LinDen Engineering, Golden, CO (Service)

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    35

parkgt

2007 Great West Van on 2006 2500 T1N
Too bad for who?
Dennis
It seems both of you wasted time on a transaction that didn't happen. He doesn't have his van fixed and you have someone bad-mouthing you; not that you needed his business or goodwill.

None the less, not the outcome I would imagine either side anticipated at the start.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Exactly.
The potential customer fell into the 20% bracket as I explained, and is a classic example which is often cited in retail trade representing the industry with seminars, as dubious customers to beware of.

For the most part we try to avoid such incidences and they are indeed time wasters as you have mentioned. Again as my example explains and is again reinforced by seminar teachings.

Like most service based businesses customers potential or otherwise, come in various guises.
Only today at a pharmacy nearby my shop, the pharmacologist mentioned to me that we live in a world of entitlement after watching a customer have a melt down.
As she put it we try for the most part but sometime you can't satisfy everyone.

I'm OK with bad mouthing our business , we didn't do anything for him thank God, & besides we fix about 5 Sprinters daily which represents good healthy business profits . Currently we are booking 3 weeks out for good paying customers who appreciate basic no nonsense service .
Life goes on !
Cheers Dennis
 

johnshmit

Well-known member
Based solely on my observations I wouldn't let anyone with that attitude to even change my oil.
Unless I'm in Africa or Afghanistan and have an extra bag of beans. :bounce:
 
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OrioN

2008 2500 170" EXT
This reminds me of a saying my dad always used...


...there's three sides to every story.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
Based solely on my observations I wouldn't let anyone with that attitude to even change my oil.
Unless I'm in Africa or Afghanistan and have an extra bag of beans. :bounce:
Well like most things for people with champagne tastes and beer budgets who fall in that 20 % potential customer base, you simply couldn't afford it! So don't cross the business threshold demanding discounts and doing it for free with a cheapskate soup kitchen postures offering a bag of beans as barter payment.:bounce:
Refusal to give service is sole reserve by right of the management .
Dennis.
 

vanski

If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
I don’t understand why the shop owner doesn’t understand that the problem the community sees here was the original estimate and now your megalomaniac, my shop has nothing to learn here, attitude. Along the megalomaniac tendencies, I would have liked to see if your tune would be a bit different back in 2008-2010 when most everyone, potentially even yourself, took some kind of financial hit.

You are arguably the most knowledgeable Sprinter mechanic in the US that this community is aware of, and yes, you supply some of the most valuable information within this forum. Your team has done how many head jobs?? 100, 500, 1000+!?!?!?? Why you and your team could not give this POTENTIAL customer a better idea of what the cost might be before he made the long drive is beside me. Your team can’t say something to the effect:

‘The minimum labor for this job is $1,500 and if everything comes out nicely and can be reused you’re looking at something just over that and $2,000. Now, usually there are some things that need to be replaced. The head for one is suspect because it’s leaking which means integrity could be suspect, the injectors could be another, etc, etc, etc. The average cost for this job comes in around $4k. We have done hundreds of these heads and will offer warranty to the work. If this sounds reasonable, please let us know and we will pencil you in. Given our record of doing amazing work and having a satisfied customer base we currently have a three week wait for our next appointment.’

Perhaps this type of communication would have garnered trust, given a real idea of what the cost could be, and would have probably brought in an even financially strapped customer knowing they might pay top dollar, but they are receiving the BEST attention possible to their problem.

Even gurus make mistakes, need to keep learning, and often need to project a modest and humble attitude towards the base who fuel the megalomania which may be in their head..
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
AND then there's how to spot a scam nasty customer.

What surprises me after all the years in business is the length some folks will go to to scam a free repair.
Not to mention the sight of mostly middle class customers having a childish tantrum over a piece of bent iron in dealer reception or in fact in my shop.
Where is your dignity and self respect I ask?

