I... er... WOW. Solved!
Feb. 18th, 2025 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse Yesterday, I was feeling brave. After a quick consult with Shawn to make sure we agreed on what we would and would not accept, I picked up the phone and called back Tim from Turbo Tim's.
Tim sounded my age. I'm not sure why I felt this, but immediately I got the sense we were both young in the 1980s.
I initially thought things were going to not go well because, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Tim started in on this long description of why rear wheel bearings are different from front wheel bearings. And, I thought, oh no. He's going to try to mansplain his way out of this. I listened (actually to keep myself from rudely cutting him off, I held the phone away from my ear) and when he wound down I asked, "Okay. I do actually have some knowledge of how cars work, but I appreciate your explanation. Is that all you are offering?"
He wanted to know if I would come back, ever, and accept some store credit and I said "absolutely not. I am not interested in store credit." We talked a little bit about trust at this point and I told him, "Tim, we are working back towards trust. If I am going to have any trust in you, it will depend on what you are willing to do to make this right."
At this point he wanted to know what he could do. What did I want? I told him that he could offer me a refund for the front wheel bearings. I wanted half the cost of the work. That was all I needed. $600.00.
For some reason he decided to argue with me? But what he argued was, "No, I think you deserve much more."
I will admit: this proposal stunned me into silence for a good half minute.
I managed to gather my wits and said, "Well, then offer me what you think I deserve." He then offered to refund the ENTIRE JOB. All $1,200.00 of it.
I accepted.
We kept talking (and by "we" at this point, I mean "he,") and I was a little confused by this. But, it dawned on me that what he really, sincerely seemed to want was some kind of assurance that I would remain his customer. I told him that was going to be difficult, but that he had really impressed me with the full refund. I also told him, several times, that Midway Turbo Tim's is a block and a half from my house, which is why I started going there. I also explained that I am a lesbian and so I appreciated his political stance on LGBTQIA+ "friendliness." I also like cats! But, it was going to take some time before I felt ready to go back, but, if it was important to him, I could tell him that it was POSSIBLE I might return for small jobs? It really is convenient, but it's also insanely unlikely: they done me wrong. REALLY WRONG. I didn't say that last bit out loud, so he seemed satisfied. (The extent to which this felt like an ex-boyfriend saying "just give me one more chance!!" was HIGH and also did not actually ingratiate me the way I think Tim intended. Like what woman hasn't had that One Guy who really, really needed assurances that he was still loved, even after he was a complete knucklehead or worse?)
Tim then really wanted to explain wheel bearings again, so I let him, and then he assured me that Sean at Midway Tim's would be calling with details about the refund.
Sean did NOT call. But, Sean did text the information to me. (I do not think Sean feels nearly the same desire to keep me as a customer. Tim in his long ramble did let slip that the Midway mechanic, foreman, and front desk all got "written up" over this fiasco. So, yeah, Tim, I think me going back to Midway Tim's would be met some MASSIVE hostility. They are not big fans of me right now over there.)
At least it seems as though things are resolved and a repayment is in process.
I am not closing out my BBB case file, however until the money is literally back in the bank.
So, I guess that's it.
Y'all, the Better Business Bureau for the win. I do not believe I could have gotten any action without the threat of a bad mark in the BBB. It makes some sense if Tim is my age (or near) because *I* thought of the Better Business Bureau immediately for recourse. I am still somewhat unconvinced that anyone younger than me even knows what the BBB is, exactly, or what they do and what it means to have a bad Better Business Bureau rating. But, in this case, it worked.
What are my brain cells supposed to do now? I've been obsessing and thinking about this for WEEKS!
Tim sounded my age. I'm not sure why I felt this, but immediately I got the sense we were both young in the 1980s.
I initially thought things were going to not go well because, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Tim started in on this long description of why rear wheel bearings are different from front wheel bearings. And, I thought, oh no. He's going to try to mansplain his way out of this. I listened (actually to keep myself from rudely cutting him off, I held the phone away from my ear) and when he wound down I asked, "Okay. I do actually have some knowledge of how cars work, but I appreciate your explanation. Is that all you are offering?"
He wanted to know if I would come back, ever, and accept some store credit and I said "absolutely not. I am not interested in store credit." We talked a little bit about trust at this point and I told him, "Tim, we are working back towards trust. If I am going to have any trust in you, it will depend on what you are willing to do to make this right."
At this point he wanted to know what he could do. What did I want? I told him that he could offer me a refund for the front wheel bearings. I wanted half the cost of the work. That was all I needed. $600.00.
For some reason he decided to argue with me? But what he argued was, "No, I think you deserve much more."
I will admit: this proposal stunned me into silence for a good half minute.
I managed to gather my wits and said, "Well, then offer me what you think I deserve." He then offered to refund the ENTIRE JOB. All $1,200.00 of it.
I accepted.
We kept talking (and by "we" at this point, I mean "he,") and I was a little confused by this. But, it dawned on me that what he really, sincerely seemed to want was some kind of assurance that I would remain his customer. I told him that was going to be difficult, but that he had really impressed me with the full refund. I also told him, several times, that Midway Turbo Tim's is a block and a half from my house, which is why I started going there. I also explained that I am a lesbian and so I appreciated his political stance on LGBTQIA+ "friendliness." I also like cats! But, it was going to take some time before I felt ready to go back, but, if it was important to him, I could tell him that it was POSSIBLE I might return for small jobs? It really is convenient, but it's also insanely unlikely: they done me wrong. REALLY WRONG. I didn't say that last bit out loud, so he seemed satisfied. (The extent to which this felt like an ex-boyfriend saying "just give me one more chance!!" was HIGH and also did not actually ingratiate me the way I think Tim intended. Like what woman hasn't had that One Guy who really, really needed assurances that he was still loved, even after he was a complete knucklehead or worse?)
