I’m not going to lie, the “Princess Patty” story really pisses me off. Like why is a mother letting her daughter be all bratty. She said a specific time frame to work on the car and then proceeded to cut it short because “her daughter said she will have it back today.” And of course she had a BMW, freaking spoiled rotten bratty teens
@@quonsetthehutt3105 She'd stop being a brat if you threw a 1000 dollar Buick LeSabre at her and said "Live with it. Take this or get nothing." Sadly some people don't know the fun of affordable luxury cars.
well I do that, too...... my mechanic hates me because I do all the easy stuff and only if I am at the end of my knowledge he gets it....happens like once every two years... well I recently got myself an RX-8 with shitty compression....lets see how far I will get it done =)
As a part time job while in college, I work at Autozone, and while I don't consider myself a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, customers frequently bring their cars in trying to get us to fix them for free. My store is in a fairly wealthy area, and one time this lady who was maybe mid fourties pulled up in this maybe 2015 Acura and started ranting about how both her turn signals keep flashing, so I go out to the car, find the hazard light button, and turn it off, and then just dumbfounded this lady leaves. The next day, she comes back and starts screaming about how her radio now won't work and swears I must have broken it when I "worked" on her car the previous day. I go out and sure enough, it's another easy fix, the power was just turned off, so I turn it on and I tell her that if she came back none of us were going to come out and work on her car.
Haha man you have no idea. Phone calls are always a treat, especially when it's a soccer mom who calls up and says she needs a need belt for her 07 Dodge Caravan. I casually ask if it's the 3.3, the 3.8, or the 4.0 and get some kind of reply of "well it's a V6". Thanks lady, I appreciate the info. I will say the worst guys are the old GM guard. They think it's beneath them to tell the guy at the parts counter about what era of "Chevy" they're working on. They just walk in and say "I need a tie rod end for my 350 Chevy" and think that you're some dipshit when you ask the year. You can't win with them because either I look up an 83 C1500 and give him the wrong one because his truck is 15 years newer than that, or he scolds me for having to ask the year. Honestly though, it's a lot of fun, and in my two years with Autozone, I've learned a crazy amount about cars
@mike brink Sounds like my job. I'm a valet at three hotels run by the same hotel group. Two are next door and have full valet and "partial valet" (which I personally think is bullshit and the prices outrageous, but anyway) in the same garage and offsite lot (full valet goes in the garage unless it won't fit, "partial valet" goes in the offsite lot). The garage is located inside one hotel. The other hotel, which is smaller and not as busy, has one valet in the lobby the entire shift while the rest of us are next door and he calls us when a car needs to be moved or brought up. The other hotel is down the street and has full valet on site, self parking on site for the same price and self parking in a lot across the street for half. Our policy is to take car keys of all vehicles that arrive on deck unless someone waits in the vehicle, so someone doesn't just leave their car there overnight (we can - and do - tow cars when that happens) and in case emergency vehicles show up and need easy access to the front door, which happens about once a week. Obviously, at the third hotel if a guest gets an on deck self park ticket, we don't take their keys. Most people don't make a fuss, but some act indignant like you're asking for a kidney. We don't allow smoking near the front door. Most people move to the smoking area without issue, but some give dirty looks and act offended when asked. Some put out cigarettes in a metal box we use for used tickets. At the third hotel, we get people who chose the offsite self parking, but park on deck and refuse to move (we have front desk upgrade them and charge the full price when that happens, but still). And then there's people at the wrong hotel and refusing to move their car to the right one (one time a passenger got out and walked to another hotel and the driver refused to open his window), or idiot Uber drivers and food delivery drivers who stop just anywhere, blocking the whole deck.
That's funny! I had a lady in a bad area come in with a 3 series that was trying to buy freon; knowing that most people think they need it when they dont, I went out to check the pressure. It was fine. Turns out she didnt have it on recirculate
mike brink same with me. I didn’t have a problem working at Burger King, dominos, or Pizza Hut being a delivery driver, but going to an actual party feels weird. I’d rather just be the pizza guy that gets invited inside for a bong hit lol
I too have experienced all of the customers you have described. I'd like to hear about some of your favorite clients. For instance... while working at a repair shop in Tampa FL, we had a regular customer in the form of two elderly widows who drove a very well preserved 1968 Thunderbird. They lived together off of their social security and what was left of their savings and didn't have much to spare, so we tried to keep any repair and maintenance bills to a minimum. Every 3000 miles they would show up with a HUGE pan of spaghetti or lasagna or stuffed shells and we would eat like kings while making sure that the car was tip top, no charge! I dearly miss those two...
That's the kind of stories I love hearing. I have had a few customers living on a budget and have always done my best to help them out. What's funny is the customers that are on a tight budget or can't afford a big repair usually pay with no problems but the ones that have plenty of money are the ones I have had more problems with paying the bill.
man they scammed yall on the bills! i'm just joking though i would have absolutely loved to get a king sized feast of homemade italian food in exchange for working on some nice old ladies car every now and then
I worked at Firestone when I was 20. Guy comes in to get an alignment. Says it pulls to the left. Our alignment guy checks it out. It's within specs, but adjusts everything so it's in the middle of of the spec range. Test drive is fine. Next day, the guy comes back. "Pulls to the left". Test drive is fine. Put it on the alignment machine and it's still as set. The guy leaves. Next day, the guy is back with his seething 500 lb father. Turns out, it's dad's car and his weight is causing it to pull to the left. Alignment guy gets dad in the car and makes the adjustment for the weight.
You haven't heard the crazy stories of our Shop, matter fact few years back they wanted to do a reality show. Here is a quick one of the stories. So this guy comes in. His whole family actually come to our shop to fix their cars so good customers of ours. So he needed brake work, but he didn't have money. We throw in some brake pads for FREE. few weeks later he comes and start yelling that we only did the front pads. Here is another quick one this lady comes in she got a 90s Toyota Camry, she wanted her headlight bulb put in. One of our guys opens the hood while she is standing there with while he replaced it for her and we told her no charge it was just like a minute. Few month later she calls our shop and threaten to sue us, because her car has started to smoke (burn oil). These are true stories and we have tons more.
The irate older gentleman story sounds like someone who had been burned before and has unresolved anger issues. Lots of unscrupulous types out there in auto repair, home improvement, etc. -- people whose business model includes sizing customers up financially and taking advantage of them when they're most vulnerable. Not making excuses for the customer's behavior, btw. Mr. Wizard made the right call.
Glad to hear there is a shop owner willing to say no to customer. I work at a shop where we all too often bend to customer's wishes when they aren't possible without putting them ahead of other more respectable customers.
My sister ruined a catalytic converter on a 1975 Olds Cutlass Supreme putting diesel fuel in it. Ironically it worked about as well as Oldsmobile's diesel engine from the early 80s.
Diesel Debbie reminds me of this one customer I had call a claim into GEICO (when I was a claims rep for a few years) She had put a full tank of Diesel in her 2003 Toyota Camry, then tried to claim the fact that her engine seized thru her GEICO auto policy and then try and get the gas station to pay for the claim! She stated that it's the gas station's fault she put Diesel into the car because the attendant did not stop her when she was filling the car. Because the Diesel pump nozzle was a large triangular shape she shoved it so hard into her gas tank and broke her own gas tank opening gasket! GEICO of course denied the claim and she was out a car! It really blows my mind how stupid people can be!
I think it's a bad thing, that in america every idiot too stupid for life can sue another person for millions, no matter what. This has to stop, and people has to take back responsibility for their stupidness.
Never seen a Camry with a diesel engine. Not even that era of the Camry was sold with one. Lmao the stupidity of knowing the difference of petrol and diesel.
I heard a story from a guy my brother works with when he was at monroe a crazy lady that took her car in for an oil change and got mad for some reason and wanted her car right now! Well it was on the lift with the oil drained out. They explained this and she didnt care and they said ok but you have to sign this saying we arnt liable for your inevitable engine damage. So she left and came back a while later with a cop saying they ruined her engine. they showed him the signed paper. the cop asked her if she signed this she said yes and that was that
Bloody deserved it. What is the funniest part is that they can't understand why people don't take them seriously and they think they're just as smart and useful as everyone else.
Working in car shops is great, we had a customer that bought new tires for a rotten Hyundai, wanted the best of the best, went with the cheapies ofcourse (picking the tires took atleast 2 hours)... comes to pick up the car, looks at the tires, starts yelling "These are old tires, I want new tires!"... so we point out the DOT on the side of the tire and indeed she goes to check all of them, she goes to the other side of the car and goes "Theres no number here, these are fake!" and then it took an extra hour that DOT is stamped only on one side and since they're rotational it won't be visible on one side of the car. This shenanigan went on for another hour with refund threats etc, finally she comes back into the shop and demands an alignment within the hour. What a day.
