I tell my wife and daughters: you're taking your car to someone charging by
the hour. The faster they go, the more money they make. That means more
mistakes, sloppiness, and unfortunately, cheating. I've worked gas stations
in my youth, and one that I quit was because of my disgust at an owner that
cheated customers. So I'm wary around mechanics.
In recent years, I was never sure the dealorship was doing the work, and
got in the habit of checking the car ahead of taking it in, and marking
parts. A few years ago, a local Nissan service center, in the Serramonte
area near SF, wanted about $400 for a warranty visit. I said they didn't do
the work; they showed me a checked-off checklist, and insisted they did the
work. Until I dragged a manager around the car for a look-see and showed
him numerous items including dirty covered and marked grease fittings
(never touched), dirty aircon access parts (not checked or recharged),
non-replaced marked parts, etc. They immediately put it on the lift and did
the work (and later told me the mechanic was fired).
Sometimes an alternative to doing it yourself, is to let them know you're
watching them!
Fred
_______________________ Reply Separator ___________________________
Subject: Re: $20 Lesson Learned
Author: RickStayner@aol.com
Date: 12/20/99 6:36 PM
In a message dated 12/20/99 1:02:03 PM Eastern Standard Time,
daniel@seaport.net writes:
<< Do you ALWAYS have to do something yourself, if you want it done right? >>
Well, pretty much.
Rick Stayner
69 2000
Harrisburg, Pa
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