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...and I mean, all the time!
I tell him to have a backbone and he tells me that "you eat the cost now, the customer will be your friend for life and that translates into $$$$. As long as you set some ground rules, they won't take advantage of you."
Now he is in the oil-change business as a manager in a family-owned place. It's not a chain it's one store but it's becoming increasingly popular. Before we moved to FL he worked for a chain of quick lubes in NY. Now my dad's a good guy and doesn't lie and he only sells people what they need.
That said, here are some of the better ones:
Guy comes in with a brand new Cadillac Seville. After the oil change dad tells the guy the price. Guy starts bitching about how he is trying to overcharge him. Dad tells the man that the Northstar V8 takes 8 quarts of oil instead of 5, and it clearly states on the wall that extra charges may apply to some engines. Doesn't matter, the man keeps arguing. Instead of telling him that that's the price and it's final, he gives the 8 quarts for the price of 5. He does tell the man that the next time he comes in it will be the full price, though.
Gentleman comes in, gets the oil change and leaves. A couple of days later, he comes in screaming that one of the lube techs messed up his battery and he had to get it replaced. Which is stupid as the lube techs in that center did not touch batteries. Basically, it failed AFTER the oil change was done and had nothing to do with what was done. My dad tried to tell him that but he did not budge, and then he tells my dad, "I am a pastor at a church and I will tell everyone on Sunday to avoid coming here!" My dad then says the thing you NEVER say to an SC: "How can I make this right? What seems fair?" The guy says, "Give me 5 free oil changes and I'll forget this happened!" So my dad agrees to that! To his credit, he did advise him that any extra services would cost extra.
In my dad's old place, there were HUGE windows in the waiting area where people could see their cars being worked on. This one grumpy man decided to ignore all the events taking place and decides to tell my dad, "I didn't see them put the oil in." My dad goes, "They did sir, I was watching them." They guy starts arguing that they didn't. So my dad takes the man down to the bay, and shows the man his dipstick. Not good enough. So my dad tells ones of his techs to drain out (and thus eat) all the fresh oil. My dad goes, "See? That was fresh, one minute old clean oil that went into your car." "I don't know what clean oil and dirty oil looks like!" the guy exclaims. Still, he decides that he is done arguing and after a tech refills the car, he pays and leaves.
This wasn't really an SC in the sense he wanted something, it was just what he said. Guy comes in with a Nissan Frontier truck. Before they switched to the 4.0 Liter V6 motors, Nissan used a 3.3L with a supercharger to get some extra power in those trucks. Anyway, my dad comments to the guy, "Nice truck, I've never seen a Nissan with a supercharger before." You wouldn't think anything of it, right? He started complaining that "you have never seen my engine before and you're working on it? How dare you!" Keep in mind that my dad and I attend an NHRA event every year and he used to drag race himself ('70 Chevelle) and won several trophies. The guy complains that that all he wanted was an oil-change and was complaining how we actually topped off fluids "without seeing his type of engine before," even though those services are free with the oil change. My dad has it and says, "Sir I am a former racer and I have been involved in car racing and automotive my whole life, I have seen a million superchargers before." The guy storms off and says he'll never come back again before driving off.
I tell him to have a backbone and he tells me that "you eat the cost now, the customer will be your friend for life and that translates into $$$$. As long as you set some ground rules, they won't take advantage of you."
Now he is in the oil-change business as a manager in a family-owned place. It's not a chain it's one store but it's becoming increasingly popular. Before we moved to FL he worked for a chain of quick lubes in NY. Now my dad's a good guy and doesn't lie and he only sells people what they need.
That said, here are some of the better ones:
Guy comes in with a brand new Cadillac Seville. After the oil change dad tells the guy the price. Guy starts bitching about how he is trying to overcharge him. Dad tells the man that the Northstar V8 takes 8 quarts of oil instead of 5, and it clearly states on the wall that extra charges may apply to some engines. Doesn't matter, the man keeps arguing. Instead of telling him that that's the price and it's final, he gives the 8 quarts for the price of 5. He does tell the man that the next time he comes in it will be the full price, though.
Gentleman comes in, gets the oil change and leaves. A couple of days later, he comes in screaming that one of the lube techs messed up his battery and he had to get it replaced. Which is stupid as the lube techs in that center did not touch batteries. Basically, it failed AFTER the oil change was done and had nothing to do with what was done. My dad tried to tell him that but he did not budge, and then he tells my dad, "I am a pastor at a church and I will tell everyone on Sunday to avoid coming here!" My dad then says the thing you NEVER say to an SC: "How can I make this right? What seems fair?" The guy says, "Give me 5 free oil changes and I'll forget this happened!" So my dad agrees to that! To his credit, he did advise him that any extra services would cost extra.
In my dad's old place, there were HUGE windows in the waiting area where people could see their cars being worked on. This one grumpy man decided to ignore all the events taking place and decides to tell my dad, "I didn't see them put the oil in." My dad goes, "They did sir, I was watching them." They guy starts arguing that they didn't. So my dad takes the man down to the bay, and shows the man his dipstick. Not good enough. So my dad tells ones of his techs to drain out (and thus eat) all the fresh oil. My dad goes, "See? That was fresh, one minute old clean oil that went into your car." "I don't know what clean oil and dirty oil looks like!" the guy exclaims. Still, he decides that he is done arguing and after a tech refills the car, he pays and leaves.
This wasn't really an SC in the sense he wanted something, it was just what he said. Guy comes in with a Nissan Frontier truck. Before they switched to the 4.0 Liter V6 motors, Nissan used a 3.3L with a supercharger to get some extra power in those trucks. Anyway, my dad comments to the guy, "Nice truck, I've never seen a Nissan with a supercharger before." You wouldn't think anything of it, right? He started complaining that "you have never seen my engine before and you're working on it? How dare you!" Keep in mind that my dad and I attend an NHRA event every year and he used to drag race himself ('70 Chevelle) and won several trophies. The guy complains that that all he wanted was an oil-change and was complaining how we actually topped off fluids "without seeing his type of engine before," even though those services are free with the oil change. My dad has it and says, "Sir I am a former racer and I have been involved in car racing and automotive my whole life, I have seen a million superchargers before." The guy storms off and says he'll never come back again before driving off.
Poor guy! It's hard to find an honest guy to do your car maintenance these days, and these people just don't listen to reason!
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