You forgot about the dude that always brings you weird cars he got somewhere for cheap without even looking them over and then have you fix it, while pestering you with his questions or even the odd request of working on them himself. ;-) Congratulations the Hoover family!
My story. I used to manage an auto rental car branch. We had a client who, every 2 years (almost to the day) would rent from us because her car had been stolen then recovered. The car was a 79 Chevy Malibu. Usually, insurance companies will not fix things like interior, or clearly mechanical issues - however, this insurance company would pay to bring the car back to pre-stolen condition. Because of that, the car has perfect paint, perfect interior, brand new motor, brand new transmission, brand new suspension. I know what you're thinking "scam' - nope. The car was stolen - it is a popular car among thieves and her car was seriously unlucky. Why do I know that it wasn't a scam - because every-single-time the police caught and convicted the thief. I don't know anyone who would do time so that someone else could benefit from a car restore... I did tell the lady that whenever she decided to buy something else, I'd like a chance to buy the car. She still has it, it's still pristine, and it still gets stolen and the insurance company still fixes it (20 plus years later from when I met her).
a friend of mine had totaled 8 cars, each from hitting deer by the time we graduated highschool. some people really do just have freakishly (as well as oddly specific) bad luck
Maybe not a scam, maybe she just takes care of her car? She probably has a very good insurance policy for them not to total it out. At some point, the repairs will exceed the value of the car, it's just a matter of time.
Once bought a 2001 Ford Escort, they wanted $1000 for it. When I actually got there the car was filled up like a trash can with fast food wrappers, junk, etc. Told them $900 you clean it, $500 if I clean it. I paid $500 lol. Had a baby seat in the back surrounded by filth. Worse than that when I actually went to clean the car out I found a few heroin needles under the driver's seat...class act.
"There is just this guy that earns quite a decent amount of cash, but seems to have made a habit to spent every dime of it on new cars. Or actually, old beat up ones, the cheapest in the USA if he can find and ship it, mostly site unseen. He then charges me with fixing them, which always ends up costing more than the car is worth. He then drives it for a few weeks, parks it in his rented car warehouse, and sells it for a big loss a couple months later. Or he lets it get stolen and driven into the woods, or lends it out to his buddies who then burn down the car to bits. Although he's lunatic, I like working for him, makes it possible for me to retire pretty soon and work on a few exotic or strange cars in the mean time "
@@davithdevries6774 :D But to be fair, Hoovie isn't probably a bad customer. If the guy brings a lot of work, but he is polite and understanding and pays on time, then he's a good customer.
I work at an oil change shop. This lady came in with the overheating engine. I checked the oil level and found no oil on the dipstick. Absolutely no oil. I then checked the service history and found out it was last serviced two years/ 20k miles ago. I asked her if she did an oil change recently. She looked so puzzled. After a short talk, I learned that she bought this car two years but never changed the oil because she thought it was bad for the environment.
I am a mechanic, but this wasn't a customer car. It was a neighborhood hoarder's new pick-up. His old, trash filled car finally gave up the ghost and it was time for a pretty nice looking pickup. It was amazing to watch it fill up. Eventually, there was only room for a driver inside. Then the bed started....plywood sides were later added..... Wish I would have taken time lapse pictures.
I get similar stuff in computer repair. Told someone we would have to reinstall Windows. She came back a day later furious that we broke her computer because she couldn't get online. Nope she just never entered her WiFi password when she took it back home.
I work at an auto parts store and I get this all the time where someone would walk in and ask for a part for their vehicle. I'd ask what year is the vehicle? They'd get mad and ask "aren't they all the same?" I'd tell them I can't give you the right part if I don't know what year your vehicle is. So they'll give me some random year they think their vehicle is. 2 hours later they come back and tell me I sold them the wrong part. They'll give a different year and it's a completely different part number. As much as I want to tell them how wrong they are I just smile and then them go on their way. In the end I still made the sale. So it's best to just let that go.
I heard of stories from smart cars, which has the tank trim on the right side, and an design-element on the left side, which is the intake of the turbo. Some people managed to fill the turbo up with gas, you can think of what happened...
IT'S A WOMAN.... what makes me laugh is when they then pretend that they are just as smart, more useful and more entitled than men after they do stuff this dumb. There's one getting around of the shirt done in WW2 cartoon style with a woman flexing a bicep saying "women can do it". And that shirt was on the laundry wall. The BOYFRIEND HAD TO PUT IT UP WITH THUMBNAILS..... coz she didn't know how.
@@thechumpsbeendumped.7797 someone who isn't interested at all in cars who was borrowing it. Never even thought about it being electric and wanted to fill up ther tank before they gave it back.
I worked in auto parts sales for years, and I can attest to the stories you're telling. One of my favorites was an older gentleman who came in for a pair of batteries for his RV. I sold him the batteries he wanted, and he went on his way. Fast forward a couple of hours, and he's back. The batteries are dead, he says. You sold me bad batteries! So, I get my battery tester and walk out to his truck, the whole time he's telling me our batteries were crap, we should be ashamed of selling batteries that are dead on the shelf, etc. When I get to his truck, the first thing I notice is that the black plastic covers were still on the negative posts on both batteries, and you could see scratches on the plastic where the battery terminal connectors were installed WITH THE PROTECTIVE COVERS STILL ON THE POSTS! I said, here's your problem, and pulled the covers off and proceeded to test the batteries (which were perfect). He was flabbergasted, and apologized profusely (I found out later that he had very poor eyesight!). But I didn't give him a hard time about it, and we ended up being good friends!
I remember those stories- ex. Had a customer "Dagwood" looked like him- older gentleman- looongtime customer, came in for basic maintenance- picked up the car and accused the shop of stealing his Garage door clicker- he even called the Police on us for the "theft" needless to say- the clicker was at home on the foyer side table- neve came back into the shop
@@chiclone-tests71 I was actually bitching at the persons that claims dementia after going off on someone else for something the other person had no input on, not at you.
I had a guy come in with an alienware laptop. That thing had about 20 live roaches crawling around inside of it. He started talking about how frustrating roach infestations were WHILE BRUSHING THEM OFF OF HIS LAPTOP ONTO THE FLOOR. Charged that guy extra.
Ohhhhh.....I can so relate, Ryan. I've been in the IT industry 30+ years and run my own company (looking after the home users and all their connected devices) for the last 8. You find many interesting attitudes in the corporate world, but for real crazy, you have to turn to the domestic market - be it over a counter in a repair shop or visiting them in home. Try telling a flustered housewife (you know - half house, half wife) that the reason her mobile phone will not talk to the printer is NOT because of the hard drive you replaced in her laptop. A five minute fix (because I am a nice guy) cost her a half hours' labour (because I have a limit to my tolerance of sheer idiocy) that I had originally deducted from her laptop rebuild because I empathised with her issue at the time. If I could get away with adding an A$$hole tax as a chargeable item (just so they know) on some people's invoices, I definitely would. I too have turned customers away after they became so obnoxious when it came time to pay the bill (at the price / number of hours we had agreed to) and / or kept adding work onto the original spec / asking questions that took up a lot of time to answer and complete, leading to a lot of uncharged hours.....and then they STILL ring up and want helpdesk-style response when an icon isn't where they wanted it. Sometimes the hassle value is not worth the money you charge, because you spend twice as long on the job, the client does not appreciate the extra miles you go for them and they'll blame you for any tiny niggle - totally forgetting that you have a couple hundred other satisfied clients that treat you with the same respect that you treat them. Us IT blokes should get together and write a book........
When I worked at an independent shop when I graduated high school, I racked up a fair amount of stories about customers. We were the place in town that did all sorts of free things for people "down on their luck," or what have you. There was a customer that drove a Kia that always reeked to high heaven. Every time I pulled that car around the building and into the shop, I had my head out the window like a dog going for a ride. One day, he came in and asked for an oil change, and I drew the short straw and had to work on it. I had just pulled in and gotten it in position to lift the vehicle and my manager came to me and said, "Get this done as soon as possible." When I asked why, he informed me that the customer had pooped his pants in the waiting area, it had run down his pant leg, and gotten all over the ground and his seat. He apparently didn't even notice. He asked for our shuttle service (we assumed he wanted to go home and change). Well when our driver arrived (who was furious at us because we didn't tell him that the guy he was picking up was covered in feces) the customer asked the driver to GO TO A RESTAURANT down the road. This man went to a restaurant with poop all over his legs and backside, then WALKED almost a mile back to our shop on a sidewalk right next to the busiest road in town. He hadn't even cleaned up at the restaurant! Then he just paid for the oil change, got in, and drove away like it was just an ordinary Tuesday. He even came back to us a few times after that.
