'He tells us we are trying to nickel and dime him': Auto body workers add oil to customer's car for a small fee, internet divided over the customers' reaction

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    Bow
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    customer didn't want to spend $ on oil This happened about 15+ years ago. My father owned a successful autobody and we always had tons of customers. He made every customer feel appreciated and always did extra stuff that he might had seen out of place etc.
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    We had one guy who brought his car to us (early 90s Buick if i remember). We had done something small on it and it was like a single day job or so. Our shop manager at the time noticed his engine was making a slight knocking noise and checked the oil. It ended up
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    needing 2 quarts to show up on the dip stick. Anyway he added the oil and the knocking stopped and engine smoothed out. (I realize this is not a permanent fix but many people drive like this and have no idea of their engines condition). They added the oil to the bill, which they only charged
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    $5 total. The guy was furious about the extra money and even after we explained to him that his engine was knocking, he demanded we take it off the bill and remove the oil. We removed it from the bill and just told him to keep the oil. He still was angry
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    and demanded we remove the oil regardless. We drive it back into the shop, on a lift, remove the oil and showed him it was removed. He tells us we are trying to nickel and dime him etc etc. He starts the car back up(engine proceeds to knock). He pulls out the driveway and gives it more gas than it needs, gets half a mile down the road and the engine let's go..
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    Any-Confusion-4526. Sir, will that be cash, check or charge for the new engine? We will tow for free and let every other shop in the area know what kind of customer you are at no additional charge.
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    SamuelVimesTrained let every other shop in the area know what kind of customer you are at no additional charge. BRILLIANT!
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    SemiOperational Some people just need to learn the hard way...
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    CleverNickName-69. I doubt he learned anything though. He was probably sure they sabotaged him.
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    tyleritis "You ruined my car so I'd have to spend more money here! You owe me a free car"
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    Decent_Syrup_371 OP. I would also like to follow this story up with one that I will not forget and restores my faith in humanity. We had a much older (late 70s+) woman come to the shop with a Chevy Nova. This was not the muscle car, but the 1980s version, which if I'm not mistaken was basically
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    a corolla hatchback. Anyway one of her doors didn't close properly. (She actually drove to us with no appointment, insurance etc.) We took the car in and the striker was completely off it's location. I believe they removed it and either adjusted or welded it back properly after adjusting the door correctly. It took the technician an hour
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    or less. So we handed her the keys back and told her the door is fixed now and will work correctly. She asked what was the fee and my dad just told her it's on the house. She was so elated but you can tell she wanted to give us something for the work. Several hours later at lunch time, she shows back up and had
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    gotten all catered subs for everyone in the whole shop (about 24 people). She was so happy feed all of us, but i sincerely felt so bad because the food had to be more expensive then even the repair was.
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    [deleted] Feels like malicious compliance, but maybe not the best idea. If it happened today this guy would leave a bad review and try to sue. I think I would have told him that I was going to charge him to take the free Oil out and when he balked told him to F* off and never come
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    back. Of course that would just be Tales from Retail with out a satisfying conclusion.
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    Decent Syrup_371 OP You're 100% right. The biggest issue is, no matter what, these types of people would still leave a bad review. I mean the oil was offered for free and they still didn't want it, you know?
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    Dandibear Some people are so certain everyone is terrible that it's all they can see.
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    go2kejdz How to not go through the whole hussle of furious customer and removing the oil from the engine in one easy step: 1. Don't add any oil to the engine; instead inform the customer that their engine lacks oil and you can fill it up for $5
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    clarabear10123. Yeah, if I were the customer, I might have been frustrated. $5 extra has meant I don't eat that day (when I was still living on campus). Free surprises are nice,
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    but you should never do someone you expect money from without someone saying, "Hey, I'll pay you if you do this."
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    gehanna1 So.... Good intentions there, absolutely. But I work in thr service department of a large dealership and I would get reamed if I did something on a customer's car without running it by them first, but then also charging them, no matter how small, on a service they didn't request.
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    Always ask the customer if they want to have something done. If they say no, then what happens next is on them. Not on you. But because of what happened, it's gonna definitely be your problem.
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    As a personal anecdote, I was living paycheck to paycheck early on, to the point that it wasn't unusual to have $5 in my account before payday. I had to get an oil change and I had budgeted just enough only for that. They saw that I needed wiper blades and put them on and charged me an extra $17. I paid it
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    because meek to say otherwise, but I cried on the way home because it meant I couldn't eat the next day. I was too $5 to you for extra oil may have been a lot of money for that guy. It's hard to know everyone's situation, so just... Always ask before performing services and before
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    charging them for things they never asked for.
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    1purenoiz Making 20 dollars last a week, I remember those painful days. No car, only a bike. Started a job after I had moved across the country. Every penny was counted.
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    I work at a small engine shop. The people that walk through there, I have similar stories. I swear people get so attached to a lawnmower or defensive when explaining what's wrong. I'd swear it was a family heirloom to them. Or they treat it like it's a half mil sports car.

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