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Post by Cranky on Jul 22, 2008 23:31:22 GMT -5
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Post by Polarice on Jul 23, 2008 6:46:29 GMT -5
;D I heard that one before.....its hard to believe something like that could actually happen!!  |
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Post by CentreHice on Jul 23, 2008 16:51:03 GMT -5
Women....headlight fluid....
I thought this was going to be about saline or silicone.......
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Post by Cranky on Jul 24, 2008 9:42:21 GMT -5
;D I heard that one before.....its hard to believe something like that could actually happen!! While this one is extreme, it's common fare in the real world. Sad but true story........ When I was going to university, at one point I ran completely out of money and worked as a mechanic for a week (mid 70's). I couldn't believe the crap that they pulled. In one instance, a woman came in for a brake change because she was on her way to Vancouver. The front rotors were scored and the rear drums had 3/4 life in them. Well, the owner told me to resurface the front rotors, replace the pads, touch up the rear drum but leave the pads in. Her bill was $250 for a "complete brake job". My hourly AND $25 cash kick back. Another guy comes in for a tune up, the owner tells him that he needs a new carburator, he got "tuned" real well for $350. For me, a $50 cash kick back. In one week, my hourly was $10....and I made over a grand. THAT was serious money back then, thankfully it was enough to tide me over.....and I had enough of that place. This was not something the owner just invented when he hired me. He had a sand blaster in his shop to clean components. That and a bit of good old Canadian Tire spray cans created plenty of "new" parts. Thankfully, nothing that I saw anyone do was dangerous. All the mechanics knew their trade well, they participated in the slime safely...and profitably. Before you guys take my head off, I went to the local cop shop and the only way I could get them to be shut down was if there was an accident involved and a police investigation. Otherwise the "fraud" devision of that time was as effective (or corrupt) as a third world country. And of course, I would be front and center in all of it.... and IF, a BIG IF they got a conviction, it would be a couple of grand. Big deal, that was one days take in that place. |
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Post by The New Guy on Jul 24, 2008 10:59:23 GMT -5
;D I heard that one before.....its hard to believe something like that could actually happen!! While this one is extreme, it's common fare in the real world. Sad but true story........ When I was going to university, at one point I ran completely out of money and worked as a mechanic for a week (mid 70's). I couldn't believe the crap that they pulled. In one instance, a woman came in for a brake change because she was on her way to Vancouver. The front rotors were scored and the rear drums had 3/4 life in them. Well, the owner told me to resurface the front rotors, replace the pads, touch up the rear drum but leave the pads in. Her bill was $250 for a "complete brake job". My hourly AND $25 cash kick back. Another guy comes in for a tune up, the owner tells him that he needs a new carburator, he got "tuned" real well for $350. For me, a $50 cash kick back. In one week, my hourly was $10....and I made over a grand. THAT was serious money back then, thankfully it was enough to tide me over.....and I had enough of that place. This was not something the owner just invented when he hired me. He had a sand blaster in his shop to clean components. That and a bit of good old Canadian Tire spray cans created plenty of "new" parts. Thankfully, nothing that I saw anyone do was dangerous. All the mechanics knew their trade well, they participated in the slime safely...and profitably. Before you guys take my head off, I went to the local cop shop and the only way I could get them to be shut down was if there was an accident involved and a police investigation. Otherwise the "fraud" devision of that time was as effective (or corrupt) as a third world country. And of course, I would be front and center in all of it.... and IF, a BIG IF they got a conviction, it would be a couple of grand. Big deal, that was one days take in that place. What's worse, perhaps, is that it doesn't just exist in the automotive repair industry. Any industry where there's a degree of mysterious and seemingly arcane knowledge involved is just rife with corruption like this. I work in IT, and I hear what some people do and charge and think 'damn, I could make great money doing almost nothing'. I mightn't be able to live with myself, but the money'd be great. The solution is, of course, to trust no one. It's not a pretty solution, but it's a solution that works. If someone tells you something is going to cost you money, understand what you're going to be paying for. A quick check of Google would reveal that there's no such thing as headlight fluid, nor johnson rods. A little willingness to educate yourself goes a long way. As an aside, last fall when she took our CRV into Canadian Tire to get winter tires put on her, my wife asked the mechanics to do a quick check of the engine, as it had been knocking a little on start. They replaced the tires, and told her the main gasket was gone in the engine - which was going to cost us a ton of money. When we picked it up it knocked worse than before, and nearly shook apart on the way home, so we resolved to get a second opinion. We took it to another mechanic a couple days later and low and behold the problem was revealed - they had left out some component of the engine (I don't recall what) that was causing the cylinders to misfire (however it did indeed have a problem with the main gasket - a very minor one that would be mostly unnoticeable in the short term, but which would only get worse and would still cost a fortune to fix - we traded it in a week later to a newer model Nissan). The wife prefers to believe that it was an 'honest mistake' by the mechanic at Canadian Tire. I think it was an attempt to scare us into getting them to do the repairs right away (they also dinged her $150 to fix some type of plastic stanchion in the tire that I, mechanically inept though I am, could've replaced for $20). |
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Post by clear observer on Jul 24, 2008 12:59:47 GMT -5
I don't for a second believe that that ENTIRE bit was anything but that, a radio bit. No way that caller was "real"; I've known some "thick" women in my life but come on, the "I don't need a reverse gear" in my car was just too much.
