Sexist Asshole Lube Attendant

[blas]

Gosh am I good at deceiving thread titles!

I was pretty shocked at the suck of this...normally, I go to this place to get my oil changed every time because the guys are so great and don't treat me like a dumb little girl.

But I had a different guy this time, because I went on a different day than normal, and he must have been senior grease monkey or manager.

Mostly, it's younger guys who do the oil changes, they are all pretty cool as I said. Yesterday, I got a guy about dad's age.....I wanted to kick him in the jewels so hard, if only I hadn't been wearing tennies.

I pull up and he scans the barcode on my car to check the details and history of my car...then he comes up to my car to remove my sticker and check my odometer and he says..."Uhh....I don't think you even need an oil change honey....you haven't even gone the full 3,000 miles yet."

I pointed out "I haven't had an oil change since December 19th...the sticker said it was due on March 19th, but I put it off until today....I don't go by the mileage, I go more by the date and what color the oil is turning...it's getting darker brown."

I wish I hadn't had to even have defended myself. I learned from my dad and my brother that those stickers are just helpful guidelines, but you need to always check your oil periodicially and see what color it is turning, and when it starts getting darker, it's time. The 3 month or 3,000 mile is a good idea, but not always exact. I KNEW I needed a damn oil change. And besides, I could have just left the car sitting on the curb for 3 months, it'd still need to be changed, or even if I just went around town and back home all the time.

The asshole then tries to bully me into an upgraded package oil change that comes with a full inspection and this and that and this and that.....if I wasn't planning on selling my car by summer, I probably would have. I politely told him I just wanted the basic oil change (where they change your oil and fill your fluids and air your tires and check for bulbs that are out). After some more of his bullying "You really need to make sure your brakes are in good condition" or "You NEED this inspected every x1000 miles..." he finally gave up. Thank God I didn't back down on that.

He then tried to bully me into rotating my tires. I actually got snarky with him and asked if the computer was working right, because the history should show I just had them rotated in December at my last change. He then tried to pull his man routine that he knows more about cars than a girl and said "Well, it's recommended that you rotate your tires every 5,000 miles."

For the record, I NEVER rememeber my dad or brother EVER telling me that. They always said always ask to have them check the tread on the tires, and if it's better in the back, then rotate them, otherwise leave it alone.

I told him that I didn't think it was necessary, but if he wanted to check the tread, just go ahead and if the back tires were better than the front, we'll go ahead and do the rotation, because I know that in December, the back tires were at 7 and the front at 6 and I had them rotated, so I KNOW that there's no way the back ones were better than the front yet.

He looked so defeated when he said "Back.....6......" then went to the front and he actually shook his head and sheepishly said "Front is........6 as well. I guess you don't need them rotated."

Wow. So we've already wasted several minutes, this is supposed to be the fastest oil change in town (usually it is, just not today because this syphillis infested sexist cum bubble was working and took issue with me), and now we are just FINALLY getting down to business?

So he inspected for bulbs out....and found that my license plate light and my little brake light on the trunk wasn't working. Yes, I did look to make sure he wasn't fucking with me.

It was nearly 45 minutes before they were done, but there was nothing else wrong with my car or the oil change process.

I will go back there because the other guys are great, but if I ever see that fucknugget again, I will refuse to go to his bay.

[Andara Bledin]

Sheesh.

I'd call in on a day when you know the cool guys are working and let them know that if it weren't for the fact that you knew they were great, his actions would have driven you to go to a different place.

I'm fortunate in that I look like a bit of a tomboy and I have some sort of "don't fuck with me" bubble, so I don't get people trying shit like that with me. I've only ever had one shop tell me that my motor mounts were bad (a common bullshit scam repair, along with u-joints), and I already knew they were bad so I had them replaced. When your tranny has slid forward enough that you have to bump the gear shift to get it to settle into park, you know there's a problem.

^-.-^

[blas]

The best part is, I wasn't even my girly self. I had worked all night Thursday, done laundry and relaxed up until Friday afternoon, and I looked a homely fright.

I was wearing pink track pants, but I had no makeup on, my hair was in a ponytail because I was going to go to the gym right after......and I was wearing a grey zip hoodie with a grey tank and my sports bra under it, with tennies. Not that girly. But I don't really have an aggressive or intimidating vibe.....I guess I come across as too nice or too sweet or dumb, lol.

[Andara Bledin]

I've seen your pics. You have a "girly" quality about you.

I think it's something to do with posture and pose, mostly.

I haven't been even remotely girly in any measure since I was 8 or so. Which is actually fortunate for me since my brother reports that several of the girls I went to high school with would have tried to beat me up if they didn't fear that I'd come out ahead in an altercation.

Little did they know that I'm a pacifist and would have been a pretty easy target.

^-.-^

[HYHYBT]

If you rotate your tires from side to side, you do need to do it every 5000 miles or not too much further, or else not rotate at all; rotating them after too long can cause tread separation. If you only rotate front to back, do it whenever you feel like it. However, if all four tires do not match, then the best two need to stay on the BACK. At least, that's what I've picked up from listening to Car Talk

[Shalom]

When your tranny has slid forward enough that you have to bump the gear shift to get it to settle into park, you know there's a problem.

^-.-^

Or when you step on the gas and the entire engine rears up like it wants to come through the hood.

