Humiliated in a garage

Ardent

My mother bought her current car a couple of years ago at a major dealership in Galway (I won't mention which one), has been a long standing customer and has had every car routinely serviced there over the years.

This morning, she brought her car in for a routine service and a repair to a wing mirror. Prior to bringing it in, a guy at the garage said on the phone that they didn't have a replacement wing mirror in stock and they'd have to keep to the car in for the weekend. Fair enough.

When my mother arrives, they tell her they actually do have a replacement mirror after all and they can do the whole job in an hour. As a result, she cancels a previously arranged lift from a friend seeing as she'll have the car shortly.

She then realises that she doesn't have enough money on her to pay for all the work (she thought it would be in for the weekend) and she says this to the young lad working on her car, who either ignores her or didn't hear and who keeps on working.

When he's finished and looking for payment, she tells him again that she didn't bring enough money with her and her credit card is at home etc. He's adament that she's going nowehere with the car until full payment is received. She offers to pay what she has on her and pay the rest of by credit card over the phone when she gets home. Yer man is having none of it and, after a bit of back and forth in front of a busy garage with people watching on, she breaks down in tears. She demands to see the manager and he fobs her off before eventually giving her her car keys back.

Needless to say, she's very distraught and has never felt so humiliated in her life. I was seething after she told me the story and told her to ring the manager of the place.

What would you do? Surely they have no right to treat a customer like this?

pwd

She's lucky if that is the most humiliating experience of her life.
Why did she feel they were obliged to give her credit? I'd never expect someone I didn't know to let me walk off saying I'd pay them later.
Sorry this attitude is why I asked to be banned from PI.

Wigertoods

I think it's time your mother brought her custom somewhere else
from now on and be sure to let these people know why.

roberteboot

To be fair they could have been a little nicer about it.Or made some sort of arrangements.But on the other hand she shouldnt have let him work away on it when she knew she couldnt pay.Or maybe arranged her for her friend to collect her card.I know you said she told the lad but maybe he DIDNT hear her.She should have made sure.
I reckon you should just leave it.I mean it sounds like they overreacted and could have been alot nicer about the situation but its hardly worth stewing over.Just let it go and enjoy the weekend.Maybe go for a nice drive.

blorg

She didn't have an ATM card, or anything? In fairness, credit is a favour and not to be expected, I can understand why they wouldn't want people walking out without paying, perhaps none of the people working there recognised her as a 'long standing customer'?

roberteboot

Wigertoods wrote:

I think it's time your mother brought her custom somewhere else
from now on and be sure to let these people know why.

This too.

kittenkiller

Phone the manager & lift him out of it.
I hope your mum got the name of the ignorant lil fcuker she was dealing with & let the manager know what utterly useless staff he has!

Never go back there & bad mouth the place to anyone who'll listen!
Start by telling us all here which garage it was!!!

Newaglish

I would have brought my credit card with me

Or called someone who was at home to call out the number to me

Or got my friend to pick up the card for me

Or told them beforehand I had no money

It's not a difficult situation really. What do you think the guy in the garage should have done? Just let her drive off, and take her word for it?

Also crying in the middle of a shop just to get your own way is a bit extreme! What age is this lady?

Newaglish

kittenkiller wrote:

Phone the manager & lift him out of it.
I hope your mum got the name of the ignorant lil fcuker she was dealing with & let the manager know what utterly useless staff he has!

What do you think the manager would have said if he had let someone drive away without paying? Then he'd think he's "utterly useless"

And what makes you think the guy in the garage was an "ignorant lil fcuker"? He might have been quite polite. He's just doing his job

Just trying to see this from both sides!

Ardent

Newaglish wrote:

Also crying in the middle of a shop just to get your own way is a bit extreme!

You don't get it at all, do you? She was still crying when I was on the phone to her a short while back.

What age is this lady?

Late 50s.

kittenkiller

The OP says that his mother said to the guy that she had no money in plenty of time but he chose to ignore her!
He should've offered to let her use the phone in the office to contact someone who could arrange the money for her or he could've noted that the woman was a regular customer & hardly someone who was about to go on the run for te sake of the cost of a wing-mirror!
I think that anyone who is aware of a problem, such as the above & does nothing to rectify it IS ignorant!
Plenty of businesses & services offer credit & issue bills after the service has been completed, it's not like what she was suggesting was extraordinary in any way!
To reduce a woman who is on her own to tears in public is rude, ignorant, bad business & utterly unforgivable!

