The nerve of some people

[Chris142]

About 3 months ago I made a rubber AC line and recharged a Freightliner truck. Thing was working great.

3 months later one of the Aluminum lines under the sleeper cracked and leaked all the R134a out.

This is not my fault. I can't predict failures like this.

Guy brings the truck back. Instead of charging him labor out the wazoo to replace the line + the price of a new line from Freightliner I cut the bad spot out and welded a barb on it then made a new line out of Rubber.

But I wasn't able to weld the line outside in the wind and the truck wont fit in our shop.

I grabbed my weld on barb, Aluminum welding rod and a Propane torch. I took the truck down the street to a trucking company that has a tall enough building to get the truck inside and out of the wind.

I talked them into letting me do my work in their shop.I got that done then drove the truck back to my shop and continued on with the repair.

We charged the guy $267.00 for the repair, Labor to pull enough of the line out so I could weld it, 3.5 lbs of R134a etc.

When he came to get the truck he threw a fit! He thinks we overcharged him. I bet this repair @ Freightliner would be atleast double what we charged him.

Plus theres not any other shop around that can do on the car/truck line repairs and I know that no other shop would go out of their way to get the truck inside where repairs could be made.

Then after he pays his bill he gets in the truck which has been sitting in the sun all day (It's 105*) and complains that the AC isn't cold enough.

It's got to be 150* inside that truck and he expects it to cool off in 30 seconds?

So we open the hood. The suction line is cold all the way back to the compressor. My digital thermometer is showing 29* blowing out the vents!

How cold does he want it?

Dude's just a complainer. Next time he can go pay Freightliners prices.

:Rant off:

 

[GMBoy]

It's stories like this that stop me from opening my own shop. I have the skills and equipment and people I do work for all tell me I should....but these few a-holes just prevent me from doing it.

Sorry to hear, dude - you did a great job there!

 

[chubbs1]

That is going above and beyond! He didn't know that and a lot of people are hurting for cash so maybe he was just "out of sorts". At least you are home knowing you did a great job. As you said when he finds out eventually how much FL'er will charge him for work he'll get a lesson taught to him.

 

[aznboi24]

You did a great job, went out of your way and did the guy a favor. Tell him to never come back. You should have told him to get a quote from freightliner to see how much the repair would have been.

 

[bdcardinal]

Some people you just can't please.

I had a customer that needed a heater case for his Town Car same day. I went and found the closest dealer was down in LA, and called for him to make sure they had it and got him directions. He came back that afternoon calling me incompetent and all sorts of other things because the one in stock at the dealer down south was damaged in box, we call it concealed damage. It happens and I told him his beef was with that dealer, not me.

This same Town Car was modified into a limo. The coach builder added a water control valve on the heater core inlet hose. This started leaking and he would not accept that Town Cars from the factory don't have this part. I told him if he brought the old one in I would try to match it up to another one Ford uses.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal

This same Town Car was modified into a limo. The coach builder added a water control valve on the heater core inlet hose. This started leaking and he would not accept that Town Cars from the factory don't have this part. I told him if he brought the old one in I would try to match it up to another one Ford uses.
Whats up with Limo companies? They are as bad as this truck driver I had today. The AC systems are added on..........More like hacked on W/O upgrading the Condensor, Hose clamps that leak and bukoo miles which = several Compressor failures that were never repaired properly and they want the AC to keep that huge space in the back ice cold on the Vegas strip in August.

 

[oilboy123]

The last time I worked in a auto shop was in 1991. I remember some of those customers. I had not worked in any shop until 2 months ago, but it's a boat shop.
I tell my sister she is impossible to please when it comes to auto repairs. I have repaired cars in a shop, I was a service adviser in a Sea Ray boat dealership, and I have been a customer in a shops having my car worked on under warranty etc.
So with this I tell my sister she is expecting perfection and wants to talk forever about her car problems to the shops etc. She also is always thinking that she is getting ripped off. I tell her to take a chill pill, but she is oblivious to what I'm saying. So this is the logic of the illogical customer......

Sounds like you went above and beyond. Some people have gotten burned in the past and feel like any repair that is not dirt cheap and they are going to be mad and cry murder.
Maybe the next time he comes in "after getting charged up the ying yang by another shop" you guys should tell him that we can't work on your truck anymore...........

 

[hounddog]

I know this sounds mean but I have had a [censored] complain like that. I have cut the line in front of him. Let all the freon out. Ruined the repair and told him no charge. Find someone else to fix it. I have women complain about the type of 'loaner car' they got. I said fine. Give me the keys back and go find your own. Parked the 'loaner'. I was done.

