Angry Customer Stories?

>work at Canadian Tire in high school in auto parts part time
>work weekday evenings and weekends
> 15 mins before close some land whale comes in with her redneck husband claiming they need a fan belt for their truck as they are on their way back to the US and A and are in a rush
>so I ask for the year, make and model
"Ford F-150"
>okay ma'am what year and engine size
Her response.
"What the fuck is your problem I need a goddammit fan belt for my truck. Are you an idiot?! Do you know what a belt is?!
Bite my lip and continue:
"Well my catalog is organized by year so I can't check stock without the year"
She mumbles something and yells at the brain dead sack of meat she called Bobby and asks for the year which turns out to be 98
I ask again politely for the engine size as there was 3 options. She doesn't know just that it's a v6. I ask does she have anything with the VIN so I can type it in and know exactly what belt she needs.
"What the hell I just want a fucking fan belt why is this so difficult.."
I had enough at this point and stopped her, and dropped my fake smile.
>look lady we have parts for over 4 dozen manufactures going back over 60 years and each manufacture uses different engines with different accessories like alternators and A/C. So each of those multiple engines, that go into the multiple car designs, that the multiple manufacturers have different sized belts. Now I don't have any of the serpentine belts for you and unfortunately I can't get anything until tomorrow morning.

She bitched some more claimed I was being rude etc so I politely informed her my manager is in tomorrow Monday morning first thing and can get you the belt ordered and delivered thank you for shopping with us and have a good night, turned and left.

I came in the next day at 11 there shitbox truck was still outside because apparently the warehouse didn't have a driver to deliver.

Apprentice mechanic here. I'm still learning.

Boss asks me to get engine crane out, wrap some chains around an engine and we'll take it out later.

Get the chains around it and leave to go do something else.

>Customer comes in, raging at another apprentice
>Punches him in the face, screaming about how we're all lying disrespectful cheats
>I have no idea why this guy is so mad
>He forces his way into the back of the shop, pushes me down and releases the engine crane which my boss had hoisted up (engine was half out)
>Engine falls to the ground smashing some shit up
>Guy is still flipping around destroying the workshop
>We tackle him (he's a big guy) and restrain him until police arrive
>Boss later tells me he's not even a customer, some homeless guy from up the street who got angry at my boss earlier in the day for not giving him any money

We've had some stupid customers but nothing as unreal as this day, i'm still headfucked over the whole thing.

Jesus fucking Christ man. I would have cracked that fool over the head with a torque wrench.

Master tech here. Being a mechanic blows... every.... day.
>Shop opens at 8 guy with a truck drops off for a brake inspection
>inspect it and recommend pads rotors and have the leaking axle seals replace.
>day progresses work on truck, and a few other cars come in for minor jobs
>finish truck at 3:45pm we close at 4 and had called the guy ahead of time that the truck would be done by 4 and he can come by and pick it up at close
>guy shows up and proceeds to loose his mind arguing with me that the axle seals which had destroyed his parking brakes shoes "werent leaking badly enough" and that "a real mechanic would have just wiped them off"
>firmly explain to the man that his evalution of the situation is flawed
>more ramblings of a mad man about how he works on his own vehicles and hes super mechanic and has owned several body shops since infancy
>this shit goes on for half an hour
>the shops closing late because of it, everybodys blood pressue is at cruising altitude
>then his wife walks in and berrates him for this nonsense, he switches gears pays the full bill and leaves

shit like this happens all the time

>be 20
>work at Walmart as tire lube tech
>guy brings in his car and drops it off for an oil change
>1987 Nissan 300x
>complete service and park car
>guy comes in to pick up car
>pays and leaves he comes back inside fucking fuming
>"you guys fucked my car up I want you guys to replace all the shit you fucked up"
>none of us know what he's talking about
>he tells us all of his belts are cut and all of his radiator hoses are chopped up
>wants us to go outside with him and see
>say FUCK no we aren't going anywhere
>starts getting in the face of my 6'3 280 pound Co worker (he did the service)
>starts screaming at him were trying to calm him down
>he calls the police they come and the customer gets arrested
>we walk outside and pop the hood and sure enough all accessory belts are cut and all radiator hoses are cut leaking coolant
>he calls Walmart management and the store flips
>pull camera footage of Co worker actually just performing the service and doing nothing wrong
>they tell the customer to FUCK off
>dude leaved his car in our parking lot for 2 weeks before it finally hit towed away.

And risk knocking the wrench out of calibration? Fuck that, use a breaker bar.

>be dealership parts guy
>pajeet calls asking for price of new remote key
>key itself is $350 because lol lexus
>goes off on me telling me we gouge people
>claims he called another dealership and they said key was $100 (way below cost)
>ask which one he called
>"it doesn't matter, it's the principle that you're tying to gouge me. can't you just match the price so you can have a paying customer?"
>immediately tell him to pound sand

Unfortunately, I no longer work there. I apparently wasn't enough of a cocksucking cuck for the dealership's "service standards" even though complete fucking idiots called in daily.

