I Do Not Trust Mechanics
Firestone Complete Auto Care Center
Two gentlemen approached, one of them worked there, and tried to help out. The gentlemen that worked there said he thought it sounded like the starter wasn't getting any voltage. The other gentlemen, who was parked at the pump in front of me offered to give me a jump. After turning his truck around and connecting the jumper cables, my truck started once it charged for a few minutes. In the mean time I was thinking about what I was going to do about getting my truck repaired.
I just move here so I really didn't know anyone who could do it and I didn't want to get stranded again. I had dealings with Firestone in the past and besides I've had a credit card with them since 1994 with a zero balance so I decided to go with Firestone.
On the way over to the Firestone repair shop I notice that the battery gage was buried on zero. I knew this was an indication that the battery wasn't charging, probably because the alternator had gone bad. I didn't really know how old the battery was since I've only owned the truck 4 months.....I bought it used. Once I got there and told the counter person the problem I was having, he said it would be about an hour and a half before anyone could look at it. I made sure he knew I didn't want any work done until I authorized it. I really didn't have much choice about the waiting part since I knew it wasn't going to start.
Now mind you, being a woman, I do not trust mechanics. I think that they think that women are just plain stupid when it comes to the workings of the combustion engines and many of us are. Maybe "stupid' wouldn't be the appropriate word....more like ignorant about those kinds of things, but they certainly think we are "stupid" when it comes to cars and they think we are an easy "mark." Well, I won't profess to know a lot about cars, there are some things I do know from past experience. I pretty much knew the alternator had gone bad and when the mechanic confirmed that it had indeed gone bad, my next step was to find an alternator at a reasonable price.
A new alternator was out of the question, so I opted for a rebuilt one. The counter person looked it up on his computer and said he could get me one for $169.00. Now, I knew I could get one for a better price than that and I told him I was going to call around and find one, which I did. I found one for $119.00, but in order to have it delivered to Firestone the counter person had to call and order it, but that it would cost 10% over their cost. No problems at this point. So the part got delivered and the truck was repaired and running, oh happy day, until it came time to pay the bill.
I am not one of those persons that if you hand me a repair bill that I am going to pay whatever you want me to pay. Nope, I like to analyze the bill and negotiate from there. So, on the bill there was a charge for "testing the electrical system", a charge for the part and a charge for the labor. As far as testing the electrical a system I felt this was an unnecessary charge. i could have taken the truck to any Auto Zone or Discount Auto Parts and they would have done it for free. As far as I was concerned it was one of those additional fees to tack on to my bill to increase their revenue. Then there was the charge for the part. The charge on the bill for the part wasn't 10% over their cost, it was !0% over my cost. At this point I am not a happy camper. After talking to the counter person, he took $10.00 off the bill. I am still not a happy camper. I'm standing at the counter waiting when the "managing partner" approached me and asked me if I had been waited on. I replied yes, but that I wasn't happy about what I was going to have to pay them for the repair.
At that point I told him that I shouldn't be charged for testing the electrical system and I told him why. We were arguing back and forth about this issue when he said, "I don't know what kind of medication you are on, but......" At that point I was pissed and I interrupted him and I said, "Look here, believe me you don't want to go there, 'cuz I can and I will cause a big scene in this store."
Apparently he is one of those "Good Ole Boys" who think that women should be seen and not heard. He also apparently isn't used to strong women coming into his store and disputing a bill. Needless to say I as far as I am concerned he was way, way out of line and shouldn't have stuck his foot in his big mouth and I told him so. I also told him I would be calling his boss and making a formal complaint against him.
In total the bill which would have been $235.00 ended up costing me $196.00. Persistence pays off.
Published by CUZICANWRITE
Mother of 2 children, an Airforce mom. My son is currently stationed at Mountain Home Airforce base. Jaedyn Dawn was born 11/24/2008, I am now a grandma. I am unmarried, libra, blonde and over 40. My... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a Commentvery nice job! Hugz CJ
You were'nt there were you. Go boo hoo to some one else. You won't get any sympathy from me.
