Theres a Wal-Mart near here that is just not very user friendly,to put it mildly.The quality used to be pretty good,but when I can go elsewhere for just a small fraction more and get a much better product.then the super boxstores vend it.I will buy there and praise the Lord for Amazon Prime,shopping is not an enjoyable experience for me.I miss the old smaller dept stores.
Just happened to think,economy can be false economy,the filters the big stores carry can be a "caveat emptor"when people get over 550K out of a Honda Accord(no problems either) using Honda filters,I would think maybe we should be careful about how we save money by shopping at bargain stores(I have noticed the manus filters seem to be better quality(when they have a sale I stock up) I get a little leery from time to time on certain stores-featherweight filters.
The walmarts around here are more and more bottom of the barrel quality depending on what it is. Hardware stuff is pure dollar store quality. Office supplies for the time being seem to be still holding their own and some electronics still seem to have ok brands but nothing great. Clothing seems to be 70% of the merchandise and I can’t imagine the quality is anything above the lowest available. Food maybe but you really don’t know where the stuff comes from at all and I’ve even noticed toilet paper has shaved a quarter inch off the width of a major brand. I think there is special packaging for anything being delivered to WM to meet their stringent cost requirements.
It appears that Target is doing an about face instead of getting in the mud with WM like they used to do. Target was always a little more upscale serving a higher income group. From their roots in Daytons. Hopefully now they have seen the error of their ways and will provide a reasonable quality instead. Some of them even started to have that Kmart caramel corn smell.
Not everyone is looking for the absolute cheapest price on everything so hopefully these folks will start to understand that.
My local independent mechanic operates pretty much like cwatkin above.
For example, when he replaced the steering rack on my B-4000 a few years ago he pointed out that the front brake pads had about a third of the lining left. He said that he could replace them without any additional labor cost since the whole front end was apart anyway. For about a hundred bucks he turned both rotors and installed premium NAPA pads.
As someone who keeps his vehicles for the long haul, I appreciate someone who can help me save on labor costs.
This would be like not charging the book rate for a water pump and timing belt job as they stand separate if many steps apply to both the jobs.
Are you saying this type of discounting isn’t standard practice?
Regarding the water pump/timing belt situation, ever shop I’ve worked in has allowed for labor overlap and that’s how it should be. To charge full book on both jobs with duplicating steps is unethical as hxxx IMO.
I’m sure some places do this but it’s not standard practice.
Some of the worst pain in the necks I’ve dealt with have been Air Force officers from the local AFB.
I don’t know if it’s a lack of mechanical comprehension combined with an inflated ego or what but some of those incidents leave you wondering how in the world they ever got accepted into pilot training and not gotten killed the first time up.
Of course, a number of them around here have gotten injured or just bought the farm due to sheer stupidity so…
No, but if someone starts trying to nickel and dime me, I am not going to offer discounts or try to keep them happy. I would almost rather they go elsewhere unless they pay full price as they tend to be the ones who are the thorns in your side, not a good customer. The nickel and dime ones will not show up, talk your ear off for hours and then back out, or become threatening if things don’t go exactly their way. Some people are not worth the hassle.
Kind of a tangent to the “fixed income” shoppers, but another one is the person who comes in complaining that “I’ve had my car to 3 other shops and none of them will fix the problem for a reasonable price/reasonable timeframe/guarantee/or whatever”. Especially the ones that are talking about filing complaints/lawsuits/etc. If you’ve had your car to 3 other reputable shops and the end result is not to your liking there’s a great chance that the problem is not with the car.
Sometimes you can fix the car but not fix the driver.
Yep, I have had that too! Someone called me with a laptop and said the power button was broken as it wouldn’t turn on. They had taken it to 3 other places and they all told them it was the motherboard and would be about a $300 repair. This is pretty normal for a motherboard and the fact that 3 shops in different towns all had the same answer told me what the problem was.
I told them to bring the computer, the power cord, and the $35 upfront fee and I would diagnose it. They quickly said that they didn’t have $35 and besides they had already diagnosed it as the power button so that an upfront diagnostics fee wasn’t required. I told them this was also to run off deadbeats with no intention of paying as I knew full well that is what they were. That is the last I heard from them.