Hobbes

In fairness now the lad was in the right. The manager would come back and fire him for stupidity.

Unless shes a personal friend of the manager or something like that call the manager.

MorningStar

Nobody thinks an adult should be able to control themselves enough to not cry? Seriouly why is acceptable? I mean if a man did his more natural reaction of hitting somebody it wouldn't be acceptable. Adults are meant to be able to control themselves.
The staff sound at fault but so does she for not being clear and for then reacting in a manner that is as difficult for a man to deal with as a woman is to deal with a man's aggression.

Ardent

kittenkiller wrote:

Phone the manager & lift him out of it.
I hope your mum got the name of the ignorant lil fcuker she was dealing with & let the manager know what utterly useless staff he has!

Never go back there & bad mouth the place to anyone who'll listen!
Start by telling us all here which garage it was!!!

I'm glad someone feels the same way. Putting an elderly customer though all that is plain wrong IMO. It'd be different if she kust walked in off the street and they didn't know her.

Safe to say she'll never buy another car off them.

Toyota.

blorg

Ardent wrote:

a couple of years ago at a major dealership in Galway

I think this might be the key, she probably would have been told it was fine if she had bought from a smaller, owner-run dealership. In a large dealership individual employees likely wouldn't recognise every 'long standing customer' and company policy is likely 'no credit'.

EDIT: Like my local grocers will say 'pay next time' if I forget my wallet, but Tesco won't, for example.

rubadub

No way I would have let her go if I was the young lad. This could have been a thread by somebodys mate fired for letting a poor woman go home to get money. If a scumbag boyracer came in and tried the same trick he would get nowhere, I don't believe in discrimination, and would treat a scumbag the same as a nun, NO CREDIT.

Could she not leave something with them though, like a phone/watch spare wheel, radio etc. They could have got her reg or something.

kittenkiller

They would've had all her details on file & of course her reg number & all the entries in the car's log-book thingy including her address!
The garage were the ones who gave false information prior to her turning up there.
She was unaware that they would need payment that day before she turned up!
It would be a different story if she *knew* she was gonna have to fork over money that day.
They should've made allowances for their change of plans!

Talliesin

Ardent wrote:

I was seething after she told me the story and told her to ring the manager of the place.

If she wasn't already talking to the manager how on earth was she expecting to arrange credit?

BizzyC

In fairness, your mother didn't have the money.

Did she cry because the guy wouldn't let her pay later, or because he was talking back.

If it was the first then your mother should grow up, and learn to deal with situations like an adult.

Hobbes

kittenkiller wrote:

They would've had all her details on file & of course her reg number & all the entries in the car's log-book thingy including her address!
The garage were the ones who gave false information prior to her turning up there.
She was unaware that they would need payment that day before she turned up!
It would be a different story if she *knew* she was gonna have to fork over money that day.
They should've made allowances for their change of plans!

Thats not how I read it at all. They were not aware of the item until she arrived , they asked her if she wanted it fitted now. She should of known then that she would have to pay.

Now its possible the guy was rude to her in which case complain but otherwise the guy was in the right.

roberteboot

kittenkiller wrote:

The OP says that his mother said to the guy that she had no money in plenty of time but he chose to ignore her!
He should've offered to let her use the phone in the office to contact someone who could arrange the money for her or he could've noted that the woman was a regular customer & hardly someone who was about to go on the run for te sake of the cost of a wing-mirror!
I think that anyone who is aware of a problem, such as the above & does nothing to rectify it IS ignorant!
Plenty of businesses & services offer credit & issue bills after the service has been completed, it's not like what she was suggesting was extraordinary in any way!
To reduce a woman who is on her own to tears in public is rude, ignorant, bad business & utterly unforgivable!

He never said he CHOSE to ignore her.He actually said the lad might not of heard her.She obviously didnt make herself clear.He hardly would have kept working away knowing she coudnt pay.
Theres no way he could have let her just go.Especially if its company policy.Why should he risk his job.Not everyone whose going to **** off looks like a gangster.Ive seen all sorts off people trying to pull a fast one.He lets her go.She disappears.He loses his job.Fair enough she WOULDNT have but he cant be sure.

Also (to the original poster) im not sure you mam qualifies as "elderly" if shes in her 50s.It not very old at all!

AARRRGH

Hmmm. The garage did nothing wrong (although for goodwill purposes, they are being stupid.)

