sydneyman

sorry for the rant...

So i made an appointment last week at the only specialty german auto place within an hour of me (had never been there before)to replace my brake lines and flush the system with ATE.

When i made the appointment, i could tell they were the type of place that doesn't like the customer supplying their own parts (i understand why, except that they don't carry ATE and the lines are SS, not exactly a stock part...). Anyways, they consented and i made the appointment for this morning.

Brought the car in and they made it clear what it would cost (250) and that this might make my master cylinder go bad. (whatever, but thanks for letting me know) So i proceed to the waiting room and start reading my book when i hear the lift start to rise.
this is where i need the peer feedback...

i casually look over, as i always do when my car is being worked on, to see if they had the car properly set on the lift. They of course didn't. so i approached the desk and asked if she would let me approach the mechanic. she agreed so i stepped out there... I asked if he wouldn't mind setting the front supports on the frame of the car. I said it was a common mistake and that very few people know about that... he starts to tell me that he is right so i told him it would just make me feel better if he did it the way i asked. he made a weird noise but then agreed and lowered the car to change the lift points...

in the meantime, im back in the waiting room reading my book when i hear my mechanic and the mechanic in the bay next to him bad mouthing me (cursing to high heaven about how pissed HE would be if i asked him the same thing, etc.) i ignored this for a few minutes (they both stopped working during this time to cuss me out...) until i couldn't stand it anymore... i told the desk person that this wasn't working out and that i'd like them to stop. she of course was on the phone the whole time and didn't see any of what happened so she probably thought i was just being a pretentious ***... but anyways my mechanic was relatively civil when he handed me my keys so no real complaints about him...


Im doing the work myself now...

was i out of line here to leave? anyone else cringe when you're in this situation? i know i'd be a little put off if an owner came out and started telling me how to do my job but at the end of the day, if you're working on range rovers and mercedes/porsches all day you'd think they wouldn't cuss you out within ear shot...

JohnKoaWood

Un professional extends far beyone how one conducts yourself while being watched, or dealing directly with a customer...

I too would have told them to stop, and gladly taken the work elsewhere (although the work you were having them do was very easy to do by ones self)...

Good luck!

pkt1213

I don't know. I have a lot of friends that had parents or they themselves have high end cars, they're kind of ******** to people that consider lower in society then them. Might have been having a bad day but still isn't excusable by the service person.

kombatrok

No. I would have done the same thing. I'm fortunate to have a relative with a fantastic shop that specializes in Porsche, BMW and Jag. I try to always take my car there, or a great place that is local to me where they do awesome work as well.

pnbell

It does not sound like the type of people I would want to work on my car... They would probably have screwed up the job somehow anyway...

Your better off doing the work yourself.

V2Rocket

i cant imagine the string of words these guys would have used while trying to attach the pedal to the new master up under the dash...that was a bitch and a half

ernie9468

Nothing out of line with what you did ,when I bring my car for oil change I also bring my own oil & filter since they don't have 20w50 or Mahle in stock ,I get my service done by a small shop which I've been with for years ,they are very careful when hoisting the car,the 944 wasn't that bad but the 968 is lowered so they are taking extra care, they also have rubber softener (pads) & they always use them on the jacking points.Not once in all them years did they argue with me when I tell them to do thing such or such a way.They is no way I'll leave my car unattended anywhere. The only place I do is at my mechanic home garage when is doing major maintenance such as belts ect ect .So there is nothing wrong with doing what you did since if something goes wrong your the one being stuck with it not them, & once damage is done it's done.

sydneyman

good im glad you guys agree. besides they all had filthy poor people hands ewwwwww

sydneyman

man how far away is this shop from south Georgia? might be worth the trip

JohnKoaWood

The nerve of some of the lesser peoples... dirty hands, WTF?

whalebird

Just send them a bill for rocker panel replacement. I've been a tech for a couple of decades, and regardless of the situation, it should be(was for me) a pleasure to engage the customer. Find another shop and tell them why.

carreracoupe997

No you were not out of line. It's your car.

thirdgenbird

When I took my car to the tire shop they came and asked me to show them how and where to lift it. I love friendly techs who care.

Edit:
He also removed and replaced all the lug nuts without an impact at my request. He did curse the "plastic" lug nuts in a joking manner but fully understood the request.

F40LM

Not out of line at all. You were nicer about it than I would have been. It's your car and your money being spent. And I agree that alot of mechanics do not know things about a 944.

True story....a young man in our unit who is a Army mechanic owned a 944 for about two months. When he showed it to me and started to explain how he was going to remove the 'valve cover' and paint it I had to stop and explain to him it was actually the cam tower and it would be a little bit more to it than simply taking the valve cover off a 350 chevy.

michael

kenkawai993

By you intervening, you prevented a bigger incident from occuring. Its bad enough they gave you a hard time and attitude. Imagine dealing with them if they actually broke something...... Its easier (and cheaper) to avoid a car accident then to repair the car. You did the right thing.