Be nice to your clients
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3rd Gear
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 216
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Be nice to your clients
I need to get something off my chest. Now please remember that I'm not a mean person, and I really don't wanna drag any names threw the mud on this one.
So Some of you might not know, I LOVE cars, I worked on my first car when I was 15, it was a fiat 124 spyder. (most of you prolly don't know what that is but, it's unimportant) I'm no dummy when it comes to the wrench, and I have mechanics bibles for most of the cars I work on, so that helps too. Since I own a mini it's only natural that I try to make every possible attempt to know EVERYTHING about the car, because I hate taking it to the Dealership, to have the BMW mechanics bumble over Sasha (my mini). I tend to ask for advice when I'm in over my head, and I love to talk to dealers about installs and such, which is mainly what this story is about. Now normaly the dealers are very nice and are willing to help out, but today this was not the case.
SO I am helping my friend with his brake kit, on his 03 MC, to be specific I'm helping him install his rear pads. If any of you have attempted this, I'm sure you know that the front and rear calipers are different in their piston arrangement. The fronts simply posh in while the rears are a push and screw arrangement.
On a mini cooper there is a 4 holed tool that is inserted into the caliper that applies pressure and screws it back down. This is a BMW specialty tool, as most of you know, there is never just 1 tool for the job and an inferior tool can be used instead. Now I was a bit confused how to go about this, and turn the caliper back. So I called a mini vender, about the best course of action.
This vender, I have tried to get a hold of before, has NEVER returned my phone calls, or emails, and for some act of god he decided to awnser his phone. So I was polite, and asked him for some advice. The vender in turn treated me like I was worthless, I was told if I didn't buy the kit from him, I shouldn't call him for advice. (keep in mind I was doing an install for a friend) he then told me that the procedure I needed could only be done with the $200 special tool. I then politely inform him that I was the guy who had written him emails and made calls inquiring about a strut bar. He then gave up a little and told me that you could do the trun back of the calipers with a pair of needle nose pliers, but he wouldn't divulge anymore information. I kindly thanked him for this information and hung up.
Long story short, I figured out how to turn the brakes back, it wasn't hard, and I didn't need a $200 tool, just a pair of pliers and some brute force. after a quick break bleed and some testing my friend has a brand new brake set.
What really pisses me off is that, this vender treated me like dirt, and was very rude. I'm not sure if he treats everybody like this or if it was only me. But as a vender, who relies on people to buy his stuff, I would think he would be a little nicer about the way he goes about doing business.
Just fyi, there are still people like me who know about how cars work, and have had more expierence with them than most. and if you are a vender, PLEASE treat your customers with respect, some of them are very educated in the cars, and they aren't to be taken lightly.
Sincerely,
05cooper
So Some of you might not know, I LOVE cars, I worked on my first car when I was 15, it was a fiat 124 spyder. (most of you prolly don't know what that is but, it's unimportant) I'm no dummy when it comes to the wrench, and I have mechanics bibles for most of the cars I work on, so that helps too. Since I own a mini it's only natural that I try to make every possible attempt to know EVERYTHING about the car, because I hate taking it to the Dealership, to have the BMW mechanics bumble over Sasha (my mini). I tend to ask for advice when I'm in over my head, and I love to talk to dealers about installs and such, which is mainly what this story is about. Now normaly the dealers are very nice and are willing to help out, but today this was not the case.
SO I am helping my friend with his brake kit, on his 03 MC, to be specific I'm helping him install his rear pads. If any of you have attempted this, I'm sure you know that the front and rear calipers are different in their piston arrangement. The fronts simply posh in while the rears are a push and screw arrangement.
On a mini cooper there is a 4 holed tool that is inserted into the caliper that applies pressure and screws it back down. This is a BMW specialty tool, as most of you know, there is never just 1 tool for the job and an inferior tool can be used instead. Now I was a bit confused how to go about this, and turn the caliper back. So I called a mini vender, about the best course of action.
This vender, I have tried to get a hold of before, has NEVER returned my phone calls, or emails, and for some act of god he decided to awnser his phone. So I was polite, and asked him for some advice. The vender in turn treated me like I was worthless, I was told if I didn't buy the kit from him, I shouldn't call him for advice. (keep in mind I was doing an install for a friend) he then told me that the procedure I needed could only be done with the $200 special tool. I then politely inform him that I was the guy who had written him emails and made calls inquiring about a strut bar. He then gave up a little and told me that you could do the trun back of the calipers with a pair of needle nose pliers, but he wouldn't divulge anymore information. I kindly thanked him for this information and hung up.
Long story short, I figured out how to turn the brakes back, it wasn't hard, and I didn't need a $200 tool, just a pair of pliers and some brute force. after a quick break bleed and some testing my friend has a brand new brake set.
What really pisses me off is that, this vender treated me like dirt, and was very rude. I'm not sure if he treats everybody like this or if it was only me. But as a vender, who relies on people to buy his stuff, I would think he would be a little nicer about the way he goes about doing business.
Just fyi, there are still people like me who know about how cars work, and have had more expierence with them than most. and if you are a vender, PLEASE treat your customers with respect, some of them are very educated in the cars, and they aren't to be taken lightly.
Sincerely,
05cooper
There are vendors like that out there..
I try to simply move on to other vendor but i get this really anger in me and
sometimes I want to harm them in some ways
this one time, I ordered a set of brake calipers and rotors from one of the vendors. After 2-3 weeks of absolutely zero notifications, I call them to find out it's out of stock and i have to have few more weeks to receive them.
But the way he said it made me very very upset...
I'm glad you figured out how to do the brakes w/o the special tool!
I might need your help w/ my rear brakes
I try to simply move on to other vendor but i get this really anger in me and
sometimes I want to harm them in some ways
this one time, I ordered a set of brake calipers and rotors from one of the vendors. After 2-3 weeks of absolutely zero notifications, I call them to find out it's out of stock and i have to have few more weeks to receive them.
But the way he said it made me very very upset...
I'm glad you figured out how to do the brakes w/o the special tool!
I might need your help w/ my rear brakes
Former Vendor
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,314
Likes: 0
From: Fresno,Ca
There are vendors like that out there..
I try to simply move on to other vendor but i get this really anger in me and
sometimes I want to harm them in some ways
this one time, I ordered a set of brake calipers and rotors from one of the vendors. After 2-3 weeks of absolutely zero notifications, I call them to find out it's out of stock and i have to have few more weeks to receive them.
But the way he said it made me very very upset...
I'm glad you figured out how to do the brakes w/o the special tool!
I might need your help w/ my rear brakes
I try to simply move on to other vendor but i get this really anger in me and
sometimes I want to harm them in some ways
this one time, I ordered a set of brake calipers and rotors from one of the vendors. After 2-3 weeks of absolutely zero notifications, I call them to find out it's out of stock and i have to have few more weeks to receive them.
But the way he said it made me very very upset...
I'm glad you figured out how to do the brakes w/o the special tool!
I might need your help w/ my rear brakes
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