All mechanics I know disconnect the onboard camera, which made me super-suspicious: if they have nothing to hide, why do they do that?
So I started taking a picture of the odometer whenever I drop off my key at any garage. And sure enough, a couple of times, I found they drove my minivan quite a lot more than a test drive would require. When I confronted them, they became agitated and combative.
In one instance, I actually deducted the cost of the fuel: they had driven the minivan almost 70 miles. They said I had to pay the repairs and I’m not leaving until the bill is paid in full, blah-blah-blah. So I asked them if they wanted me to call the cops and if they wanted their day in court. They relented, I paid the repairs minus the fuel and left. Needless to say, I never went back and reported them to the BBB.
Mechanic here who’s shop disconnects the camera. Its for the same reason cashiers are told to not sit on the job, its a dumb “company image” thing. We personally never joy ride customers cars, some test drives do require longer drives (DPF regens test drives can take over and hour of driving sometimes, hence high milage test drives), but the main reason is just management wants to keep an image and not potentially ruin when a customer goes through the videos listening to their “respectful” mechanics just saying dumb stuff or being judgmental of a customers car. We can have crude laugauge, odd humor, and any bumper stickers on a car will be spoken about, and management don’t want you hearing that. Another reason is customers misinterpreting what a mechanic is doing to a car, some interior work genuinely feels like we are breaking the car, we are doing what the manufacturer requires and with the tools needed, but still can sometimes not be pretty, even for us, and unknowledged customers can and have claimed the workshop is breaking their car intentionally and tried to take us to court over us doing our job. Though this is just my workplace, I have worked for dodgy independent shop where joy riding has happened, and straight up taking customers cars home because workers don’t wanna pay for their own fuel, I got out of that one asap
The place I take my car actually has the guys wearing little GoPro style body cams and they talk you through the work they are doing as they do it for your review after. Anything they touch gets recorded and you get pretty much an uninterrupted cut of the whole job. I was really impressed with the professionalism. Not the reason I went there in the first place but the honesty and transparency are why I keep coming back.
Anyhow just wanted to point out it’s entirely possible to run a repair business without talking shit about your customers or their property while also treating their possessions with respect.
Personally, I’d pay extra based on how funny the talking shit was. Roast me, fellas! Make fun of all the clutter on my back seat! Laugh at the brake lights that illuminate the inside!
Fuck off. It’s not your property to touch and doesn’t affect you fixing my car.
Do I get to disconnect your cameras when I come to your house to fix something/mow your lawn/clean your house so my “company image” isn’t tarnished? I didn’t think so.
A trustworthy mechanic is worth its weight in gold, it might be worth asking around as time goes on and seeing if you eventually get a reccomendation for someone local you can actually trust
My mechanic is just a dude with a lift. He has a single bay garage, and he works on cars. The front desk is literally just his computer desk where he looks up parts and stuff lol
I’m sorry your experience with mechanics has been so shitty, car issues can be incredibly stressful as it is
I keep an air tag on my keychain with my car key and I keep a separate air tag hidden in the car so I can track any possible shenanigans while vehicle in the shop. So far no problems.
All mechanics I know disconnect the onboard camera, which made me super-suspicious:
Makes me want a hidden camera that can’t be easily noticed and has no simple or easy way to turn it off.
Or just a really loud, obnoxious alarm – with its own battery and installed in an inconvenient place – that goes off incessantly if the camera is disabled.
All mechanics I know disconnect the onboard camera, which made me super-suspicious: if they have nothing to hide, why do they do that?
So I started taking a picture of the odometer whenever I drop off my key at any garage. And sure enough, a couple of times, I found they drove my minivan quite a lot more than a test drive would require. When I confronted them, they became agitated and combative.
In one instance, I actually deducted the cost of the fuel: they had driven the minivan almost 70 miles. They said I had to pay the repairs and I’m not leaving until the bill is paid in full, blah-blah-blah. So I asked them if they wanted me to call the cops and if they wanted their day in court. They relented, I paid the repairs minus the fuel and left. Needless to say, I never went back and reported them to the BBB.
Lol waste of time
Mechanic here who’s shop disconnects the camera. Its for the same reason cashiers are told to not sit on the job, its a dumb “company image” thing. We personally never joy ride customers cars, some test drives do require longer drives (DPF regens test drives can take over and hour of driving sometimes, hence high milage test drives), but the main reason is just management wants to keep an image and not potentially ruin when a customer goes through the videos listening to their “respectful” mechanics just saying dumb stuff or being judgmental of a customers car. We can have crude laugauge, odd humor, and any bumper stickers on a car will be spoken about, and management don’t want you hearing that. Another reason is customers misinterpreting what a mechanic is doing to a car, some interior work genuinely feels like we are breaking the car, we are doing what the manufacturer requires and with the tools needed, but still can sometimes not be pretty, even for us, and unknowledged customers can and have claimed the workshop is breaking their car intentionally and tried to take us to court over us doing our job. Though this is just my workplace, I have worked for dodgy independent shop where joy riding has happened, and straight up taking customers cars home because workers don’t wanna pay for their own fuel, I got out of that one asap
If you could be trusted, it wouldn’t be your policy to disconnect rhe camera. I don’t even trust your comment here.
The place I take my car actually has the guys wearing little GoPro style body cams and they talk you through the work they are doing as they do it for your review after. Anything they touch gets recorded and you get pretty much an uninterrupted cut of the whole job. I was really impressed with the professionalism. Not the reason I went there in the first place but the honesty and transparency are why I keep coming back.
Anyhow just wanted to point out it’s entirely possible to run a repair business without talking shit about your customers or their property while also treating their possessions with respect.
Personally, I’d pay extra based on how funny the talking shit was. Roast me, fellas! Make fun of all the clutter on my back seat! Laugh at the brake lights that illuminate the inside!
Mercedes service shops do this too 😍
Fuck off. It’s not your property to touch and doesn’t affect you fixing my car.
Do I get to disconnect your cameras when I come to your house to fix something/mow your lawn/clean your house so my “company image” isn’t tarnished? I didn’t think so.
Yikes…
A trustworthy mechanic is worth its weight in gold, it might be worth asking around as time goes on and seeing if you eventually get a reccomendation for someone local you can actually trust
My mechanic is just a dude with a lift. He has a single bay garage, and he works on cars. The front desk is literally just his computer desk where he looks up parts and stuff lol
I’m sorry your experience with mechanics has been so shitty, car issues can be incredibly stressful as it is
I don’t drive anymore. Problem solved 🙂
The bus’ maintenance is not my problem, and the over cost of a season pass compared to the TCO of a car is a bargain.
Ay, glad it works out! ☺️
Put an AirTag in there.
I keep an air tag on my keychain with my car key and I keep a separate air tag hidden in the car so I can track any possible shenanigans while vehicle in the shop. So far no problems.
The BBB is just Yelp for old(er) people. And just like Yelp, businesses can pay to have negative reviews removed.
Yeah the BBB is a scam.
handles criminal behavior in the least dramatic way
Name checks out.
Makes me want a hidden camera that can’t be easily noticed and has no simple or easy way to turn it off.
Or just a really loud, obnoxious alarm – with its own battery and installed in an inconvenient place – that goes off incessantly if the camera is disabled.