I know...it's all very shocking and like new for me to be complaining *cough*
So in the middle of November, I ordered 4 new tires from tirerack.com to replace my dry-rotted orginal with car tires. Me, cheapass that I am, chose the shipping that was the cheapest which also had the tires backordered. They did not get shipped until just after Thanksgiving. Got the tires put on at a local garage the weekend following thanksgiving. The day the car was in the shop I received a call from the garage where they threw big manly words at me like "camber" and "caster" and "toe" to which I immediately began imagining a big foot on my car and thought "wtf?!"
Anyway, the way the dude explained it made it sound as if he did not have the tool to fix my right camber so I was going to have to pay $79 for this tool and $82 for the alignment.
to which i said "shhaaaa right!"
so I took my car home with brand new tires and a bum foot. It was when I called the dealership to figure out what the hell this mechanic was talking about that I finally understood: He needed to replace the bolt kit! It is a part! Not a tool! How hard is it to say shit like that? He kept referring to it as a "tool" and well. I dont pay for garage equipment. It's a little rule I have, call me crazy.
Last Saturday night, I drop my car off to get the camber shit fixed. I was told that it would be done by COB on sunday. cool.
Then I get a phone call mid-afternoon asking if they could have the car until tomorrow morning because the "general mechanics" do not have the experience to do this camber fix and they would like to wait until a specialized mechanic is available to work on it.
I say sure cuz I have blessed carpool and it is not my week to drive, so what's one more day?
Monday rolls around and I call when I get home from work cuz W.T.F. He then tells me that he will give me a call back after he talks to the mechanic to get an update.
He calls me back. They have NOT started working on the car but will start immediately.
I say "It will be done tonight I hope." and he says yes. He tells me to come at COB (7pm) to pick it up.
BF tells me I was rude. whatever. they have not worked on the car all.day.long. what kinna bullshit is that?
I call at 6:45 juuuuuuuuuuust to make sure. It isn't finished. they can't get it "to spec" and can they keep the car another day.
In my head: "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?"
Outloud: Actually no, I need my car tomorrow to get to ...you know...work.
(I had to drive myself the next day, had doctors appointments to get to)
He told me I could take the car and asked me to return it as soon as possible.
I asked him "so its ok to drive on it half aligned?!"
he says "I think so"
I say "You think? or you know"
he says "yeah yeah no its fine"
in my head: "im gonna be driving down 95 and a wheel falls off...just watch"
So I pick up the car.
Fast forward to the next morning when I am getting out of the car at work.
There is grease on.my.door.interior.AND.on.the.exterior.
I whisper a few explicatives to myself and then call later in the morning when the garage opens. Phone call went something like:
Garage: "Thanks for calling alsdkjldskfjslkfdthsodf auto care, this is Adam, How may I help you?"
Me: "Hi Adam, Listen I've got a bit of a problem, and I want to know how you are going to make it better."
Adam: chuckles. [Really? thats the first move you wanna make? Laughing at an angry customer? Excellent move.]
Me: [this is where I tell the story. I didnt feel it necessary to repeat...this shit is already long enough] "...and now there's grease on the interior AND exterior of my car."
Adam: "Well ma'am I do apologize, I do not know what is going on with the alignment and I'd like to see this grease that you are talking about. We have upholstery cleaner, so we can clean that."
me: "oookkaaay...."
Adam: "How about I give you the oil change and the alignment free of charge, does that work for you"
Me: [Jaw on floor] "Umm..Ye..Yes. That works"
Me Inside: HOLLLLY SHIT!
Adam: "when will you be dropping the car off?"
Me: "I don't get back into the area until 430/445 so probably 5 or so"
Adam: "OK well I won't be here at 5, but I will inform the assistant manager"
Me: [begin paranoia] "Uh huh...ok"
So I begin to think about how they are gonna screw me and say that they have no idea what I am talking about and can I please fork over the $200 already and shut the hell up.
But no, that didn't happen. The dude knew exactly what I was talking about and even said "I was here on Sunday when this was supposed to be completed"
Me Inside: "Really? So why didnt you work on the shit then. god."
Me Outside: "Oh really?"
Him: "yeah I dunno why it isnt fixed"
me Inside: Me either jackass, me either.
me outside: silence.
k so that was tuesday night.
receive a call wednesday morning telling me how my battery has died and they need to replace it. Batteries normally pull 600 something and mine was pulling 11. They will not charge me for labor, just the battery.
me: "ok so what will my new total be?"
adam: "$89.00--thats the cost of the battery."
me: "oh but I thought I was paying for the bolt kit for the camber too"
adam: "No I am not charging you for that"
me: [Jaw on floor] "ok, go ahead and replace it"
adam: "i will give you a call later and let you know when your car is ready"
me: "okie dokie"
fast forward (heh) to wednesday afternoon.
Adam calls and tells me that the car starts now but wont stay on and the key fob no longer works, the door locks do not work and some other crap doesnt work. They cannot figure it out so they are gonna have my car towed to the dealership so they can fix whatever is wrong. He is going to issue me a rental car in the meantime.
Dealership tells me that my BCM is blown and needs to be replaced. That'll be $531.
Me: "I'm sorry...WHAT!"
Dealership: I see you have had this replaced before, November of 2003
Me: So the car was a little over a year old when it was replaced the first time?
Dealership: seems to be that way...
Me: So help me out here. How does a major electrical module go out in a basically new car TWICE in 4 years?
Dealership: I dunno... maybe the garage jumped the car and thats when the BCM blew
Me: yeah uh huh. Cuz thats a normal thing a garage would do. Jump a car before testing the damn battery.
Dealership: It is hard to prove...
Me: there's a shocker [yes i am being rude, this is friggin ridiculous]"
so i call corporate customer service to like complain cuz wtf!
I got a call this morning. They will replace the BCM Module, all I am responsible for is labor...$180.
Hey, thats better than $531.
shew.
What's funny is that just a few years ago I would have never fought and would have just paid and curled up in a little ball and wimpered.
Not so bad this growing up bidness.
So I called the garage just a minute ago to give them a courtesy update on what the deal is with the car. After much apologizing and kissing my ass I was informed that THE ALIGNMENT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE GOTTEN FINISHED.
Im expecting a call later today when they find out.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?!>?!
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