I've got a couple TPMS related stories. It's so funny how difficult it is for customers to grasp what TPMS sensors are and how they work.

>Working at America's Tire
>some old guy pulls into our bags for an air check
>2014 ram 1500
>"One of these tires have a nail but I'm not sure which one. Check them for me."
>Yeahokay.exe
>Air up first tire
>It was at 29 PSI
>Check tire for nails while it airs up
>He's standing over me watching
>"You don't use a gauge to check what they were at?"
>No sir, the machine tells us what the tires were at before it begins airing up
>He mumbles and walks away
>Finish air check
>Alright sir, so it turns out your tires are all fine, they were just all at 29 PSI rather than 39, so I bumped them back up to 39 P-
>"No, that isn't right. One of my tires have a nail, my light was on."
>Well actually the light comes on when a tire is either under or over inf-
>"No, don't give me that. That's not proper. You don't know which one has a nail because you're using that fucking machine that just throws air in when you plug it in."
>Explain it displays readout of TP before airing up
>Throws a fit, saying he's old and deserves better treatment.
>He leaves our store fuming

Another TPMS story

>Customer rolls up in his crown Vic for an air check
>"My light is on"
>Okay, no problem
>Set all his tires to 35 PSI as requested
>Ask to borrow his keys
>Begin process to reset his light
>"Are you resetting the light?"
>Yes sir
>"NNNNNNOOO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!"
>He throws his hands up and down, and throws his cane on the floor while he grabs his head with both hands and yells NO
>"One of my sensors don't work and I needed to know which one!"
>Explain all sensors were reading fine
>"Fuck that! One sensor doesn't work and you fucked it up!"
>He says the sensor doesn't work because his light comes on every month
>Tell him that's normal because tires lose air pressure
>"I've bought thousands of tires from you guys, I know what's going on! I'm taking this to another store where it's not filled with idiots!"
>He gets in his car and backs up into another car
>Flips them off and drives off

Lorry+trailer mechanic here,
the garage i work for deals a lot with a company that has these trailers with detachable tarp boxes, much like shipping containers these than get lifted off and put on a train so it can get to another country so another trucker of theirs can pick it up and deliver it.
this train company has very strict rules on said boxes. not complying means you aint getting on

>trucker comes in saying he was just rejected at the trainstation and he needs some stuff fixed
>its 17.30, train leaves at 18.00 sharp.
>sure thing sir
>gather my tools, he basically needs the tarp patched, some new buckles that hold said tarp in place and some welding work
>get back to the truck with parts
>T: WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU, I NEED TO CATCH THE TRAIN
>Me: going as fast as i can sir
>fire up the welder
>T: WHAT THE HELL, YOU NEED TO TAKE PICTURES OF THE DAMAGES FOR MY BOSS
note: i dont really have to because this is cheap work, which we have under contract, but pics have to made if requested
>me: sure thing
>go find camara, get back 20 secs later
>T: GO FASTER I NEED TO CATCH MY TRAIN
>bite my tongue and just get started, complete welding work within 2 mins, patched a few small holes, and began on the buckles
>T: NO THATS ALL WRONG YOU NE-
>me: *cut him off* WHO THE FUCK IS THE MECHANIC OVER HERE, YOU OR ME?
>T; you...
>RIGHT, NOW GO OUTSIDE TO SMOKE, ILL CALL YOU WHEN READY
>trucker goes outside, i get the work done, clean my tools, call him back in. tell him to fuck off, its now 17.50, i wonder if he made the 5 min drive, and still managed to get there on time for his box to be loaded on the truck

>We mount it for him for free
eat a dick, you enable these shitstains

Can we share any stories related to shitty customers/clients? I'm not in Veeky Forums related field

>go back to pleddit
>go to r/talesfromretail
>post your normie shit there
>KARMA

why post non-automotive shit on an autistic chinese cartoon automotive forum

I'll start
>work at vape shop in an upscale part of South Florida
>everyone from Subaru owners to angry old women
>woman about 60yrs old comes in
>she maniacally storms in after parking a newer C300
>immediately tells me my coworker broke all her stuff
>4 "broken" items total 2 tanks and 2 mods
>woman is pacing back in forth looking at juices and telling me how I need to make this right
>all of her stuff is fine, however one of her tanks will only work on one mod due to too low resistance
>starts shouting about how we shouldn't sell her stuff that doesn't work
>calmly tell her everything does work
>this goes on for about 10 minutes
>give her store credit, take back the coils, sell her like 6 bottles of the clearance juice

>he's a pretty big guy
FOR YOU

>work at vape shop in an upscale part of South Florida

saddest/most pathetic part of this entire post

At least he's not a Nigerian Prince.

Sounds like a lonely lawyer

lol, holy shit

these stories are fucking gold, fuck people man...