That was my '79 Pontiac from years back. I found out about the bad motor mounts on my '99 Blazer when the fan started hitting the shroud, making a noise like a coffee grinder. Mechanic told me they were bad, but I should have the Chevy dealer replace them, as he wasn't going to do it. Why not? well, he doesn't have a hoist, and this car has an aluminum oil pan so he can't jack on it. I since found out that there are two protrusions on the bottom of the block for the express purpose of jacking on them for replacement of motor mounts (although you have to get the starter off in order to reach one), but the car has since developed a more expensive problem and I'm just going to get rid of it.

(I won't rant about that here because I already ranted elsewhere. If you want to see that, http://www.blazerforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=42389 .)

[Plaidman]

Seeing as I know nothing of cars, what is rotating tires?

Also, my big city did a strange test about 15 or so years ago I think. Mom told me about it, as its the only place she went to for her car.

A bunch of woman got their cars, had them offically check out. All fine. Nothing wrong with them. They all went to multiple car places, multiple times. (Not just one time each). Every single one, with the exception of ONE out of (40? Mayb 50? It was a high number). all found something wrong with the car when the woman drove it. If it was a guy, yeah nothing wrong. If a woman, three-four things were wrong with. EXCEPT at this one place. They looked and looked, but always said that they can't find anything wrong with it at all. Sorry. For every single car that was fine.

Place is still in business, and it use to be near my last last place, and I do remember always seeing it pretty busy. But still. That was pretty cool, and that study likely made them pretty busy.

[Der Cute]

Seeing as I know nothing of cars, what is rotating tires?

You (car owner) need to rotate tires on a regular basis to ensure even wear and tear on the tire treads.
Even wear and tear = happy alignment, decent mileage
Uneven wear and tear = bad alignment.

LF RF


LR RR


Now when using a car, your tires (above) do their job. But, with engine in front, you have a lot more weight on those tires. I've seen them lose the 'shoulder' edge of the tire a lot faster.

You rotate to change each tire's time in it's position.

so now that car (above) has each tire this way. The letters mean where the tire came from originally.

LR RR

LF RF

Or as your car manual states.

Alignment can cause tire wear to be uneven, and Uneven tire wear can cause the alignment to go bad. So you want these things to stay straight and happy. Cuz it costs less in the long run.

cutenoob

[Plaidman]

AHhhhhhhhhh! Ok. Yeah. I should have figured it out myself. I just, for some reason assumed that you'd have the wheels being turned in reverse while you were up in the air.


Thanks though. I know now know more detailed information of being a better adult.

[Seshat]

I've also seen rotation plans that allow for road camber, like so:

From:

LF RF



LR RR


To:

RR LR


RF LF

[Chromatix]

Tyre rotation is, AFAIK, most relevant on front-wheel-drive cars, which are very common nowadays. The reason is that the front wheels do both the driving and the steering, whereas the back wheels don't have much to do (laterally speaking), so the front tyres wear out much more quickly.

To increase the tyre replacement interval, you have to swap the tyres several times during their lifetime so that they are about evenly worn at all times. This also avoids the situation where you have almost-worn-out tyres on the front and almost-new tyres on the back, meaning that you are more likely to lose traction where it matters in bad weather.

On a rear-wheel-drive car, as most older cars are, the tyres will probably wear more evenly, so you would only swap them if you noticed a big difference.

[Talon]

45 minutes for an oil change? Seriously WTF ??

After 15 minutes of his bullshit I would have driven off. An oil change can wait a couple of days to be done by someone who doesn't have their head up their tailpipe.

[protege]

45 minutes for an oil change? Seriously WTF ??

It could be worse--the local NTB store had me down there...for an hour and a half for an oil change. I was the only person in the store Needless to say, I haven't gone back.

With my car, I get the tires rotated every other oil change. Tires aren't cheap, so I want them to last as long as possible As for the other car, it's due for new tires soon--it's first new tires... ever! I wish I was kidding, but the ones currently on there...were put on in 1977 As such, they're getting replaced after I get the rims cleaned up.

[Magpie]

Little did they know that I'm a pacifist and would have been a pretty easy target.

Remind me to NEVER tick you off. I've had enough training to know that the pacifists can really get you. The worst someone else is going to do is hit me, and really, who cares about that?

[Andara Bledin]

Tyre rotation is, AFAIK, most relevant on front-wheel-drive cars, which are very common nowadays. The reason is that the front wheels do both the driving and the steering, whereas the back wheels don't have much to do (laterally speaking), so the front tyres wear out much more quickly.

I don't rotate my tires like I should, but when I notice one is getting very worn, I'll go and get two completely new tires, have those put on the front, have the two best of the remaining put on the back, and then have the best of the last two for my spare.

It could be worse--the local NTB store had me down there...for an hour and a half for an oil change. I was the only person in the store Needless to say, I haven't gone back.

There's a cheapie lube place down the block from my apartment complex. When I had my oil changed, I went to them because they were close and cheap. I ended up impressed with their speed and honesty (didn't try to tell me a problem I already knew about was worse than it was).

Remind me to NEVER tick you off. I've had enough training to know that the pacifists can really get you. The worst someone else is going to do is hit me, and really, who cares about that?

I actually shut down and go non-responsive before I get mad enough to override my awareness of how much damage I can do.

Hell, I can't even break things when I'm mad, much less harm people.

Now, if you were to attack someone who can't defend themselves, however, all bets are off. More so if it's an animal.

Most of the people I know that are pacifistic are that way more because if they fight, they will put someone in the hospital. I've got about a dozen friends who have actually done just that.

^-.-^