I had a terrible experience with Dave yesterday. I was pretty sure a rat had chewed through the wires in my car. The ABS light came on, the car wouldn't start, and then it would. When I checked under the hood, I saw rat droppings on the battery and signs of nesting around the engine. The car kept turning off while I was driving and would restart randomly.
I explained this to Dave, and he suggested I go through insurance. My deductible seemed like it may be higher than what I'd pay out of pocket, so I preferred to avoid it. Dave assured me that going through insurance was just to have a case open before checking the car and if the damage didn't add up to the deductible, we could work together outside the insurance.
He agreed to check the car first. When I asked if the initial inspection was free, he gave me a vague answer but basically said yes. This was the first red flag I overlooked.
I appreciated how much time he spent explaining insurance to me, and I felt comfortable with his demeanor initially. But when I got to the shop, he was completely different.
He asked "What are we doing here?..."
I reminded him that we just spoke on the phone and he stared at me. I asked if he remembered and he just said "yes." so I started to re-explain the issue. He interrupted me and just said "so what are we diagnosing?"
I said I was confused.
He said condescendingly, "If that car doesn't stall when I drive it in the next ten minutes, there's nothing here for us to do, so I need you to tell me what we're diagnosing."
We had already talked about all of this on the phone.
Me: "That sounds like the question I have for you. I believe a rat chewed through my wires and my car keeps turning off and on while I'm driving it. Isn't that what we're diagnosing?"
He said, "See, this is what I explained. Just like we talked about..." and listed important things that we never talked about.
He spoke to me in this weird way, like a teacher quizzing a student...
and then he would look at me shrug and say "that's what I'm asking you".
Me: "I don't understand. You're asking me questions that you're supposed to find the answers to. I'm not the mechanic...all I can tell you is what's wrong with my car and ask for your help..."
I finally asked if this process would be different if insurance was not a part of this.
He diverted.. "I'll give you 10 to 15 minutes to look under the hood of your car and if I can't see anything, then what are we gonna do?"
Me: "I don't know...what are we going to do? "
Him: "Well, we charge for our time here."
(At this point, I'm so annoyed. Just tell me how much you charge. I don't expect free labor.)
Me: "Please just tell me how much you charge."
He finally told me the rates.
I said... "OK well I guess let's start with driving the car and see if it happens in the next 10 minutes"... as he had offered.
He said that he needed to finish his phone call that had been on hold the entire time we had been talking.
In the time that I left to update my boyfriend out front, Dave looked under the hood of the car without me, which I would've liked to have been present for. He said he didn't see anything... Not surprising if you took a minute and a half to look under the same hood that I looked under, we both have eyes.
Him: "OK we will look the car over tomorrow when insurance gets here. You can leave the keys."
Me: "Are we gonna drive the car around now before I send insurance over here?"
Him: "I don't see any reason to drive the car around until they're here".
That was crazy. He had just said something totally different.
I asked him two questions about the fees that he would charge me and insurance, and he started responding with,
"You're overthinking this".
I said "You just told me that you don't know what to diagnose in my car, and that the problem I have very likely won't occur while insurance is here with you tomorrow. And if that problem doesn't occur while they're here, then I don't know if they will cover anything at which point you might start charging me. These are really basic questions. I don't understand what will happen and I want to know what my options are."
Then his whole tone changed and he went to hand the keys back to me while he said "If this is like a money thing, I don't really want to have anything to do with it..."
Me: "What are you talking about? I'm literally just asking you for clarity."
And he honestly said with a smile, "Well you're not gonna get any of that from me"...
That was the most clear statement he could have given me and I was grateful to leave.
He was defensive, rude, and unclear on purpose.
If he had been honest and straightforward, I would've been happy to pay for his services. I just wanted clear options and an honest evaluation. If a business person makes you feel bad for asking questions about services or the charges, just leave.
I truly hope one day he realizes he could earn just as much or more, by being honest and clear with customers. read more