Lying liars and their lying lies

General Discussion
1

I just read a post (not on this website) that reminded me of a story.

Some time back, I encountered a post criticizing the handling of a complaint by the company I worked for. I was able to track down the complaint and compare what was posted vs what happened. It was a very interesting read.

The difference? The “new car” had 17,000 miles on it (it was new to them, so it was “new”). The car dealer promised something the tire dealer wasn’t able to do. (setting up a false expectation).

I want to remind folks that you don’t always get the “truth” - and it is pretty common for stuff to be left out.

Anyone else have a story like that?

2

Where do I start? I called Pizza Hxx the other day and ordered their $10 pizza. The girl on the phone said I had to order 2 to get the $10 deal. Corporate said differently and said they would contact the store.

I bought a new car years ago and wanted a Bose radio/CD player unit installed at the dealership. I went to pay the bill and asked where my original radio was since it was listed at $XXX on the invoice. They told me the radio was installed in another customer’s vehicle. I said “OK then pay me what I paid for the radio.” They said that was not their policy. I contacted corporate right in the showroom and about an hour later…they said “No charge” at the payment window.

I hate liars and the lies they tell.

3

A different business, but here goes…

The customer asked if they could use our oven to process one of their assemblies since all of theirs were in use. We priced it with the assurance that a certain forbidden material was not used in construction of their assembly. They were also told that we weren’t sure of the cost to recover from cross contamination from that material, but that they would be responsible for for all costs incurred to return the oven to pre-test conditions. It turned out they shot from the hip and that forbidden material was used. We know because pos-test chemical analyses from the oven surfaces shows this contaminant. After several weeks of “no, not us”, they admitted their error and paid for clean-up. It cost more than the original test.

4

As a dealer piano tuner/tech, I’ve had to deal with a few messes. The dealer I worked for was more honest than most, but some piano salesmen will sell a grand piano that is basically a 90 year-old, worn out piece of junk for $3,000 and assure the customer that “when our technician is done with it, it’ll be perfect”. A lot of new grand pianos are coming from China now, and many customers just can’t comprehend that a piano from Dongbei that sells for $7,000 is not going to sound, play, or tune like a $30,000 Yamaha. It’s like comparing a $60 guitar from Wal-Mart to a $4,000 Martin.

5

As a retired school counselor who was frequently called-upon to intervene into situations involving students, teachers, and administrators, I can tell you that getting the truth is very difficult. Even though teachers & administrators did tend to do a bit of CYA when relating their versions, more often than not, the students had convinced their parents of the truth of their alibi, which almost always was…untrue, but the parents, who were all-too-eager to automatically believe that their children could do no wrong, were part of the problem.

One incident that stands out in my mind had to do with a student who was believed to be under the influence of…something. With parental permission, he was given a urine test, which showed a fairly high level of Benzodiazepines (this includes Valium, Librium, Ativan, and possibly a few other drugs in the same class). This meant automatic suspension from school because the student did not have an Rx for one of those drugs.

The student could have been readmitted, following a “clean urine”, and following proof of enrollment in some kind of outpatient rehab program. However, because the kid told his parents that he “would never take drugs”, they insisted that the urine test was wrong, and that the school should pay for another test. The principal stated that he had no problem with another urine test (and–in fact–another “clean” test was necessary for re-enrollment), but that the cost would have to be borne by the parents.

The bottom line is that the student was out of school for something like 5 weeks, while his parents argued over who should pay for the next urine test. During those 5 weeks, I recall asking the mother if anyone in the household had an Rx for some sort of benzodiazepine drug, and she insisted that nobody did. While I can’t recall the exact details, somehow it later came to light that Mommie Dearest had a Valium Rx, and sonny-boy was liberally helping himself to the pills on a regular basis.

Following a (clean) urine test paid for by the parents, and following proof of enrollment in outpatient rehab, the student was re-admitted to school. However, his already-mediocre grades were severely affected by an absence of ~5 weeks, and the result was that he failed a few courses for the year.

