Makes me kinda curious what you do for work…
A cheapskate is also somebody who ALWAYS questions the prices, wherever he goes, insinuates that everybody is cheating, overcharging and so forth, and often succeeds in making himself unwelcome in many shops.
how dare you request that we use a torque wrench?
What makes you think we’re not doing that already?
By even bringing it up as a customer walking into a shop . . . you’ve just proved you think we’re incompetent and/or just don’t care to do the job properly
What if you boarded a plane and insisted that the pilot(s) prove to you that they’re actually certified to operate the aircraft . . . ?
what if you were interviewing for a job and you asked the interviewer to produce their credentials, and to prove to you that they were qualified to even conduct the interview . . . ?
The word cheapskate reminded me of this:
Not saying anyone is a cheapskate, just adding a picture to the word.
3 Likes
Has it been a while since you’ve worked retail or at the front counter db? That happens pretty regularly. I figure the customer is paying top dollar for stellar service, and that sometimes involves handling them with kid gloves and smiling and assuring them every step of the way. If that also means a note to the tech on the repair order to be sure to use factory torque specs, so be it.
Sometimes we get a sh*t sandwich and everybody takes a bite!
Yeah, it’s been about 10 years since I was at the dealer
Unfortunately, the lousy customers I remember were the ones who wanted us to fix the unfixable, such as quiet down cars that were rattle traps from day one, or improve the stiff ride on sporty cars and suvs that were actually designed to be stiff
I remember having a customer as a “ride along” because she was supposed to describe some kind of noise. She was saying there was a simlilar kind of noise in her previous car, some kind of MG if I recall. That information didn’t really help, and I wasn’t able to reproduce the noise, anyways.
Another time, different customer on a ride along, was pointing out a rattle. He asked me if I could fix it. I said I could, and it would involve tearing the car apart and applying some felt. My response was honest and based on actual experience fixing the identical noise in other identical vehicles, different customers, though. The customer declined the repair, because he felt tearing the car apart might be opening up a can of worms, so to speak. The car was still under warranty, if I remember correctly, so he wouldn’t have been out any money
Good thing he declined, as the manufacturer AND the dealer always tended to cheat the mechanics, when it came to “straight time” for those kinds of repairs. They always short changed us, for example only paying 2 hours for the repair, when in fact it took 4 hours and you could prove it.
Those were the days . . . 
Myself, I’d rather have a good pastrami sandwich 
“Hi there Mr. Pilot. Here’s a copy of the Student Pilot’s Flight Manual and the Pilot Operating Handbook for this plane… And I also included the checklists for the aircraft. I expect you to use the information when you fly us toda… What do you mean get the hell off your plane and take Greyhound!?”
5 Likes
Reading DB’s latest comments, I can only say that obviously auto servicing is traumatic on both sides and can leave lingering effects. In his case customers from hell have undermined his faith in people, the exact same way a previous bad experience has made many a customer wary of the service or recommendations they are getting.
May I ask why it is that whenever I get my haircut by a new barber or hairdresser they always ask who cut your hair previously with a tone that implies the previous one was no good. But here the solidarity among mechanics is so strong that only one seems to acknowledge that shoddy service happens.
Next time someone has the temerity to leave you a print out with torque specs, why don’t you just use it, make the customer happy and earn their respect, instead of getting your noise out of joint.
1 Like
From before I was old enough to drive, I have learned a lot from mechanics. I wasn’t “teaching” them or telling them what to do. They would explain to me the problem and how it was fixed. In fact, I have had mechanics tell me about weird problems in other customers’ cars and how they were able to fix the car. Sometimes I think I learned more about how to solve a problem talking to mechanics than I did sitting in the classroom. I grew up learning to treat people with dignity and respect. I would never tell a mechanic how to do the job. As a teacher, I did not want someone telling me how to teach my class.
2 Likes
Me too, I can’t find a decent pastrami around here. Whenever I’m down in LA taking the kids to visit Grandma, one of the first places we go is to get a pastrami sandwich.
You ever been to “The Hat” in Pasadena . . . might be on Hill Street, if I remember correctly
You guys should move to NJ. Lots of places to get good pastrami here. it’s not cheap, but it’s worth it.
3 Likes
No I grew up in the South Bay. Still go back to the same place I went to as a kid.
Now I’m hungry.
For the nth time asking a mechanic to follow torque specs and providing them on a handy print out is not telling the mechanic how to do his job. It should go without saying.
That said you inspired me to have a good smoked meat sandwich on rye for lunch. It was delicious.
Yes it is. It’s exactly what you’re doing. You want the mechanic to do the work and you supervise him on the job. Again if you don’t think the mechanic is qualified to do the work unless you give him instructions then you need to find another mechanic because theses are incompetent boobs.
2 Likes
And why after you have read and contributed to other threads where such a failure to do so has been noted, do you insist that all mechanics and dealers do so?. I assume you do not want a come back, and I can assure you I do not want to have to return, so why get you nose out of joint because I was asking for some reassurance that you will do the job professionally.
Supervise means to look over and observe continuously. If I provide you with a print out to make life simple and not require you to consult a computer screen how am I insulting you?. Odds are I talked with the counter person or the shop owner, not you the actual mechanic who they will assign to work on the car. I have gone home or to my office and will return when the job is completed. If that is somehow questioning your competence…one of us has a problem that has nothing to do with car repair…
Because if they’re smart, they’re still going to look it up in case you screwed up and brought them the wrong torque specs. So you aren’t saving any time, you’re just wasting trees. And then adding “please follow the torque specs” is you telling them they’re too stupid to do their job without your instruction.
This’ll be my last entry directed at you, though. You’re not interested in listening or understanding any point of view other than your own. You’re just going to have to go through life wondering why your mechanics think you’re a jerk. Maybe you’re one of those guys who need to burn all the bridges before you figure out that maybe you should behave better. Certainly none of the reasoned viewpoints you’ve encountered here have made a dent.
2 Likes
Been an engineering manager for over 15 years. Telling the engineers that work for me HOW to do something is MANAGING them…Actually called MICRO MANAGING them. Supervise does NOT mean to look over and observer continuously. I supervise a team of 11 engineers and system techs. I do NOT in any way shape or form Look over and observe them continuously. I give them priorities on what needs to be done and they go ahead and do the work. If they don’t do the work when or as expected then we have a conversation. If we continuously have these conversations then they are terminated. Luckily I’ve only had to do that once.
You really need to get educated.
3 Likes
I had a dental implant back in February. The periodontist drills and taps a hole in the bone and then screws in the implant. There is a torque specification for the implant and the periodontist actually uses a small torque wrench. In March, I went back and he re-torqued the implant. It’s rather like replacing the cylinder head on an engine and using a torque wrench to tighten the head bolts, then starting the engine, bringing it up.to operating temperature and re-torquing the head bolts. I didn’t have an overwhelming urge to bring the torque specifications for my teeth to the periodontist. By the same token, I don’t feel it necessary to take to my mechanic the torque values for a part he is replacing.
Incidentally, I didn’t find the implant process painful at all. I had the implant procedure performed at 8:00 a.m., was on my way home at 8:45 and played my horn in a rehearsal from 7 to 9 p.m.
4 Likes
Is what I was responding to and I assume that was the sense of supervise as used. I could always use more education but I think you might need to work on your reading skills. Anyway its been fun I guess reading you guys make a mountain out of a molehill. You are all rather quick to insult for people with such sensitivities about it.