Of the "2,5%" the trade warns us about as "crazies" plus the passive aggressive 17,5% we are constantly qualifying customers.
Now sometimes confess I /we get caught out and they go down in our memories as really bad Sprinter owners/customers. (in this case)


Citing just two of late, we have "Dog Lady" who was so filled with prejudiced bile that she attacked my then service writer who was an African American with the most vile thinly veiled racial attack on African Americans. Zack quit the next day after almost being reduced to tears because his skin wasn't white--Shameful!
To mitigate the issue which was unfounded we did the service for free and I told her I don't accept racial prejudices in my shop , please DO NOT COME BACK! you won't be welcome! All goodwill tokens confiscated!
Latterly I discovered she was referred to us by the a dealer, due to her nasty aggressive behavior at MB dealer establishments across the country.
Put in her Vin# these days, and she is red-lined at all MB USA dealer networks so BEWARE!

However I will leave the rest or best to last (depending upon your perspectives ) how you look at it !

Now we have to cite middle class ARIZONAN owner WITH 2009 3500 SPRINTER NAVION, the king of rip off and a danger to all.
Briefly Mr Reginald Molehusband (married with two kids, probably up to his eyeballs in debt living in an upscale area of Phoenix) was towed in with no transmission response.

We fixed the burnt out transmission electrical problem and he signed the R/O--just like any other regular customer . End of family vacation resolved , going home
Without any indication of a problem it was time to pay the $930 bill for services the repair as written in the approved R/O .
With what seemed an innocent request could we check the parking brake?
I sent a tech out with him to check--FIRST BIG MISTAKE--the key was in the ignition and engine running and Mel underneath the rig!

In an instance our customer was in the seat and off at full throttle out of the yard! Mel my employee being dragged by his overalls hooked onto the exhaust pipe. Luckily he didn't get thrown under the wheels and suffer serious injury or death. Of course he suffered nasty abrasions & a concussion being dragged about 200 yards up Rogers St and needed some clinical attention and a few days off. Mel like any other working American guy also married with a little kid his missus with one on the way to support at the time --Shameful
Eventually my wife spoke to his wife Mrs Molehusband about the incident!
Boiled down they had no money to pay the bill and had an elaborate scheme to scam the job but were quite happy to risk killing someone to skip out of a bill!
Words fail me and its a poor excuse if you have self respect and dignity !
AND I bet he goes to a happy clappy church on Sundays to cleanse his soul!
Fact of life if someone in a Sprinter doesn't take it over a bill!
Not all you Sprinter owners are little innocent angels OK!
Dennis
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
I don’t understand why the shop owner doesn’t understand that the problem the community sees here was the original estimate and now your megalomaniac, my shop has nothing to learn here, attitude. Along the megalomaniac tendencies, I would have liked to see if your tune would be a bit different back in 2008-2010 when most everyone, potentially even yourself, took some kind of financial hit.

You are arguably the most knowledgeable Sprinter mechanic in the US that this community is aware of, and yes, you supply some of the most valuable information within this forum. Your team has done how many head jobs?? 100, 500, 1000+!?!?!?? Why you and your team could not give this POTENTIAL customer a better idea of what the cost might be before he made the long drive is beside me. Your team can’t say something to the effect:

‘The minimum labor for this job is $1,500 and if everything comes out nicely and can be reused you’re looking at something just over that and $2,000. Now, usually there are some things that need to be replaced. The head for one is suspect because it’s leaking which means integrity could be suspect, the injectors could be another, etc, etc, etc. The average cost for this job comes in around $4k. We have done hundreds of these heads and will offer warranty to the work. If this sounds reasonable, please let us know and we will pencil you in. Given our record of doing amazing work and having a satisfied customer base we currently have a three week wait for our next appointment.’

Perhaps this type of communication would have garnered trust, given a real idea of what the cost could be, and would have probably brought in an even financially strapped customer knowing they might pay top dollar, but they are receiving the BEST attention possible to their problem.