IF his parents had believed the original lab test, if they had not automatically believed their son’s tall tale, and–most important of all–if they had simply counted Mommie Dearest’s pills carefully, he likely could have been back in school w/in a week or so.

So much for taking a kid’s alibi at face value…

6

Went to a local dealer to look at a used red muscle car with a V8 and 5 speed. I’d found the listed price THIS dealer wanted on the internet. I drove the car while they looked at my car as a trade-in (i already knew the suggested trade-in was from KBB. The salesman wrote up their initial offer, added $2000 to the value of the trade-in, added $2500 to the car’s internet price and snuck-in $1500 into the tax-an-title value for a grand total of $2000 OVER the internet price. I left the dealer and said I’d think about it. I sent the salesman an e-mail listing his BS on the initial offer and gave him a price I thought fair based on KBB and Edmunds sans trade-in. He e-mailed me back saying they would lower their price and when I returned to the dealer hit me with the very same BS, sans trade-in, I called them on. We did come to a deal very close to my offering price but I was lied to all through the process. No wonder used car salesman rank slightly lower than cockroaches in opinion polls!

7

A little story but I’ll always remember it. Had young man who was the son of a co worker and actually play baseball for me many years earlier when I coached at the school he attended. We always had a real good relationship, I thought. He was working at a dealership as a salesman and I was shopping for a used car. I mentioned one I was interested in and said, I want the 2.4L motor but I don’t think it has it. He assured me it did and would be a great buy. I calmly walk over, opened the hood and asked him to look at the decal on the air cleaner. Among other things, it displayed the motor as a 2L. Without phasing him at all, he simply said, " the label is wrong, they must have made a mistake at the factory". I replied, " we’ll, I don’t like the color either, have a nice day". But, money talks and sales are more important then good relationships…,for some. His last words as I walk away were, " we’ll it is just as fast and you can always have it painted."
I have tons of others from law enforcement days…but that was expected. This one from someone I knew well wasn’t.

8

This one happened when we were still living in Europe. A guy down the road called the carpenter who had just installed a new front door that the door knob had broken offf. The carpenter was perplexed that this very sturdy door knob would break, untill he saw some rope marks on it and the homeowner finally admitted he had tied his HORSE up on the door knob while he went in to have some lunch!

9

I’ve got a lot of stories like this and in almost every single case the car owner hedged the facts when it came to complaining; with the omitted facts putting a different spin on the story when applied.

10

Well some people have such a dynamic,perfect picture of themselves(ego) that they cant help it,either they don’t know they are lying or think the straight truth doesn’t apply in this case.As an Uncle of mine said in so many words"He cant help it,comes to Him naturally,His Dad had trouble telling the truth".
Now let me pose something,is 90-80% of something,as useful as the whole truth or is that a"little white lie’'or “baldfaced lie”?
Lies come in many forms sometimes body language and actions are lies, and people that are set in their ways(convinced against their will,unconvinced still) eg; never convince a Chevy lover to buy a Ford there will always be something wrong with it,while the vehicle they had before was probably worse(its troubles was conveniently forgotten) so lies come in many forms and competition will sure take the gentleman and honesty out of a lot of people-Kevin

11

Just thought of this,how do you get out of telling the truth,without directly lying?(change the subject? etc;)-Kevin

12

I thought of another one.

A guy I worked with used to be a plumber. He went to a house to investigate the odor of urine in the bathroom. There weren’t any leaks, but suggested that perhaps someone was peeing in the shower stall. Woman of the house said: Nonsense!".

Turns out that the father (who was from a third world country where their toilets are mere holes in the floor) would use the shower stall.

13

@ok4450…so the vehicle owner is always the liar? I take offense to this because I’ve dealt with too many dealerships and shady mechanics to believe this. I’ve been a mechanic for most of my life and I know what goes on when it comes to dealing with customers.

14

@kmccune

Now let me pose something,is 90-80% of something,as useful as the whole truth or is that a"little white lie’'or “baldfaced lie”?

It’s a “white lie” if the lie is harmless or if the truth is none of the asker’s business. White lies are often told to avoid hurting someone’s feelings, i.e. “does this make my butt look fat?”

