I have read a number of rants about techs/shops and thought you might like a glimpse of the other side. The post that I have pasted from a technician forum is writen by a very good and fair shop owner from the midwest. I know him well and hate to think the changes he will make in his German Independent Shop as a result.

Not very technical but just thought you ought to see it. I won't mention the follow-up posts.

Here it is, enjoy: I have removed the first sentence as it has names.--------------

It reminded me of a story I should have shared with you all before. It's one of those watershed events that has changed the way I do business ever since.

A new customer arrives in a 1994 Volvo 850 with 51,000 miles on the clock. Female/Lawyer/Recently divorced. We perform an LOF as requested and recommend a timing belt (50K interval on 93-4 M/Y). She declines the belt and the recommendation is computer logged on the invoice. Over the next year (and 21,000 miles) we see this car 3 times. Each time "timing belt recommend" pops up on the R.O. Each time she declines. At 71,000 miles she calls from 200 miles away. The belt broke and she wants us to tow the car in.

When it arrives the cylinder head is trash. She asks, "What are you going to do about this". I re-print the last 4 repair orders and show where we recommended the belt be
replaced. She says she is not happy and will get back to us. At this point, although I can sympathize with her situation, I feel very confident we are out of the loop.

Wrong. She writes that I had better get my insurance on board because she's going after me for negligence. At first my insurance agent shakes his head and says "No problem,
she doesn't have a case." Then it gets weird.

She informs the insurance company that my negligence was not in failing to recommend the belt, but failing to adequately inform her of the CONSEQUENCES of a broken timing belt. She states she interpreted the recommendation to replace the belt (on her last 4 repair orders) as an elective procedure, and the reason she now had a broke car was because I, AS THE PROFESSIONAL in this situation, was not diligent in communicating the risk of not changing the
belt.

The next day my insurance company asked who to write the check to. They explain they would lose more money defending the case. I refused to work for her any more so the car went away.

I learned two things from this -

1.Desperate people take desperate measures. Don't assume logic or fair play will prevail.

2.Her statement "You, as the professional, should have warned me…" has changed my outlook on recommending repairs.

A couple of years ago there was a discussion here about how hard to press with recommended repairs and I came down on the soft side. Lesson learned. When it's time to tell the customer what their car needs - be brave! I know they are a new customer and came in for just an oil change to "try you
out" but don't let that stop you from telling the mechanical truth about their car. "This car is unsafe and as a Professional it is my responsibility to inform you of the consequences of ignoring this situation"



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Steve Brotherton
Owner 24 bay BSC
Bosch Master, ASE master L1
26 years MB technician

I cringe (sp?) at the sight of this. I have many, many customers that do not perform all of the needed repairs. We do document all of them...
We try to be conservative in everything, that is, repair and advise. I am tripping on the thought of how off this woman (Lawyer) was.

Displeased

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Benzmac:
Donnie Drummonds
1991 GMC Syclone
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
SERVICE MANAGER FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

When my son graduated from college, he asked me what I would think if he went to law school. As a scientist who has watched the lawyers dictate environmental law policies in directions not supported by science, my response was " Go ahead, every family needs a black sheep". He went on to explain that he was thinking in terms of getting a law degree as a means of SELF DEFENSE for when he expanded his computer consulting business!

This got me to thinking about the above incident with the empowered @#$%^& woman raptor - excuse me, attorney. Maybe it is time to think defensively. In a time of ZERO personal responsibility, I would hate to see the attorneys get the customers stuck in the middle again. Rather than play hardball with the customer by telling them that everything is mandatory at this time, get an attorney to print up a new clause on the back of the invoice. It would say something to the effect that "recommended work is work that must be done as soon as possible. If the customer elects not to allow this facility to perform the recommended work at this time, consequences of said decision are the sole responsibility and liability of the customer, and by declining the recommended work at this time, the customer agrees to hold harmless this facility and it's employees for any consequences of the customer's decision to ignore professional advice". (My son's words, caveat emptor, purely as a small business proprieter - he hasn't decided on going to law school yet, so this is not a "professional opinion", so he does not need to spell out any "consequences" )

It seems a shame that the shop must take the role of teacher and parent in educating the customer about personal responsibility, but this may be the only way to obtain adequate protection. End of ranting!