I feel sorry for any business that would put up with you cuzicanwrit. Seems to me after reading your post that you are the rip off and proud of it. Occasionally we have someone come in like you and screw us but it only happens once. A business has alot of overhead and responsibility. Lucky if any profit is left after paying the bills. It is obvious you have never owned your own business. Since you lack respect for the auto professional why dont you fix the car yourself instead of wanting something for nothing. By the way that cheap maybe 500.00 scanner parts houses use might diag. batt and alts but thats about it. They have to send customers to the repair shops for any thing else because the repair shops pay 10000 and up for there scanners.
I feel sorry for any business that would put up with you cuzicanwrit. Seems to me after reading your post that you are the rip off%2C and proud of it. Occasionally we have someone come in like you and screw us but it only happens once. A business has alot of overhead and responsibility. Lucky if any profit is left after paying the bills. It is obvious you have never owned your own business. Since you lack respect for the auto professional why don%27t you fix the car yourself instead of wanting something for nothing. By the way%2C that cheap maybe %24500.00 scanner parts houses use might diag. batt %26 alts but thats about it. They have to send customers to the repair shops for any thing else because the repair shops pay %2410%2C000 and up for there scanners.
...are stupid. Every female I know thinks the same as I do. As far as a scene goes, if you had read my article a bit more closely, instead of reading something into it that wasn't there, my comment to the manager was "'cuz I can and I will cause a big scene in this store." As far as I am concerned I could have and should have caused a big scene, but I chose not to and he ought thank God's lucky stars I didn't call and make a formal complaint to Firestone about what he said to me. It was rude and totally uncalled for. I see you had no response to this, Darrin w/ CK Automotive Support, so I can only interpret that as a nod and you must condone his behavior. As far as I am concerned the man shouldn't even be working at Firestone and you obviously think as he does, and that is females should be seen and not heard from. In other words you have no defense. You only confirmed what I have written in the article. BTW-cunning= characterized by wiliness and trickery as defined by webster
As far as the diagnostic check, why should i pay for something I could get done for free. Auto Zone and Discount Auto Parts use the same diagnostic equipment. The personnel that work at those stores are experience mechanics themselves and you should not be calling them "YUMPIN YIMMINY". They are required by their job descriptions to have that knowledge. Secondly the issue is not where I got the alternator from. They could have refused to accept the alternator I wanted to have installed on my vehicle, besides the supplier is one of Firestone's. Thirdly your comparison to the hamburger scenario is absurd. Fourthly, I really don't care about their or even your business point of view and I don't care about Firestone's bottom line. ....and lastly IT IS all about the money. I beat them down and I'm proud of it. Every female I've ever talked to about automotive mechanics say they don't trust them either....and yes as far as us females are concerned, mechanics do think females are stupi
only problem with the vehicle. Suppose there was a short in the system. This could affect the Alternator, Starter, Ignition, internal wiring and or electrical engine fire. Would you rather had YUMPIN YIMMINY to say Alternator sure ok I take off, I put on sure sure no problem. Now places like Firestone and other franchises can be more expensive. However you get the best service they have to offer. Lastly once the diagnostic was performed you were given an invoice of the exact cost parts and labor. So for you to say stay vigilant make a scene get some money back? No mechanics don't think customers are stupid but they are cunning.
In defense of mechanics in this particular situation. There are several things wrong with this scenario 1. The young lady with the alternator problem does have a legitimate concern. However let's look at this from a business point of view. 1.When you go to a fast food eatery you don't say, Hey I could have bought this same burger in another restaurant. I don't like pickles so deduct your price because I"m trying to save money. Most reputable repair shops frown on the customer bringing in their own parts. The reason is WE CANNOT WARRANTY THAT PART. If the part is defective and it ruins your engine, the customer will blame the shop. In court the judge will blame the shop for installing a dubious part. The shop in turn has to at minimum do the job again, this takes man hours, another part, or possibly a new engine. All this because you wanted to save $40.00. Next the systems check or diagnostic service you didn't think there was a need for. This is done to ensure the Alternator was the on