We had a customer that was geting old and was getting dementia. One day he's sitting in the waiting room with a big wet stain on the front of his pants. Yep, you guessed it.
Bless you, Wizard. I always try to be as understanding as possible with my mechanics because I understand they're on limited time and have a lot of customers to serve.
When working on a car and getting blamed for something that has no correlation to the work you actually did is frustrating. You might as well be talking to a wall because the customer usually has zero common sense to see that the two things are in no way related.
It's not just cars it seems just about any business dealing with the general public you run into this crap, as I've done computer repair work on the side since I was in high school in the mid 90's, and one time I had a church member of mine bring me her computer her kid had stuck a PB&J sandwich into the DVD drive(early 00's Win ME era machine), so I was asked to replace the drive, and give it a cleaning out with a can of air, Windex for PB&J mess, and I tidied up the cables as well while was at it being nice. only powered on the machine to make sure it posted, and the drive ejected. sent the machine back to the lady charged her for parts, and $25 labor. Then a week later while at my actual job I get a call from the lady bitching at me because her Norton Antivirus(i still cringe at the name) showed 10 different viruses. come to find out it was her other kid downloading porn movies from Limewire after I got a hold of the machine again, but nope!!! Somehow still my fault. LOGIC!!!!
Relating to the diesel story. I used to work with my dad doing snow removal/landscaping. One day we went to fill our Duramax Sierra 3500 with fuel before a big storm, as the tank was almost empty. So we go to the closest gas station, and I waited in the truck while my dad filled it up. Admittedly, he ignorantly left the pump unattended while fuelling up to get milk in the station. About a minute into fuelling up, something dawned on me. THE GAS STATION WE HAD VISITED DIDN'T SELL DIESEL, ONLY GASOLINE. I immediately ran out and stopped the pump, but by then we had just put about 15 gallons of gasoline in the truck. I walk into the store, where my dad was at the counter. I go "dad, we messed up". He looked at me puzzled for a moment, and without me even having to say anything more, I saw the shock on his face when he too also realised what had happened. Unbelievably, at the time, an empty flatbed truck was at the same small gas station, the owner was grabbing a snack inside (I partially wonder if the truck driver saw us pumping gasoline into a duramax and knew we'd need his assistance) and gave our truck a very affordable tow to our local shop, where the gas was all drained, and we had it ready to go before the big storm. No harm was done to the truck, we still use it today.
Man, thanks for everything you do! I had a customer way back in my short Technician Career when a customer who was Morbidly obese brought in a minivan.This must have drove around going number 2 in the van or something. I've never smelled a car that bad. We had to leave it outside to air out for a while before we could get inside it.
I worked at a ford dealer, and a guy was getting some major engine work done. The car was had been at apparently a SEMA at some point so the car was tarted orange base color and a really bad goldish brown that clashed badly for the racing stripes, the engine bay was done up the same way, orange with gold brown accents. The wiper fluid lid was cracked and wouldn't stay on and on one of the test drives it came off. The service rider had it replaced, the customer took one look at the engine bay saw the new washer lid and went totally mental screaming about how 1 of a kind this stock st other than the tacky paint was how much he had paid since it was a sema car and how he was going to sue us and so on. The service rider had told him what happened before he saw it and he still lost his shit. I understand people love their cars, I love mine, but to handle yourself like a child having a meltdown in public is just amazing to me.
@@erikbrooks7712 SEMA is an event for aftermarket car parts/ accessorie manufacturers to show off their products, There are a lot modified cars there too.
I really enjoyed this video of yours Wizard. Always baffles me to hear stories like these, especially the lady with the dirty car, the older gentleman with the highbeams sounds just like my grandpa! I look forward to the next one Wizard!
Working in a shop always offers up crazy stories like these. When I was a young man, we had a self service area, that folks could pump their own Gas. This guy pumps gas into his motor home, well, he actually filled his water tank....(unknown to him) so, he gets in, drives away...runs out of gas, and storms back in with a wrecker, towing his RV, telling us we gonna pay for his towing bill, stating that we ripped him off by “fixing” our pumps to pump “Air” instead of gas! Lol.... we opened his water tank, and showed him his mistake. Ended up costing him a fortune in a new water tank, towing bill and my boss made sure his bill was nice and fat, for accusing us of being thieves....Idiots are not rare. They’re here among us.
When I switched from driving a GM to a Ford, I seem to recall the high beam switch was a pull for GM and a push for Ford. Confused me for about 10 seconds but it seemed kind of weird at the time.
It's really interesting to hear how a mechanic feels dealing with customers. Partially people come to the mechanics garage already stressed, because they have suffered dishonest mechanics in he past.
highbeams hank is that type of person that will become angry at you for flashing your highbeams at him because he gets blinded, while hes completely ignorant about the fact that hes non stop blinding everyone in front of him. i also have a gas station story. a guy left his engine running, also the beams and the wipers (they even were scrapping on the glass). i told him its forbidden to leave the engine on. there was even a sign. he snarkily told me"what would even happen, so what".
Everyone is gonna think I'm joking but swear of my life I'm not I had someone bring in a Camry because Everytime they hit the gas pedal the rpm gauge went higher
I'm definitely familiar with the hoarding issue. There is a family member on my wife's side, great person, bend over backwards to help you type that has a TERRIBLE hoarding issue too. It's very difficult, well nearly impossible, to believe.
I can relate. Unrelated problems often choose to pop up immediately after a service. The craziest was having an oil change, tire rotation, and inspection on my PU. Less than a mile later the truck boiled over. Instead of yelling, I called and asked the shop manager if they'd done anything with the cooling system. It turns out the thermostat decided to seize closed during the hour it was in the shop. With my new car, after its first oil change (5K miles) the ODO started flashing and the Check Engine came on. Oil level fine, no leaks, everything in place, so I drove back. After inspection they replaced a $1500 part under warranty (not including diagnosis and labor). It does no good to be rude or angry; sometimes weird stuff just happens.
When I first started at Saturn in 2002, I was in the wash bay. Every car got washed before it left. There was one customer who had a white SL2 and she let her dogs poop on the floor of the back seat, which she also threw trash on. It was a solid mass of dog crap and Doritos. The smell was unlike anything I’d ever encountered. The guy who worked on it made a trash bag suit and wore a respirator. I made the mistake of getting in the car for only a few seconds before we pushed it out the front door. The shop foreman told me to change my uniform and they sent it out for cleaning. Just the most disgusting thing I’ve ever encountered.
1yr after I know, BUT just wanted to say thank you for the stories! It’s good to hear from a mechanics point of view and the odd ball stories you have;-) Take care
True story. I was 16 and just got my drivers license. I was at my grandmother's home doing lawn work. I had to go to the gas station to get more gas for her ridding mower. I took her car there to get the gas because I didn't have a vehicle of my own at the time. During some point I spilled gas in her trunk from the gas can. The next day she drove her car and could smell the gas. She 100% thought I was doing drugs and that gas smell was the same of whatever drugs. A huge fight over nothing but spilled gas
Scotty'd be like "That car's an endless money pit" and Wizard would be like "Hold my beer. I got this." I like Scotty a lot but Wizard's got balls with the projects he takes on. At least Scotty's trying to save me money. Lol
Thanks for the great stories and taking the time to give us some entertaining alternative content. This just shows how resourceful you be be when your pushed for time. Thanks Little Aussie follwer
In the mid 1960’s a major magazine did a Jeep-Scout-Bronco comparison in the Colorado mountains. The Jeep quit running. They pushed it back to town and left it at a garage. They picked up the Jeep the next day. The shop manager told them it was out of gas.
@@CommodoreFan64 It is why I switched to Apple Computer repair and left Windows. Since 2000 when the prices dropped, people are such cheapskates that $100 is too much, like I make it all in profit for a new display and the labor to put it in. ( and the 6 months warranty I give ) PPL may think Apple machines are over-priced but at least the users are willing to spend reasonable money on them if they need repair or upgrading. I started in the mid 80's but didn't move to Apple till around 2007. I closed my retail computer store in 2001 there was so little money in selling new machines/repair.
@@batsonelectronics I won't get into it here, but I've been no fan of Apple since the Apple II GS was slowly killed off, but you are right there is not a ton of profit to be made in most repairs these days, and it's really been that way since the late 90's when cheap eMachines junk came around, which is why I've always done it as a side business helping others in my community when needed(same for family), and depending on who the person is I honestly sometimes don't care if I get paid beyond parts cost if that, and personally I've been doing my own repair, and builds on computers since I was a kid in the late 80's.
