I quit my job, but snagged you guys a cool pic on the way out...

[HTX1811]

My boss had asked me not to taze the customers... ?

Don't taze me BRO!!!
Ride the lighting!!!!!

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[BladeRanger]

I worked for just over a month as a service writer in the area my wife and I relocated to in Florida (from the ATL area) and I got to see some neat stuff. But, the wife and I discussed it and the job wasn't for me, as much as I enjoyed working around cars and trucks. And, the coworkers were pretty good to work with and treated me very well.

On May 25th, I had a 2019 Ranger come across my desk with HVAC issues. The blend door diagnosed bad, and it required a dash out repair. This day also happened to be the last day of my Factory warranty! After I quoted the repair job, I walked over to the finance department and purchased myself the Ford extended warranty.

Basically a bad blend door cost the owner $4000.00. OUCH!!!!

Please throw some prayers and/or positive thoughts my way. I retired (early) from a 16 year career in law enforcement to move down here so my wife could start a different job. I have an application in with a local PD for a civilian position as a quartermaster-fleet manager position. I'm really hoping I get it and it turns out to be what I've been looking for!

Hi John,
You'll get a job that you like and enjoy. Stay positive buddy, you will have that job.

 

[Glocker]

Sorry you are stuck down there on Glades or Palmetto Park Rd

I don’t miss Palm Beach County!

You are very close! I'm between Glades and Yamato before the preserve.

 

[Glocker]

Good luck on the job search.... and thanks for posting the photo. Holy Schnikey's.

You would think the Tech. would have placed blankets or at least something substantial on the seats to protect them.. go figure?

I have to say this about the tech that did this job - he cleaned that truck up nicer than it came in. It was an XL work truck for an engineering company and left a little nicer than it came in.

 

[Toytec]

I'd have to say I'm not surprised by you lasting only 1 month. We used to call it the revolving door. Still do. You got to have thick skin to deal with today's clients. And the bonus programs are a joke for writers.
I can relate to the tech doing that job as that was me at one time. As long as you were left alone, crossed your T's and dotted your I's the last thing you want is a comeback.
It was challenging but fun at the same time to test your skill. Great pic John! And good luck moving forward.

 

[Glocker]

I'd have to say I'm not surprised by you lasting only 1 month. We used to call it the revolving door. Still do. You got to have thick skin to deal with today's clients. And the bonus programs are a joke for writers.
I can relate to the tech doing that job as that was me at one time. As long as you were left alone, crossed your T's and dotted your I's the last thing you want is a comeback.
It was challenging but fun at the same time to test your skill. Great pic John! And good luck moving forward.

I have to say, the job was a little addicting. I felt good for having sold some bigger paying jobs and you could tell the tech's that got the jobs appreciated it.

 

[Glocker]

I've noticed the ones at my dealership, some have been there for years, go from happy to see you in the beginning of their career, to looking at you wishing a slow painful death near the end.
I think the job changes people in bad ways, and alot of it is because of us the consumer. We are assholes.

I had customers come in acting like dicks off the rip for no reason. I still gave them the "service with a smile". I wasn't going to give them the excuse to say something about how I did my job - they seemed to be looking for excuses to yell and complain.

 

[Glocker]

we see many of those types gracing the pages here too.

I generally don't get snooty unless I'm back for the same problem, otherwise I give them the opportunity to exercise their skills and abilities.
one thing i strive to do is give them as much accurate information as possible from the get go. I think that helps everyone for many reasons.

"my transmission shifts like garbage, hers the keys. I'll be waiting" is alot different than " I have a shifting issue when cold that seems to clunk between 2-3, but then seems fine when warm, can you look at my fluid level, and maybe reset my shift tables and apply any applicable TSB's, if you need it over night, do you have any loaners available?"

Right! I had a guy come in with his 2019 Expedition (behind a tow truck).
Me: Can you describe what's wrong with your vehicle, sir?
Him: It stopped working.
Me: Well, what did it do when it stopped working?
Him: I was on 95 when it stopped.

Turned out he has 66,000 miles on his 2019 Expedition, with the factory Ford oil filter (and oil...). The motor (and turbos) are toast!

 

[Langwilliams]

Turned out he has 66,000 miles on his 2019 Expedition, with the factory Ford oil filter (and oil...). The motor (and turbos) are toast!

I worked with a lady with a eco boost edge with lots of freeway miles an she was having problems with check engine lights an not running well. The turbo was bad I don't think she ever had the oil changed. She drove until the tires were smooth. She was a smart lady but she just didn't understand vehicle maintenance

 

[remtv]

Firstly I wish you well on your new job search and welcome to Florida, I bet the special Florida rate for the extended warranty was not a nice surprise, I only went for a 7 yr /70k because of how expensive it is compared to everyone else.

And yeah that blend door repair is the stuff of nightmares, if it happened to me I would probably get it fixed warranty or not and sell it , not sure how widespread the issue really is but it seems to pop up enough that it may be a ticking time bomb for all of us.

On the service side of things, I can get how some customer's attitude can be very irritating, I get it alot working in food service sometimes.

