(no subject)
As mentioned in my TQC post the other day, I ripped off the bumper of my mom's car backing out of the garage. 2 seconds and nearly a grand worth of damage.
Anyway...today I set out, car duct-taped, to shop around for some place to fix it. Now, I am a very soft-spoken person...and in this situation, I'm pretty desperate to get it fixed, as my mom doesn't know I broke her car since she's out of town and I'd like to keep it that way. So I've got that going against me. Also, near total ignorance of cars. And if that wasn't enough...I'm female and alone. So I go into this whole thing expecting to be suckered, just hoping to minimize it.
So, first place I go I run into exactly what I was expecting. I'm there, the guy's looking at it. First off, he tries to intimidate me by saying I should go through insurance because he anticipates it being expensive. And he says "this car's not safe to drive." He says he'll have to rip off all that duct tape to look at what's underneath, like it'll be a huge hassle. He tells me it needs a new bumper, fender, and headlight. And you know he's right on the money about me. Yeah, I did question myself. Yeah, I did feel like a little kid who's done wrong who wants to redeem herself by submitting to authority. But I did leave, and still fairly easily.
What was he expecting? for me to stay? To not try anyone else? To leave, think about it until I felt guilty enough, and come back? What a ballsy risk to take. I could easily have a boyfriend, or friends or whatever, who would tell me I'm getting ripped off. I could easily have a mechanic friend who would give me a deal. That guy would rather go for 2200 or nothing from me? Instead of oh, I don't know, just fixing what was actually wrong with my car and still make some sort of profit? Maybe he had enough work to do, and he didn't want to take on a job that didn't have a massive profit margin? Maybe he's just normally an asshole? Maybe he's just a risk-taker? Does he do it for sport? Does the job need some spicing up, where he and his partner can see just how much they can get away with?
I don't care if I'm disgustingly pathetic. I wouldn't care if his shop was going out of business. I don't care if it's my own fault that I don't know anything about cars. I don't deserve to be swindled.
Anyway, the second place I went to skipped the psychological tactics and just got down to business. They claimed I needed a new bumper...and that I could deal with. I figured that was the best I could hope for. They seemed to set a reasonable price for that task, so I went with them. My savings will be much depleted...but I'll probably have this taken care of without having to tell my mother and subsequently be banned or restricted from using the car, and having to take public transit and cycle everywhere *shudder*.
Anyway...today I set out, car duct-taped, to shop around for some place to fix it. Now, I am a very soft-spoken person...and in this situation, I'm pretty desperate to get it fixed, as my mom doesn't know I broke her car since she's out of town and I'd like to keep it that way. So I've got that going against me. Also, near total ignorance of cars. And if that wasn't enough...I'm female and alone. So I go into this whole thing expecting to be suckered, just hoping to minimize it.
So, first place I go I run into exactly what I was expecting. I'm there, the guy's looking at it. First off, he tries to intimidate me by saying I should go through insurance because he anticipates it being expensive. And he says "this car's not safe to drive." He says he'll have to rip off all that duct tape to look at what's underneath, like it'll be a huge hassle. He tells me it needs a new bumper, fender, and headlight. And you know he's right on the money about me. Yeah, I did question myself. Yeah, I did feel like a little kid who's done wrong who wants to redeem herself by submitting to authority. But I did leave, and still fairly easily.
What was he expecting? for me to stay? To not try anyone else? To leave, think about it until I felt guilty enough, and come back? What a ballsy risk to take. I could easily have a boyfriend, or friends or whatever, who would tell me I'm getting ripped off. I could easily have a mechanic friend who would give me a deal. That guy would rather go for 2200 or nothing from me? Instead of oh, I don't know, just fixing what was actually wrong with my car and still make some sort of profit? Maybe he had enough work to do, and he didn't want to take on a job that didn't have a massive profit margin? Maybe he's just normally an asshole? Maybe he's just a risk-taker? Does he do it for sport? Does the job need some spicing up, where he and his partner can see just how much they can get away with?
I don't care if I'm disgustingly pathetic. I wouldn't care if his shop was going out of business. I don't care if it's my own fault that I don't know anything about cars. I don't deserve to be swindled.
Anyway, the second place I went to skipped the psychological tactics and just got down to business. They claimed I needed a new bumper...and that I could deal with. I figured that was the best I could hope for. They seemed to set a reasonable price for that task, so I went with them. My savings will be much depleted...but I'll probably have this taken care of without having to tell my mother and subsequently be banned or restricted from using the car, and having to take public transit and cycle everywhere *shudder*.