@@CommodoreFan64 I had a big retail store, $100k in inventory. I custom built everything, gave a 2 year warranty , parts and labor. I had a Staples in the shopping center next to me ( 100 ft away ) and I was about $100 a machine higher but better specs and way better quality, I got OEM software with books and discs and the books for every part I put in. I only used WD and Seagate HD's and Monitors were always .28mm dot pitch and higher tier. I did about $25k-$35k a month in sales, in 1999/2000 when the prices dropped by 50%, my costs went down also but I was still $100-$150 higher but I gave the 2yr warranty like before.( I refused to sell junk stuff ) My sales dropped to $2-3k a month. Packard Bell was the killer, they were the cheapest and they were junk with a 90 day warranty. I worked on many before I closed up, the HD's were almost all refurbished and the DVD drives died just past the 90 day mark. There were people spending $100 over my prices by the time they got their crap fixed and yet ppl flocked to these new super cheap machines.They got no discs, no manuals, very little support, and crappy warranties, but they save 100 over what I sold. After 6 months I closed up and went back to electronics repair ( why I went to college to begin with ) Now electronics aren't fixed and Win machines are $300, so I bought a used Apple and loved the OS. I have been a Apple guy ( for the OS ) since.( 2007 ) Win 8 was the final nail for me and windows. 10 is just crap with the updates. So ppl now expect $50 repairs on everything. I told one customer who got upset at the cost,( thought I was screwing them over ) just because you bought a $500 car doesn't mean a transmission repair should cost less than what you paid for the car and in fact is one of the costliest repairs. Part is the lower costs, mainly it is the stupid ignorant customers who give no value to my time or part costs. This is my livelihood so it matters to me, I wish it could be just "extra income". Due to health problems I can't work full time so I have to stay self employed to work around my limitations.
One when I done work experience. I want Word on my daughters computer. Windows 95 or Windows 3.11. NNOOOO NONE OF THAT SH!T, I just want work. I would've installed DOS 3.3 and copied the Word CD over.... then after the shitfit he wanted a discount "because I'm only a poor truck driver". What so we're supposed to make a loss then?
One of my first jobs was at a service station, customer came up for full service gas, she had just bought a 94 Taurus SHO. While checking the fluids I saw the windshield washer fluid level sensor was unplugged so I plugged it back in. Then all of a sudden the car wouldn’t start, and of course it was my fault, and she told my boss that I intentionally broke her car so that she would have to pay us to fix it... 🤦♂️
I've worked at dealerships for the last 25 years, and with Google and Yelp and CSI scores from the manufacturer you can't tell a customer no anymore without consequences. Unfortunate to say the least, as people definitely will take advantage of the situation. I also have a ton of funny stories involving customers and their cars. Stuff like sex toys, weapons, drugs, crazy weird repairs that were done prior (swing set parts for suspension control arms), people who are apparently too stupid to breathe but yet live to bother us over and over. It's absolutely amazing. Oh, and don't forget a lot of these customers have a hair trigger now and go completely insane if you tell them no. I've still got about 12-15 years of this crap.
Wizard, you are so mellow about your weird customers. I would have laughed in the face at the old man with the “problem” of the high beams 🤣 Have a great week!
In the UK we have a process known as "Care in the community". Really it's a way of saving money as in the "old days" these people were kept in institutions away from the sane people. Unfortunately they are now living with us, you seem to have a similar problem in the States. The UK experiment has not gone well.
The complete way on left lane? Pretty expensive in Germany cause you have to drive right. Overtaking right is forbidden. Good Debbie Diesel and the bmw gas smelling lady. I like the new format just telling the story on the road .
Not the whole way got in the right lane at some point pretty decent actually by what I usually see some people drive slow as fuck and just sit there at least she was passing people and didn't have a big Line of cars passing on the right. Not up to German standards but not terrible driving.
@@mh87351 every U S state has different rules on the fast lane. Lucky there is no Law - of course it's all about having to pass on the right or yielding emergency vehicles 🚘 only
@@missingremote4388 "Lucky there is no law" Believe me if you had a law that said fast lane is only for passing... And it was enforced.... You would solve traffic as a problem because everyone would pay so many fines they would have no money for gas and stop driving :D
typxxilps in the US you have to pass on the right because some slowpoke idiot is always hogging the left lane and officers don’t enforce the slow poke law and at the most they always write a warning and not a ticket so people keep doing it!
When I was a teenager, my best friends mom was a very bad, scared driver and when she got on he highway she would go straight to the left lane. I asked her why and she said she felt safer there because she didn't have to worry about other cars passing her on her left side. YIKES! Not saying Mrs. Wizard does it for that reason but it's a real thing. I would say those are the idiots going slow in the left lane.
She was driving faster than most cars that day and traffic was light. If she was changing lanes properly like she usually does the blinker sounds would have been caught on the audio track.
Every made up name is just a made up name for Tyler Hoover
lol
Funny
Gottem
true, true.....
You know hoovies watching this mad as fuck
Working with the public you begin to realize that 1/10 people are either genuinely mad or living on their own planet in their heads.
I’m not going to lie, the “Princess Patty” story really pisses me off. Like why is a mother letting her daughter be all bratty. She said a specific time frame to work on the car and then proceeded to cut it short because “her daughter said she will have it back today.” And of course she had a BMW, freaking spoiled rotten bratty teens
98% of people are crazy. The other 2% have to prop up the world of morons
Well Stated Mason!!!!
@@kingjlinza parent is broke from pretending to be rich while creating a super annoying girl who will never grow up. It’s a lose lose
@@quonsetthehutt3105 She'd stop being a brat if you threw a 1000 dollar Buick LeSabre at her and said "Live with it. Take this or get nothing." Sadly some people don't know the fun of affordable luxury cars.
Ever have a customer that buys at least 2 cars a month that are all hoopties?
Yeah he has a YT channel called Hoovie's Garage lol
@@mikenormandy9250 omg...no shit Sherlock. U know what irony is?
They're called your best customers. So much so that you attend their weddings.
Michał k : Ha Have you?
well I do that, too...... my mechanic hates me because I do all the easy stuff and only if I am at the end of my knowledge he gets it....happens like once every two years... well I recently got myself an RX-8 with shitty compression....lets see how far I will get it done =)
This is great! Anyone that works with the public quickly realizes about 10% of them are completely insane.
Make it 79%
As a part time job while in college, I work at Autozone, and while I don't consider myself a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, customers frequently bring their cars in trying to get us to fix them for free. My store is in a fairly wealthy area, and one time this lady who was maybe mid fourties pulled up in this maybe 2015 Acura and started ranting about how both her turn signals keep flashing, so I go out to the car, find the hazard light button, and turn it off, and then just dumbfounded this lady leaves. The next day, she comes back and starts screaming about how her radio now won't work and swears I must have broken it when I "worked" on her car the previous day. I go out and sure enough, it's another easy fix, the power was just turned off, so I turn it on and I tell her that if she came back none of us were going to come out and work on her car.
Andy Speck wow lol
Haha man you have no idea. Phone calls are always a treat, especially when it's a soccer mom who calls up and says she needs a need belt for her 07 Dodge Caravan. I casually ask if it's the 3.3, the 3.8, or the 4.0 and get some kind of reply of "well it's a V6". Thanks lady, I appreciate the info. I will say the worst guys are the old GM guard. They think it's beneath them to tell the guy at the parts counter about what era of "Chevy" they're working on. They just walk in and say "I need a tie rod end for my 350 Chevy" and think that you're some dipshit when you ask the year. You can't win with them because either I look up an 83 C1500 and give him the wrong one because his truck is 15 years newer than that, or he scolds me for having to ask the year. Honestly though, it's a lot of fun, and in my two years with Autozone, I've learned a crazy amount about cars
@mike brink Sounds like my job. I'm a valet at three hotels run by the same hotel group. Two are next door and have full valet and "partial valet" (which I personally think is bullshit and the prices outrageous, but anyway) in the same garage and offsite lot (full valet goes in the garage unless it won't fit, "partial valet" goes in the offsite lot). The garage is located inside one hotel. The other hotel, which is smaller and not as busy, has one valet in the lobby the entire shift while the rest of us are next door and he calls us when a car needs to be moved or brought up.
The other hotel is down the street and has full valet on site, self parking on site for the same price and self parking in a lot across the street for half.
Our policy is to take car keys of all vehicles that arrive on deck unless someone waits in the vehicle, so someone doesn't just leave their car there overnight (we can - and do - tow cars when that happens) and in case emergency vehicles show up and need easy access to the front door, which happens about once a week. Obviously, at the third hotel if a guest gets an on deck self park ticket, we don't take their keys. Most people don't make a fuss, but some act indignant like you're asking for a kidney.
We don't allow smoking near the front door. Most people move to the smoking area without issue, but some give dirty looks and act offended when asked. Some put out cigarettes in a metal box we use for used tickets.
At the third hotel, we get people who chose the offsite self parking, but park on deck and refuse to move (we have front desk upgrade them and charge the full price when that happens, but still).
