cacasesi said:
My local engine building/dyno shop has been nothing but nice to me the couple of times I've tuned there. My friends have had similar experiences there. They are very professional, and when you're giving someone $100+/hr., you should expect a level of professionalism. The plumber *only* charges $80/hr. and he'd better be polite and respectful or he's out of work. There's no reason to accept that you're going to be treated poorly by anyone you're paying.
you're absolutely right! just for clarity, i wasn't saying that you should accept being treated POORLY.
what i was saying is that you will be treated DIFFERENT and that it is noticeable. if you're a stranger, you won't necessarily be disrespected, but you'll notice the guy who has money and the guy who knows the owner (or one of the mechanics) when they pull up. it's life ...
93turbodeuce said:
Im not speaking on behalf of ats or anyone else for that matter. But just to bring up another side to the story, I absolutely hate it when customers watch me work on thier cars. Im not a frickin zoo animal!!!!!
this is one of the reasons right here. some customers are very unreasonable in what they expect and whether it's paranoia or some control-issues they will annoy the hell out of you while you're trying to work. questions are one thing, but when they put themselves in the work area and start nagging about what this does and what that does, not to mention put themselves in danger (and would be the first to reach for that "S"-word this country loves so much ... it will make you very chilly to someone you don't know yet.
Turbolvr82 said:
Not a personal attack on you, but many mechanics are crooked, lazy, or both. Either way it results in a job poorly done to a car you have invested a lot in and will have to spend even more on due to incompetence or dishonesty. I am one of those types of customers that you hate. In the unfortunate event that there is a job that I don't have the tools to complete myself, I take it to a shop and stand out there and watch them the whole time.
I do this for two reasons; first of all I want to make sure it is done right and that they don't try to pull anything or break something and pretend they didn't, and second I am interested in the way cars work and it is fun to watch stuff getting taken apart. I learned my lesson early on before I worked on cars myself when I would leave my car with a mechanic only to end up getting screwed over in the end with no proof because I didn't realize that things weren't right until later. Again this is not an attack on you as I'm sure you are a reputable mechanic, but try to understand where people are coming from when they pay somebody large sums of money to work on their car that they have put a lot of time and money into.
and yes ... this is the flipside to the coin, because some mechanics are pieces of _____! period!
i used to work/hang at my friend's shop, which was actually 1 shop with 4 indepedent mechanics. my friend works on your car and will give you what you pay him to give you.
however, one of the other guys used to drive customer cars to pick up parts and every once in a while he'd crash, then lie to the owner. if i'm leaking ... so what, this is what happens at some places, like it or not.
to be honest, it was witnessing stuff like this that made me a better mechanic and that's why i WILL NOT have someone else work on my car unless it's absolutely necessary. i do everything!