What has happened to customer service?

[bill440rt]

Riding a motorcycle through half of the winter because your car was hit by a snow plow, Nothing to it!! Ok, it was kinda cold.. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qnv8uo8RcY

[Steve P.]

 

[Troy]

Geez I really do need a "missing the point" smiley!

Cooter, since you didn't actually read anything other than the subject, here's "the point" spelled out in plain English:
In all the years you've been on here you've routinely bitched about stupid, idiotic, asshole, know-it-all customers with unrealistic expectations. (Links provided.) You supposedly have no issue telling them where to "shove it" or explaining that they need to cough up more cash for your expertise. Now, when you need someone else to look bad, you are suddenly the Mother Theresa of mechanics? Not a chance! I doubt anyone here is fooled.

I get your point perfectly fine. It goes something like this: "Do as I say not as I do."

Troy

[General_01]

Just wondering when your deep love of the Customer and their feelings came about. Must be fairly recent...

The customer nowadays doesn't give a rats ass how you're getting paid and for what. They just want their car fixed correctly, and the first time. Like it or not, it is the customer who's supplying your paycheck.

:

And this is why OUR shop is set up to tell "Customers" like you to go straight to hell with that kind of attitude. This is the "un-understanding" side of things that makes me wish some of you worked on cars for about a year...You wouldn't have that attitude very long..My Bossman told me not to even try to explain this as NON E would give a sh*t...Damn, I hate when he's right....Contrary to popular belief, the Customer is NOT always right..Most are idiots looking for someone to blame for them buying a German POS car....You bought that POS Dan, now either live with Mechanics that don't want/need/can't work on it, or trade the damn thing off....

More from same thread:
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,83101.msg932027.html#msg932027
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,83101.msg932472.html#msg932472
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,83101.msg932656.html#msg932656

Others:
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?topic=94127.0
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,83101.msg932027.html#msg932027
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,104557.msg1245389.html#msg1245389

We call these type car owners "Reputation Breakers", instead of "Money makers". unfortunately, My Business owners in this to make a living. Can't do that if you have to give the work away four times to someone that's overly "Anal". Some will b*tch simply because that's how they built their entire car, by complaining about everything until they have very little if any, money invested at the end. Those types we tend to simply stay away from. GOOD friends however "Anal" they may be, tend to know that if you piss-off a good "Mechanic", there's always a bad one that's willin' to "Work" on your sh*t for free.

It's just a small sample.

Troy

First thing that came to my mind when I read this post. The pot calling the kettle black, eh Cooter. 

[Cooter]

Geez I really do need a "missing the point" smiley!

Cooter, since you didn't actually read anything other than the subject, here's "the point" spelled out in plain English:
In all the years you've been on here you've routinely bitched about stupid, idiotic, asshole, know-it-all customers with unrealistic expectations. (Links provided.) You supposedly have no issue telling them where to "shove it" or explaining that they need to cough up more cash for your expertise. Now, when you need someone else to look bad, you are suddenly the Mother Theresa of mechanics? Not a chance! I doubt anyone here is fooled.

I get your point perfectly fine. It goes something like this: "Do as I say not as I do."

Troy

Again, apples to oranges. But, just like when "the majority" seems to see something one way, on online forums, this has been used to lend credit to idiotic and outright lies. Once someone has mastered the art of misinformation posts, one can make it seem that one thing is the same as another when it is all but never that simple. Again, you missed my point, but because you do have the art of misdirection/information, attempting to explain the latter is an exercise in futility.

Once again, when asking for a simple picture, and asking for the impossible repair on PITA German cars is finally seen as a difference, will you understand. Until then, it's like trying to tell you about how left lane drivers should slow down.
I WAS ASKING THIS QUESTION FOR COUSIN WAYNE. It has nothing to do with me.
you will never get it as long as you have an audience that seems to make you appear to have a point. Once it's one on one out on the road, everything changes.(vigilante justice/self appointed or not).... As with anything in life. Everybody has the facts/truth/etc. On their side until a real world situation presents itself....then, all the facts in the world won't help you. It's a whole different situatikn. Facts don't mean a hill-o-beans. You blast by some road raging person, you go right ahead and spout out facts. Lemme know how that one worked out in real time, instead of an online forum.
I simply refer to treat everything as if I'm in real time. Sometimes, this may/may not work in my favor. This is one of those times. I deal with what normally happens whether it is provable online or not.
these sombitches Coulda snapped a pic. It is as simple as that. Even I have done the simple things without gripe for free.
now, AGAIN, if I had asked them to take pics, but not just of the chroming, but of the entire process from start to finish. Every step like when I do restore work.....I'd expect you to have your point. "Majority" or not.