You mother is in the wrong. Even her reaction. A little OTT.

I understand your position though (upset mother etc.)

But really, she should have just rang you/someone and got them to come down with the cash. End of story.

simu

Gah! Crying in public is unacceptable unless it's a funeral or similar! Your mother needs to learn self-control - life isn't always cuddly bunnies and roses and although the people at the garage could have been nicer they didn't really do anything wrong.

Q_Ball

Newaglish wrote:

I would have brought my credit card with me

Or called someone who was at home to call out the number to me

Or got my friend to pick up the card for me

Or told them beforehand I had no money

It's not a difficult situation really. What do you think the guy in the garage should have done? Just let her drive off, and take her word for it?

The way I see it the OP is looking for people to agree with them. To be honest, even tho the situation was handled terribly I think the 'ignorant lil fcuker' was right. For instance he could have checked any logs, be it the service history or the companys own log . That would have been good customer service but he didn't have to do that. Its true in a large dealership that not every mechanic will know every loyal customer. If she was told that they could do it when she dropped it in would something not have clicked, like having to pay for work done? Or checking before agreeing that she had the money to cover it? Maybe instead of ringing her friend to cancel the lift she could have rang to arrange getting money to pay for it. Or even taken the lift and come back later that day.

It was their change of plans but she didnt have to agree to it.

And maybe, just maybe, he didnt actually hear her?

Just my 2c

Beruthiel

if she has been going to the same dealership for years, how come she doesn't know half the names of the people in there, who in return would also know her? I would make it my business to know the names of people if I was going there often.
In fairness to the guy, he didn't know her and would have got some telling off/docking of wages/fired by his boss for non payment.
rule number one - never leave the house without your credit card

Ardent

kittenkiller wrote:

To reduce a woman who is on her own to tears in public is rude, ignorant, bad business & utterly unforgivable!

I agree.

Whatever about the companies no credit policy, no-one wants to be forced into a lose-lose situation like this and then be treated like dirt. He wouldn't give her her car keys back even though he knew she was stranded! How is that not wrong?

Talliesin

Ardent wrote:

He wouldn't give her her car keys back even though he knew she was stranded! How is that not wrong?

Or in other words, he wouldn't let her steal parts and services?

Seriously, what was he meant to do?

BizzyC

Ardent wrote:

I agree.

Whatever about the companies no credit policy, no-one wants to be forced into a lose-lose situation like this and then be treated like dirt. He wouldn't give her her car keys back even though he knew she was stranded! How is that not wrong?

Because your mother put him in a situation that could cost him his job if he had. How was that fair?

You haven't reallt specified why your mother broke down into tears.....

How was she treated like dirt? Because he wouldn't let her go?
Or was he actually insulting?

I'm sure she wasn't stranded. Had she asked they would have let her use the phone.

Baffled

I agree with KittenKiller & Ardent.

Reducing a woman to tears in public. Tut tut. The guy should have called her into a room and discussed it in private. I myself would feel humiliated in the same situation. Not if it was done with some discretion. In all fairness that guy acted very unprofessionally. Oh and these comments about his mum being OTT and she should grow up and act like an adult, crying is an emotion, his mum was clearly upset. So what if she shed a tear. It was expression.

For a person to be dealing with the same garage for years, I think the garage/guy was a bit OTT as opposed to the woman. Theres alot of rights and wrongs and rules to running a business, but good customer relations is more important in my books.

Ardent

roberteboot wrote:

Why should he risk his job.Not everyone whose going to **** off looks like a gangster.Ive seen all sorts off people trying to pull a fast one.He lets her go.She disappears.He loses his job.Fair enough she WOULDNT have but he cant be sure.

Well, he decided to let her go when she insisted on seeing the manager.

To be honest, I'm surprised at the number of cynical, insensitive responses on this thread. I thought maybe more than just kittenkiller and I would have thought that this kind of treatment was plain wrong.

Maybe I was looking for agreement but, more than that, I was looking for suggestions on how she should deal with the incident, like ring the manager to complain about what she had been subject to etc.

I know most people would forget about it, being that we Irish don't like to complain about anything, even when we're being treated like sh*t or being royally shafted by businesses. This thread is proof of that.

