douchebag mechanic didnt know i was smart LMFAO

i acted like an adult today in a situation i normally would have acted like a crazy bitch in.

cliffsnotes version


before i went home for the summer i took my car in to have a gasket valve cover replaced... that is ALL i wanted fixed, ONE gasket valve.

they get the part in, i take my car in and they say, OH we need another part, we will order it and call you when we get it. (this happened before i left to go home).

so while i am in the states my parts come in, and i make my apt to get the damn gasket valve cover replaced when i get back to germany. well its my appt FINALLY and i take the car in at 8am, i have no other car and no ride so i say "i will wait, replacing one valve cover will not take that long, i will walk down and have breakfast and hang out at the coffee shop, call me when its ready". I sit and sit all day, at 2 I finally walk back and they are JUST NOW pulling my car back, WTF? I had an 8am appointment. So at 3, I ask when it will be finished and she says he just started working and it would be done tomorrow. WELL FUCK YOU GUYS I had an 8 am appt and it was ONE FUCKING THING TO FIX. I gave them plenty of time. I KINDLY explained to the girl that I had one car and three kids and lived 30 min away and had been patiently waiting all day while I saw the guys in the shop goof around and act like they didnt have ANYTHING to do, they had their kids in the shop and no one was working like they should have been. One dude had his 2 year old at work in the damn garage fucking around with equipment. THAT is probably why no one started working on my car when it was supposed to be worked on at 8am.

SO fast forwArd to today. I wait till 1pm, call and see if it is ready. She says I can head up there and that they are just finishing up. Well I am confused as to WHY it is taking TWO DAYS to replace a valve cover. Seems WAY excessive.................. I could have done it in less time with my landlord. Seriously! I thought the shop would do it faster and damn was I wrong.

I get to the counter and she hands me my slip and HMMM WTF? It says I owe them $500, I keep my cool and ask if she can explain to me why I own $500 for the job they did, my estimate was like $65 for labor plus what I paid for the damn part.............. Turns out they decided to replace all sorts of shit under my hood, and NO ONE called me to tell me they were going to do it, NO ONE called me to have me sign a new estimate.

I kept calm and talked like a grown person HAHA and finally the shop manager called me back and said that his tech assumed I wanted it all fixed since all the parts came in the kit they used to replace the one valve. WTF? Why would he assume I wanted $500 of work done when I only signed for the first estimate, and what normal person goes in expecting to pay less than $100 and gladly forks over $500 for some random shit they didnt ask for.

The manager told me that I would pay my orig. estimate and they would eat the cost, and I told him HELL YES they would eat the cost on the rest of the shit because I did not ask for any of it.

FUCKING LOSERS, atleast I got some shit fixed for free.........

JUST BECAUSE I AM A GIRL DOES NOT MEAN I AM A DUMBASS WHEN IT COMES TO MY CAR. I worked on cars and harleys with my dad for long enough to know that this is NOT how you treat ladies who know what the fuck they are talking about.

 

You give me inspiration as I expect this to happen to me at some point in the future because a) I know nothing about car mechanics (I hate being a 'typical girl' in this area, must study) and b) I'm a total push-over.

Good on ya!

 

I don't really know if it was a sex issue, but good job for not letting them dick you around.

 

may not have been because i am female, but i hate to say it, guys normally think girls don't know about cars...........

i have been thru a few cars, and all of them have needed work so this guy really must not have known what was coming. going $50 over the estimate is one thing, but $300 over, that is absurd...

 

i am sorry you were treated that way, especially if those d-bags treated you that way because you are female.

you're right, guys commonly don't think women know anything about cars, and often overcharge women for services, etc. it's amazing how differently my girlfriends have been treated when i go with them to get their car worked on, etc.

 

Good job with handling the situation so smoothly.

You will always get more accomplished if you are courteous but know what you want.

 

Good on you for not going all 'crazy bitch'. Someday I hope to achieve that level of maturity.