A Conversation with my Mechanic.
Chris: Sorry it took so long, Ms Strickland, but everything is good to go.
Me: Thank you so much for all your help, Chris!
Chris: Your welcome! Your bike's up front, the key's in the ignition. Your total is $30 even; please take this to the cashier to check out.
(Pause)
Me: I'm not paying for this oil change.
Chris: Pardon me?
Me: I'm not going to pay for the oil change.
Chris: You asked for the oil change. I have that on record.
Me: Yes, I asked for the oil change. But I won't pay for it.
Chris: I can't give it to you for free.
(Pause)
Me: Ok, maybe you don't understand me. On October 7th I called in to tell you guys that something was wrong with my bike. The guy I spoke to said "OK, just bring it in." I said I was going to have a friend help me drop it off on Saturday, and he said, "OK, just bring it in on Saturday." On the 8th I have my friend with a pickup truck take me here, when I spoke to you and you told me, "We're a bit backed up, we may not get to it today." Fine, ok. I leave it with you. No word in it Saturday. No word on it Monday. Tuesday I call in and ask, "What's taking so long?" I'm told, "It's in rotation." Ok, rotation's good, I think to myself, you'll get to it today. I speak to you on Wednesday the 12th, and you also tell me, "it's in rotation." I again ask why it's taking so long, and you say "I can't put you in front of the customers who have appointments." "Well," I ask, "what would I need to do to set up an appointment?" You say, "Call ahead." I proceed to tell you I had called ahead and the guy had just said "Bring it in". And you identify the guy as Mike, which means you've had problems with this guy before.
Your mechanic finally gets around to looking at it on Friday, six business days after I dropped it off, and determines that the transmission is shot. I'm told that a weight that shifts the gears broke. You need to call Honda's warranty department to get approval to repair it, which you can't do until late Monday because the mechanic got to it so late of Friday and Honda's not open on Saturdays.
So, late Monday the 17th the parts are ordered, and you tell me it'll be 5-7 business days for the parts to come in. So I wait. October 25th is day #6, and I call. I'm told, "Most of the parts came in this morning and we're waiting on just two of them. I don't see a back order, so they should be in any day now." On day 8, October 27th, I call and talk to you again, and you say, "We're still waiting on two parts." I ask, "Is there a back order?" You say "No, I don't see a back order. Remember, I told you it may be 5-9 business days for the parts to get here." You had said 5-7, that's what I wrote down, and I would have remembered something odd like 5-9. But anyway, I call back on Day 10, Oct 29, talk to you and you say the same thing, no back order. You didn't even say "I don't see..." you said "There is no back order." We've already been over this, remember?
So on November 1st I call in kinda late to see what's up, talk to the guy behind the glass there. He says, I quote "You're not gonna like this. There were two parts placed on back order, it looks like one is on the way, but the clip is on a national back order as of the 25th." Apparently I was supposed to have been called about the back order. I proceed to explain that not only was I not called, but when I had called three times since the 25th and specifically asked twice if there was a back order, I was told no. So he apologized, and that's why he got on your case about that, and he told me that there was no ETA for the part coming into the country, repairs will start the day the part arrives and have within a 24 hour turnaround, and Honda Warranty doesn't allow the use of salvaged parts, even for a supply outage.
I call almost everyday for an update, until on the 8th of November some nice guy, didn't give me his name, has the presence of mind to give me the customer service number for Honda. I call Honda on the 9th and explain my situation, they get someone on the case right away. On the 11th, both you and the chick from Honda call to let me know that there is an ETA of December 5th for the part to come into the country. So I have to prepare for another month of being housebound.
The Chick from Honda calls on the 14th to say that the part came in on the 11th and after inventory will be sent to you. Good. Something starts to go right. I call her and she calls back on the 16th and I find out that the package is held up in Orlando due to adverse weather conditions. Remember all that beautiful weather we had last week? I don't know what she was talking about either. She calls back on the 18, last Friday, to say she has confirmed through UPS that the package has arrived here. I think maybe I'll be able to pick it up on Saturday, seeing as that you're supposed to start repairs as soon as you get the part. I think at this point I take precedence over new appointment-ed customers. No call Saturday. No call Monday. I call Tuesday 10 am. "It's being worked on as we speak." I question silently why you didn't find this out on Saturday when you were supposed to have started. I even call my Dad to ask him to give me a ride. I call Tuesday 3pm. "We got it up there, but we need to remove the plate that covers the transmission, and we don't want to break it, so we needed to order a tool." A tool. A fffff.... tool! So the tool comes in this morning, my bike is fixed and I am told I can come get it, which, I might add, is one of the two things during this whole ordeal that was true the first time I asked.
What you're telling me now, is that after all the mal-information, misinformation, and lack of information presented to me, and after being out of my 3 1/2 month old bike for a month and a half, approximately a week and a half is the fault of someone here, that you are not willing to eat a measly little $30, $15 of which is purely profit, for a little bit of customer satisfaction?
