My uncle told me to never trust a customer's story about a noise

He said it when I was starting out at a shop in Cleveland. Last week, a guy came in swearing his truck had a bad wheel bearing, said he could feel it grinding. I almost just went with it to save time. But I remembered my uncle's advice and put it on the lift myself. Turns out it was a completely shredded brake pad backing plate rattling against the rotor. The sound was similar, but the fix was a $45 pad set, not a $300 bearing job. If I'd listened to the customer, I would have wasted his money and my time. It taught me to always do my own diagnosis from the ground up. How do you guys handle customers who are sure they know what's wrong?

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2 Comments

wright.finley6mo ago

Ever had a customer get mad when you prove them wrong?

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thomas_roberts6mo ago

My entire career feels like one long lesson in how people hate being corrected. Wright.finley, I once had a guy turn purple because I showed him the manual entry he missed. He demanded a manager to complain that I knew how to do my job too well. The real trick is letting them believe they figured it out themselves, even when you did all the work.

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