I will say I am pretty laid back about it even when I kinda get screwed, my ranger had to go back 2 days after owning it which meant a total of 300 miles of driving with 2 separate personal cars since no loaners were available.

Recently I posted my experience with my local dealer on scheduling drop offs without telling you that it would actually be at least 14 days to look at the vehicle when you come in(for something that would probably take a couple hours(weather seals), that and being told the same line when the dealer damages the truck as well, no loaners or rentals in either case.

Not that the service advisor could do much about it so I make my displeasure known but I cant see much reason to rant to the guy.

 

[RedlandRanger]

" I have a shifting issue when cold that seems to clunk between 2-3, but then seems fine when warm, can you look at my fluid level, and maybe reset my shift tables and apply any applicable TSB's, if you need it over night, do you have any loaners available?"

No, that will cost you $75, even if you are under warranty - at least at some dealers....

 

[Glocker]

Firstly I wish you well on your new job search and welcome to Florida, I bet the special Florida rate for the extended warranty was not a nice surprise, I only went for a 7 yr /70k because of how expensive it is compared to everyone else.

And yeah that blend door repair is the stuff of nightmares, if it happened to me I would probably get it fixed warranty or not and sell it , not sure how widespread the issue really is but it seems to pop up enough that it may be a ticking time bomb for all of us.

On the service side of things, I can get how some customer's attitude can be very irritating, I get it alot working in food service sometimes.

I will say I am pretty laid back about it even when I kinda get screwed, my ranger had to go back 2 days after owning it which meant a total of 300 miles of driving with 2 separate personal cars since no loaners were available.

Recently I posted my experience with my local dealer on scheduling drop offs without telling you that it would actually be at least 14 days to look at the vehicle when you come in(for something that would probably take a couple hours(weather seals), that and being told the same line when the dealer damages the truck as well, no loaners or rentals in either case.

Not that the service advisor could do much about it so I make my displeasure known but I cant see much reason to rant to the guy.

I get it! I went into the experience with a skepticism about how dealers treat customers. Some of it was validated, and my eyes were opened to other aspects.

On the subject of the 14 day wait to get your vehicle looked at - my mind was blown. Our lot was probably 75% full of customer cars in for service! I'm talking literally hundreds of cars waiting for service. Customers would come in and get pissed off when we told them it would be up to 5 business days before a technician looked at their car. "Well, it's almost new! You should put me at the front of the line!" It doesn't work like that! Now, if the dealership damaged the car, I can see the service manager telling a tech, "Hey, work this in on the top!" But we had a lot of people who thought they needed their car more than other customers and that they shouldn't have to wait.

The other situation that blew my mind was with people whose cars were just out of warranty, and they wanted a loaner. "Well, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to get to work!?!" How about you adult, and figure it out?

I get it! It's frustrating and inconvenient. Having money wrapped up in a vehicle, and then having to figure out if you can borrow a car or have to rent one for more money isn't fun. But it's a part of being an adult. Figure it out!

All in all, I enjoyed many aspects of the job, and felt the customers didn't stress me out too badly. Even the ones who wanted to take out their bad day/situation on me because I was delivering the bad news. The really bad ones - well I found it entertaining actually.

What put me out of it was the hours and having to sell products and services to people that I didn't believe in. An example: I had a college kid come in with a 2017 Explorer that needed a new water pump. I remember how poor I was in my college days and I could tell that this kid wasn't going to be thrilled with the estimate when it came in. Well, when I told him it was going to be $3500, I could tell he was upset. I don't blame him! I wanted to tell him a mom and pop shop could get it done at a lower labor rate, but I couldn't actually say that.

I'm actually missing it a little. And I'm missing my coworkers (and my bosses!). But damn, I'm much happier at the the end of the day!

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I worked for just over a month as a service writer in the area my wife and I relocated to in Florida (from the ATL area) and I got to see some neat stuff. But, the wife and I discussed it and the job wasn't for me, as much as I enjoyed working around cars and trucks. And, the coworkers were pretty good to work with and treated me very well.

On May 25th, I had a 2019 Ranger come across my desk with HVAC issues. The blend door diagnosed bad, and it required a dash out repair. This day also happened to be the last day of my Factory warranty! After I quoted the repair job, I walked over to the finance department and purchased myself the Ford extended warranty.

Basically a bad blend door cost the owner $4000.00. OUCH!!!!

Please throw some prayers and/or positive thoughts my way. I retired (early) from a 16 year career in law enforcement to move down here so my wife could start a different job. I have an application in with a local PD for a civilian position as a quartermaster-fleet manager position. I'm really hoping I get it and it turns out to be what I've been looking for!

Who told you to take a picture of my truck???

 

[Langwilliams]

The other situation that blew my mind was with people whose cars were just out of warranty, and they wanted a loaner. "Well, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to get to work!?!" How about you adult, and figure it out?

IMO this is one of the selling points of the extended warranties. I figured one occurrence would pay for a warranty. I didn't go crazy with the warranty, doubling it for just under $800 was a fair bet IMO.

 

[WOADKIL]

It is just ridiculous to design a vehicle where a Blend door cost $4000 to repair.
Makes me happy that I bought a life time warranty on my Ranger

I wanna LIFE TIME WARRANTY!!!

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