I'm gonna punch a customer
50 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 272
Originally posted by DWVW:
I don't mind any customers, there reAlly are none that I ever talk bad about behind their backs or anything. Of course I classify a customer as someone who pays me to do an install, not someone who bought equipment, since I make jack off that. Now there are some non-customers who feel that by buying a $150 deck that I somehow am now required to teach them to install it, then repair it for free when they screw it up, and keep up maintenance on said product for the rest of their lives. They are the ones I don't like.
For example just last week I had an older gentleman come in with his sons sub box because the subs were "making funny noises". First thing I do is ask, who installed it? They did the entire system (him and his son). So I be a nice guy (I could have said drop it off and leave it, it will be $50/hr to trouble shoot). It isn't in his sons car he brought the box in his truck. Well let me tell you, he was very proud of his home made box with 2 MTX T6124a's (which I will get to in a minute. I ask if he bought it at our store, "no, we got them off you're website because we live in Hanna and can't come in to your store" (hmmm, he's here now though?). So the subs are held in by 4 screws on one and 5 on the other. I ask what amp is powering them "a Rockford 200m" Hmm, so way underpowered, he could have blown them from clipping. I take the first sub out it's a MTX T6124a single voice coil, measure it's impedence, check it with a battery, it works and checks out fine, except for every couple inches around the mounting lip there is some sort of hardened white "sealant" (the box is bare wood where the subs mount). Okay that is a problem, there is going to be massive air leakage all around the cirumference of the speaker. So I pull out the other sub and it is a T61244a dual voice coil with (get this) the coils wired out of polarity, with the same white gunk, and using 20 guage wire!
Now what do you say to this guy? He was just telling you how much he and his son enjoyed working on it and it is very apparent that he is proud of his work. There really is no way to put it nicely. The work was utter crap and these guys should not be allowed to touch any car audio. But here I am trying to be nice and I say,"you will need to buy another MTX T6124a, and it will cost you an hours worth of labour for me to fix all this." His response beleive it or not is that I don't know what the hell I am talking about and am just trying to rip him off. At this point I have already spent over half an hour with the guy and have a paying customers car waiting for me to work on. He says the subs are obviously blown and he is going to exchange them. I say, "well they will call me about it and I will say that they are fine and it is the install that is at fault for all these reason I have just explained Mr. Customer". He called me an and walked out.
I don't mind any customers, there reAlly are none that I ever talk bad about behind their backs or anything. Of course I classify a customer as someone who pays me to do an install, not someone who bought equipment, since I make jack off that. Now there are some non-customers who feel that by buying a $150 deck that I somehow am now required to teach them to install it, then repair it for free when they screw it up, and keep up maintenance on said product for the rest of their lives. They are the ones I don't like.
For example just last week I had an older gentleman come in with his sons sub box because the subs were "making funny noises". First thing I do is ask, who installed it? They did the entire system (him and his son). So I be a nice guy (I could have said drop it off and leave it, it will be $50/hr to trouble shoot). It isn't in his sons car he brought the box in his truck. Well let me tell you, he was very proud of his home made box with 2 MTX T6124a's (which I will get to in a minute. I ask if he bought it at our store, "no, we got them off you're website because we live in Hanna and can't come in to your store" (hmmm, he's here now though?). So the subs are held in by 4 screws on one and 5 on the other. I ask what amp is powering them "a Rockford 200m" Hmm, so way underpowered, he could have blown them from clipping. I take the first sub out it's a MTX T6124a single voice coil, measure it's impedence, check it with a battery, it works and checks out fine, except for every couple inches around the mounting lip there is some sort of hardened white "sealant" (the box is bare wood where the subs mount). Okay that is a problem, there is going to be massive air leakage all around the cirumference of the speaker. So I pull out the other sub and it is a T61244a dual voice coil with (get this) the coils wired out of polarity, with the same white gunk, and using 20 guage wire!
Now what do you say to this guy? He was just telling you how much he and his son enjoyed working on it and it is very apparent that he is proud of his work. There really is no way to put it nicely. The work was utter crap and these guys should not be allowed to touch any car audio. But here I am trying to be nice and I say,"you will need to buy another MTX T6124a, and it will cost you an hours worth of labour for me to fix all this." His response beleive it or not is that I don't know what the hell I am talking about and am just trying to rip him off. At this point I have already spent over half an hour with the guy and have a paying customers car waiting for me to work on. He says the subs are obviously blown and he is going to exchange them. I say, "well they will call me about it and I will say that they are fine and it is the install that is at fault for all these reason I have just explained Mr. Customer". He called me an and walked out.