And then there's people at the wrong hotel and refusing to move their car to the right one (one time a passenger got out and walked to another hotel and the driver refused to open his window), or idiot Uber drivers and food delivery drivers who stop just anywhere, blocking the whole deck.
That's funny!
I had a lady in a bad area come in with a 3 series that was trying to buy freon; knowing that most people think they need it when they dont, I went out to check the pressure.
It was fine.
Turns out she didnt have it on recirculate
mike brink same with me. I didn’t have a problem working at Burger King, dominos, or Pizza Hut being a delivery driver, but going to an actual party feels weird. I’d rather just be the pizza guy that gets invited inside for a bong hit lol
I too have experienced all of the customers you have described. I'd like to hear about some of your favorite clients.
For instance... while working at a repair shop in Tampa FL, we had a regular customer in the form of two elderly widows who drove a very well preserved 1968 Thunderbird. They lived together off of their social security and what was left of their savings and didn't have much to spare, so we tried to keep any repair and maintenance bills to a minimum. Every 3000 miles they would show up with a HUGE pan of spaghetti or lasagna or stuffed shells and we would eat like kings while making sure that the car was tip top, no charge! I dearly miss those two...
That's the kind of stories I love hearing. I have had a few customers living on a budget and have always done my best to help them out. What's funny is the customers that are on a tight budget or can't afford a big repair usually pay with no problems but the ones that have plenty of money are the ones I have had more problems with paying the bill.
Someone brought is chili and crackers yesterday! It was much appreciated.
Awesome Customers!
man they scammed yall on the bills! i'm just joking though i would have absolutely loved to get a king sized feast of homemade italian food in exchange for working on some nice old ladies car every now and then
@@Cynsham Yeah, it was a sweet gig.
I worked at Firestone when I was 20.
Guy comes in to get an alignment. Says it pulls to the left. Our alignment guy checks it out. It's within specs, but adjusts everything so it's in the middle of of the spec range. Test drive is fine.
Next day, the guy comes back. "Pulls to the left". Test drive is fine. Put it on the alignment machine and it's still as set. The guy leaves.
Next day, the guy is back with his seething 500 lb father. Turns out, it's dad's car and his weight is causing it to pull to the left. Alignment guy gets dad in the car and makes the adjustment for the weight.
Oh man- that's a good one.😆
Thats really good one😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
I’ve run into that before.
Omg lol
wow didnt see that coming
You haven't heard the crazy stories of our Shop, matter fact few years back they wanted to do a reality show. Here is a quick one of the stories. So this guy comes in. His whole family actually come to our shop to fix their cars so good customers of ours. So he needed brake work, but he didn't have money. We throw in some brake pads for FREE. few weeks later he comes and start yelling that we only did the front pads. Here is another quick one this lady comes in she got a 90s Toyota Camry, she wanted her headlight bulb put in. One of our guys opens the hood while she is standing there with while he replaced it for her and we told her no charge it was just like a minute. Few month later she calls our shop and threaten to sue us, because her car has started to smoke (burn oil). These are true stories and we have tons more.
You own real clothes! I have only ever seen you in work stuff.
Carguy UK I’ve never seen him with his clothes on either.
Watch Hoovies latest video, you will see him in a tox.
I never seen him in clothes
And he's t-shirt is actually looking great
owneddiagonal so...y’all in a local orgy club or?
I had my car there, and just 18 months later, my wiper blades began to streak; HIS FAULT!
Great stories. The customer is NOT always right. Glad to hear you send people packing when they act irrational.
The irate older gentleman story sounds like someone who had been burned before and has unresolved anger issues. Lots of unscrupulous types out there in auto repair, home improvement, etc. -- people whose business model includes sizing customers up financially and taking advantage of them when they're most vulnerable. Not making excuses for the customer's behavior, btw. Mr. Wizard made the right call.
The customer is usually wrong. I call it the stupid tax....
@@1MTEK or it could be he had dementia
Glad to hear there is a shop owner willing to say no to customer. I work at a shop where we all too often bend to customer's wishes when they aren't possible without putting them ahead of other more respectable customers.
We had a Lexus owner complain about the static in between the AM radio stations
So funny.
"I'm not going to use their real names..."
- Doug DeMuro, Tyler Hoover
My sister ruined a catalytic converter on a 1975 Olds Cutlass Supreme putting diesel fuel in it. Ironically it worked about as well as Oldsmobile's diesel engine from the early 80s.
Diesel Debbie reminds me of this one customer I had call a claim into GEICO (when I was a claims rep for a few years) She had put a full tank of Diesel in her 2003 Toyota Camry, then tried to claim the fact that her engine seized thru her GEICO auto policy and then try and get the gas station to pay for the claim! She stated that it's the gas station's fault she put Diesel into the car because the attendant did not stop her when she was filling the car. Because the Diesel pump nozzle was a large triangular shape she shoved it so hard into her gas tank and broke her own gas tank opening gasket! GEICO of course denied the claim and she was out a car! It really blows my mind how stupid people can be!
I think it's a bad thing, that in america every idiot too stupid for life can sue another person for millions, no matter what. This has to stop, and people has to take back responsibility for their stupidness.
Wow that's easily 8 times worse than the one in the video ...
I don't see how diesel could seize a gas engine...
Literally putting a triangular peg into a round hole, lol...
Never seen a Camry with a diesel engine. Not even that era of the Camry was sold with one. Lmao the stupidity of knowing the difference of petrol and diesel.
I heard a story from a guy my brother works with when he was at monroe a crazy lady that took her car in for an oil change and got mad for some reason and wanted her car right now! Well it was on the lift with the oil drained out. They explained this and she didnt care and they said ok but you have to sign this saying we arnt liable for your inevitable engine damage. So she left and came back a while later with a cop saying they ruined her engine. they showed him the signed paper. the cop asked her if she signed this she said yes and that was that
Bloody deserved it. What is the funniest part is that they can't understand why people don't take them seriously and they think they're just as smart and useful as everyone else.
Ouch
Women are insane
Working in car shops is great, we had a customer that bought new tires for a rotten Hyundai, wanted the best of the best, went with the cheapies ofcourse (picking the tires took atleast 2 hours)... comes to pick up the car, looks at the tires, starts yelling "These are old tires, I want new tires!"... so we point out the DOT on the side of the tire and indeed she goes to check all of them, she goes to the other side of the car and goes "Theres no number here, these are fake!" and then it took an extra hour that DOT is stamped only on one side and since they're rotational it won't be visible on one side of the car. This shenanigan went on for another hour with refund threats etc, finally she comes back into the shop and demands an alignment within the hour. What a day.
You forgot about the dude that always brings you weird cars he got somewhere for cheap without even looking them over and then have you fix it, while pestering you with his questions or even the odd request of working on them himself. ;-)
Congratulations the Hoover family!
My story. I used to manage an auto rental car branch. We had a client who, every 2 years (almost to the day) would rent from us because her car had been stolen then recovered. The car was a 79 Chevy Malibu. Usually, insurance companies will not fix things like interior, or clearly mechanical issues - however, this insurance company would pay to bring the car back to pre-stolen condition. Because of that, the car has perfect paint, perfect interior, brand new motor, brand new transmission, brand new suspension. I know what you're thinking "scam' - nope. The car was stolen - it is a popular car among thieves and her car was seriously unlucky. Why do I know that it wasn't a scam - because every-single-time the police caught and convicted the thief. I don't know anyone who would do time so that someone else could benefit from a car restore... I did tell the lady that whenever she decided to buy something else, I'd like a chance to buy the car. She still has it, it's still pristine, and it still gets stolen and the insurance company still fixes it (20 plus years later from when I met her).
In 1980 my prick uncle had a '79 Grand Prix stolen. But he got it back undamaged.
Legacy Insurance deal.
79 Malibu?
a friend of mine had totaled 8 cars, each from hitting deer by the time we graduated highschool. some people really do just have freakishly (as well as oddly specific) bad luck
Maybe not a scam, maybe she just takes care of her car? She probably has a very good insurance policy for them not to total it out. At some point, the repairs will exceed the value of the car, it's just a matter of time.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” - Einstein
Once bought a 2001 Ford Escort, they wanted $1000 for it. When I actually got there the car was filled up like a trash can with fast food wrappers, junk, etc. Told them $900 you clean it, $500 if I clean it. I paid $500 lol. Had a baby seat in the back surrounded by filth. Worse than that when I actually went to clean the car out I found a few heroin needles under the driver's seat...class act.
You sure the needle wasn’t for diabetes seeing how they also loved fast food?
You forgot the 'Hilarious Hoovie' type....