BTW. I called big Joe C. Asked him if when he was calling round looking for chromers, if the chromer he settled on took pics.
reply was sure. They took before AND after pics.
so, it certainly is not unheard of and it certainly can be done. Is done, and these ass clowns will never do anymore work for my customers. Sorry I don't have any links to make my post 'appear' to misdirect anybody into believing me.

As I type, there's a commercial on TV touting the Tremec trans as the baddest OD trans ever conceived for super high HP street apps.
I know one person posting about how one only lasted 4passes in their 950 HP at the rear wheels, fox body isn't gonna change any minds here about how grwat thou art when it comes to Tremec transmissions. All I can do is get it posted for a quick "I told you so" when it's in a bucket one day. But inevitably, some members will type out how they've never hadda problem, and mine was a one time deal, etc.
50 replies touting how great they are, are enough to convince over three with broken ones. Plus, TV commercials.
I know the aluminum case trans's won't hold up to "super high hp apps", but I don't have 50 replies on my side either.

[Cooter]

First thing that came to my mind when I read this post. The pot calling the kettle black, eh Cooter. 

So you read one post and hth ave it all figured out.....

[General_01]

First thing that came to my mind when I read this post. The pot calling the kettle black, eh Cooter. 

So you read one post and hth ave it all figured out.....

I think that is probably about the 100th time I have seen you post that response to someone who disagrees with you. The problem is just what Troy pointed out. Your a guy who comes on here to bitch about the customers you deal with and brag about how you put them in their place and then have the balls to come on here and gripe about how your friend was treated. Sounds like he got your clone on the other end of the line. So yes, I would say I have it all figured out in this situation Mr. Pot. 

[Cooter]

First thing that came to my mind when I read this post. The pot calling the kettle black, eh Cooter. 

So you read one post and hth ave it all figured out.....

I think that is probably about the 100th time I have seen you post that response to someone who disagrees with you. The problem is just what Troy pointed out. Your a guy who comes on here to bitch about the customers you deal with and brag about how you put them in their place and then have the balls to come on here and gripe about how your friend was treated. Sounds like he got your clone on the other end of the line. So yes, I would say I have it all figured out in this situation Mr. Pot. 

Ok, your certainly entitled to your opinion, be it as incorrect as you wish, or as incorrect as you seem to think I am.
mr. Kettle.

[JB400]

I think that maybe you ought to reread the posts that you're referencing Troy.  From what I read, your references were not of the way Cooter treats his customers, but just his opinions on the situations with his customers.  Kinda like a Dear Diary entry.  I think you need a confession from Cooter of how he treats his customers to be relevant in this situation.

[Cooter]

I think that maybe you ought to reread the posts that you're referencing Troy.  From what I read, your references were not of the way Cooter treats his customers, but just his opinions on the situations with his customers.  Kinda like a Dear Diary entry.  I think you need a confession from Cooter of how he treats his customers to be relevant in this situation.

Once, I will confess, I did see the boss fire a guy with an older Mercedes. His wife had one with no dipstick and kept stopping at the local filling station to get a quart of oil. Evidently, her "oil level low" light was malfunctioning, so when we installed her transmission that she provided, we had it running and the engine blow right in the parking lot.
we drained over gallons or something out of it. Yeah, after it knocked the oil pump off the front of the engine!
Her husband evidently hadn't been informed that she had been just sticking oil in it for weeks, and began with the "it was fine until you worked on it" thing. Had a really nasty attitude about it. Unlike cousin Wayne.

I have informed cousin Wayne that while other chromers have taken pictures of before and after their work, it is totally up to him.
he's just not one to call em to the mat. I am. He told me to hold off until he gets his parts back as even if they screw em up (which I tried to assure him they most likely wouldn't), at least he'll have these 'unobtanium' pieces. ..

[Steve P.]

When I was 17 years old I worked for a company that designed and built their own alarm systems. That was our main money. But we also did wiring harnesses and some assembly work for Kodak and some other large companies.

One day while the line was backed up due to a broken stud inside an electrical box, the boss came out wanting to know what was the problem. The woman who had the job of attaching the harness to that stud and then sending it to the next person, said she has a box with a broken stud. The boss looked at why it could not just be put aside for someone to repair it later, but due to the way the work was done to make money and keep the line moving, it had to be fixed or the harness that was attached and still being worked on by three people in front of her and another behind her would all have to stop and that meant no money being made. I suggested putting another person on the line that knew all the parts of the assembly that could also make repairs without taking more than one person out of play. I ended up with that job and the line moved faster than it had beforehand. QC went to 100% from close to it, but the big thing was that the line did not have to stop.

