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Saturday, April 25, 2009

Error... Error...

My appointment for Friday morning came in on time at 8:00. It was to be an oil change and standard inspection. I slipped my seat cover on and welcome mat down to prevent any kind of marks or dirt from my getting in and out of the vehicle. All went well with the neat little 1999 Toyota Corolla until I had finished the work and backed it out to the door. I reached for the door handle to exit the car and snap, crackle, pop – the interior plastic piece of crap door handle breaks. I have replaced many of these for customers over the years because they don’t take much in the way of wear to break so I know better than to be rough with them. Unfortunately, I was in a hurry to get the lady out because my next appointment would be in soon, and I tugged a bit too hard on the handle in my haste. After a moment of silence where an inner stream of words never to be uttered in public streamed through my head, I trudged into the office to share my happy news.

The lady takes one look at my face and says, “is something wrong with my car?”

“Temporarily… until I can order you a new inside door handle which I just broke.”

“Huh?”

In her place I’d be a little surprised too. She had been driving the Toyota for ten years without breaking any door handles. I’d only become acquainted with her car for twenty minutes and had already broken one. I explained it would still open the door if she was very careful with it and I’d get a replacement right away from Toyota.

“How long will it take you to get it?”

“They’ll have three or four in stock so it won’t be long. I’ll call you the moment they deliver it to me.”

She nodded her understanding. “I guess you were in a little too much of a hurry.”

Ya’ think? “Yes, Ma’am, I was. I’m sorry for the inconvenience but I’ll get it straightened out.”

She left after paying her bill. I called Toyota and they had a new inner door handle to me by noontime. I hadn’t been specific about when I’d get her back in to repair the damage I’d done so the Toyota owner was pleasantly surprised when I called. She drove back in and I had her on the road with a new inner door handle in minutes, at no cost of course. Note to self – don’t yank on the door handles… damn it! :)

14 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

Strange, that's how I broke mine.

raine said...

At least your customer was gracious this time, lol.
Usually you seem to get the manic ones. :)

Jordan Summers said...

Oops! *g*

BernardL said...

I doubt it was anything you did other than open the door, Charles. They break easily. :)

She was pretty nice about it, Raine. She had Friday off work. Otherwise she would have had to put up with my door handle adjustment until she could stop in at another time. I get mostly normal people in, but they're no fun to write about. :)

Yeah, Jordan, a very poor start to the day. :( It did improve from there on though.

Vesper said...

All's well when it ends well... :-)
Nice lady, she reacted very calmly.

BernardL said...

She was indeed, Vesper. :)

Beth Partin said...

You handled it very well. I wish I could say I never uttered those words in public.

Leigh Russell said...

Woops! you certainly handled it well...

BernardL said...

I wish I could say so too, Beth. :)

Thanks, Leigh.

Miladysa said...

My favourite line?

"After a moment of silence where an inner stream of words never to be uttered in public streamed through my head, I trudged into the office to share my happy news."

I'll wager the lady will use your services again :D

Virginia Lady said...

Oops. I hate it when that happens. Glad it worked out well in the end and you were able to get it fixed and back to her so quickly.

BernardL said...

It would have been highly annoying for her to put up with my door handle adjustment for very long, VL. :)

Sandra Cormier said...

Bernard strong like streetcar. You shall now be dubbed SuperBernard.

BernardL said...

Thanks, Miladysa. At least I got a good line out of it. :)

I think a more appropriate name dubbing would be Sir Haste, Sandra. :)