Can't fool me twice!

For reasons that require a different blog post, I found myself at the Toyota repair center last Friday. The glass of my passenger side-view mirror had been knocked out by a construction barrel as I was driving about 50 miles per hour onto an exit ramp. Miraculously, the housing was not damaged. Initially, I avoided going directly into the service center, and instead parked outside, in front of the parts center, and went up to the cashier's desk. When I got there, a nice young lady greeted me. I informed her of my dilemma, and asked her if they had the part available for my vehicle. She asked me if i had a work order, and I said no, I just wanted the part. She informed me that I would have to go through the service drive-thru in order for the technicians to analyze the maintenance requirements for my vehicle. At that point I asked her if there was still a minimum service charge for my car to be worked on. She looked at me like I had three heads. She said, "no, there's never been a minimum cost requirement for maintenance." I proceeded to tell her that the previous time I had work done on the car at that location, the service tech had told me that there was a $50 minimum for work just for pulling up. The lady at the desk laughed nervously and said, "sorry, ma'am, but I've never heard of that policy. If you want your car to be repaired, just go ahead and go into the service entrance." Reluctantly, I pulled into the driveway at the service center and explained to the service technician what had happened. He inspected the damage, but was uncertain if the part was in stock. He told me that Toyota would also conduct a routine maintenance evaluation free of charge. Leaving my car in his hands, I went inside and waited. As my daughter and I waited an hour and a half for the assessment, I contemplated my most recent experience there. So, the last service tech had been full of crap. What really upset me was that this was a dealership, not some sketchy used car lot on the side of the road. That nagging voice inside my head instructed me to be on my guard this time for some price gauging. By the time he finally came back with my car, the service tech showed me a laundry list of things that the dealership was recommending I have done to the car, including change the brake and transmission fluid (both of which were done in May before I drove across the country and back), and a recommendation that I have my cabin air filter changed because it was dirty. Let me tell you, there is no way they even checked that cabin air filter, because I accidentally bought the wrong one at O'Riley's before driving to New England, and I had to squeeze that thing in there to get it to fit. So. I was on to them at that point. Then, I noticed the tail-light mention, which a kindly New Englander had informed me of when I was in Bean Town. Not only did I know the tail-light was out, but there was also no way on God's Green Earth that I was going to shell out $35 for it, including labor! Since the mirror wasn't in stock, I would have to come back the next day. I told the guy I would come back, and that I needed both the mirror and the tail light repaired in order to pass my state inspection, slated for this month. That was true, I did need them both. I got back to where I stay, and mulled it over. I decided that I would at least give my Goodyear service center a courtesy visit to inquire about the cost of replacing the burnt out tail-light bulb. I remembered what the guy from my Goodyear service center had told me the previous month, when I went to have my oil changed after 6,000 miles...that I should come back there for my state inspection. I went in the next day, and, lo and behold, the same guy was at the counter. Some red-neck asian guy that reminded me of Khan from King of the Hill was arguing with him over the cost of four tires and an alignment. My guy was getting frustrated because not only did he offer to give this guy a $15 discount on each tire, but he was willing to throw in a complimentary alignment, worth $80! And the asian guy, tall and slouching, wearing a wife beater and cargo jeans with flippy-floppies, kept throwing a Costco evaluation in his face. Then he said he would be back tomorrow, and left. Looking all kinds of relieved, the Goodyear employee turned to me and, recognizing me, asked me "how can I help you?" I smiled, and told him about the mirror and the tail-light. I knew their location would not be able to install the mirror, since it was a distinct part, but when I told him how much they wanted to charge me at the dealership for the tail-light, he balked. I asked him how much they could do it for at his Goodyear location, and he replied, "no more than $10." That made my day. He told me it was busy that day, and to come back the next day. I told him I would, and reminded him that I needed my state inspection as well, so they could get two birds with one stone. He thought that was a great idea. I told him "See you tomorrow," and left for the dealership. Upon arriving at the dealership, I was completely confidant in my game plan. I entered the service area without hesitation, and thankfully was greeted by a different service technician than the day before. I told him about my open ticket work order, and that I was only interested in having the mirror replaced, none of the other "issues" that had been discovered the previous day. He had no problem with that, had me sign something, and took my car. After about two hours, it was finished, and cost a small fortune, yet not as much as it would have if I'd let them replace the tail-light. The next day, I drove over to my Goodyear location to get the inspection and the light replacement. After providing a copy of my vehicle insurance and handing over the keys, we waited about an hour and a half in the lobby. Another customer came in, who had an appointment, which contributed to the extended wait time, but the television was playing rerun episodes of Big Bang Theory, one of my favorite programs, so it made the wait tolerable. What was even better was my guy hooked me up - for the cost of the inspection, which was less than $5 more than what the dealership wanted to charge me just to replace the light bulb, I was out the door. My guy had comped the cost ofreplacing the light bulb, entirely! I was thrilled. My instincts had saved me money, but more importantly, they had brightened my day, and so did my guys at the Goodyear.