To the douchebag at the dealership who stole the rolls of quarters out of my car when I left it for service: I know I should have removed everything that wasn’t bolted down inside my car before bringing it in for service yesterday—I guess I didn’t realize that thieves don’t ONLY work at the Swifty Loob in the shitty section of town—but stupidly I was more concerned with getting there on time so as not to inconvenience YOU than I was about napalming the interior of my vehicle. Luckily I had a few quarters in my wallet when I pulled up to the meter and found my meter change hiding place empty. You, sir (or madam), are a fucknut. Oh, and also—to the service manager who never returned my phone call, wherein I left a message that money was missing from my car and I thought it was important to let you know: shame on you for not caring enough to at least have a conversation with me about it.
Yeah, I shouldn’t leave money lying around and all that, but it still sucks to get stolen from. And he (or she) is still a douche.
Write a certified letter. Include a separate note that you’re forwarding the letter to your state’s Attorney General and to your local “We Care” investigative team.
After a couple of incidents like that, we told our service rep and we set up a sting. Turns out the guy who vacuumed the floor mats was sticking the vacuum nozzle right into people’s change holders, center consoles, etc, then going through the vacuum bag later on. :eek:
In November I took my car in to get winter tires put on, and forgot that I had left $30 (a 20 and a 10) sticking out of the change drawer in the center console. When I got the car back and sat down I saw the money sticking out and had a moment of “wow, I am so dumb to have left it there, but I’m really psyched that I seem to have some good honest service people.”
So I bought a new car just over a week ago. We ran so late making the deal that all the detailing guys had gone home. The saleswoman did a quickie make-ready, apologized, and said they’d do it over when I came back in (since I had to come in again anyway to complete stuff I didn’t have with me). I didn’t get it done the next day because I didn’t want to wait (they were very busy).
I had a bit of time yesterday, so I stopped by and asked to have it done.
When I got my car back, there in the console was my debit card that I’d been looking for. Yay for honest service people!
I’m happy to report I’ve never had anything stolen from my car when having it serviced. Of course, I’m working on my first car, which I’ve only had for two years. The place I take it to is also local and takes customer service insanely seriously.
Going through the vacuum bag? Gross. If you’re desperate enough for change that you’re willing to sift through the gunk on my car’s floor…depending on the amount of change in my car, I’d be inclined to let him keep mine.
Most of them double as credit cards. Use them as a credit card at the gas pump and you don’t need a PIN. Or use it as a credit card just about anywhere you don’t think they’ll ask for your ID. (Walmart)
Update: After leaving the service mgr a very level-headed voicemail (proud of myself, actually) yesterday evening recounting the incident and expressing my disappointment that he didn’t call me back before leaving for the day, I received a phone call at 8 a.m. sharp this morning, and he said everything I needed to hear, including that a reimbursement check will be mailed today. He said he didn’t like to point fingers, but he had a feeling it might have been the outside-contracted car wash service that is used by them and the dealerships on either side.
So my part of this incident seems to be wrapped up. Should I do anything else? Write a letter to the general mgr of the dealership? Or just chalk it up to the shittiness of mankind and remember to clean-sweep my car before leaving it in anyone else’s care again?
I’m glad they are making things right with you- that’s wonderful that there is a business that is stepping up to do the right thing.
While my car dealership is a wonderful place full of free WiFi, soda, and nice people, it is the car wash where I want to stab people.
I took my car in for detail ($180 fuckin’ dollars) at about 9 AM and got a ride home from my roommate. At about 3:30, I had a missed call on my phone and a message telling me my car was ready. At 4, I got another call telling me that I better get down there right now because my car has been done for HOURS and they are closing (they don’t close until 6ish during the summer). So, I forced my roommate to rush and give me a ride.
When I got there, I looked around. No car. So, I asked. Oh, it wasn’t done yet. Nice. I explained that I was told it had been done for hours and I had to hurry down. The guy I was talking to probably assumed I didn’t speak Spanish, turned to the guy working on the car, and asked how long it would be. The guy said an hour (in Spanish). The guy I was talking to turned to me and said, “Oh, he said 20 minutes.” Uh huh.
Anyway, long story short, I get my car back. The cupholders have literally 2 inches of standing water in them, so I call the guy back over to clean it out. After I drove off, I realized my armadillos are missing. See, I bought one of those little, hand made, $1, bobble head armadillos while in Texas and another while in Mexico. Both were gone even though they had been stuck to my dashboard with that blue sticky wall stuff.
Seriously: who steals little crappy armadillos?
What makes me sad is that I miss them and can’t get more any time soon
Learning to speak Spanish is key if you’re going to use a full service car wash. Being able to throw out a nicely timed “¿Qué dijo usted?” can save a lot of time and money.
I usually just glare and say, “Hablo español.” That usually freaks them out (I’ll admit, I only use this one when they are flat out saying disrespectful things about me- either telling the other guy to flat out lie to me or saying gross sexual shit about me).
Pretty much. I’m not fluent in Spanish at all, but I’ve worked in enough bars and resturants that my Spanglish is fine and I know the biggies to listen for.
This is one of the great things about SDMB: one day you learn about the existance of such things as Ass Pennies, the next day you find ways to employ them.
