This post is a bummer to make but I am keeping it real. I have taken my car to the same auto shop for 25 years. It is Scott's Auto Express in Blue Springs.
I haven't been there in 2020 because I haven't driven my car. I wanted to get winter maintenance on it. Plus, since I bought my tires there, rotations and balances are free for me.
I entered and noticed no one wearing masks. No signage on the door. I had on a mask. The guy checking me said, "You don't have to worry about wearing a mask if you don't want to." I replied, "That concerns me" and stepped outside to wait.
Scott, the owner came out to chat, as we have done for half his life. I helped him start his business with his father. I asked him if he knew that there was a mask mandate in JACO for businesses, and he said, "Well, I had a sign and the wind blew it off." I told him what his guy said to me, and he got red in the face, and said, "You are the first person who's complained about it." I told him I have health issues and honestly, should not have to complain about it. I told him that wearing a mask tells your customers you care about them.
He made some comments to me regarding my personal life--how I had lost my job and home, how I was "down on my luck"--etc. And how he would "drive me back to my house so I didn't have to sit at the shop." I lived 2 miles from the shop. I have spent easily $20K in repairs on various cars in 25 years. He tried to shame me about a horrible period in my life that had NOTHING to do with the fact that he was in violation of a county mandate.
Then, he left and the next thing I know, I hear my car being wheeled around. He said that he was not going to complete my service. And he told me that he was not going to honor future services on my tire rotations. He said that his shop had the right to not serve anyone they wanted for any reason. I asked why I was not being served, and he said, "I don't like your attitude."
He called 15 minutes later as I was driving home. He apologized, said he was under stress. He said that he is going to change his mask policy. He said he wanted to keep my business, and asked me to come back to the shop. I told him I already have PTSD, and he just made it worse. I told him I have issues leaving my house, and he just made them worse. He offered to come get my car, and I declined. I told him he had lost a customer. read more