Mossy Monk

Ardent wrote:

Putting an elderly customer though all that is plain wrong IMO

late 50's isnt elderly

it would be nice to walk into a shop and get something and say "oh i'll pay you later on". wait, that doesnt happen

prospect

I don't think we are getting the exact full story:
"I have No Money"
"Pay up or else!"
"Waaaaaaa, boo hooo"

If I was in that situation:
"I have no money, can I call later with C.C."
"No, we have a No Credit Policy"
"I understand, but there is nothing I can do"
"I am not authorised to give credit"
"Could I please speak with someone who can help me then, have them check my record, I have been coming here for X years etc. etc.

The mechanic was very wrong for creating a scene, he should have got a senior member of staff involved at an earlier stage.
The lady was wrong for continuing to argue/plead with someone who obviously was not senior to make a decision and she should have got a senior member of staff involved at an earlier stage.

Baffled

I am actually amazed with some of the responses too.

Oh, and why did the guy give her the keys back only when she asked to speak to the manager, eh? Maybe, fear of humiliation himself if the manager said it was ok for the lady to come back with the money as she is such a loyal customer. Hmm.....

BizzyC

Ardent,

you really need to gain some perspective here.
From your story, all we got is, "my mum couldn't pay, they guy at the garage wanted her to, so she cried."

If you think she was hard done by, please tell us why. What did the young lad do to upset her.
If it was just his refusal to let her leave without paying, than I'm sorry, but you have absolutly no reason to complain. In fact, in that case I would think an apology to the garage would be more in order.

If however, he was anyway abusive towards your mother, which led her to tears, I'd get onto the manager and lodge a complaint about him.

BizzyC

Baffled wrote:

I am actually amazed with some of the responses too.

Oh, and why did the guy give her the keys back only when she asked to speak to the manager, eh? Maybe, fear of humiliation himself if the manager said it was ok for the lady to come back with the money as she is such a loyal customer. Hmm.....

or maybe he wanted to put an end to the scene as there were other customers in the shop. Hmm....

Dellgirl

Some people get upset if they are shouted at or shamed in public. Everyone here seems to have skin like rinoserous hide and would be well able to stand up for them selves. The fact that he backed down after she asked for the manager shows he knew he was being a bully. If it was yer mother ye would be raging as well and of course it would colour which way you see the situation.
She was being a teeny bit naieve thinking he would let her go without paying but he neednt have been so rottten about it. Older people seem to trust peole more while younger people can be really abrasive without realising it.
Your poor ma. Superglue the credit card to her!

Cucullan

Baffled wrote:

I am actually amazed with some of the responses too.

Oh, and why did the guy give her the keys back only when she asked to speak to the manager, eh? Maybe, fear of humiliation himself if the manager said it was ok for the lady to come back with the money as she is such a loyal customer. Hmm.....

I'm surprised by some of the responses too, why didn't the mechanic just get the manager himself when she said she didn't have the money on her and let him deal with it instead of making a scene in public. Probably because he is an ignorant f**k.
As for the people saying she shouldn't have cried, not everyone is made of stone. She was been intiminated by a man in public i'd say alot of women in that situation would cry regardless of their age. Women are generally more sensitive than men if that had been a man in that situation he probably would have told the mechanic to f**k off and then get the manager himself, I couldn't see many women doing that at her age.

Talliesin

Ardent wrote:

I was looking for suggestions on how she should deal with the incident

What incident? You still haven't explained what happened beyond your mum not paying for something and the guy at the garage (who most likely does not have the authority to authorise credit) not accepting that. Really, what was he supposed to do?

Baffled

Well if he was thinking of the other customers he would have brought the lady aside into a separate room.

Maybe it started off with the guy asking for payment (which he is well within his rights) but clearly he should have taken the woman out of the public eye when she started to get distressed.

MorningStar

Baffled wrote:

I am actually amazed with some of the responses too.

Oh, and why did the guy give her the keys back only when she asked to speak to the manager, eh? Maybe, fear of humiliation himself if the manager said it was ok for the lady to come back with the money as she is such a loyal customer. Hmm.....

Maybe she shouldn't have humiliated herself by crying. She was crying before she said she wanted to speak to the manager then? What kind of adult acts like a 2 year old. How old was this woman?

Dellgirl

Maybe she shouldn't have humiliated herself by crying.

Thats right tough guy.

Bogger77

Talliesin wrote:

Or in other words, he wouldn't let her steal parts and services?

Seriously, what was he meant to do?

Considering the garage location, it would be very easy for a judge to decide in a civil case that refusal to return the keys was both theft and kidnap as there is no safe way to leave the premises without walking along the hard shoulder of a dual carriageway.

