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INCHI DICKARI
Aug 23, 2006

by FactsAreUseless

quote:

You guys did an oil change on my vehicle and now it wants to die at stop lights, the brake light is on, and theres a bad burning smell.

Verified customer complaint. Found parking brake to have been applied after service and customer drove off without releasing parking brake. Berated by customer for five minutes about application of parking brake without prior informing. Status: resolved.

quote:

My car is dangerously dark while driving at night and I have 2 burned out headlights.

Verified customer complaint. Found customer did not know they had a high beam selector. Status: resolved.

quote:

You guys did an oil change on my vehicle and broke my radio.

Verified customer complaint. Found technician to have turned radio off when pulling vehicle in for service. Customer states 'they didn't know it could do that. Status: resolved.

quote:

You guys rotated my tires and now my trunk leaks.

Verified customer complaint. Found to be a collision repair vehicle. Trunk seal replaced for free for customer satisfaction. Status: resolved.

quote:

You guys did a flat repair yesterday and my engine fell out.

Verified customer complaint. Found all subframe bolts missing, engine and subframe cradle held into vehicle by wiring harnesses and hoses. Replaced all necessary components due to call to corporate because we weren't supposed to remove the subframe bolts when doing a flat repair. Status: resolved free of charge.

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Seat Safety Switch
May 27, 2008

MY RELIGION IS THE SMALL BLOCK V8 AND COMMANDMENTS ONE THROUGH TEN ARE NEVER LIFT.

Pillbug
What I'm taking away from this is that I can get anything wrong with my car fixed by paying for a tire rotation.

Brigdh
Nov 23, 2007

That's not an oil leak. That's the automatic oil change and chassis protection feature.

Seat Safety Switch posted:

What I'm taking away from this is that I can get anything wrong with my car fixed by paying for a tire rotation.

Yeah, I think I need a new engine, and a paint job. Time to get a tire rotation done :)

Corey Plumper
Nov 22, 2008

Is there actually a risk of being sued that makes managers roll over for these people instead of telling them to gently caress off or is it something else?

Fender Anarchist
May 20, 2009

Fender Anarchist

^In my case it's pressure from above to "BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH CUSTOMERS", even if it's pointless and unreasonable poo poo like this. Retail employees have to suck the customer's dick no matter what, and since it's all one company that means we have to, too.

Alright sir we've got your power steering fixed, whisper quiet and it doesn't leak anymore.

"Uhhmmmmm... the front bumper... it's hanging loose..."

Well, yes, sir, it was like that when you brought it in. I saw it dragging when you pulled up.

"Nuh-uh, it was fine. It's a brand new car!"

It's a 99 Altima with 240k miles!

"Well you need to fix this, I'm a paying customer"

INCHI DICKARI
Aug 23, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Also, forgot to explicitly state this in the OP but these are all personal comebacks of mine.

Nodoze
Aug 17, 2006

If it's only for a night I can live without you
We goodwill a lot of stuff at work for customer satisfaction, otherwise they allegedly won't come back and they can't have these people potentially going elsewhere for stuff.


These are the people that will never fill out a customer survey though, unless it's a bad one. So the writers get hosed either way

rscott
Dec 10, 2009
I will totally cop to leaving my parking brake on after getting my car towed but I figured it out before leaving my parking lot at least!

n8r
Jul 3, 2003

I helped Lowtax become a cyborg and all I got was this lousy avatar
Do they pay you to bolt some fool's engine back into his car?

INCHI DICKARI
Aug 23, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
That particular one was kicked to the master tech to repair for *reasons* but yes, yes they do.

Project M.A.M.I.L.
Apr 30, 2007

Older, balder, fatter...
I found when I lived in the US that tons of people didn't use their parking brakes. You could tell when they parked because they would take their foot off the brake and it would roll forward until the transmission caught it. One of our friends eventually started to use hers to 'humour' me because I harrassed her about it so much.
It was something I never understood, do people not know what it's for or something?

GanjamonII
Mar 24, 2001

Midget Fist posted:

I found when I lived in the US that tons of people didn't use their parking brakes. You could tell when they parked because they would take their foot off the brake and it would roll forward until the transmission caught it. One of our friends eventually started to use hers to 'humour' me because I harrassed her about it so much.
It was something I never understood, do people not know what it's for or something?

My wife drove me insane with this. She's american I'm not. After 4 years I've started doing it too...

Also foot operated parking brakes, what the gently caress.

D C
Jun 20, 2004

1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING
1-800-HOTLINEBLING
It's the "emergency brake" they are only for emergencies DUH!

General_Failure
Apr 17, 2005

Midget Fist posted:

I found when I lived in the US that tons of people didn't use their parking brakes. You could tell when they parked because they would take their foot off the brake and it would roll forward until the transmission caught it. One of our friends eventually started to use hers to 'humour' me because I harrassed her about it so much.
It was something I never understood, do people not know what it's for or something?

