Okay, so get a load of this dude. Here is the setting. It is 20 Feb 2015, the coldest day of the year with the temperature hovering around a brick ass 10 degrees. My buddy is out on North 21st, and his car wont start. We know it's the battery but I cant get out to him to jump it. So I think, no big, Ill call the closest Auto shop and see if they can help. Why wouldn't they. Its just a dead battery. No big. Google shows me that Duke's is less than three blocks away so I call them first. The following conversion ensues verbatim:
First Phone Call
-Dukes: Dukes Auto
-Me: Good morning, my buddy is a few blocks away and his battery is dead. I was -wondering if you could help him out if I give you my credit card number to cover whatever it costs...
-Dukes: yeah, that's fine, just tell him to bring it in.
-Me: Sir, the car wont start, would you be able to go to him?
-Dukes: No, I work alone Sir.
-Me: Okay can I buy a battery and... (Dukes cuts me off) the end of my sentence would have been, "have him come pick it up"
-Dukes: He can bring it in, Ill take a look at it, and put a battery in it for him. Like I said, I work alone (Hangs up phone).
I didn't want to call back, but I didn't want my buddy to have to walk to a further location. Remember, the thermometer outside was reading "Antarctica", so I called back to clarify my request so my guy could get squared away easily.
Second Phone Call
-Dukes: Dukes Auto
-Me: Sir, I just called a minute ago and I was hoping my buddy could walk to you and...
-Dukes: Look, I told you, I work alone sir (Hangs Up)
I'm going to spare you the details as to why I think this guys is a massive D bag, so the boiled down conclusion is,
-A man was in need of help
-Dukes was informed of the mans situation
-Dukes inherently understood the man's extreme conditions
-Dukes was very close to the mans location
-Dukes had the ability to help the man
-Dukes was offered money in exchange for helping the man
-Dukes choose not to help
I have had great experiences since Ive moved to Richmond and the experiences I prefer to review are those consisting of extremes. My experience with Dukes was not only extremely terrible, it was one of those situations where you loose a little faith in humanity. I'm sure they have great mechanics, I'm sure they have fair prices bla bla bla, but if they consist of people that lack the qualities necessary to be considered decent human beings, why would we not go elsewhere? This isn't even a costumer service problem or product quality deficiency, this review speaks to the values we should and should not accept on a societal level. Hopefully, when one of their friend or loved ones are in need of help, they come across people unlike themselves. Screw Dukes. Not a penny from me, and hopefully not from you either. read more