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Post by jkr on Jul 24, 2008 13:00:27 GMT -5
While this one is extreme, it's common fare in the real world. Sad but true story........ When I was going to university, at one point I ran completely out of money and worked as a mechanic for a week (mid 70's). I couldn't believe the crap that they pulled. In one instance, a woman came in for a brake change because she was on her way to Vancouver. The front rotors were scored and the rear drums had 3/4 life in them. Well, the owner told me to resurface the front rotors, replace the pads, touch up the rear drum but leave the pads in. Her bill was $250 for a "complete brake job". My hourly AND $25 cash kick back. Another guy comes in for a tune up, the owner tells him that he needs a new carburator, he got "tuned" real well for $350. For me, a $50 cash kick back. In one week, my hourly was $10....and I made over a grand. THAT was serious money back then, thankfully it was enough to tide me over.....and I had enough of that place. This was not something the owner just invented when he hired me. He had a sand blaster in his shop to clean components. That and a bit of good old Canadian Tire spray cans created plenty of "new" parts. Thankfully, nothing that I saw anyone do was dangerous. All the mechanics knew their trade well, they participated in the slime safely...and profitably. Before you guys take my head off, I went to the local cop shop and the only way I could get them to be shut down was if there was an accident involved and a police investigation. Otherwise the "fraud" devision of that time was as effective (or corrupt) as a third world country. And of course, I would be front and center in all of it.... and IF, a BIG IF they got a conviction, it would be a couple of grand. Big deal, that was one days take in that place. What's worse, perhaps, is that it doesn't just exist in the automotive repair industry. Any industry where there's a degree of mysterious and seemingly arcane knowledge involved is just rife with corruption like this. I work in IT, and I hear what some people do and charge and think 'damn, I could make great money doing almost nothing'. I mightn't be able to live with myself, but the money'd be great. I used to work in IT support too. Later on I moved into the library field & worked at my local public library for a while. IT support is provided by the town. These guys used the "mysteries" of IT to avoid work rather than make money. If they didn't feel like doing something, they would lie & say it couldn't be done. They were too stupid to realize that people could actually, you know, look things up. I left after a few months but I keep in touch with the staff. Things are better with some new people but they still have a long way to go. |
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Post by CrocRob on Jul 24, 2008 13:08:36 GMT -5
I also work in IT (development, not support), but work with a pretty honest shop. There is lying about what can and can't be done, but nearly exclusively it's about saving a company from having to pay thousands of dollars for mundane features. Sometimes they insist, and in one case it cost a company over $1000 just to have a slider bar installed on a report-viewing site. Sounds easy enough to do, but it wasn't.
It's for stuff like that where my boss trots out the old "best practices" line, because it's a bit more politic than telling a (potential) client they're an idiot. Luckily, in my line of work functionality takes a much bigger role than appearance, so we don't run into much of that. We have a very good designer, and I just tell them to trust him, because I do.
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Post by Cranky on Jul 24, 2008 19:42:25 GMT -5
As an aside, last fall when she took our CRV into Canadian Tire to get winter tires put on her, my wife asked the mechanics to do a quick check of the engine, as it had been knocking a little on start. They replaced the tires, and told her the main gasket was gone in the engine - which was going to cost us a ton of money. When we picked it up it knocked worse than before, and nearly shook apart on the way home, so we resolved to get a second opinion. We took it to another mechanic a couple days later and low and behold the problem was revealed - they had left out some component of the engine (I don't recall what) that was causing the cylinders to misfire (however it did indeed have a problem with the main gasket - a very minor one that would be mostly unnoticeable in the short term, but which would only get worse and would still cost a fortune to fix - we traded it in a week later to a newer model Nissan). The wife prefers to believe that it was an 'honest mistake' by the mechanic at Canadian Tire. I think it was an attempt to scare us into getting them to do the repairs right away (they also dinged her $150 to fix some type of plastic stanchion in the tire that I, mechanically inept though I am, could've replaced for $20). Left out a component of the engine? Did one of your ignition wires come off? As for the head gasket, it would leak water or oil and you would see the result in your tail pipe in the form of blue or white smoke. Tell you what, you teach my wife how to use a computer and I will take care of your car! Trust me, I'm getting the better deal! |
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Post by Cranky on Jul 24, 2008 19:43:44 GMT -5
I don't for a second believe that that ENTIRE bit was anything but that, a radio bit. No way that caller was "real"; I've known some "thick" women in my life but come on, the "I don't need a reverse gear" in my car was just too much. This thick?  |
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Post by cigarviper on Jul 24, 2008 20:14:47 GMT -5
Cut that out!
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