I can always tell when someone doesn't use their parking brake because their vehicle lurches forward every so often as the engine is slowly turned by the wheels. Usually it's a car but I saw a roadwork / construction truck parked near me lurching forward recently.

randomidiot
May 12, 2006

by Fluffdaddy

(and can't post for 11 years!)

Midget Fist posted:

I found when I lived in the US that tons of people didn't use their parking brakes. You could tell when they parked because they would take their foot off the brake and it would roll forward until the transmission caught it.

Not only does my stepdad refuse to use his parking brake, he generally slams it into park while the vehicle is still moving (no matter which vehicle he's driving or who it belongs to). Usually results in the vehicle bouncing back and forth a bit, sometimes a CLACKCLACKCLACKCLACKCLACKSCREEEEEEEEEEEECH:gonk: if he's going fast enough, and a few times now, CLACKCLACKCLACKSNAPcrunchrattlecrunch:wtc: (followed very shortly by a very expensive bill and him bitching about how cars aren't built like they used to be).

You'd think he'd figure it out after averaging a transmission every 1-2 years from the 80s until about 2000, and about one every 5 years since then. :downsgun: He's only had one last long enough to actually wear out, the rest all had the parking prawl snap.

General_Failure posted:

I can always tell when someone doesn't use their parking brake because their vehicle lurches forward every so often as the engine is slowly turned by the wheels. Usually it's a car but I saw a roadwork / construction truck parked near me lurching forward recently.

The majority of cars here are automatic, even medium size trucks. They have a parking prawl in the transmission that locks it from turning, but it's not entirely meant to serve as the only mechanism keeping the car from moving.

You must have some crazy steep hills and/or people who park in a higher gear; the only time I've had a car roll in 1st or reverse was when I was driving a friend's extremely tired Ford Escort (mid 80s Escort, the odometer broke after it rolled over for the third time, they estimated over 400k miles on the original engine.. compression was pretty close to "what compression?" on that engine - original owner to boot).

randomidiot fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Sep 6, 2013

craig588
Nov 19, 2005

by Nyc_Tattoo
Since I moved to the north I stopped using the parking brake regularly after having it seize on 3 different cars within 2 years from all of the salt they use on the roads. I'm that guy.

Anphear
Jan 20, 2008

some texas redneck posted:

The majority of cars here are automatic, even medium size trucks. They have a parking prawl in the transmission that locks it from turning, but it's not entirely meant to serve as the only mechanism keeping the car from moving.

You must have some crazy steep hills and/or people who park in a higher gear; the only time I've had a car roll in 1st or reverse was when I was driving a friend's extremely tired Ford Escort (mid 80s Escort, the odometer broke after it rolled over for the third time, they estimated over 400k miles on the original engine.. compression was pretty close to "what compression?" on that engine - original owner to boot).

Perhaps people in the southern hemisphere are taught to use the park brake when parking. I know I was told to apply the brake before shifting an automatic vehicle out of D into P for the exact reason of stopping it touching the locker pawl. I still use it in a manual too. It seems weird having the car held only by the gear.

We also don't salt the crap out of our roads.

Darko
Dec 23, 2004

I never used the parking brake in an auto car unless on a steep hill, and I have never know a single person that does. They all just put the car in park.

In manuals, I tend to rely more on that because of the once-in-a-blue moon factor of starting a car in gear that scares the crap out of me.

So this thread means I can fix my tiny bumper cover ding by getting my oil changed? Good to know.

Nodoze
Aug 17, 2006

If it's only for a night I can live without you
Foot activated parking brakes are stupid as hell, so I kind of blame that. I always use mine everywhere, but I only drive manual cars

Elephanthead
Sep 11, 2008


Toilet Rascal
I didn't know parking brakes ever worked until I got a job that paid enough to not buy 10 year old cars that had seized parking brakes or removed parking brakes here in the rust belt. Don't park on a hill unless you are at the bottom.

Viggen
Sep 10, 2010

by XyloJW
I know when to turn towards, and when to turn away from the curb. I also religiously use my ebrake when parking. I've got most of my family doing the same, too, after berating them about it. <:smug:>

Mooseykins
Aug 9, 2013

Triangle tits and an annoying sex voice?

Fuuuuck youuuuu sluuuut!
I always found it funny that Americans call it the "Emergency brake". That's the last thing i'd want to use in an emergency.

A friend of mine failed his driving test because the instructor told him to perform an emergency stop, so he pulled the handbrake/emergency brake. He told me the following exchange took place immediately after:

:eek: WHAT ARE YOU DOING???
:v: I don't know!