More like the "Degenerate Hoovie" type
f266101463 Google Alliteration
Schnitzengruben hahaha
"There is just this guy that earns quite a decent amount of cash, but seems to have made a habit to spent every dime of it on new cars. Or actually, old beat up ones, the cheapest in the USA if he can find and ship it, mostly site unseen. He then charges me with fixing them, which always ends up costing more than the car is worth. He then drives it for a few weeks, parks it in his rented car warehouse, and sells it for a big loss a couple months later. Or he lets it get stolen and driven into the woods, or lends it out to his buddies who then burn down the car to bits. Although he's lunatic, I like working for him, makes it possible for me to retire pretty soon and work on a few exotic or strange cars in the mean time "
@@davithdevries6774 :D But to be fair, Hoovie isn't probably a bad customer. If the guy brings a lot of work, but he is polite and understanding and pays on time, then he's a good customer.
I work at an oil change shop. This lady came in with the overheating engine. I checked the oil level and found no oil on the dipstick. Absolutely no oil. I then checked the service history and found out it was last serviced two years/ 20k miles ago. I asked her if she did an oil change recently. She looked so puzzled. After a short talk, I learned that she bought this car two years but never changed the oil because she thought it was bad for the environment.
I am a mechanic, but this wasn't a customer car. It was a neighborhood hoarder's new pick-up. His old, trash filled car finally gave up the ghost and it was time for a pretty nice looking pickup. It was amazing to watch it fill up. Eventually, there was only room for a driver inside. Then the bed started....plywood sides were later added..... Wish I would have taken time lapse pictures.
I get similar stuff in computer repair. Told someone we would have to reinstall Windows. She came back a day later furious that we broke her computer because she couldn't get online. Nope she just never entered her WiFi password when she took it back home.
I work at an auto parts store and I get this all the time where someone would walk in and ask for a part for their vehicle. I'd ask what year is the vehicle? They'd get mad and ask "aren't they all the same?" I'd tell them I can't give you the right part if I don't know what year your vehicle is. So they'll give me some random year they think their vehicle is. 2 hours later they come back and tell me I sold them the wrong part. They'll give a different year and it's a completely different part number. As much as I want to tell them how wrong they are I just smile and then them go on their way. In the end I still made the sale. So it's best to just let that go.
Never seen the video of a woman at the gas station trying to fill up het tesla trough the charge plug connection? its on you tube.. lol
MrBugsier5 I hope that’s a joke??? 😂 how on earth can someone be that dumb?
😮 wow just found it, that’s incredible. If that wasn’t a deliberate stunt filmed for RUclips revenue, she’s giving blonds a bad name.
I heard of stories from smart cars, which has the tank trim on the right side, and an design-element on the left side, which is the intake of the turbo. Some people managed to fill the turbo up with gas, you can think of what happened...
IT'S A WOMAN.... what makes me laugh is when they then pretend that they are just as smart, more useful and more entitled than men after they do stuff this dumb. There's one getting around of the shirt done in WW2 cartoon style with a woman flexing a bicep saying "women can do it". And that shirt was on the laundry wall. The BOYFRIEND HAD TO PUT IT UP WITH THUMBNAILS..... coz she didn't know how.
@@thechumpsbeendumped.7797 someone who isn't interested at all in cars who was borrowing it. Never even thought about it being electric and wanted to fill up ther tank before they gave it back.
I'm surprised you didn't mention about that shady salesman who tried to see you a burnt down Ferrari.
That's ok, some Russian-American guy from Florida name of Freddy got it.
I worked in auto parts sales for years, and I can attest to the stories you're telling. One of my favorites was an older gentleman who came in for a pair of batteries for his RV. I sold him the batteries he wanted, and he went on his way. Fast forward a couple of hours, and he's back. The batteries are dead, he says. You sold me bad batteries! So, I get my battery tester and walk out to his truck, the whole time he's telling me our batteries were crap, we should be ashamed of selling batteries that are dead on the shelf, etc. When I get to his truck, the first thing I notice is that the black plastic covers were still on the negative posts on both batteries, and you could see scratches on the plastic where the battery terminal connectors were installed WITH THE PROTECTIVE COVERS STILL ON THE POSTS! I said, here's your problem, and pulled the covers off and proceeded to test the batteries (which were perfect). He was flabbergasted, and apologized profusely (I found out later that he had very poor eyesight!). But I didn't give him a hard time about it, and we ended up being good friends!
With eyesight that poor what was he doing driving a freakin' car?
I remember those stories- ex. Had a customer "Dagwood" looked like him- older gentleman- looongtime customer, came in for basic maintenance- picked up the car and accused the shop of stealing his Garage door clicker- he even called the Police on us for the "theft" needless to say- the clicker was at home on the foyer side table- neve came back into the shop
Dementia is a bad thing, embarassing!
@@chiclone-tests71 you know what's worse than dementia? accusing people of something before you investigate what really happened.
An classical selfown from you, pal! Prove that i targeted this on an actual person
@@chiclone-tests71 I was actually bitching at the persons that claims dementia after going off on someone else for something the other person had no input on, not at you.
@@Pilostudio Sorry, misunderstood that
I repair PC's for a living and sometimes I feel I should charge the crazy's I deal with for counselling
@Bladwijzer Sync Lol, I have just upped my hourly rate so hopefully that will have the desired effect...
I call it the stupid tax
I had a guy come in with an alienware laptop. That thing had about 20 live roaches crawling around inside of it. He started talking about how frustrating roach infestations were WHILE BRUSHING THEM OFF OF HIS LAPTOP ONTO THE FLOOR. Charged that guy extra.
Ohhhhh.....I can so relate, Ryan. I've been in the IT industry 30+ years and run my own company (looking after the home users and all their connected devices) for the last 8. You find many interesting attitudes in the corporate world, but for real crazy, you have to turn to the domestic market - be it over a counter in a repair shop or visiting them in home. Try telling a flustered housewife (you know - half house, half wife) that the reason her mobile phone will not talk to the printer is NOT because of the hard drive you replaced in her laptop. A five minute fix (because I am a nice guy) cost her a half hours' labour (because I have a limit to my tolerance of sheer idiocy) that I had originally deducted from her laptop rebuild because I empathised with her issue at the time. If I could get away with adding an A$$hole tax as a chargeable item (just so they know) on some people's invoices, I definitely would.
I too have turned customers away after they became so obnoxious when it came time to pay the bill (at the price / number of hours we had agreed to) and / or kept adding work onto the original spec / asking questions that took up a lot of time to answer and complete, leading to a lot of uncharged hours.....and then they STILL ring up and want helpdesk-style response when an icon isn't where they wanted it. Sometimes the hassle value is not worth the money you charge, because you spend twice as long on the job, the client does not appreciate the extra miles you go for them and they'll blame you for any tiny niggle - totally forgetting that you have a couple hundred other satisfied clients that treat you with the same respect that you treat them.
Us IT blokes should get together and write a book........
When I worked at an independent shop when I graduated high school, I racked up a fair amount of stories about customers. We were the place in town that did all sorts of free things for people "down on their luck," or what have you.
There was a customer that drove a Kia that always reeked to high heaven. Every time I pulled that car around the building and into the shop, I had my head out the window like a dog going for a ride. One day, he came in and asked for an oil change, and I drew the short straw and had to work on it. I had just pulled in and gotten it in position to lift the vehicle and my manager came to me and said, "Get this done as soon as possible."
When I asked why, he informed me that the customer had pooped his pants in the waiting area, it had run down his pant leg, and gotten all over the ground and his seat. He apparently didn't even notice. He asked for our shuttle service (we assumed he wanted to go home and change). Well when our driver arrived (who was furious at us because we didn't tell him that the guy he was picking up was covered in feces) the customer asked the driver to GO TO A RESTAURANT down the road.
This man went to a restaurant with poop all over his legs and backside, then WALKED almost a mile back to our shop on a sidewalk right next to the busiest road in town. He hadn't even cleaned up at the restaurant! Then he just paid for the oil change, got in, and drove away like it was just an ordinary Tuesday. He even came back to us a few times after that.
Please. Please tell me this is a lie. Lie to me.
Florida I'm guessing?
We had a customer that was geting old and was getting dementia. One day he's sitting in the waiting room with a big wet stain on the front of his pants. Yep, you guessed it.
@@purpleaki8211 Nailed it
This story wins. That’s terrible.
My man lookin freshhhhh.. from wizard to Wiz lol
I like the look
My. Condolences. Wow. I felt like I lost brain cells just from hearing how bad some of these were!
The internet proves to me every week that people are dumber than I previously thought.
Wizard cleans up good
“since you serviced my car...” I always loved hearing that from customers
Bless you, Wizard. I always try to be as understanding as possible with my mechanics because I understand they're on limited time and have a lot of customers to serve.
My dad has worked as a mechanic for just over 40 years, and he has some great anecdotes as well.