I know this garage well, and it is the rudest of all the toyota dealers I've been in. The Toyota dealership I go to, makes an effort to remember, as much as possible, all the regulars.

MorningStar

Blingarella wrote:

Thats right tough guy.

If a man got extremely angery over such an issue it would be all about how he needs to control his temper.
Explain the difference rather than smart arse remarks!

kittenkiller

Angry is different to upset MorningStar.

impr0v

Seems to me to be a simple misunderstanding that your mother should have been assertive enough to deal with on her own with resorting to the defense mechanism of crying, and then phoning you to fight her battles for her.

If the mechanic was more of a salesperson he probably would have had the discretion to discuss the issue with your mother behind closed doors, but otherwise I wouldn't really fault him.

Don't phone the manager and 'lift him out of it', if you really feel that such action is necessary then let your mother do it, the act might at least equip her with the necessary confrontational skills for the next time she needs them.

Judging by the way your mother and yourself reacted, I'd say your father is a fairly dominant and aggressive type and she has perhaps been in his shade a little too long.

Rubens

MorningStar wrote:

Maybe she shouldn't have humiliated herself by crying. She was crying before she said she wanted to speak to the manager then? What kind of adult acts like a 2 year old. How old was this woman?

What kind of macho muck is that? She is an oldish lady ..tough-guy. We can't all be as thick-skinned as you ... Hardman.

Good Day
RJ

Ardent

BizzyC wrote:

If it was just his refusal to let her leave without paying, than I'm sorry, but you have absolutly no reason to complain. In fact, in that case I would think an apology to the garage would be more in order.

If however, he was anyway abusive towards your mother, which led her to tears, I'd get onto the manager and lodge a complaint about him.

I would have thought from the original post it would be easily understood why she might have broke down in tears.

To spell it out:

First off, she's not the type to complain about anything, even if she got crappy customer service somewhere. She's not that kind of person.

When this guy was looking for full payment, she explained the situation to him again and apologised that she didn't have her purse with her because she understood when leaving the house (15 miles away) that the car would not be ready until after the weekend. All she had was 70 quid on her (50 had already been payed previously as a deposit on the work) and she offered the 70 she had on her and the rest by credit card the minute she got home.

This wasn't good enough and yer man insisted he couldn't let the car go until he got full payment there and then. I wasn't there but I gather she then told him that she had told him she hadn't all the money necessary prior to him doing any work and his response was something along the lines of him not hearing any such thing.

I'm sure she mentioned being a long standing customer, that she always gets her car serviced there, would pay the rest as soon as she got home etc, as I say wasn't there, but what I do know is that he started getting quite obnoxious and a scene was starting develop with other people looking on. He was going on about how she wasn't getting the car keys until he got all the money, simple as that. Getting quite upset and being in a situation where she felt very helpless and intimidated, she started crying. There was a bit more pleading on her part but again he was having none of it. She then insisted on seeing the manager and yer man eventually decided to give her car keys back.

I think she couldn't wait to get out of there and drove home straight away. Rang me when she got home and was still in tears.

I used to work in a large retail store. If I didn't pass a similar situation like that on to someone more senior than me and if I had reduced a customer to tears in public like that, I'd have been fired straight away.

Anyway, they've lost a long standing customer for good. Good customer service that.

Bogger77

Talliesin wrote:

Or in other words, he wouldn't let her steal parts and services?

Seriously, what was he meant to do?

what's he supposed to do?

well, simple answer. he's supposed to do what he can smooth out any dificulties. If he didn't have the authority to give credit, he should have called the manager of the servicing dept., not argue with a customer. Simple, if u don't have the authority to give credit/discounts in a business, you don't have the authority to argue with a customer.

In this case, the garage has lost the comission on any new cars the OP's family was going to buy, and lost the servicing of current cars. If I was the manager of the garage, I'd give the guy an official warning.

And yes, I've worked in an garage.

MorningStar

kittenkiller wrote:

Angry is different to upset MorningStar.

So is talking and hand gestures but they are communication. Anger and upset are emotional responses that require a degree of control which appears to be lacking.
Have you ever spoken to a child who cries when caught doing something wrong. They need to learn how to control their responses and as you get older that doesn't change.

Dellgirl

Explain the difference rather than smart arse remarks!

I meant it so its not smartarse. You're great cos you're tough.
Do try to stay off your horse and on the topic.

blorg

Sounds like the mechanic was following a reasonable policy but could have been more polite about it.