That wasn't the only time he failed either.. He's a terrible driver. And once while driving down an icy hill, his car began to slide, so he pulled the handbrake. It slid more and he crashed into a BMW (With a family of 3 on board) and a house.

Phy
Jun 27, 2008



Fun Shoe
I thought it was called the emergency brake because it's a redundant mechanical linkage for your rears in case you have a brake line pop off, or something. But like Mooseykins' friend shows, people don't know that or can't tell the difference between "I have already locked the wheels and am now sliding" and "My hydraulics have poo poo the bed."

Mitch Hedberg put it best:

“When I drive a rental car, I don't know what's going on with it, right? So a lot of time I drive, like, for 10 miles with the emergency parking brake on. That doesn't say a lot for me, but it says even less for the emergency parking brake. It's more like an 'emergency make-the-car-smell-funny' lever.”

It's basically for that and for handbrake drifts right after a big snowfall.

Any more "a ticket came in" stories?

Das Volk
Nov 19, 2002

by Cyrano4747

Mooseykins posted:

I always found it funny that Americans call it the "Emergency brake". That's the last thing i'd want to use in an emergency.

A friend of mine failed his driving test because the instructor told him to perform an emergency stop, so he pulled the handbrake/emergency brake. He told me the following exchange took place immediately after:

:eek: WHAT ARE YOU DOING???
:v: I don't know!

That wasn't the only time he failed either.. He's a terrible driver. And once while driving down an icy hill, his car began to slide, so he pulled the handbrake. It slid more and he crashed into a BMW (With a family of 3 on board) and a house.

I used the handbrake on my E30 to stop it from about 95MPH after the front wheel sheared off. The last thing I'd want is to be in that situation again with a foot operated e-brake (keep in mind that the wheel took the brake line, and thus all pressure, with it). It's way too hard to tell if the rears are starting to lock up otherwise and probably likely to induce a spin.

Mooseykins
Aug 9, 2013

Triangle tits and an annoying sex voice?

Fuuuuck youuuuu sluuuut!

Phy posted:

I thought it was called the emergency brake because it's a redundant mechanical linkage for your rears in case you have a brake line pop off, or something.

That's a good point, i hadn't thought of that.

Astroman
Apr 8, 2001


I'm betting the majority of dumb complaints that are just rolled over and fixed for free are from chain places like Midas and Monroe, who will be willing to take a loss for "customer satisfaction."

Coincidentally, it's also those places that are most likely to rip you off and suggest unnecessary repairs. Hmm...

KozmoNaut
Apr 23, 2008

Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle


Das Volk posted:

I used the handbrake on my E30 to stop it from about 95MPH after the front wheel sheared off. The last thing I'd want is to be in that situation again with a foot operated e-brake (keep in mind that the wheel took the brake line, and thus all pressure, with it). It's way too hard to tell if the rears are starting to lock up otherwise and probably likely to induce a spin.

Don't E30s have dual circuit brakes?

Mooseykins
Aug 9, 2013

Triangle tits and an annoying sex voice?

Fuuuuck youuuuu sluuuut!

Astroman posted:

Coincidentally, it's also those places that are most likely to rip you off and suggest unnecessary repairs. Hmm...

Gotta make up for it somehow! :v:

BeastPussy
Jul 15, 2003

im so mumped up lmao
Customer states vehicle pulls to the right after alignment. Recheck alignment for 0.0 FRH

Verified customer complaint: vehicle has 2 used tires in wrong size on passenger side. Tires were put on after alignment. Recommend 2 new tires + rotation.

InitialDave
Jun 14, 2007

I Want To Believe.
I had to tell my friend last night how to turn her lights on properly. She was driving at night on sidelights only, "because the next notch is main beam". She didn't know that you flick the stalk to switch between main and dipped beam. :psyduck:

KozmoNaut posted:

Don't E30s have dual circuit brakes?
Yes, but if you lose a circuit, it still has an alarming effect on the braking. More of an issue is that the E30 uses a mini-drum inside the centre of the disc for the handbrake, and it's less than wonderful in terms of power. Though saying that, any car I've owned with a cable operating a disc caliper as a handbrake has seized once it starts getting on in years...

If you're going to be playing silly buggers in a FWD car on really right country roads, though, a bit of duck tape to hold the handbrake button down is quite a useful modification.

Dat Kush
Aug 21, 2007

presidential shit
I'm a service writer for a performance shop in southern california, I had a lady come in this morning and tell me that we didn't properly latch her hood when she was in for a oil change a MONTH ago...

and now her hood flew up on the freeway and cracked the windshield and she thinks we should pay for the repairs :(

I like my job for the most part, but some people are just ridiculous.

Mooseykins
Aug 9, 2013

Triangle tits and an annoying sex voice?

Fuuuuck youuuuu sluuuut!

