Date:         Tue, 11 Oct 1994 20:20:03 -0700 (PDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Thom Fitzpatrick" <thom@tim.com>
Subject:      BMW Shop Problems (Conclusion?)

Hi,

	Well, we had the meeting today with the shop owners about the problem
with the crappy repair work on her 530i.

	The first thing we did was take the car to Neillo BMW here in Sacramento
and have them do an eval of the car.  They said the car definitely 
does _not_ have head problems, but was mal-adjusted.  The timing was way off,
and it was way too lean.  The only thing set right was the dwell, and guess
who did that? :)

	So, we all sat down in the shop's back room, and first off let me say it
was a little distracting, with 911 engines all over the place in varying
states of dismemberment and all kinds 911 parts scattered everywhere!
	
	So we're sitting there staring at each other, so I start with a 
description of the problem and what we wanted done about it, Amy adds her
dissatisfaction with being left out of the loop even though its her car,
and she was paying for the repairs.  They apologized profusely for this!

	We played good cop/bad cop.  I got to be the bad cop!  My position was
that we didn't want to pay anything!  She was willing to work with them.
Their first tactic was to make me look like an idiot my throwing a heap
of technical-speak my way, which I completely and effectively deflected
with firm, well informed responses and a couple of diagrams on some 
scrap paper.

	The mechanic tried to work the customer service angle, with "I'm 
willing to do whatever it takes to get your car running the way you want"  
to which I countered "you already had three tries!"  He then tried the
philsophical angle that "well, thats purely hindsight"  "Well, so is this
entire discussion..." counters I.

	The shop manager tried the humanistic 'you're being a butt-hole' angle
by saying "You know, I've known you for several years, and I've never seen
this side of you.  You've never acted like this - this isn't the Thom I
know"  To which I replied "Jim, we could be the greatest buddies, but 
when it comes down to the fine print, I'm a _consumer_"  I owe somebody
on the Porsche list for that line!

	So we argued.  Amy gave a very clear dissertation on what she thought
the problem was and how she was mad about being left on the loop _and_
being told 3 times the car ran great when it didn't.                

	Amy was actually the deal maker here.  She told them that she was willing 
to pay for the parts, but none of the labor.  I played bad cop and argued 
that we shouldn't even pay for the parts, since they were replacing
stuff in a clueless grasp at fixing the car!   

	She agreed that: she will pay for the parts at cost.  They will pay for
any repairs that the dealer says need to be made.  She will pay for none of
the labor incurred during the previous work (close to 20 hours @ $55).  To
sweeten the deal, they _gave_ her a new battery for the car!  Done deal!

	Amy would like to extend a big thanks to all who helped during this
ordeal.  We would probably not fared as well without your help!

Thom & Amy
-- 
>> I used to have a handle on life, then it broke.
............................................................................
:    Thom Fitzpatrick                             Transamerica Info Mgmnt  :
:  Systems Administrator                          1860 Howe Ave            :
:  tfitzpatrick@tim.com                           Sacramento, CA 95825     :
:   fax (916) 921-6781                            (916) 565-3346           :
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