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JCE
87 300E, 65k miles
Smoke Silver

[This message has been edited by JCE (edited 08-06-2000).]

[This message has been edited by JCE (edited 08-06-2000).]

Steve,

Thanks for posting this. There are two fundamental problems with our current society, that are emphasized by this experience. I'm going to do my best not to get political in my comments.

The first problem is the refusal of so many people to take personal responsibility for their actions. Couple this with the mindest of a ^#%@(*&#(^)@# lawyer, and you have real trouble.

The sociopolitical climate of today's America has brought us to this, and the law profession is a big part of it. After all what is the education/profession of most of our law makers? We have moved to a point where too many people want the government to take care of them. If their problem is not the governments, they'll get a lawyer to blame it on someone else.

Unfortunately, anyone in business now has to watch and cover their backside at every turn.

Thanks again for sharing this with us,
Larry

Steve, I know exactly what you are talking about. I recently had a customer who toasted the motor in a 300sel because the radiator neck broke! She told me that the "low coolant" light came on (but she didn't stop),she saw alot of steam (but didn't stop), the temp gauge went up shortly after (but she didn't stop),it started to smell and make weird noise (but she didn't stop), FINALLY when ALL the dash lights came on and the thing DIED,,,,,she "HAD" to stop!

I explain to her that, had she stopped in time, she would have just needed a radiator.....But since she overheated the thing until it died, she was going to need a longblock. Of course, she is not happy that her car needs such extensive repairs, and she informs me that she is going to write a letter to Mercedes, to complain that she should have had "a buzzer or something" to indicate that she had a problem. I then pointed out to her that she had not only one warning (the low coolant light), but two (the temp gauge), and she ignored them. She being a "typical 90's genre thinker", was just certain that it had to be someone elses fault.
This is what I wish I could have told her, but didn't!


(I think maybe instead of airbags in the steering wheels of these cars, the manufacturer should put a spring loaded boxing glove.... That way if you are driving down the road and are too *&^%$#@ stupid to pay attention to the gauges & dash periodically, the car can just punch you in the face!Maybe, just maybe, that'll make you pull over to see what the he!! is going on!)

It gets more frustrating everyday, when sooooooooo many people look to place blame on others for their shortcomings. I sometimes think I should write a book with a collection of all the ridiculous things I've seen in this business,,,,,but I bet most people would think that I made it all up.

Geeze folks, sorry if it seems like I'm ranting a little,,,,,it's monday morning and I'm almost off to work, to deal with todays fiascos.


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OK,

I have to respond to this thread.
I am:
a) A competent DIYer (some of the time), with a dad who was both an ASE mechanic and a retired US Army Senior Drill Instructor. I know quite a bit about cars and personal responsibility. I know when to try a job, when to let the pros do the job and when to admit that I don't know what the hell I am doing.
b) About to quit my career and leave for law school, much for the same reasons JCE said his son was interested in going. I want to start a business in the high tech industry and I need legal protection without paying an arm and a leg for an attorney who really doesn't understand my business.
c) Disgusted at the above story...and don't know what to say except that jerks are jerks regardless of their profession. It just happens that in today's society, those in the legal profession happen to have a lot of power. Jerks with power makes a nasty combination.

I would be privileged to have any of you techs work on my automobiles and my future profession ain't gonna turn me into a bad guy. Hopefully, it just means I'll be able to afford newer model MBs.

Oh, and Donnie, I am still planning on bringing my M102 to you (when MB AUtowerks opens) for a head job...but if you make me sign a damned disclaimer... <bg>

Later Guys,

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John J. Meadows
'83 300D 3.0L 260k mi.
'85 190E 2.3L 99k mi.

I am an engineer by education and all I have to say is that to graduate engineering school only 1% of the classes are about ethics, while it seems that 90% of the law classes teach ethics (you do the math)...Good question, why do law students need to take so many ethics courses? he he

I think that this lawyer abused her power in this case, and also after a divorce, you could have been looking for trouble right there, but how to know?