Thanks for sharing these stories. Makes me not feel alone in the customer business
When working on a car and getting blamed for something that has no correlation to the work you actually did is frustrating. You might as well be talking to a wall because the customer usually has zero common sense to see that the two things are in no way related.
I worked with my dad for about 20 years. This happens all the time. People are clueless.
It's not just cars it seems just about any business dealing with the general public you run into this crap, as I've done computer repair work on the side since I was in high school in the mid 90's, and one time I had a church member of mine bring me her computer her kid had stuck a PB&J sandwich into the DVD drive(early 00's Win ME era machine), so I was asked to replace the drive, and give it a cleaning out with a can of air, Windex for PB&J mess, and I tidied up the cables as well while was at it being nice. only powered on the machine to make sure it posted, and the drive ejected. sent the machine back to the lady charged her for parts, and $25 labor. Then a week later while at my actual job I get a call from the lady bitching at me because her Norton Antivirus(i still cringe at the name) showed 10 different viruses. come to find out it was her other kid downloading porn movies from Limewire after I got a hold of the machine again, but nope!!! Somehow still my fault. LOGIC!!!!
I'm guessing you've never gotten the " you changed my oil last week and now the radio doesn't work--- what are you going to do about it ??
Relating to the diesel story. I used to work with my dad doing snow removal/landscaping. One day we went to fill our Duramax Sierra 3500 with fuel before a big storm, as the tank was almost empty. So we go to the closest gas station, and I waited in the truck while my dad filled it up. Admittedly, he ignorantly left the pump unattended while fuelling up to get milk in the station. About a minute into fuelling up, something dawned on me. THE GAS STATION WE HAD VISITED DIDN'T SELL DIESEL, ONLY GASOLINE. I immediately ran out and stopped the pump, but by then we had just put about 15 gallons of gasoline in the truck. I walk into the store, where my dad was at the counter. I go "dad, we messed up". He looked at me puzzled for a moment, and without me even having to say anything more, I saw the shock on his face when he too also realised what had happened. Unbelievably, at the time, an empty flatbed truck was at the same small gas station, the owner was grabbing a snack inside (I partially wonder if the truck driver saw us pumping gasoline into a duramax and knew we'd need his assistance) and gave our truck a very affordable tow to our local shop, where the gas was all drained, and we had it ready to go before the big storm. No harm was done to the truck, we still use it today.
@7:19 as soon as you mentioned female and BMW, i knew this was gonna be a great one lol
Oh man.. the classic “ever since you worked on my car, now “this” doesn’t work!!”
'Empty Erica' was my favorite story. I laughed so hard. 😂😂😂😂
Man, thanks for everything you do! I had a customer way back in my short Technician Career when a customer who was Morbidly obese brought in a minivan.This must have drove around going number 2 in the van or something. I've never smelled a car that bad. We had to leave it outside to air out for a while before we could get inside it.
I worked at a ford dealer, and a guy was getting some major engine work done. The car was had been at apparently a SEMA at some point so the car was tarted orange base color and a really bad goldish brown that clashed badly for the racing stripes, the engine bay was done up the same way, orange with gold brown accents. The wiper fluid lid was cracked and wouldn't stay on and on one of the test drives it came off. The service rider had it replaced, the customer took one look at the engine bay saw the new washer lid and went totally mental screaming about how 1 of a kind this stock st other than the tacky paint was how much he had paid since it was a sema car and how he was going to sue us and so on. The service rider had told him what happened before he saw it and he still lost his shit. I understand people love their cars, I love mine, but to handle yourself like a child having a meltdown in public is just amazing to me.
What's a SEMA car ?
@@erikbrooks7712 SEMA is an event for aftermarket car parts/ accessorie manufacturers to show off their products, There are a lot modified cars there too.
Now this is a very cool segment. You should do more content like this it was very enjoyable. Thank for it.
Great video, would love to hear more stories
I really enjoyed this video of yours Wizard. Always baffles me to hear stories like these, especially the lady with the dirty car, the older gentleman with the highbeams sounds just like my grandpa! I look forward to the next one Wizard!
Great video Wizard! you're a natural storyteller!
Wow! There really are some crazy people out there! Thanks for sharing.
I think every business gets crazy customers like that, I know I certainly have!
Working in a shop always offers up crazy stories like these. When I was a young man, we had a self service area, that folks could pump their own Gas. This guy pumps gas into his motor home, well, he actually filled his water tank....(unknown to him) so, he gets in, drives away...runs out of gas, and storms back in with a wrecker, towing his RV, telling us we gonna pay for his towing bill, stating that we ripped him off by “fixing” our pumps to pump “Air” instead of gas! Lol....
we opened his water tank, and showed him his mistake. Ended up costing him a fortune in a new water tank, towing bill and my boss made sure his bill was nice and fat, for accusing us of being thieves....Idiots are not rare. They’re here among us.
High beams guy story got my blood pressure up. Reminds me of the majority of the broke customers I dealt with years ago working at a oil change.
When I switched from driving a GM to a Ford, I seem to recall the high beam switch was a pull for GM and a push for Ford. Confused me for about 10 seconds but it seemed kind of weird at the time.
Wow man ! I used to work in a few shops ... and I totally understand dude ! Hang in there and keep up the good work !!!
It's really interesting to hear how a mechanic feels dealing with customers. Partially people come to the mechanics garage already stressed, because they have suffered dishonest mechanics in he past.
Crazy times! Customers can be total nuts!!
highbeams hank is that type of person that will become angry at you for flashing your highbeams at him because he gets blinded, while hes completely ignorant about the fact that hes non stop blinding everyone in front of him.
i also have a gas station story.
a guy left his engine running, also the beams and the wipers (they even were scrapping on the glass). i told him its forbidden to leave the engine on. there was even a sign. he snarkily told me"what would even happen, so what".
Most of these are more light hearted than I would have suspected.
Everyone is gonna think I'm joking but swear of my life I'm not I had someone bring in a Camry because Everytime they hit the gas pedal the rpm gauge went higher
I was expecting a comma somewhere in that sentence.
@@21335186z there was at one point I must've accidently deleted it 😅
should've charged them for a new engine lol
Wow man that was a strong, busted me out laughing.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I think that's a serious problem
LOL! I love the stories. You are super cool headed about them, I bet that helps with deescalating the crazies that come in.
I'm definitely familiar with the hoarding issue. There is a family member on my wife's side, great person, bend over backwards to help you type that has a TERRIBLE hoarding issue too. It's very difficult, well nearly impossible, to believe.
I can relate. Unrelated problems often choose to pop up immediately after a service. The craziest was having an oil change, tire rotation, and inspection on my PU. Less than a mile later the truck boiled over. Instead of yelling, I called and asked the shop manager if they'd done anything with the cooling system. It turns out the thermostat decided to seize closed during the hour it was in the shop. With my new car, after its first oil change (5K miles) the ODO started flashing and the Check Engine came on. Oil level fine, no leaks, everything in place, so I drove back. After inspection they replaced a $1500 part under warranty (not including diagnosis and labor). It does no good to be rude or angry; sometimes weird stuff just happens.
Number 1. Tyler Hoover
When I first started at Saturn in 2002, I was in the wash bay. Every car got washed before it left. There was one customer who had a white SL2 and she let her dogs poop on the floor of the back seat, which she also threw trash on. It was a solid mass of dog crap and Doritos. The smell was unlike anything I’d ever encountered. The guy who worked on it made a trash bag suit and wore a respirator. I made the mistake of getting in the car for only a few seconds before we pushed it out the front door. The shop foreman told me to change my uniform and they sent it out for cleaning. Just the most disgusting thing I’ve ever encountered.
Labeling people with matching letters is good therapy practice for memory. RE Cascadia Mental Health Care. There are no coincidences ever.
Please do more stories like this! This is so fun to watch!
In reference to the Diesel Debbie story, you must have missed the video with the lady trying to put gas in her Tesla lol
1yr after I know, BUT just wanted to say thank you for the stories! It’s good to hear from a mechanics point of view and the odd ball stories you have;-) Take care
Mrs Wizard has a very cute ear. You are a lucky man.
I was thinking that too. That ear is hot!
She actually turns her head at 7:21 and you see some of her face
@@TheRussell747 Saw that, But the ear line was funner.
you are nasty and stupid
That's without doubt the creepiest comment I've ever come across. Someone needs to check your hard-drive.
True story. I was 16 and just got my drivers license. I was at my grandmother's home doing lawn work. I had to go to the gas station to get more gas for her ridding mower. I took her car there to get the gas because I didn't have a vehicle of my own at the time. During some point I spilled gas in her trunk from the gas can. The next day she drove her car and could smell the gas. She 100% thought I was doing drugs and that gas smell was the same of whatever drugs. A huge fight over nothing but spilled gas
Hello Car Wizard and Mrs. Wizard
Great video! It's what working with the public is all about!