At least he didn't agree to $350, have the work done, and then throw a shit fit trying to get it for $100 when it comes time to pay the bill.

That's a cultural thing though, apparently in India no one bats an eye if you agree on a price and then try to nig them down after the work is actually done.

This is why I'm glad I use to work at an independent shop.

Had to leave after the new guy got hired in and was substantially better than I was though. He was actually really good, but I'm pretty sure he was abusing Adderall.

I never dealt with customers as I was purely a mechanic
>Our shop was located in the middle of a small rural town
>Doubled as a towing company
>The average income in our town was less than 15k
>Google maps displayed our shop being near m65 but it was about 15 miles south, pretty sure the boss intentionally supplied false information
>It was surprising how many customers would bring a vehicle in for brake work and then couldn't manage to fork up the money
>Boss would lock it up and put a lien on the vehicle for the work done
>Every 3 months we'd have a 'public' auction which consisted of all the shop employees
>Literally buying shitboxes for the cost of parts & labor from the shop
>You wouldn't believe how many people would have a vehicle impounded from a traffic stop and then never pick it up because of towing/lot fees

I actually made pretty good money working there. We were allowed to use the shop after hours so fixing things was always a breeze with a lift.

Selling vehicles on Craigslist was always a nightmare and usually harder than actually fixing the vehicle. I tried selling on Facebook groups but those people were always trying to finance vehicles from me. The moment I told them it doesn't leave my yard till it's paid off they'd lose interest.

Don't abuse the ability to sell more than 4 vehicles a year boys. At least not without a dealers license.

That's pretty smart way to go about it. Might try this

kek shouldve tootled his horn trumpet

>Explain to him why tires 10 years+ are unsafe
>customers can't use our equipment due to safety reasons
>tire can FUCKING EXPLODE

Jesus wept, you literally can't even pump up a tire without offending Mohammed these days

To be fair, just because tire pressure is reading lower than recommended does not mean that there isn't also a nail somewhere. If he's so sure there's a nail, you make a show of checking each tire and then charging him for the time.

so who cut all his hoses and belts?

>>We mount it for him for free

Fuck, I'm trying this next time I buy tires.

I got really fucking irritated at a mechanic a week ago after he called me a liar for bringing in OBD I codes, apparently not understanding that the P#### codes are only for OBD II. I only brought them into this chain store for thoughts on what the possible cause could be. My friend there has a 3rd gen Camaro, so we share a lot as I own a 4th gen Firebird but he wasn't there and I just asked the other mechanic.

>Hey, X isn't here but I was just wondering what you think could be the cause of these codes.
>*takes 3 minutes to read 9 words and 5 numbers*
>'no sir, these codes aren't real, pull in and I'll scan for you for free'
>Okay, I guess he might want to get them himself
>Pull in and then show him the OBD I port
>'Sorry sir, I can't pull codes from this car, it's too old.'
>"Yeah, that's why my codes aren't the P##-"
>'Your car is not OBD II so I don't know where you got these codes from, but I don't trust them, your car seems fine to me.'
>The Check Engine light only comes on after idling for a while (suspecting an O2 sensor, but wanted to make sure)
>"Oh, I had O'Reilly's pull them for me, they had an adapter to get them on their scanner."
>'I think they sold you on some bullshit'
>"Okay, well... Do you know when X will be back?"
>'You don't trust me? I've been in this business since before you born son.'
>"No, I think he might be able to help me better since his car is similar to mine."
>'I'm not sure when he'll be back, but I hope he won't have to talk to someone so disrespectful.'
>"Alright, sorry for wasting your time sir, have a nice day."

Like what the fuck, if you've been a mechanic for that long then surely you would remember OBD I codes are just numbers (ie. 35, 46, 75, 76, & 77). Calling me a liar for not bringing in codes not from OBD II? My local shop that I use (different one) is always happy that I know what's up generally or am in the ballpark, they remember OBD I codes and a lot of their new guys are NEW to the business and they know about them

I made fucking sure he was a certified mechanic and not a tech before asking him and afterwards, my friend even called him a "dumbass hack" when I asked him about it.

Did you mention the year of your car, most mechanics who have been in business scence before you were born should know that pre 1995 don't have obd 2. That should have been a given.

Sounds like he probably didn't have many friends in highschool, probability because he was socially inept by the you described him.

Also you can get your codes from the firebird forums. You should go back just to fuck with him.

Forgot to include that but yeah. He asked what I had and I told him a 1994 Pontiac Firebird. He asked again after the port was wrong and I reminded him "1994, it's OBD I".

He was never good at customer service. My friend was a social mechanic, however, always talking to customers on slow days and making sure they understood what he had, how he did it, and why he did it that way. Unlike others, he didn't discount me because of my age and the car I drive (people think it was a gift for some reason, no one has thought I actually bough it with my own money).

I hate people like that. If you're such a master mechanic, why did you take it in for easy shit like brakes and axle seals?