 

[Shannow]

Chris, need more details of joining Al with propane...sounds like I need some stuff.

When I was thinking of becoming a mechanic, I got a job as a console operator at a garage, where the head mechanic was a bloke who apprenticed with Mercedes Germany, and worked at Bosch on F.I. systems...

After seeing every excuse under the sun to not pay him (for two hours to overhaul a Weber ADM as an eg.), I decided to become an engineer instead.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: GMBoy
It's stories like this that stop me from opening my own shop. I have the skills and equipment and people I do work for all tell me I should....but these few a-holes just prevent me from doing it.

Sorry to hear, dude - you did a great job there!



Agreed....they just don't understand....

 

[SteveSRT8]

As a long term biz owner i can tell you there are ALWAYS a few special folks.

Fire them first. I've gotten so good my radar can smell them a mile out!

I politely tell them we're just not a good fit. Then on to the next one!

"Some will, some won't. So what! Whose next?"

 

[scurvy]

My mechanic friend keeps a grading system for his customers, just like college: A, B, C, D & F.

A: Always welcome. Might be tight but I'll squeeze you in.
B: Busy, but I can probably get to you in a week or so.
C: Can't get you in for several weeks, maybe a month.
D: Go to the dealership.
F: F&%$ YOU!

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Chris, need more details of joining Al with propane...sounds like I need some stuff.

Theres several different types of rods and fluxes. It's only good for thin auminum like AC lines, Wont weld thick stuff.

This is the stuff I used.

http://www.docsblocks.com/proddetail.asp?prod=AA0491

 

[Chris142]

Heres more info.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMgYPFpGytY

http://muggyweld.com/aluminum.html

 

[urchin]

Chris you are simply too nice.

I would have charged him more just due to his attitude. The reason being you don't ever want that jerk coming back.

 

[Spazdog]

People are impossible.

When I worked for an independant repair shop, we had a customer drop off his Olds Eighty-Eight with a bad transmission. True, it did come in under it's own power but just barely. It was more slip than go.

Verdict? Needs an overhaul.

Customer signs the estimate and leaves.

I call him about two days later to let him know that his car is complete. Left a message.
Called him every business day to remind him that his car is complete. No one ever answers.
After a month, my boss gives me the go-ahead to call the title company and file a mechanic's lien. That will be another month before we get it. So two full months and this guy is still a no show.
We put the car out with a For Sale sign. Sells in about another month so about 3 months total.

Guess who shows up about 6 months later? Wants his car.

Took us to small claims court. We provided all the signed estimate, proof of the certified letters, and the call log, everything....we lost. The JP told us that he, "didn't care that we had somehow obtained a so-called legal title, You can't sell this man's car." this particular Justice of the Peace was later removed for abuse of power and corruption

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

There are customers who are not worth the trouble. I suspect that this guy is one of them.

 

[Spazdog]

Another customer brought in her 4 cylinder '83 Cimarron. Verdict? destroyed cylinder head and gasket.
She became combative when I informed her how much it would cost to repair her car.
The shop owner let her take the car without paying the diagnostic fee. She paid nothing.
She took us to small claims court for the amount of the estimate.
She won. Showed up in an oversized pink t-shirt and fuzzy slippers to court and she won. The JP didn't even let us testify. Said, "Give her her money back."
Money back? She never paid us anything.
"If you say another word I'll hold you in contempt... judgement for the plaintiff."

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Another customer brought in her 4 cylinder '83 Cimarron. Verdict? destroyed cylinder head and gasket.
She became combative when I informed her how much it would cost to repair her car.
The shop owner let her take the car without paying the diagnostic fee. She paid nothing.
She took us to small claims court for the amount of the estimate.
She won. Showed up in an oversized pink t-shirt and fuzzy slippers to court and she won. The JP didn't even let us testify. Said, "Give her her money back."
Money back? She never paid us anything.
"If you say another word I'll hold you in contempt... judgement for the plaintiff."


Was that the same yahoo? Or a different yahoo? Some of the judges working do their profession a serious dishonor, like the bad apples in every profession.

I hope you didn't pay her a red cent, as she certainly didn't deserve it.

 

[mechtech2]

You got 29F from R134a in 105F ambient temps after 30 seconds?

That is above average, to say the least!
Probably more like how the Red Sea was parted!