InitialDave posted:

If you're going to be playing silly buggers in a FWD car on really right country roads, though, a bit of duck tape to hold the handbrake button down is quite a useful modification.

Last time i played silly buggers in a FWD car on a really tight country road i ended up trapped inside it while it was on fire embedded in a tree.

I don't play silly buggers on country roads any more. :smith:

I did, however, make much use of the handbrake in large open car parks during the last snow. That poo poo was fun.

Astroman
Apr 8, 2001


Dat Kush posted:

I'm a service writer for a performance shop in southern california, I had a lady come in this morning and tell me that we didn't properly latch her hood when she was in for a oil change a MONTH ago...

and now her hood flew up on the freeway and cracked the windshield and she thinks we should pay for the repairs :(

I like my job for the most part, but some people are just ridiculous.

Well it's not like SHE ever opens that hood! Who would open their own hood, anyway? :jerkbag:

Nodoze
Aug 17, 2006

If it's only for a night I can live without you
I close repair orders at a dealership, so I'm at the other end after the service writers do their thing. I've seen some good ones like "customer states loud banging coming from rear of car, please advise. Found water bottle rolling around in truck, no issues found"

There's a whole of "customer states ac*(or any other electronic feature) doesn't work" where the diagnosis is "enabled in iDrive, or turned dial to cold"

KozmoNaut
Apr 23, 2008

Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle


InitialDave posted:

More of an issue is that the E30 uses a mini-drum inside the centre of the disc for the handbrake, and it's less than wonderful in terms of power.

Yeah, my Peugeot has the same thing. It completely locked the right rear wheel while I was crossing an intersection about a month and a half ago and cost me a completely set of discs+drums, pads and shoes.

The grizzled old mechanic who fixed it and later fixed a bit of rubbing due to the new parts, told me in no uncertain terms that the whole drum-within-a-disc thing is probably the dumbest thing ever, along with disc rear brakes on commuter cars.

If your car has drum rear brakes, you wear them as you drive and brake. This is good, because it keeps the braking surface for the handbrake nice and fresh too, and ensures that you get the brake shoes changed at least once in a while.

With disc rear brakes and a drum handbrake, you basically never put any wear on the handbrake, causing corrosion to build up and everything tends to freeze together on humid days. And with the soft braking style most people have, you never really wear the rear disc brakes much either.

So his advice was to use the brakes more and to engage the handbrake slightly while driving once every couple of weeks, to wear the brakes shoes and put a bit of heat through them.

Darko
Dec 23, 2004

Nodoze posted:

Foot activated parking brakes are stupid as hell, so I kind of blame that. I always use mine everywhere, but I only drive manual cars

I have a manual Challenger. I couldn't figure out where the parking brake was at first because I was looking for the lever. "Oh, I have to step on it, the hell?"

InterceptorV8
Mar 9, 2004

Loaded up and trucking.We gonna do what they say cant be done.
I hate DRLs.

Because there are people so loving stupid that they never turn on their headlights now. You don't know how many people I see driving in the darkest parts of Nevada in the middle of the night with just their DRL on.

INCHI DICKARI
Aug 23, 2006

by FactsAreUseless
Thank you for reminding me of the inspiration for this thread from 2 days ago which I somehow blanked on!

Customer complaint: DRLs stopped working.

Inspected vehicle and found that it was not equipped with DRLs from the factory, with neither the module or any sort of capability for one. Customer insists that they totally worked prior to bringing the vehicle in for service. Status: unresolved.

InterceptorV8
Mar 9, 2004

Loaded up and trucking.We gonna do what they say cant be done.

14 INCH DETECTIVE posted:

Thank you for reminding me of the inspiration for this thread from 2 days ago which I somehow blanked on!

Customer complaint: DRLs stopped working.

Inspected vehicle and found that it was not equipped with DRLs from the factory, with neither the module or any sort of capability for one. Customer insists that they totally worked prior to bringing the vehicle in for service. Status: unresolved.

I bet they just drove around with their headlights on all the time, and when they turn their key off, they shut off like Jeeps and Subaru do.

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Solar Coaster
Sep 2, 2009

InterceptorV8 posted:

I hate DRLs.

Because there are people so loving stupid that they never turn on their headlights now. You don't know how many people I see driving in the darkest parts of Nevada in the middle of the night with just their DRL on.

This. I commute to work at 6:20am and it's still fairly dark out. My commute (lucky me) is only 7.5mi long. Forget driving around with DRLs on, I see at least 2 or 3 cars a day driving around without any lights on. Most of these cars are silver or some kind of dark color so it makes it extra hard to see them in time on the road. It never ceases to amaze me that people think this is OK and continue to drive like that.

Today for example, I was driving in the tail end of a major thunderstorm we had last night, so it was still raining quite heavily. Sure enough, saw 3 cars without any lights on, in the dark, in the heavy rain.

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