Me: Thank you so much for all your help, Chris!
Chris: Your welcome! Your bike's up front, the key's in the ignition. Your total is $30 even; please take this to the cashier to check out.
(Pause)
Me: I'm not paying for this oil change.
Chris: Pardon me?
Me: I'm not going to pay for the oil change.
Chris: You asked for the oil change. I have that on record.
Me: Yes, I asked for the oil change. But I won't pay for it.
Chris: I can't give it to you for free.
(Pause)
Me: Ok, maybe you don't understand me. On October 7th I called in to tell you guys that something was wrong with my bike. The guy I spoke to said "OK, just bring it in." I said I was going to have a friend help me drop it off on Saturday, and he said, "OK, just bring it in on Saturday." On the 8th I have my friend with a pickup truck take me here, when I spoke to you and you told me, "We're a bit backed up, we may not get to it today." Fine, ok. I leave it with you. No word in it Saturday. No word on it Monday. Tuesday I call in and ask, "What's taking so long?" I'm told, "It's in rotation." Ok, rotation's good, I think to myself, you'll get to it today. I speak to you on Wednesday the 12th, and you also tell me, "it's in rotation." I again ask why it's taking so long, and you say "I can't put you in front of the customers who have appointments." "Well," I ask, "what would I need to do to set up an appointment?" You say, "Call ahead." I proceed to tell you I had called ahead and the guy had just said "Bring it in". And you identify the guy as Mike, which means you've had problems with this guy before.
Your mechanic finally gets around to looking at it on Friday, six business days after I dropped it off, and determines that the transmission is shot. I'm told that a weight that shifts the gears broke. You need to call Honda's warranty department to get approval to repair it, which you can't do until late Monday because the mechanic got to it so late of Friday and Honda's not open on Saturdays.
So, late Monday the 17th the parts are ordered, and you tell me it'll be 5-7 business days for the parts to come in. So I wait. October 25th is day #6, and I call. I'm told, "Most of the parts came in this morning and we're waiting on just two of them. I don't see a back order, so they should be in any day now." On day 8, October 27th, I call and talk to you again, and you say, "We're still waiting on two parts." I ask, "Is there a back order?" You say "No, I don't see a back order. Remember, I told you it may be 5-9 business days for the parts to get here." You had said 5-7, that's what I wrote down, and I would have remembered something odd like 5-9. But anyway, I call back on Day 10, Oct 29, talk to you and you say the same thing, no back order. You didn't even say "I don't see..." you said "There is no back order." We've already been over this, remember?
So on November 1st I call in kinda late to see what's up, talk to the guy behind the glass there. He says, I quote "You're not gonna like this. There were two parts placed on back order, it looks like one is on the way, but the clip is on a national back order as of the 25th." Apparently I was supposed to have been called about the back order. I proceed to explain that not only was I not called, but when I had called three times since the 25th and specifically asked twice if there was a back order, I was told no. So he apologized, and that's why he got on your case about that, and he told me that there was no ETA for the part coming into the country, repairs will start the day the part arrives and have within a 24 hour turnaround, and Honda Warranty doesn't allow the use of salvaged parts, even for a supply outage.
I call almost everyday for an update, until on the 8th of November some nice guy, didn't give me his name, has the presence of mind to give me the customer service number for Honda. I call Honda on the 9th and explain my situation, they get someone on the case right away. On the 11th, both you and the chick from Honda call to let me know that there is an ETA of December 5th for the part to come into the country. So I have to prepare for another month of being housebound.
The Chick from Honda calls on the 14th to say that the part came in on the 11th and after inventory will be sent to you. Good. Something starts to go right. I call her and she calls back on the 16th and I find out that the package is held up in Orlando due to adverse weather conditions. Remember all that beautiful weather we had last week? I don't know what she was talking about either. She calls back on the 18, last Friday, to say she has confirmed through UPS that the package has arrived here. I think maybe I'll be able to pick it up on Saturday, seeing as that you're supposed to start repairs as soon as you get the part. I think at this point I take precedence over new appointment-ed customers. No call Saturday. No call Monday. I call Tuesday 10 am. "It's being worked on as we speak." I question silently why you didn't find this out on Saturday when you were supposed to have started. I even call my Dad to ask him to give me a ride. I call Tuesday 3pm. "We got it up there, but we need to remove the plate that covers the transmission, and we don't want to break it, so we needed to order a tool." A tool. A fffff.... tool! So the tool comes in this morning, my bike is fixed and I am told I can come get it, which, I might add, is one of the two things during this whole ordeal that was true the first time I asked.
What you're telling me now, is that after all the mal-information, misinformation, and lack of information presented to me, and after being out of my 3 1/2 month old bike for a month and a half, approximately a week and a half is the fault of someone here, that you are not willing to eat a measly little $30, $15 of which is purely profit, for a little bit of customer satisfaction?