Cars and trucks have come a long way in the last few decades, but for all the great innovations there is a downside to the technology they load inside of the vehicles. Years ago it was a lot simpler to diagnose a problem and it was a much more mechanical environment. Now the computers in the vehicles control almost everything and almost everything has some electronics in them. To diagnose a problem it takes a computer or a code reading device (that costs $100 or more – and you may never need to use it again). I liked it better when a multimeter, some jumper wires, and a wiring diagram to solve most any electrical problem. And if the vehicle didn’t start, all you needed to find the problem fell down to one of Fuel, Air, Ignition. Now it could be any sensor or relay or the computer that is causing the issue.
And years ago, to replace a part it didn’t mean you had to take half the vehicle apart to get to it. This is where serviceability comes in. I think that the designers of the vehicles should have to replace every part to see how easily they can be replaced. In my past life I worked in a position where we monitored serviceability and made recommend changed before the product was finalized and manufactured. Yesterday I had to replace a starter on my truck. To replace it I had to use a pry bar to get it far enough over to move past a piece of the engine. If the designer had to try to replace it, I bet they would have made the part different so that it would just slip out.
Now on to customer service. In today’s environment you want to keep as many customers as you can. But at my local Pepboys the manager must have missed that class. I didn’t know the starter was bad so I suspected that the battery was the problem. I brought the battery in to be tested there since I had purchased it there 2 years ago. Before he even thought about testing it he noticed a little water on the top of the battery. He asked if I had added water to the battery and I answered yes, that I had topped off a cell with a little bit of distilled water. He immediately launched into “you have voided the warranty and it would present a hazard to test it”. Now mind you, this battery doesn’t say it’s a maintenance free one, and the caps on the top pop off to fill it with water if necessary. Still he held firm and wouldn’t test it for me. When I asked to see the warranty since it didn’t come with any documentation he showed me the sign that says you can’t return electrical parts – even though I wasn’t returning it. He wouldn’t help me in any way. I called the customer no-service number and spoke to a young lady who listened to my story. She said that he was the one to make the decision and she would contact him. Within 20 minutes he called me and said that he would test the battery himself because he didn’t want to endanger any of his employees with a battery that was “added water”. I took the battery in and he tested it. It tested good. He acted like he was doing me a favor by testing it.
Long story short – I purchased a starter from another parts store and it still wouldn’t start. So I took the battery to them to be tested. Guess what! The battery tested bad, so I bought a new battery from them and everything now works. So, because the Pepboys manager chose to give me a hard time (by the way, I have purchased tons of stuff from them in the past 18 years including about 10 batteries), they have lost a customer forever. I know that I’m only one small customer, but I can’t give my business to a place that doesn’t earn it.
Well,that’s it for today… visit Casual Elegance Photography ® where I hope to earn your business.
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