I called the shop, told them what I knew, and asked what I should do. He said it had to be towed in, and said that if it was the pump or a certain seal he would cover it, and that if it was another issue I would cover the tow.
Immediately I was on edge. I had taken my truck to them to get it fixed and it wasn’t. Why should I have to cover a towing fee? I disagreed with him, and we ended up going back and forth a couple times on why each of us shouldn’t pay for the tow. Finally he said he didn’t want to get into it with me over the phone, and that he’d cover the tow. He gave the number of a company that he has dealt with many times.
Thursday my truck was towed in and fixed up. The shop owner called me and told me that it was the pressure hose leading out of the power steering pump that was the culprit. He then layed out the charges and I OK’ed the fixing. When he gave me the total though, it included the tow charge. Things is, I have a BCAA membership. I agreed to use his tow company since he said he was going to cover the towing fee. I hadn’t thought to mention that I had BCAA earlier since tempers on both sides had flared.
I rode down to the shop and after he showed me what was wrong, I mentioned I wanted to talk about the tow charge. I reminded him that he had said he was going to cover the fee. He backpedaled and said that he hadn’t said that, and had only said he was going to cover it if it was the pump or the seal. I was starting to get mad again, but I did my best to stay calm and work it through.
I had several points I wanted to make to him, including the BCAA bit. Once I mentioned BCAA he got quite angry and asked why I hadn’t brought that up before. I hadn’t since by that point he had already said he was going to cover the tow. He also reminded me that when the truck was fixed the first time, he had asked me to bring it back after a couple days. I actually don’t remember him asking me that, but I believe him when he said he did (I forget a lot of things). I then suggested to him that for future customers, it would be a good idea to include something on the invoice about follow up work. My invoice had nothing about coming back in a couple days, and that would have ensured I came back.
As I was trying to get across my points, he kept cutting me off and wasn’t listening to what I wanted to say. I ended up getting quite assertive and asked him to listen to what I wanted to say. He got to a point, where he just wanted me gone, and said he was going to eat the cost of the tow. I still had a couple things I wantd to bring up, and after I finished saying my mind, I offered to split the tow fee with him. He refused to do that. He mentioned something about not wanting to let me leave angry since he wanted me to come back. He doubted I every would.
I felt bad. I thought I was being quite fair in splitting the fee with him, but he wanted nothing to do with that. It’s too bad really. He is a small business owner, and I wouldn’t have offered to split it, if I hadn’t meant it. Eventually we split on good terms, but because of this experience, and my very first experience with them, I won’t be going back. Unless there is another problem with the power steering fluid leaking out of my truck.