Tim then really wanted to explain wheel bearings again, so I let him, and then he assured me that Sean at Midway Tim's would be calling with details about the refund.
Sean did NOT call. But, Sean did text the information to me. (I do not think Sean feels nearly the same desire to keep me as a customer. Tim in his long ramble did let slip that the Midway mechanic, foreman, and front desk all got "written up" over this fiasco. So, yeah, Tim, I think me going back to Midway Tim's would be met some MASSIVE hostility. They are not big fans of me right now over there.)
At least it seems as though things are resolved and a repayment is in process.
I am not closing out my BBB case file, however until the money is literally back in the bank.
So, I guess that's it.
Y'all, the Better Business Bureau for the win. I do not believe I could have gotten any action without the threat of a bad mark in the BBB. It makes some sense if Tim is my age (or near) because *I* thought of the Better Business Bureau immediately for recourse. I am still somewhat unconvinced that anyone younger than me even knows what the BBB is, exactly, or what they do and what it means to have a bad Better Business Bureau rating. But, in this case, it worked.
What are my brain cells supposed to do now? I've been obsessing and thinking about this for WEEKS!
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 03:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 05:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 05:15 pm (UTC)I was super proud that I never lost my temper, asked for what I wanted, and (most difficult of all) held my ground during counter offers.
It. Was. Hard.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 04:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 05:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 07:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 05:56 pm (UTC)Thanks for the blow by blow report, right down to the precise dialogue. You followed all the advice I have ever heard about making a complaint to a company, including Karen's suggestion to stay quiet and listen as much as possible and actually repeating polite variations on "So what are you going to do for me to make this right?" I don't think I would have the patience and fortitude to do the same, but in case I am ever unable to avoid one of these unpleasant negotiations in the future I will definitely refer back to your report for tips!
I must also say that as a big fan of the "Generations" theory, I am amused that you immediately identified Tim as a member of your own generational cohort. I wonder if that helped you unconsciously pitch your argument in exactly the right terms for a good reception?
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 07:26 pm (UTC)I was, however, shocked by my own coolheadedness so there is that. I was very much in a detached headspace--which is something you have probably never seen me do, but I get very cold and precise in emergencies. Plus, as I told a previous commentor (my friend Frank), I used to be able to get into a similar mindset for high school debate tournaments, where my stomach would be doing flip-flops in one corner of my distant mind, but the rest of me was highly focused on listening and carefully considering responses to convoluted arguments. Honestly, years of theater probably also honed this skill to some extent too? (The ability to be nervous AF and speak Shakespeare at the the same time.)
This is why I'm glad I took the time I did to have all my feelings prior to the phone call. And that I was able to be the one to initiate this conversation. It gave me a sense of control, which helped drop me into the eerie calm I was able to pull off.
At any rate, it's possible that generations played a part in Tim's response. Gender was certainly working AGAINST us. He really did not want to believe I might have had a wheel bearing replaced ever before in my life or that I might understand at least GENERALLY what wheel bearings do, but I mean... as a woman I have learned to just let men think they know things better than anyone else in the room (and, it is his JOB, so I can give him that much!) But, for all I know, he would have had the same amount to say about the wheel bearings to a man. It was just noticable that he really felt the need to tell me about it all not once, but TWICE.
Ah well.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 06:54 pm (UTC)Those conversations always seem SO HARD to have - mostly because my expectations of success are so low, and the conversation is going to be SO much effort - it seems not worth it! But it was worth it!
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 07:34 pm (UTC)Yeah, I think there were a number of things working in my favor with this conversation. Some of which I just enumerated above (I was in control of WHEN it happened; I had had a lot of time to consider what I wanted; I'd worked through a LOT of my anger and frustration, etc.) but also there was a bit of what you're talking about, which was that my expectations were super low. I didn't actually expect to get ANYTHING out of Tim. In fact, the thing I had actually been practicing the most was what I was going to say if he offered nothing or something really not acceptable like "store credit." And, I was pretty wobbly on it? Like, my sense of what I would have said was, "I would like to stop this conversation now and turn it back over to the Better Business Bureau."
The thing is the BBB does say that they will help mediate, but given that ALL of my responses from them were "canned" responses I don't actually know what "help" was really going to look like. Was it going to be actual humans helping me or a printed list of bullet points? I didn't know. So, I was really not sure how things would work out if they didn't work out.
I did have a plan to try the Attorney Genearl next, but my sense is that their process would have been basically the same as BBB's, though I don't actually know since I never got even so far as researching that.
My point is, yeah, difficult to know if this hard conversation would have been worth it.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 10:17 pm (UTC)Which, in my mind, makes it all the more impressive that you DID it!
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 09:52 pm (UTC)With regard to the awareness of BBB among younger generations, if I look for reviews of a business, the BBB always pops right up, and it's honestly much less confused and annoying than something like Yelp, in terms of being able to find and read reviews. Possibly younger people don't find Yelp annoying, but I sure do. So maybe some of them would know about it.
P.
no subject
Date: 2025-02-19 02:14 pm (UTC)I should remember to ask Mason if he knows what the Better Business Bureau is!
no subject
Date: 2025-02-18 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-19 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-19 02:37 am (UTC)Also, I'm glad the BBB is still doing its thing. I think young people rely more on Google to shame a business into making things right, but unlike the BBB, Google itself often decides to just shut that down!
no subject
Date: 2025-02-19 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-19 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-19 02:16 pm (UTC)