Also there’s the tall tale, a story so preposterous that it’s not expected to be believed.

15

While looking at used full size trucks a few years ago the salesman told us that a particular truck had a very meticulous previous owner, but what about the slightly rusty chrome wheels? And the step bumper that looks like a giant stepped on it?

16

I’ve met tons of dishonest customers over the years. They would abuse their car in some way, cause damage, and then expect the repair to be covered under warranty

Coffee spilled near the shifter, which caused the shift module to short out

Driving through deep water, which hydrolocked the engine

Spilled something on the seats, and now the leather is ruined

The amplifier is ruined, because a body shop did a lousy job, and water leaks into the trunk

The damaged door panels, which were caused by the family’s 150 pound dog

Of course, they didn’t mention the true cause of the damage until we pressed them about it

Here’s the best one . . . a customer brought in their car for a service. The porter walked around the car, noted some damage to the front bumper, and got the customer to sign a form which stated he was aware that the bumper was already damaged when he brought the car in. The customer also verbally acknowledged it.

When I saw the car, I also saw the damage. I saw that the customer had signed off on the walkaround sheet, meaning he acknowledged the damage was preexisting. I even told my service advisor about the damaged bumper.

I did my service, and turned in the repair order

When the porters brought the car to the service drive, the customer yelled at the top of his lungs “What the f . . k did you guys do my bumper??!!”

He threw a fit and the service manager stepped in. He made a point of talking to everyone involved. Me, the porter, and the service writer. We all verbally acknowledged that we did not damage the bumper, because it was already damaged when the guy brought it in. We showed him the walkaround sheet, which clearly showed the damage, and clearly had the customer’s signature on it.

The service manager showed this to the customer, who threw another fit. He claimed his bumper was fine, and he never signed that sheet. He claimed it wasn’t his signature.

The service manager knew that this guy was a dirtbag, but because he was making such a scene, he decided they should talk somewhere more private. In his office, he promised the guy a new bumper, which he did get.

I suspect the customer went to the dealership, with the primary goal of getting a free bumper

An honest customer . . .

17

There are also “honest lies”. This type of lying is done unconciously and is a result of conditioning or brain washing. Last week a teenager here committed a serious crime. His mother stared staight into the news cameras and said her “Johnny” was innocenmt; he COULD NOT do such a thing!

Many parents have their cars trashed by teenage kids and react violently when this is pointed out by service staff. Impossible!

When I’m pumping gas I still see many driver try to get that last ounce of gas into their tanks; when the dashboard starts lighting up and the evap system is soaked, they will blame the car or the dealer who last serviced it. Unfortunately I don’t see any filling advice in most new car manuals.

On another form of lying, Costco learned the hard way selling large flat screen TVs. Their generous return policy backfired on them when they gave customers their money back based on claims of “poor picture” or some other excuse. In realilty, these folks took the money they originally paid, and turned right around and bought a new TV at a now much reduced price, since retail prices were dropping dramatically. Costco has since changed their return policy and the unit has to be actually defective to get a refund.

18

@missleman, of course I’m not saying that all customers are liars. The vast majority are decent.

What I’m saying is that as a mechanic and shop foreman I’ve been involved in over the counter discussions or 3 ways with the regional office when a car owner has elevated a problem and that in almost every single case the car owner withheld information or flat out lied. When the entire story was laid out the truth is often 180 from what was originally told.

I can also guarantee you that the customer return counters at Wal Mart, K-Mart, Target, Lowes, and any one of countless other retailers are having fraud perpetrated on them multiple times every day in the same manner.

19

Oh, heck yeah. Abusing liberal return policies is so prevalent it has its own catchphrase: “ghetto rent.” (As in, to buy an item for a one time use, then return for refund.)

“Do you think we need to buy a torque wrench for these head bolts?”

“Nah, I’ll just ghetto rent one at AutoBox.”

20

How about those losers that buy a nice suit or dress to wear to some party on saturday

And then they return it on monday, claiming “it didn’t fit, and I didn’t wear it”

And the dress is reeking of booze and cigarettes

But the customer is always right . . .