A store owner around here told of a real cheapskate,who tried to return half of a galvanized pipe union(didnt need but one half of it)
“It appears that Target is doing an about face instead of getting in the mud with WM like they used to do. Target was always a little more upscale serving a higher income group. From their roots in Daytons”
Before this thread is shut-down for lack of discussion of cars, I will bring it back on track:
Target Corp used to be called Dayton-Hudson, and–guess what?
The folks who owned the old Hudson Department stores were also the early financial backers of the Hudson automobile company!
Another thing that I have seen is that some people are trying to drum up business using text messages or social media. MY experience has been that this is a mistake. The people who inquire through those methods are typically the tire kickers and time wasters and not actual serious customers. I sometimes think that half the people on social media are barely literate from some of of interactions I have had.
These are also the source of many rude and otherwise problematic customers. Good old phone calls seem to be the best way to go in terms of productivity and not wasting time.
Has anyone else also had people have a repair done, take the car or whatever to another shop, and then complain to you that they had to redo the repair without ever contacting you first?
I’ve had a few of the “Nickle and Dimer’s”, always trying to save that little bit.
In all reality…they are just hurting themselves. If they waste 20 minutes of my time arguing about the price of hose clamps…I’ll just charge that 20 minutes in labor…which is much higher???
Then they put the mechanic in a bad mood , because they acted as if you are cheating them and no one wants to give a break to someone who is treating them poorly and accusing them of overcharging.
I will work with someone who stops by my place and explains their situation, and ask’s if I can help them out. Face to face is always better and both parties feel more willing to negotiate.
Yosemite
I’ve run into a few of those types who come back later and complain about something that allegedly had to be redone.
Where it got murky was when follow-up questions were asked about the complaint and the reason for not calling me first or dropping by.
Other questions involved “not remembering” what the other place did to fix the alleged problem, no answer for the question of why they drove 20 miles to get someone else when I was 5 miles away, and so on.
It does raise the suspicion flag. Someone can complain that you screwed something up but can’t remember one iota of detail about what the other guy did to sort it out and no paperwork to state it.
I strongly suspect a lot of these things are ruses in an attempt to get a partial or full refund.
It happens every day at the Wal Mart customer service counter; why would the auto repair or computer repair business be any different…
I still remember the OU grad student in law whose brake job was botched by an independent shop a mile away from our dealership.
When told the brakes needed to be redone it became a “well, it’s under warranty”.
Fine, take it back to them.
No. You’re the VW dealer and you have to warranty VW repairs.
The car is 10 years old and they botched your brakes; not us.
Another 10 minutes of this clown arguing at the counter before stomping out The service writer gave him about 9 more minutes than I would have.
We had a temporary pastor from Sudan who had big car trouble to the tune of about $800. I won’t go into details but a money manager he was not but a good guy. A few of us just kicked in the money to have the work done at a shop owned by a member of the congregation. they did the work but when we got the invoice for it the total was zero. None of us asked for it although we were hoping maybe we’d get a little discount on overhead. Maybe he has a pro-bono account or something but I guess it does happen. Of course when I had a couple front end parts replaced it seemed like the price was about double so maybe he was getting it back little by little.
We have a very, very small town near us that had a shop that would do oil changes free of charge to anyone over 65. Two local churchs paid for the oil and filters, and the garage threw in the labor free. The owners went south for a warmer climate now.
I asked the owner once if he felt that some were taking advantage and he was pretty sure 95% were from that town. He also found that many people that had the money…would have their oil change and insist that he take double and put 1/2 into the free oil change program.
He started out with two bays and in about three years he built an addition with three more bays.
Maybe the free oil change program helped to draw people in.
Yosemite
So stupid aqquantince, won’t pay $65 to have his dead dog cremated, planning on burying it in the back yard, you cannot fix stupid.
I’ve got two buried on state land. I like to think every time I take a hike past…they’re with me.
Yosemite
@yosemite I appreciate your sentiment, but in our city it is illegal. Now he is an avid grow my own veggies guy. in a 20 x 40 back yrd no room for a dead dog imhop