The Tow Files: Blast From The Past

[Crossbow]

Because he wasn't the one driving it last night.

His mechanic was.

Holy shit. I think I found where the douchecanoe that totaled my car years ago went. Mechanic took the car from the shop, got drunk, and rammed a tree.

Anyone remember this guy? - http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...d.php?t=107350

Whoops. Guess not. Apparently drunk-ass thieving mechanics are an archetype...

[taxguykarl]

WOW You can't make this stuff up

[mjr]

I'm tellin' ya...Arga should compile all of these into an e-book or something...

[wolfie]

But you must buy precisely what I tell you to buy; I’m not beating ChinaTech Router into shape.)

Forget ChinaTech - has anyone ever tried buying a DeWalt or Makita router for their network?

[sirwired]

When I do a friend a favour working on their computers for free/low cost there are certain problems I refuse to try and fix because I know I probably will make things worse if I try to do the work.

It does make it easy to tell who are my real friends however, the fake friends who just think they can use me to save money tend to get angry when you tell them the problem is such that they need to take the computer into a repair shop and I will not work on their messed up machine.

Cheap, Fast, Good: Choose two.

As a fellow "Computer Guy", I, too, have learned the limits of what I will agree to fix. My checklist:

Which PC should I buy? (Answer: Unless you are doing gaming or have some sort of special needs, Anything Available for Sale will probably work fine for a desktop. For a laptop, buy a machine targeted to professionals if you’ll be hauling it around everywhere. Buy a machine with at least 8GB of RAM; the other numbers genuinely are not important.)

Windows is acting funny. Can you fix it? (Answer: No. Backup your data and follow your manufacturer’s instructions for rebuilding the machine. I’m not spending hours and hours tracking down whatever gremlin you’ve uncovered/fixing whatever malware you installed clicking like a spastic monkey on every dialog box that has appeared on your screen.)

Can you setup my home network? (Answer: Ok, I’ll actually do that one, but you better cook me and my wife dinner or take us out. I’ll be a lot less annoyed with the request if you include the proposed ‘payment’ in the request; at least a six-pack… throw me a bone here. But you must buy precisely what I tell you to buy; I’m not beating ChinaTech Router into shape.)

My hard drive crashed, can you replace it? (Answer: No. Because while the actual repair is easy, getting your machine back to the way you like it is not, and I’m not going to spend all day doing so. And that’s if you have a backup system image to start from. You probably don’t.)

I have a Universal Remote, will you talk me through programming it over the phone? (Answer: Hell No. Every person I’ve tried to do this with has turned into a blithering idiot for the remainder of that call. I’m never doing it again. Example Actual Conversation with my Mom: “Okay, your TV is on the wrong input, which button do you push on the TV remote to watch a DVD?” “Hey! It’s working now!” “Which button did you push?” “Okay, how do I change the TV channel?” “I need to finish fixing the DVD; which button did you push?” “The one I always push.” Arrrrgggghhh!!!!)

[earl colby pottinger]

Favours

When I do a friend a favour working on their computers for free/low cost there are certain problems I refuse to try and fix because I know I probably will make things worse if I try to do the work.

It does make it easy to tell who are my real friends however, the fake friends who just think they can use me to save money tend to get angry when you tell them the problem is such that they need to take the computer into a repair shop and I will not work on their messed up machine.

Cheap, Fast, Good: Choose two.

[Rosco the Iroc]

IT

WAS

HIM!!!!!

That guy makes me think of this-

[Jay 2K Winger]

Well got-dang, that's a hell of a serving of Karma Kool-Aid for Wreck-It Ralph.

[ladyjaneinmd]

*sigh* Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE the Tow Files?? It did my heart good to see one this morning. I've been having a bad week.
Arga, if you lived close to me, I'd bake you a cake.

[eltf177]

I'm guessing mechanic did NOT have permission to be driving the car, much less late at night and drunk. Of course, I'll bet his claim is he was "just test driving it"). I hope the owner doesn't get raked over the coals for something that isn't his fault.

I'm guessing the shop is in HUGE trouble over all of this, and will not only need to fire mechanic but file a lawsuit against him to prove they weren't complicit in this mess. The insurance fallout on this won't be pretty...


Sirwired - This is the price you sometimes end up paying when 'friends help friends'. I would personally make this fool pay the real mechanic to fix all the damage he did, but somehow I don't see that happening. Live and learn...

[sirwired]

I hang out on a board for a type of car I used to own, and some luckless member just relayed what his "friend" did when tasked with the job of replacing an alternator, for which he was paid $120 (as a "favor". A job which ended up taking him 11 hours. (and for which an actual mechanic quoted 2 hours @$110/hr.)

On this particular car (a V6 '00-ish Passat), it is indeed a little bit of a pain to replace the alternator. However, over the course of the repair, he managed to:
- Drain some of the transmission fluid, because he didn't know what that line did.
- Unbolt the A/C dryer long enough to let some freon leak out (didn't recognize what it was, even though every car ever made with A/C has one, and they all look the same; it's a big cylindrical aluminum canister.
- Broke a mounting bracket, which he didn't tell the owner about
- Very nearly destroyed the alternator pulley when his impact couldn't get it off (didn't have it set right.)
- And, for the piece-de-resistance... while the owner was buying him... wait for it... a pack of smokes (reference to Arga's linked tale of woe), stashed a box full of "extra" bolts in the trunk. Because nothing screams mechanical competence like the belief that a car is capable of limited self-reproduction and create parts during a repair.

I'm pretty sure my wife could have done a better job, and she's never turned a wrench in her life.

This all means the poor owner needs to pay an actual mechanic money to replace the broken bracket, put the "extra" parts back on the car, top off the transmission fluid (a task an inexperienced DIY-er should not attempt on this particular car), and recharge the A/C. That's gonna be a lot more than the $100 he "saved" by going with his (I think soon-to-be-ex) buddy.

[RealUnimportant]

Oh frabjous day, a new story AND a link to one I somehow missed. How the hell did Wrecker persuade anyone to let him near their machine?

[Valentinian]

*gets comfy chair*

[Racket_Man]

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend. Come inside come inside

To those who think Idiocracy was just a bad Sci-Fi movie SORRY but it IS the future

[Shyla]

That is a fabulous story! Laughter all around a surprise ending. Thank you.