This Is Why I Can't Have Nice Things, Verse 350
I spent $410 on my car today, though not on struts as I expected. Frank from the body shop that fixed my car after the accident has been hard to reach. I called him a week ago Friday and left a message and still hadn't heard from him today, so I called again today and didn't reach him again but left a message.
Something happened today that made me take my car to my usual local guys since Frank's never around to work on my car. My local guys said all my struts were bad--my car bounces, which I'm sure is great for my hypermobile joints and something the auto body shop should have noticed-- but my brakes were a much more important. They were worn almost down to the metal. My local guys didn't know how the auto body shop could have missed them, having had my car up on the lift for so long. Also, that they should have noticed the struts while they had the car, not when I brought it back a week later. So the brakes were $267 before labor and taxes.
While the local guys were working on my car they found that the new battery the auto body shop put in was not only too big but also bleeding sparks every time you moved the hood near it, at one point traveling up the hood to come out near the passenger-side of the front windshield. Now, my battery wasn't harmed in the accident; it was totally run down by the auto body shop guys keeping my trunk over forever. I noticed, and Frank said he'd give me a new battery free. When I picked up the car and the hood wouldn't close easily over the very large battery I brought up my concerns to him and he assured me it was great and more powerful!
No, it was dangerous. It wasn't as dangerous if you kept the hood closed forever, but I need to change windshield wiper fluid and people would need to open the hood for oil changes and engine maintenance. Who knew what that sparks might do to the rest of the engine? I also couldn't help wondering what other damage running my car off the incorrect battery would do.
Also, that Frank's shop disposed of a clasp that keeps the proper-sized battery in so they'd have more room for the too-big battery.
Now, I might have gone to Frank and told him again that this was the wrong battery and hope that he listened to me this time and put a correct one in. If I could get him on the phone. But by now I was worried and told my local guys to put the correct battery in. That's $110 for the battery, then taxes and labor.
My sound system on my car now sounds right again with the proper-sized battery. I never would have guessed it'd make that big a difference.
So by now I was ticked. Frank's promised "perfect" repair involved a possibly dangerous battery and ignored strut problems. The brakes I'm not so ticked off since they had nothing to do with the hit but my local guys said Frank should have damned well noticed them and not let me leave the shop with a car with brakes that bad. I figured I wouldn't have a chance in hell of recompense but left a second voice message saying that I had the battery checked out by another shop and not only was it the wrong size but also shooting sparks, so please pay me $110 for the battery I wouldn't have needed to replace if your shop hadn't run mine down.
He called me back while I was at Whole Foods and it turned into a major yelling match. I should have just dropped my car off at his shop whenever instead of calling him all the time (actually only three times over 10 days)! His workers of course didn't admit to him that they'd chased me off when he wasn't there twice so he just figures that I'm, what, mental for not leaving my car at a place where the workers look at me like they don't even understand the concept of car repair and don't know why I'm there? I should have come to him to get the battery replaced (again!). Who cares that me telling him that didn't work last time. I told him I'd have to put off repairing the struts since I spent $410 for the brakes and battery, to which he answered that my local guys ripped me off. (A cheap repair isn't good if it isn't a correct repair.) He gave me that (wrong) battery (that I wouldn't have needed if not for his workers' ineptitude) free! He won't pay me $110 for the replacement!
I'd like to win an argument. I really would.
Hilariously, the guy who hit me, Frank's nephew, was standing at the front door of the building when I came up and asked how I was doing. If his girl, his son, and his dog weren't there I might have gotten into it, but since I didn't want to make a scene in front of and possibly have to deal with all of them I answered with the least convincing "Okay" ever. Life, if you had to hand him to me, could you at least have done it in a way that would let me take advantage?
Something happened today that made me take my car to my usual local guys since Frank's never around to work on my car. My local guys said all my struts were bad--my car bounces, which I'm sure is great for my hypermobile joints and something the auto body shop should have noticed-- but my brakes were a much more important. They were worn almost down to the metal. My local guys didn't know how the auto body shop could have missed them, having had my car up on the lift for so long. Also, that they should have noticed the struts while they had the car, not when I brought it back a week later. So the brakes were $267 before labor and taxes.
While the local guys were working on my car they found that the new battery the auto body shop put in was not only too big but also bleeding sparks every time you moved the hood near it, at one point traveling up the hood to come out near the passenger-side of the front windshield. Now, my battery wasn't harmed in the accident; it was totally run down by the auto body shop guys keeping my trunk over forever. I noticed, and Frank said he'd give me a new battery free. When I picked up the car and the hood wouldn't close easily over the very large battery I brought up my concerns to him and he assured me it was great and more powerful!
No, it was dangerous. It wasn't as dangerous if you kept the hood closed forever, but I need to change windshield wiper fluid and people would need to open the hood for oil changes and engine maintenance. Who knew what that sparks might do to the rest of the engine? I also couldn't help wondering what other damage running my car off the incorrect battery would do.
Also, that Frank's shop disposed of a clasp that keeps the proper-sized battery in so they'd have more room for the too-big battery.
Now, I might have gone to Frank and told him again that this was the wrong battery and hope that he listened to me this time and put a correct one in. If I could get him on the phone. But by now I was worried and told my local guys to put the correct battery in. That's $110 for the battery, then taxes and labor.
My sound system on my car now sounds right again with the proper-sized battery. I never would have guessed it'd make that big a difference.
So by now I was ticked. Frank's promised "perfect" repair involved a possibly dangerous battery and ignored strut problems. The brakes I'm not so ticked off since they had nothing to do with the hit but my local guys said Frank should have damned well noticed them and not let me leave the shop with a car with brakes that bad. I figured I wouldn't have a chance in hell of recompense but left a second voice message saying that I had the battery checked out by another shop and not only was it the wrong size but also shooting sparks, so please pay me $110 for the battery I wouldn't have needed to replace if your shop hadn't run mine down.
He called me back while I was at Whole Foods and it turned into a major yelling match. I should have just dropped my car off at his shop whenever instead of calling him all the time (actually only three times over 10 days)! His workers of course didn't admit to him that they'd chased me off when he wasn't there twice so he just figures that I'm, what, mental for not leaving my car at a place where the workers look at me like they don't even understand the concept of car repair and don't know why I'm there? I should have come to him to get the battery replaced (again!). Who cares that me telling him that didn't work last time. I told him I'd have to put off repairing the struts since I spent $410 for the brakes and battery, to which he answered that my local guys ripped me off. (A cheap repair isn't good if it isn't a correct repair.) He gave me that (wrong) battery (that I wouldn't have needed if not for his workers' ineptitude) free! He won't pay me $110 for the replacement!
I'd like to win an argument. I really would.
Hilariously, the guy who hit me, Frank's nephew, was standing at the front door of the building when I came up and asked how I was doing. If his girl, his son, and his dog weren't there I might have gotten into it, but since I didn't want to make a scene in front of and possibly have to deal with all of them I answered with the least convincing "Okay" ever. Life, if you had to hand him to me, could you at least have done it in a way that would let me take advantage?