Just one comment about the repair recommendation. Was a new timing belt recommended in addition to an explanation to the consequences? Obviously, if someone had 0 brake fluid, you just would not write "Recommend brake fluid" or is only 1 of 6 lug nuts were on, you would not just write "Recommend lug nuts" and let the customer drive off. There is that grey area when mechanics recommend, but I think, have a moral obligation to explain the serious ramifications of the repairs. It is tough, though, when the shop is busy. You always have to assume that the customer is NOT as sharp as you.

This timing belt thing happened to my wife's Honda when were dating. Cost around $3200 for a new valve stems among other things. In our case, Honda never even recommended that she change the belt, but despite that, my wife ate the cost, because it was HER responsibility.

In this case, the laywer abused her power, and lashed out for personal reasons, and for that Steve, I am sorry that you had to go through that (I know how much you have helped me and others on this board). I just wanted to add that, although not required, I think that it is a moral obiligation to clarify the consequences of the lack of some of these repairs (maybe signing that statement) would do the trick for customers.

I am just glad that my cars don't have belts, but a chain. By the way, what is the recommended mileage life of our timing chain?

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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

Around cattle we have what's known as a "hot shot". It's basically a high voltage stun gun on a stick that you use to get a bovines attention. It would have a perfect use in this situation. Since it is electrically actuated, the "hot shot" could be actuated by the circuit that turns on the dash light. By placing this in the seat, it is guaranteed that if actuated, the driver would stop the vehicle, and rapidly vacate it.

Of course, I saw my low coolant light come on, pulled over and it was already too late, I blew the headgasket. But, had I kept going I would have been in the same longblock situation.

Anouther idea is a keypad in which you would enter answers to an IQ test. Tough questions like, "who is the president of the US?" or "what day comes after Monday". If the IQ test is failed the car doesn't start. This will prevent such incidents. Doesn't this sound like the way we could keep the owners from having to take personal responsibility?

These are things that happen when people start relying on the government to take care of them instead of relying on themselves.

Sorry for the political addition,
Larry

As a point of clarification, this event didn't happen to me. I have a couple that I could mention but they have a bad influence on my blood pressure so I won't. Suffice it to say that I have had an insurance co. pay out for the sole reason that it would be too costly to defend.

I view these incidents in the same light as accidents. I maintain insurance to cover them (BTW insurance doesn't cover faulty repairs). My greatest concern in these instances is that I, or in this case a fellow shop owner, will change his way of dealing that will overall hurt the relationship with the public. I don't believe in disclaimers, but a few instances like this could change that.

One of the above posts pointed to the attitude "if I had to sign a disclaimer I....".

Believe me I worry over this constantly. Florida has a law that requires every ticket over $100 to have a signature reguarding estimates. I work on at least 5 judges' cars that have never signed a ticket. Just how do you ask a 20 year customer that they now have to sign a disclaimer? I have operated for over twenty years on a hand shake and the only in the last few years have we asked some new customers for signatures. I have, by this, given my customers the ultimate in satisfaction guarantee as anyone can refuse to pay more than $100 for an unsigned ticket.



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Steve Brotherton
Owner 24 bay BSC
Bosch Master, ASE master L1
26 years MB technician

I was brought up by my parents to believe that "If a man's word isn't good enough, why would his signature be better?". How do we return to this as a universal view? Every time I go to a Doctor, buy a house or car, apply for a credit card, etc. the list of disclosures, disclaimers, etc. gets longer and more unreadable.
I enjoy the convenience of dropping off my car without signing a document, and being able to trust my tech enough to give him the blanket statement "If it needs it now, fix it now". We have established a working relationship based on trust. Is there really that little trust in our politically correct world? I would hate to have yet another disclaimer paragraph added to the back of a form that I may or may not sign. I do appreciate "recommended work" being printed out on my invoice. However, while I would probably feel slightly annoyed at a disclaimer on the invoice reminding me that consequences of not doing the work was my problem, my annoyance would be at being reminded that I live in a world so heavily populated by spoiled, whining, irresponsible children.