Even gurus make mistakes, need to keep learning, and often need to project a modest and humble attitude towards the base who fuel the megalomania which may be in their head..
In short HE WAS given the potential cost over the phone by my service writer. BEFORE he set out!
He chose not to absorb the facts. Its called listen & inwardly digest!
Dennis
 
D

Deleted member 50714

Guest
As awesome and spectacular as Dennis professes, he should have ZERO disssatified customers.

So, a head gasket R&R can range from a low as $1,500 to $4,500.00 depending on inspection during disassembly???
 

vanski

If it’s winter, I’m probably skiing..
So he’s slandering your biz? I found his post to be sincere, but perhaps not.?.?
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
It can in fact be even MORE $$$$$ if the block face is deemed defective once head is off!
Then its an engine out, and bench decking machine work remediation with the engine stripped .
Dennis
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
So he’s slandering your biz? I found his post to be sincere, but perhaps not.?.?
It doesn't really matter .
He declined the offer to repair based upon a physical inspection AT THE TIME of presentation FOC. Remember offers to enter into a contract are just that! Offers they are not binding in law as a rule
Remember repairing a vehicle is a simple contract in Anglo Saxon law.
Offeree Offeror and Acceptance with consideration by signing the R/O.

We never got that far!

Our offer to repair based upon OUR/Us the Offeree's conditions didn't meet the Offeror's conditions so the proposed contract to rectify the head leakage (in this case ) is null and void.
Simple Anglo Saxon law.
This goes on every day in business nationwide.
Some contracts get signed up with a meeting of minds and some don't -its business !

I have been known me fly half way around the world to try to secure a business contract & the last one was a snowy trip from Denver to Casper which was a 6 hour drive .
I /We couldn't meet the Offeror's last minute conditions at time of the signing of a contract to supply goods & services. So the contract fell through -no hard feelings !

Is there any point lambasting the other contractual party because conditions couldn't be met?

Better to not sign a contract in bad faith. Plenty of those are out there to judge!

BUT (in this case) one contractual party chose the bad faith path and denigrate the other for not meeting his conditions.
A bit childish really because its just business!

I can understand this posture because many people are bound up in emotion with vehicle repairs when a simple level headed approach to what is just bent iron would be much more constructive .
Again boiled down its usually matter of money which is behind it all and a perceived value for goods and services offered
Dennis
 

Graphite Dave

Dave Orton
This thread is a great advertisement for a Ford Transit.
The difference is the number of available service locations with the ability to service the Sprinter. With the Transit it is not necessary to drive long distances to obtain service. Every other town has a dealer and the drivetrain is F-150 so there are qualified mechanics. Parts costs, repair costs, part availability and reliability are important.

One of the major reasons for selling the Sprinter and buying a Transit was my losing confidence in the Sprinter. I was always wondering where I would go when it quit. Could be just my mental problem due to two failures in the first 20,000 miles, but it was real. The second owner did put on about the same miles as I did without a major breakdown.

If nothing else making the change did eliminate the strain of wondering what I would do when Sprinter had a problem.
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
The fact still remains whatever the brand and the customer base in NA.

The trade organizations either at dealer level or Independent, recognizes that of the 100% of a customer base in NA , 80 % of customers are good customers.

The top 20% are the best who you should look after with "goodwill tokens" and good quality repairs who rarely question the bill!
In sliding scale of the other 60% take from a little, to some to a much harder "sell" to get a repair acceptance. They are categorized as good paying customers nonetheless and deserve to be looked after and given good service. '

Then we have the final 20% which I have explained already in this thread. The universal trade marketing advise is to avoided these customers or strictly focus on specific qualification before job acceptance .
Obviously then his applies to Ford as well as MB Sprinter or even a Rolls Royce for that matter.
The trade really needs a universal bad customer date base like a credit rating score card quite frankly.
Dennis
 

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