! Best truck I’ve ever had. I only had one though.
But I’m sure I’ve shared this one before somehow ;-)
"philipilihp" (philiphilip)
06/12/2017 at 12:48, STARS: 1
I had one as a rental a few weeks ago when the E90 was getting a new oil pan gasket/oil cooler housing/radiator hoses. That thing was massive even for US sizes, I thought. It looks even better next to that tiny Fiat!
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/12/2017 at 12:57, STARS: 0
It’s a totally reasonable replacement for the E90. Finally a V8 ;-)
