A little free goes a long way.
The little light came on. You know the one; the little light on my dashboard that says check engine. I am not a mechanic. I don't want to check my engine. I know where the engine is, I shouldn't need to check it. I didn't lose it.
I know from past experience this light normally means my gas cap wasn't on tight when the engine was running. I don't know why this is so important. But it does turn on the light and the light does not go off by itself when the cap is screwed on tight. However I also know the little light might mean something more sinister so I thought it best to check it out.
I also know from past experience that the next thing to do is to have a mechanic connect a computer thingie to my truck and download the secret "code" so they can go and magically look it up in their special books and tell me what the problem might be.
Why I cannot just connect my car to my computer and download the code and look it up myself is completely beyond me. I already don't like these people much for hiding this from me. After all it is my car.
So I considered what to do. I recalled seeing a repair shop that was going to be on my way. I had received their postcards in the mail. I had mentally matched the cards with the physical location. The place had looked OK from the outside. The shop that normally does my repair work wasn't going to be convenient so I decided to stop by and ask them to read the code.
I know from past experience it takes most of 2 minutes to connect the computer and get the code. I also know if I go to the right place they will do it, and typically they then get the business of fixing my truck.
I went into the office and wasn't overly impressed. One person sitting there reading a useless magazine, the place was overly messy, dirty and disorganized looking, in stark contrast to the nicely painted outside. The gal behind the counter remained sitting when I came in, didn't smile or greet me pleasantly, or even seem glad I had arrived.
I asked if they could read the code and tell me what might be the problem.
She asked if the gas cap was screwed on. I said yes. Apparently this little annoyance was part of her experience also. She then said they could read the light, not that they would, but they could; however I needed to make an appointment, drop my truck off, and it would cost about $60.
I thanked her and left.
The company had spent money on a good location, sent out nice mailers, managed to get my attention, and actually managed to get me into their location ready to do business. They had done everything right up to that point. Then they lost me, probably forever, because they didn't meet my expectations. They couldn't take 5 minutes to help me understand my problem.
Thousands of dollars will be spent and they will get none of it. They will probably continue to send me mailers. I probably won't think better of the company for sending them to me.
I hope this helps you,
Rick