I know nothing about chrome shops or how they work, but from what I have seen on tv it looks like parts go through many stages and that they only run when they have enough parts to be worth the chemicals. 

So if chrome shops work on the same idea of assembly lines, I can easily see why they would not take the time to pull an order. Figure out where it is on the line. Stop that person from doing his job and maybe others as well. Take some pics. Make sure they came out worth a damn. Figure out how to send them. Send them and then answer someone who says: I really can't tell with the lighting and the chrome is reflecting the flash right back at the parts, so I can't see shit. Will you take more???

It is sad if the guy really was harsh on the phone. That is not good in ANY business. But to ask this of someone and be pissed that they would not do it is ludacris!!  And I have read all of this. Apples and Oranges or cars and trucks. Doesn't matter. What does matter is DID HE GET WHAT HE PAID FOR!!  He asked for an option and they said no. The end!! Now we wait to see the result of the work.. If he doesn't like it, now he has room to complain...

On the other hand, if I were the owner of said company and I read online that someone was making a big stink to the World about my business when it is horse shit, I would probably take a picture of me pissing on the parts!!!   

[Cooter]

Wayne just left. I told him about the responses I got here. He told me he wasn't too surprized as he guessed many feel the same way for whatever reasons.

He just didn't understand why they got so short with him. Condescending almost. That is the real root of all this sh*t.
bottom line? He won't be using them again, neither will I. I will continue to speak about the nastiness to all my buddies because not only was it rude as hell, but it was uncalled for. As far as piss on the parts? I would hope he didn't.  Wayne is a lawyer.

[Steve P.]

WOW!! That's funny.. A lawyer being pissed that someone else was condescending!! 

Cooter, have you ever had them do any work for you?? If so, how did it look? Were you satisfied?

Why is it that no one can ever let someone else go as having a bad day? 

[tracpack440]

 

[Cooter]

Cooter, have you ever had them do any work for you?? If so, how did it look? Were you satisfied?

Why is it that no one can ever let someone else go as having a bad day?  

First part. Yes, that's why I referred them( I was a little disappointed, but none of my junk is anywhere near the level of some of the cars here, so kept it to myself. Nobody noticed the flaws as of yet anyway, so all good), and told him while I don't think it's 'normal' for chromers to do this, some have for big Joe C. And "I didn't see where it shoulda been a problem". Obviously, I was wrong. No matter. They have lost mine and his along with anyone else I run into's business. If I got on tge phone and talked this way to my customers, id expect no less.

Second part. IMO when your in business, bad days happen, but it's not ness. Always good to take it out on the customer. Especially, a new one. I was mistaken on this as well. To put where you (Steve), can understand, why is it those who park in your driveway can't just be chalked up having a bad day, in a hurry, etc; and let it go?
I mean they eventually do move right? Or is this apples to oranges again?

[Back N Black]

 

[rt green]

wow. i cant belive i wasted all this time reading this post.

[Steve P.]

Cooter, if you saw flaws and didn't like what they had done for you, why didn't you call them and straighten it out or send it back? Obviously they did a good enough job for you to accept their work!! Or maybe this is part of why you are so pissed that 1 person may have been pissy on the phone 1 time?

As for the neighbors parking in my driveway. Yeah, that is apples and apples.

[Cooter]

You might not belive this Steve, but I'm not one to break balls unless mine have been broken first.
the flaws really didn't warrant a whiney complaint imo, and you would be correct in assuming it was "good enough".

I guess I figured they'd just be cooler about all this than they were. I assumed wrong. Like Troy said, "end of Discussion" so to speak.
but, I refuse to let this little flaw ride. Wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't recommended them as being very professional, and good to work with. Now, I'm sure I'll get the "You sure bout using this company? Remember what happened last time" thing for the remainder of the restoration.

I restored a Road runner for another customer in Wisconsin. LaCrosse. I recommended a local machine shop to do his 440.
Told him I was having these size valves installed for more hp, etc. I get the engine back and the valves 'Cliff' at the machine shop charged my customer $16.00 each for, were NOT the 2.080/ 1.880 I asked for, but rather 2.080/1.740.

When I called back to ask WTF? I got the "well, we never talked about bigger valves. Really? So I never talked to you in DEPTH about how Max Wedge valves barely fit when you run the Sorta machine in to cut the seats? For over 15 min?!
Bottom line, dude wouldn't return money, wouldn't make it right, nothing. $4300.00 in a 440, and no customer service.