1000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,069
that's classic...you should see the people comming into safeway bugging me for chiken. We don't have any because of a huge disease roaming around, and they like to place the blame squarely on me. I didn't know that 30-50 yr olds can throw a better hissy fit than my 10 yr old cousin
4000 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 4,655
Originally posted by fazes:
that's classic...you should see the people comming into safeway bugging me for chiken. We don't have any because of a huge disease roaming around, and they like to place the blame squarely on me. I didn't know that 30-50 yr olds can throw a better hissy fit than my 10 yr old cousin
that's classic...you should see the people comming into safeway bugging me for chiken. We don't have any because of a huge disease roaming around, and they like to place the blame squarely on me. I didn't know that 30-50 yr olds can throw a better hissy fit than my 10 yr old cousin
50 Watt CAFz'r
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 200
Aside from gaining experience as an installer, throughout the past couple of years I've learned important people skills. After a while it becomes real easy to see through peoples' BS, and often I know what someone's going to ask me before the words even leave their mouth just by the way they're talking to me.
Example: People looking for a "deal" or an "under the table job" will often stand as close to you as possible, speak quietly, try not to make eye contact and look around them as if they're expecting the po-po to jump out and cuff them. They'll also try to be your best friend, offer you money or another service. Respectfully, I of course have to decline their offer because it would be a conflict of interest and I could be fired. That, and quite frankly I don't want to do work outside of work for people I don't even know. Family and friends I don't mind, but having people call me all the time at home would be aggrevating.
And then there's the skeptics. Ever spend an hour+ explaining to some thick-skulled customer why they need a bypass module with their remote starter, or why you need a GM t-harness for cars with databus? We had an ongoing joke this winter about the Dodge/Chrysler bypass modules and how without the module the car would actually start, run for about 2 seconds and then shut off. I had a couple of customers tell me they've had plain metal keys cut for their new PT Cruisers or Caravans, and they start up fine. Sure... Have you tried driving anywhere with it? Would you like a remote starter, or a remote runner installed? [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
It becomes very difficult to bite your tongue sometimes. There are truly some dumb-*** ***** out there, and you can only sit and think to yourself, "For the love of God, I hope this person doesn't reproduce and the stupidity."
Just yesterday a guy came in wanting his power wire run for his Legacy amp ( [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img] ). We told him $25 to do so, so then he decides he just wants the wire and he'll run it himself. Later that day he shows up again saying his amp worked fine for about a half an hour, and then shut off. So I pop his hood, and the inline fuse is blown. Start following the power wire back...
"Sir, are you aware that your power wire is resting against the exhaust manifold?"
"Oh... Is that bad?"
"... Sir, would you like me to run the power wire for you now?"
"Ok."
Now, you can't expect the average person to know a whole lot about installing an amp, but I would have thought this to be a common-sense thing... I guess I thought wrong. I don't know how many amp installs I've seen with the power wire unfused, running though the fender and door jamb. Cleaning up a customer's dirty work is a real pet peeve of mine. Sometimes I don't mind helping out, giving advice and even doing a bit of work, but sometimes you have to point at the big billboard that reads "CUSTOM LABOUR - $50/hr."
Example: People looking for a "deal" or an "under the table job" will often stand as close to you as possible, speak quietly, try not to make eye contact and look around them as if they're expecting the po-po to jump out and cuff them. They'll also try to be your best friend, offer you money or another service. Respectfully, I of course have to decline their offer because it would be a conflict of interest and I could be fired. That, and quite frankly I don't want to do work outside of work for people I don't even know. Family and friends I don't mind, but having people call me all the time at home would be aggrevating.
And then there's the skeptics. Ever spend an hour+ explaining to some thick-skulled customer why they need a bypass module with their remote starter, or why you need a GM t-harness for cars with databus? We had an ongoing joke this winter about the Dodge/Chrysler bypass modules and how without the module the car would actually start, run for about 2 seconds and then shut off. I had a couple of customers tell me they've had plain metal keys cut for their new PT Cruisers or Caravans, and they start up fine. Sure... Have you tried driving anywhere with it? Would you like a remote starter, or a remote runner installed? [img]graemlins/dunno.gif[/img]
It becomes very difficult to bite your tongue sometimes. There are truly some dumb-*** ***** out there, and you can only sit and think to yourself, "For the love of God, I hope this person doesn't reproduce and the stupidity."
Just yesterday a guy came in wanting his power wire run for his Legacy amp ( [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img] ). We told him $25 to do so, so then he decides he just wants the wire and he'll run it himself. Later that day he shows up again saying his amp worked fine for about a half an hour, and then shut off. So I pop his hood, and the inline fuse is blown. Start following the power wire back...
"Sir, are you aware that your power wire is resting against the exhaust manifold?"
"Oh... Is that bad?"
"... Sir, would you like me to run the power wire for you now?"
"Ok."
Now, you can't expect the average person to know a whole lot about installing an amp, but I would have thought this to be a common-sense thing... I guess I thought wrong. I don't know how many amp installs I've seen with the power wire unfused, running though the fender and door jamb. Cleaning up a customer's dirty work is a real pet peeve of mine. Sometimes I don't mind helping out, giving advice and even doing a bit of work, but sometimes you have to point at the big billboard that reads "CUSTOM LABOUR - $50/hr."
