Funny, but true service customer stories.

[CaryC]

A guy called in one time and said his car wouldn't start, said he had just replaced the spark plugs.. I said "how did you gap them".. He replied, "I heard you could use a dime for gap, I didn't have a dime so I used 2 nicklels...

[mark vandersteeg]

a customer came in and asked to have the "tubes and straps" replaced. i said "tubes and straps?". she said yeah, tubes and straps. when i went out to the vehicle she promptly opened the hood and pointed at the tubes (hoses) and straps (belts). $125.00 and an hour later she was on her way with a smile!!!

[imacdude]

While working our 4pm to Midnight shift several years ago I had a fella stagger in at 11:30pm and said he'd like to pick up his car. I said "Sir, you picked your car up SEVERAL hours ago." He continued to argue with me at some length about an imposter, or we were tring to trick him. Even though he had his keys, receipt, and credit card slip in his pocket. We closed up shop after the police took him away. I never did hear where he left his car but he's still a customer of ours 10 years later.

P.S. We haven't reminded him of the incident.

John Belen

[tomv]

i was summoned to the service drive at the oldsmobile facility i managed to speak with an irate customer who would not speak to anyone but the service manager. the local high school principle proceeded to scream at me for better than 10 minutes about how he was unable to unlock his vehicle with the remote keyless entry transmitter. he was apparently stuck outside his vehicle for over 45 minutes and as he is an important person with many commitments this was a huge inconvenience and totally unacceptable.
i listened patiently until he finished and asked, "did you try unlocking the door with your key?"
he replied slowly, "well i suppose i could have, but that's not the point."
i stated, "yes sir, that is the point. the rke failure is a minor inconvenience. i can repair that system. unfortunately, i cannot give you back the valuable time you lost."
the experience seemed to humble him somewhat. this was probably aided by the other customers in the drive looking at him with discust after his display.
the man is an educator.

[tomv]

2 sons of an elderly woman who is a long term customer ganged up on me one day regarding the operation of the passenger front door lock operation of their mom's vehicle. it seems she and her sons were unable to unlock the door with the key. after several unsuccessful attempts to instruct her on the operation of the lock they decided it was time to embarrass the service manager in front of several customers. they were rude and loud while they taunted me with insults and disturbed other customers in the drive. one of the sons said "why dont you come over here and show us how to unlock this door right now. it wont unlock and we want to see how you're gonna do it."
i walked over to the vehicle and calmly asked them to demopnstrate the problem for me so i could undertand it better.
one son turned the key several times but was unable to unlock the door. he sarcastically challenged me to open the door.
i took the key from him. inserted it in the lock and turned it in the opposite direction he was turning it in, unlocking the door and opening it in front of the same customers they were trying to show off for. i advised him the key turns in the opposite direction on this side of the vehicle and we could have avoided this whole embarrassing situation if they had just calmly asked me to look at the vehicle with them. we had tried to explain the operation to their mother but she was unwilling to listen also.
i wished them a good day and went on about my business.

[tomv]

after replacing the engine on a 2 year old vehicle at great expense to mom i was explaining the proper maintenance procedures to avoid a repeat failure when the daughter approached me with her angry boyfriend. she stated the dipstick indicated there was no oil in the engine and he stated ther wasnt even a way to put oil into the new engine. when i showed her the level of the fresh oil on the dipstick she said, " thats not oil. oil is supposed to be black."
i explained that the reason she believed oil was supposed to be black is that she chose not to change hers when it was due and this was the cause of her engine failure. she was so accustomed to dirty oil that she was unable to see the clean oil on the dipstick.
the boyfriend removed the oil fill cap and said, "how can you put oil in the engine with that peice of metal blocking the hole?"
i explained that the baffle under the fill cap allows oil to flow around it into the engine when it is poured on top of it.

[wcarleton]

This is'nt reall funny but it is probably the most unusual that I have had.
A young lady drives her S10 Blazer into our Service Drive In area and calmly walks up to my service advisor and asks "Could you check my car for a bomb? I think my boyfriend put a bomb in my car and I'm afraid to drive it." Needless to say but we let the local Police do that job for us.

[jrcal]

This is an oldy but goody. This older lady kept complaining of her Check Engine Light coming on. We were unable to duplicate the concern on serveral attempts. No codes at all and no help from any bulletins or tech assistance. Finally one day I agreed to ride with her while she showed me when the light came on. She drove for almost an hour but still no light. Finally she agreed to let me take the vehicle and drive it for a few days. While stopping at her house with me still in the car she turns the engine off but then turned the key back to the on position to put the windows down (ignition switch on but engine not running). Suddenly she points to the light on the dash that says Service Engine Soon and states "That light comes on every time I do this" Proof that the truth is stranger than fiction.

JC

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JC

[tjsmith]

I had an older gentleman hand me a piece of paper & grunted,"I want this"...written on the paper was one word,"valcupagasticks"...So I finally figuerd out he needed a set of "valve cover gaskets".

Also a fellow co-worker that had a customer who stated he owned a Pontiac Goolie. So,he went outside & take a look at the car...written down the side of the car was"6000 LE"

[dcurrier]

My sides hurt every time I think about this one:
I was standing on the service drive talking to one of my advisors(Chuck). In drives this eldery gentleman,who is a regular in our service dept. He gets out of the car and procedes to tell Chuck about his new hearing aid he just got. "I hear things I havent heard in years" he said. Chuck then asks him "What kind are they? "Time?" he says. It's a quarter past eleven.