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JCE
87 300E, 65k miles
Smoke Silver

This is probably a little of the subject but cars are getting increasingly idiot proof. I have seen a lot of compliants on this board about the ASR in the E500 and other models. I have also heard the same gripes about the speed limiters. These things were put in for the commonsense-challenged like this lawyer. Maybe they should start designing things like overheat shut-offs and timing chain replacement cut-offs. This way when morons like this don't take the advice or warnings given the car simply dies and refuses to start the next time they attempt to drive it. I know of people who haven't change the oil in their cars for a year of city driving and you know their going to look for someone to blame when the car dies...afterall it only says "recommended oil change interval" in most manuals.

yal
88 230E (W124)

Steve,

You can also have your new customers fill out a multiple choice scantron form and when you scan it, if they circled OCCUPATION = LAWYER, bells and whistles siren in your shop and a loud Darth Vader type of voice comes on a loud speaker that says,

"PLEASE LEAVE THE BUILDING. WE ARE SORRY BUT WE CANNOT SERVICE YOU DUE TO THE CUSTOMER VOLUME THAT WE ARE EXPERIENCING".


If they circle, ENGINEER, a 15% discount ticket prints out, he he. Problem solved.


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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

Yal, Volkswagen did a similar type of thing with the seatbelt. And, come to think of it, didn't the 116's have the seatbelt/ignition interlock too? I still like the comedian Gallagher's idea...Give everybody rubber stick-em dart guns with "stupid" stickers on them. Everytimne you see someone drive or do something stupid they get a sticker from a fellow motorist (or mechanic), when an officer sees a car with about a dozen or so of these stickers, he gives him/her a ticket for being an @$$hole.
The timingbelt issue has me thinking...for the longest time I used to assume that most people knew what I know about vehicles (and I do not profess to know all that much), however as time goes on I find that more and more people do not have a clue. (I had a relative who once put engine oil in the radiator of his Audi 100). Perhaps putting an asterisk next to a recommended repair indicating $$$ repairs down the road, may help. Or maybe skull and crossbones for lawyers, not wait- that would have to be a cross and a rope of garlic.
I have heard many stories since moving to the US in '77 about people doing silly things, usually it involves the temp gauge, with the needle going to the red and the driver seeing this but thinking that a light, or a buzzer ought to come on too. Maybe carmakers will be forced to make cars with 2 or 3 different types of equipment. One set for enthusiasts, one for halfwits, and one for lawyers. D:
(Why did they stop using rats for lab experiments, and start using lawyers? The scientist felt sorry for the rats)
I am sure that there has got to be lawyer out there that is a mercedesshop member, this fact alone makes him/her a vehicularly responsible being.
(what do you call 500 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? A good start!)

-Larry (hoping that not all lawyers are bad, and that they won't come after him, after reading his jokes) (mental anguish or some crap like that)

Any business owner sooner or later is faced with a customer who makes an issue of something. Often, no matter how expressly the issue is defined for the customer before the fact, if the customer wants to make a stink or strong case or whatever you will call it, the customer will force the responsibility onto the business owner. In smaller dollar amount cases it comes down to the willingness to spend the money to defend yourself, of just to pay off the problem and make it go away. In larger dollar cost cases it comes to whether defending yourself is going to cost less than just paying off the case. That's one of the risks in business. If you don't like it you shouldn't own a business. I've been a business owner for over 14 years and have faced this dilemma a couple of times. In both cases it was far less expensive and time consuming to bite the proverbial bullet. Extremely unfair to me, but I'd rather spend my time helping my customers than defending myself against someone who has no interest in the "truth" but only sticking it to someone. As a consequence of my earlier experiences, I require all customers to sign a 2 page contract before I'll touch their equipment. I decided that a) there IS a need for a preemptive contract and b) if the customer is not willing to accept this, I'm not willing to work on their equipment. I've never regretted this decision, and since requiring my customers to sign a contract, have never had an issue arise out of the work I've done for them.

...tracy

I wish I could make my customers sign a contract when they order "well done" and then complain about the lack of taste when they get it that way.