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A customer in Tacoma told me I was 'just a parts replacer' and it still bugs me
This was about three months ago on a 2018 F-150 with a crunched bedside. I was explaining the sectioning procedure to keep the factory welds intact, and the guy cut me off. He said, 'Look, don't give me the song and dance. You're just a parts replacer. Slap the new panel on and send me the bill.' It happened right in the middle of my shop. I finished the job perfectly, but his comment stuck because it shows how some people see our whole trade. They don't get the skill in making a repair you can't even find. Has anyone else had a customer just totally dismiss the craft like that?
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parkerp801mo ago
Yeah, the "song and dance" line got me... like explaining the work is just a magic trick to charge more. Dylan_bell is right, they see the end part and think it's a Lego set. Meanwhile you're back there with a tape measure, a pull frame, and a welder trying to make a unibody straight again, not just slapping on a quarter panel. It's like they think we just glue it on with caulk. Makes you want to show them the before photos and the stack of weld-through primer cans.
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margaretm2327d ago
My buddy down in Portland had a guy do something similar on a 2016 Silverado that got T-boned. He spent like 3 hours on the quarter panel alone, and the customer walked in, saw the new panel, and was like "wow that was quick, you just screwed it on huh?" My friend just pointed to the old quarter panel sitting in the scrap pile that was twisted and mangled and said "yeah sure, just screwed it on." People really don't see the hours of measuring and cutting and welding that goes into making it look like it never happened. It's like they think we're working at a dealership parts counter instead of actually shaping metal and matching factory gaps.
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dylan_bell1mo ago
Man that's brutal. It's like they see the new part and think it's just bolting on a fender from AutoZone. They have no clue about the hours of pulling, measuring, and welding that goes into making it right. The whole point is that you shouldn't be able to tell it was ever hit! That comment cuts deep because it ignores every single skilled step between the crash and the keys back in their hand.
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