Who wants to start a company with me??
Here’s the deal. I got my air con fixed last year (needed to be recharged) but then it crapped out about two weeks ago. So I called the place I had it done and they said to bring it in.
When I dropped the car off that morning, I told the punk I wanted the air con fixed. Said punk said it was no problemo. Then I said, since I’m here, can you change the oil? I’m overdue. And by the way, the ‘Check Engine’ light on my dash is on, but don’t worry about it. My dad had someone look at it and the technical explanation was ‘Something between here (the dash) and here (the engine) is no connect.” (My dad has a greek accent). I explained to the punk that my understanding was the light can’t be cleared out until my car talks to a computer and gets the ‘code’ cleared. He said, “Oh, we have a computer. We can do that for you.”
Things the punk left out #1 – Their establishment doesn’t do air con anymore. So when they called me at 10.30am I was quite surprised to find out that not only can they not fix it, they can’t even look for a leak to see if that’s why it failed. A further conversation ruled out them taking any blame for it failing. Another conversation about why I wasn’t informed of their no air con service ended with another young punk (a girl this time) telling me that not everyone who works there knows what services they offer.
You know, when I worked at Starbucks, everyone knew how to make coffee.
Things the punk left out #2 – Hooking the computer up to my car is an automatic 90.00 diagnostic fee. FASCISTS!!
So, at the end of the day, I’m left with only an oil change and a tire rotate and I’m out 200 bucks. BARK!!
But I consoled myself that at least the ‘Check Engine’ light was finally turned off and people would stop asking me about it.
Guess what turned on again this afternoon . . .
What say a bunch of us girls get together, take some automotives class and open up a mechanic shop? Think of how great it would be for women to talk to other women about their cars? No one makes fun of you when you imitate the sound your car is making. No one looks at you weird when you explain that you brought it in because it just ‘isn’t driving right.’ No one jeers at you when they open up your glove compartment and six candy bar wrappers and a tampon fall out. We could hold classes: How to change your break light. How to change your wiperblades. Why what your boyfriend is saying is BS because he doesn’t know jack about cars.
Who’s in?
i’m in!
it’s SO hard to find a decent mechanic. they’re all either screwing you over (by not repairing what you asked them to repair) or bending you over (by charging 90 bucks an hour or more for labor). gita, it sounds like you got the double whammy yesterday. and isn’t it refreshing to know that these are the kind of folks who have your life in their hands (seeing as how being in a one ton peice of machine hurtling down a highway at 120 kilometers an hour when your thingamabobby falls off is probably not the safest thing)? “i only know about brakes, i don’t know about brake FLUID…” dang.
my friend stacey’s dad is an amateur mechanic. she’s never had to pay for an oil change or a diagnostic in her life. i try to drop little hints to her when my car is on the fritz, trying to get her to hook me up with her dad and presumably, the friend of stacey discount, but she guards him and his time like a hawk, darn it. she has no idea how lucky she is…
I agree with Ashleigh, it is very difficult to find a good, honest mechanic. One that I can recommend is out in Strathmore, Brent at Excel (I think that is the name) is fantastic, one of the only mechanics that outlines
1. what has to be done
2. what should be done in the next six months
3. what you can do if you have more money and time than you know what to do with.
Heidi and I took our cars out there for two years, I always left his place with more money in my pocket than I expected and if there was any issues after the job was done, it was fixed gratis.