Yeah, he got some bad reviews at the local cruise nights as well. Was it MY fault? No, but I'm the one left cleaning up this mess these 'bad day' asshats leave behind for my customers. Did it run ok? Sure, but it wasn't what I was told it was gonna be.

[Troy]

Now that's something to bitch about! Pretty simple I think. Tell a shop what you want, they agree, then they do something else. That's when their customer service comes under scrutiny. I had a machine shop that refused to put my build in writing so I went back over and took all my parts home. I wasn't going to wait until my checked cleared to find out they didn't do what they said (been there, done that).

Troy

[Steve P.]

I agree and I have also been there. The shop I took my present 440 to came recommended. They did everything they were supposed to do, but then left my short block uncovered on a stand in front of the shop door with a 48" or bigger fan blowing into the shop. There is my motor on the stand as I am driving in to pick it up and I see all the sand and dust blowing right in on it from me driving in!!!  I FLIPPED!!!!! Worse yet, a few months later we are out to dinner with friends and they introduce us to another couple that they went to school with.. Doesn't the guy start chatting cars and isn't the asshat owner of the dust bowl her FATHER!!!!! I found this out while telling them about going to pick up my engine... Here I am telling this guy what an asshat the owner of the machine shop was and why. He says: Where the hell is this loser?? I told him: Range Rd. in Clearwater. She about came out of her seat!!

I still think you are too worried about a simple phone call. You recommended a place. You didn't answer the phone! You got good service. Enough to not have an issue with them and tell others about them.

If you didn't like them you might have recommended someone else. Who's to say another place would be a bowl of cherries on the phone? Everyone has a bad day now and then. Why let it bother you? I have read plenty of your bad days, or is it just us that gets to hear about them?

You could have simply told you cousin to be optimistic and not worry about the guy on the phone. Anything could have irritated him before hand. No biggie....

[69hemidaytona]

I'm not sure why I spent all of the time it took to read this whole thread, but now that I did I might as well comment on it too. I guess I don't know why you would want a photo of the parts right before they are sent back to you. You said you weren't questioning their workmanship. You know what the parts are. What were you hoping to learn from a photo that you don't already know? You won't be able to fully assess the quality until they are in your hands anyway. You can't compare this to buying something on ebay and wanting pictures before you make a decision. You already made the decision and they are your parts. Whats done is done. Furthermore you said you only asked for one photo. What percentage of the two parts will show in a single photo? Certainly not all of it. My guess is you would be asking for several photos of every square inch of both pieces, otherwise what is the point? If I was the business owner I would be thinking about it from that perspective. 

[Cooter]

I'm not sure why I spent all of the time it took to read this whole thread, but now that I did I might as well comment on it too. I guess I don't know why you would want a photo of the parts right before they are sent back to you. You said you weren't questioning their workmanship. You know what the parts are. What were you hoping to learn from a photo that you don't already know? You won't be able to fully assess the quality until they are in your hands anyway. You can't compare this to buying something on ebay and wanting pictures before you make a decision. You already made the decision and they are your parts. Whats done is done. Furthermore you said you only asked for one photo. What percentage of the two parts will show in a single photo? Certainly not all of it. My guess is you would be asking for several photos of every square inch of both pieces, otherwise what is the point? If I was the business owner I would be thinking about it from that perspective.  

Im buying their services. Therefore, Wayne, not I, just wanted a picture of the service they are offering.. before he bought.
contrary to popular belief,  you own your home, but you want pictures of the work performed by a contractor right?
What's the point? You know what your getting.
what's done isn't done yet. He called last night, told me the more he thought about it the more pissed he got.
told me he paid for what was already done and yanked the parts. They are going to a chromers big Joe C. Recommended that will take pics of their work before sending out. I told him I don't blame him.

[69hemidaytona]

I'm sorry if I misunderstood. I thought that you or your friend had already sent them the parts and that the rechroming was completed and they were ready to send them back to you. I thought that you wanted a photo of the completed parts right before they were sent back to you. If thats not the situation I apologize.

[Cooter]

I'm sorry if I misunderstood. I thought that you or your friend had already sent them the parts and that the rechroming was completed and they were ready to send them back to you. I thought that you wanted a photo of the completed parts right before they were sent back to you. If thats not the situation I apologize.

I didn't,  Wayne DID. and yes, he DID want a picture of the chrome parts before shipping out.
they refused, so I recommended yet another shop that was glad to snap before and after pics if their work.
they are double what I thought it would cost for two bumper guards,  ($300.00/pair), but they are taking care of him and that's all this whole thread was about before it got sidetracked as many tend to get.

I Will try to get tge pics and post them of the completed parts before they ship and after he receives them.