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I've been turning wrenches for over 18 years now. This is just one of the many stories I'll be sharing.
Back in the 90's I worked for a franchise that boasted "you're not going to pay a lot for this muffler!" Yeah. That one. In addition to exhaust work, we also did a lot of brake work and I was the only brake tech at my store. One of the things we advertised was "free brake inspections". True, that brought in a lot of traffic that many times resulted in sales, but it also brought in the deadbeats in droves.
My shop was located right smack dab in the ghetto. All day long it was "I want a free brake inspection!" and I'd have to bring the p.o.s. (piece of shit) in, pull all 4 wheels, thoroughly inspect the entire brake system, get into the catalogs and on the phone to source parts, and give an estimate for repairs. Only to have the moocher ask for a written copy and then go to Autozone to buy the parts and have someone else do the work.
Or worse, they'd take the estimate to DFACS (state welfare department) and the taxpayers would pay for the work. Oh and in those cases, the car would always have custom wheels and an expensive stereo system.
Finally we got tired of the deadbeats costing us money. So after a little wrangling with Corporate, we changed the "free" part of the inspections. Yes it would still be free but only if the customer did the required repairs. Otherwise it would cost $20.
And even if they paid the $20 fee, there would be no itemized estimate. I threw that one in there myself. No more sending sales to Autozone.
Oh man did that ever cause some heads to explode. I heard every possible attempt to get around that fee and then some. This was the ghetto, getting stuff for free is a way of life. One claimed he needed a written estimate to give to DFACS. I said "sure no problem! I'll just fax it to them!" and then had to explain that they were the customer and not him and no he would not get a free list of parts to take to Autozone.
After about a month of that, we finally learned where all the requests for free inspections were coming from. Phone rang, I answered, and it was the manager of the Autozone around the corner. He proceeded to bitch me out for charging for inspections. Seems he'd been sending HIS do-it-yourself customers to me to find out what they needed and I was supposed to be doing it for free. I was costing him sales!!!!!
I let him rant and rave and foam at the mouth. Then when he stopped I said in my Sergeant's voice: "give me the number for your district manager. NOW!"
Dead silence for about 2 seconds and then "click!" as he hung up. After that, the number of deadbeats dropped substantially.
Plenty more to come. As I said, I've been doing this for over 18 years. I still haven't "seen it all" because stupidity has no limits, nor does greed and selfishness and pure hatred.
Back in the 90's I worked for a franchise that boasted "you're not going to pay a lot for this muffler!" Yeah. That one. In addition to exhaust work, we also did a lot of brake work and I was the only brake tech at my store. One of the things we advertised was "free brake inspections". True, that brought in a lot of traffic that many times resulted in sales, but it also brought in the deadbeats in droves.
My shop was located right smack dab in the ghetto. All day long it was "I want a free brake inspection!" and I'd have to bring the p.o.s. (piece of shit) in, pull all 4 wheels, thoroughly inspect the entire brake system, get into the catalogs and on the phone to source parts, and give an estimate for repairs. Only to have the moocher ask for a written copy and then go to Autozone to buy the parts and have someone else do the work.
Or worse, they'd take the estimate to DFACS (state welfare department) and the taxpayers would pay for the work. Oh and in those cases, the car would always have custom wheels and an expensive stereo system.
Finally we got tired of the deadbeats costing us money. So after a little wrangling with Corporate, we changed the "free" part of the inspections. Yes it would still be free but only if the customer did the required repairs. Otherwise it would cost $20.
And even if they paid the $20 fee, there would be no itemized estimate. I threw that one in there myself. No more sending sales to Autozone.
Oh man did that ever cause some heads to explode. I heard every possible attempt to get around that fee and then some. This was the ghetto, getting stuff for free is a way of life. One claimed he needed a written estimate to give to DFACS. I said "sure no problem! I'll just fax it to them!" and then had to explain that they were the customer and not him and no he would not get a free list of parts to take to Autozone.
After about a month of that, we finally learned where all the requests for free inspections were coming from. Phone rang, I answered, and it was the manager of the Autozone around the corner. He proceeded to bitch me out for charging for inspections. Seems he'd been sending HIS do-it-yourself customers to me to find out what they needed and I was supposed to be doing it for free. I was costing him sales!!!!!
I let him rant and rave and foam at the mouth. Then when he stopped I said in my Sergeant's voice: "give me the number for your district manager. NOW!"
Dead silence for about 2 seconds and then "click!" as he hung up. After that, the number of deadbeats dropped substantially.
Plenty more to come. As I said, I've been doing this for over 18 years. I still haven't "seen it all" because stupidity has no limits, nor does greed and selfishness and pure hatred.
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