Imagine Wizard and Scotty Kilmer sit together and talk like Doug and Hoovie do for the autotrader channel
That would be fucking legendary we gotta make this happen
Gross. Scotty Kilmer sucks. Don't shame the wizard like that.
Scotty'd be like "That car's an endless money pit" and Wizard would be like "Hold my beer. I got this." I like Scotty a lot but Wizard's got balls with the projects he takes on. At least Scotty's trying to save me money. Lol
Scotty is obnoxious how can anyone stand watching that guy? Plus he doesn't know what he's talking about half the time.
Thanks for the great stories and taking the time to give us some entertaining alternative content. This just shows how resourceful you be be when your pushed for time. Thanks Little Aussie follwer
Either you're playing down these stories immensely or you've been incredibly lucky to have so few nightmare customers in a customer service job.
In the mid 1960’s a major magazine did a Jeep-Scout-Bronco comparison in the Colorado mountains. The Jeep quit running. They pushed it back to town and left it at a garage. They picked up the Jeep the next day. The shop manager told them it was out of gas.
A mans 3 best friends are his his dog, his vehicle, and his mechanic.
What if you are your own mechanic?
elcaminosunlimited then it is your buddy who helps on a weekend last second
You've never had a good woman.
svtirefire I have a great woman she’s my wife. She is closer than any friend. She’s my ride or die.
@@svtirefire she's just 4th. Get over it.
u are great man great michanic
The computer repair and service industry isn't that much different...that last on though....ewwwww.
@@CommodoreFan64 It is why I switched to Apple Computer repair and left Windows. Since 2000 when the prices dropped, people are such cheapskates that $100 is too much, like I make it all in profit for a new display and the labor to put it in. ( and the 6 months warranty I give ) PPL may think Apple machines are over-priced but at least the users are willing to spend reasonable money on them if they need repair or upgrading. I started in the mid 80's but didn't move to Apple till around 2007. I closed my retail computer store in 2001 there was so little money in selling new machines/repair.
@@batsonelectronics I won't get into it here, but I've been no fan of Apple since the Apple II GS was slowly killed off, but you are right there is not a ton of profit to be made in most repairs these days, and it's really been that way since the late 90's when cheap eMachines junk came around, which is why I've always done it as a side business helping others in my community when needed(same for family), and depending on who the person is I honestly sometimes don't care if I get paid beyond parts cost if that, and personally I've been doing my own repair, and builds on computers since I was a kid in the late 80's.
@@CommodoreFan64 I had a big retail store, $100k in inventory. I custom built everything, gave a 2 year warranty , parts and labor. I had a Staples in the shopping center next to me ( 100 ft away ) and I was about $100 a machine higher but better specs and way better quality, I got OEM software with books and discs and the books for every part I put in. I only used WD and Seagate HD's and Monitors were always .28mm dot pitch and higher tier. I did about $25k-$35k a month in sales, in 1999/2000 when the prices dropped by 50%, my costs went down also but I was still $100-$150 higher but I gave the 2yr warranty like before.( I refused to sell junk stuff ) My sales dropped to $2-3k a month. Packard Bell was the killer, they were the cheapest and they were junk with a 90 day warranty. I worked on many before I closed up, the HD's were almost all refurbished and the DVD drives died just past the 90 day mark. There were people spending $100 over my prices by the time they got their crap fixed and yet ppl flocked to these new super cheap machines.They got no discs, no manuals, very little support, and crappy warranties, but they save 100 over what I sold. After 6 months I closed up and went back to electronics repair ( why I went to college to begin with ) Now electronics aren't fixed and Win machines are $300, so I bought a used Apple and loved the OS. I have been a Apple guy ( for the OS ) since.( 2007 ) Win 8 was the final nail for me and windows. 10 is just crap with the updates. So ppl now expect $50 repairs on everything. I told one customer who got upset at the cost,( thought I was screwing them over ) just because you bought a $500 car doesn't mean a transmission repair should cost less than what you paid for the car and in fact is one of the costliest repairs. Part is the lower costs, mainly it is the stupid ignorant customers who give no value to my time or part costs. This is my livelihood so it matters to me, I wish it could be just "extra income". Due to health problems I can't work full time so I have to stay self employed to work around my limitations.
I was going to,say the same thing. I was in computer sales and repair from 93 to 98 and have tons of stories.
One when I done work experience. I want Word on my daughters computer. Windows 95 or Windows 3.11. NNOOOO NONE OF THAT SH!T, I just want work. I would've installed DOS 3.3 and copied the Word CD over.... then after the shitfit he wanted a discount "because I'm only a poor truck driver". What so we're supposed to make a loss then?
“...It was just an innocent gasoline fight...” Zoolander, great movie. Great video my good sir keep up the good work.
One of my first jobs was at a service station, customer came up for full service gas, she had just bought a 94 Taurus SHO. While checking the fluids I saw the windshield washer fluid level sensor was unplugged so I plugged it back in. Then all of a sudden the car wouldn’t start, and of course it was my fault, and she told my boss that I intentionally broke her car so that she would have to pay us to fix it... 🤦♂️
Simple answer: the car was depressed and wanted to die.
Scarea
😂
You sound like a respectful mechanic! Those are some great stories Mr wizard
Let me guess Every Person you told us about is Hoovie or?
I've worked at dealerships for the last 25 years, and with Google and Yelp and CSI scores from the manufacturer you can't tell a customer no anymore without consequences. Unfortunate to say the least, as people definitely will take advantage of the situation. I also have a ton of funny stories involving customers and their cars. Stuff like sex toys, weapons, drugs, crazy weird repairs that were done prior (swing set parts for suspension control arms), people who are apparently too stupid to breathe but yet live to bother us over and over. It's absolutely amazing. Oh, and don't forget a lot of these customers have a hair trigger now and go completely insane if you tell them no. I've still got about 12-15 years of this crap.
I bet it's Hoovie
Most people are reasonable, good mannered folks, a few are not.
I’ve had similar experiences.
Thanx for sharing.
Jesus christ the last one...
Man
Jesus has left the chat
Imagine their home.
Jebus drops the mic and has left the building
Stabbs _ like you don't keep dirty diapers and rotting chickens in your car
Wizard, you are so mellow about your weird customers.
I would have laughed in the face at the old man with the “problem” of the high beams 🤣
Have a great week!
So if they drive a Taurus or a bmw just walk away.
Anything that's late 90s/early 2000s and is champagne colored in general.
Just found ur channel, this is awesome I am bouta binge all of it!!
In the UK we have a process known as "Care in the community". Really it's a way of saving money as in the "old days" these people were kept in institutions away from the sane people. Unfortunately they are now living with us, you seem to have a similar problem in the States. The UK experiment has not gone well.
Love the stories, keep 'em coming Wizard!
Ooof the hoarder...blech.
Doug's Cars,
Yeah! Mental illness is unchecked.. storage dump car!
These stories are fantastic - and not surprising.
The complete way on left lane?
Pretty expensive in Germany cause you have to drive right. Overtaking right is forbidden.
Good Debbie Diesel and the bmw gas smelling lady.
I like the new format just telling the story on the road .
Americans don't know how to drive we all know this
Not the whole way got in the right lane at some point pretty decent actually by what I usually see some people drive slow as fuck and just sit there at least she was passing people and didn't have a big Line of cars passing on the right. Not up to German standards but not terrible driving.
@@mh87351 every U S state has different rules on the fast lane. Lucky there is no Law - of course it's all about having to pass on the right or yielding emergency vehicles 🚘 only
@@missingremote4388 "Lucky there is no law"
Believe me if you had a law that said fast lane is only for passing... And it was enforced....
You would solve traffic as a problem because everyone would pay so many fines they would have no money for gas and stop driving :D
typxxilps in the US you have to pass on the right because some slowpoke idiot is always hogging the left lane and officers don’t enforce the slow poke law and at the most they always write a warning and not a ticket so people keep doing it!
Great stories, helping me get through a long drive.
Your wife is a left lane cruiser 😡
When I was a teenager, my best friends mom was a very bad, scared driver and when she got on he highway she would go straight to the left lane. I asked her why and she said she felt safer there because she didn't have to worry about other cars passing her on her left side. YIKES! Not saying Mrs. Wizard does it for that reason but it's a real thing. I would say those are the idiots going slow in the left lane.
She was driving faster than most cars that day and traffic was light. If she was changing lanes properly like she usually does the blinker sounds would have been caught on the audio track.
Nothing but love for you guys. Just a humorous observation.
Most of my family lives in or lived in sedgwick Kansas. It's cool seeing a couple of RUclipsrs up there.