Back story:
I own a classic Mustang and have been taking my car to a shop that specializes in working on Mustangs. Last week on the way to school I noticed that my brakes were squishy. By that I mean I had to push them closer to the floor in order for them to engage. But then they were working normally.
On my way home after my classes I came to a stop sign. I pushed the brake all of the way to the floor. My car came to a stop, but then it slowly started going forward. I lifted off the brake and pressed it back down and it worked. Clearly my brakes were losing pressure. There can be a lot of reasons why this could be, some more difficult to diagnose than others, so I took it to my shop.
After having it for a day they called me back and said that my entire brake system needs to be replaced and it would be $1207. Wow. I was not prepared for that at all. I asked what was wrong and if they could just fix that one part. They said they didn't know, but it could be the Master Cylinder. I asked how much that would cost, and they said it was a $45 dollar part. So I told them just to get it working and I'd revisit replacing the entire brake system another day.
A day later this shop calls me back and gives me a mouthful about how they refuse to do that because they don't want to be liable for putting me on the road with worn brakes. Now, they are assuming that A) I don't understand liability law, B) I don't know any of the technical jargon they used, and C) that I am wealthy.
As for A), I was an administrator of both the state and federal courts for about seven years, so it was my job to be well versed in some areas of law, so I know that the "liability laws" they said they were worried about don't actually exist. B) I've owned this car since 2001, and I've done a lot of the work, including brake work, myself. I am not master mechanic, but I am somewhat competent when it comes to my car, which frankly is a pretty easy car to work on. I do understand why they assumed C. Earlier this year I had them do two big jobs. Replace the A/C and install a new cooling system. Those are things I can't do.
At this point I was 99 percent sure they were trying to sucker me. I also had just had my brakes inspected by both this shop (before it changed ownership) and by Network Alignment & Brakes within the past three months. I told them that, and they said they didn't have the paperwork on their own inspection and that Network Alignment **& Brakes** doesn't do brakes. MFW.
I didn't argue. I told them that if they were refusing to fix the car I'd either do it myself or take it elsewhere. When I arrived with the tow truck to get my car they wouldn't even look me in the face and tried to confuse me with doublespeak and jargon.
I had the car towed to Network for diagnosis. I've been going there since 2002 to have my alignment adjusted. I told the shop manager, Lonnie, what the other shop told me. He said he'd look at it and call me the next day. I got his call and he said they inspected the brakes and they're fine. I asked him if the other shop was basically full of shit and he said, 'yeah, basically.' He didn't know why the brake system didn't have pressure, but they were working on it. He was sure that I didn't need an entirely new brake system.
That was yesterday. Today Lonnie called me and said that the problem was my front two brake cylinders needed to be replaced, and one of the brake shoes had some damage. They come in a pair so he'd replace both the front ones.
"What will this run me?" I asked.
He paused for a second. "Nothing."
I paused too. "What? You're not going to charge me? Why?!"
"Because why not?" He said.
That conversation happened jut 10 minutes ago. It just really made my day. I went from worrying about a potential $1200 repair bill on some relatively new brakes, to getting them fixed for literally free. I pick my car up tomorrow.
It felt so good to have a business be that nice to me that I felt like I owed it to them to share the story.
TL;DR I had a minor brake problem. One shop tried to gouge me for $1,200 but then I took my car to Network and they said they'd fix it for free.
Note: I am purposely not saying the name of the shop that tried fuck me over for two reasons. 1) Maybe they were just wrong and it wasn't intentional (though I doubt they are that incompetent). 2) I wanted this story to be about incredible customer service. I don't want to focus on the negative. As a person who teaches customer service, I really appreciate how common it is for the bad to stick out and how rare it is for the good to be even talked about. read more