Local Mom & Pop Vendors

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df2x4

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Luckily, we have one mom &pop tire shop, and one mom & pop alignment shop(one man show) where I live. They’re my go-to places. The guy at the alignment shop is in his 60s, so don’t know how much longer he’ll be around.

I got in touch with that little gas station shop that does alignments today. I talked to the owner on the phone for a while (older guy) and I got the impression that he personally does most of the work there. I told him about my recent unfortunate experience at a chain shop and the conversation we had as a result made me feel very good about his abilities. Apparently he's been a mechanic his entire life (started as a dealer tech) and his little shop does pretty much everything except body work. I made an appointment to take the red truck to him first thing on Friday morning, hopefully this one goes better than the last!
 

thinger2

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Just a general rule of thumb that has worked well for me.
If you find a place that treats you well, establish a relationship with them.
Customer service sucks. I cant do it.
Entitled people get ****** with others because it satisfies their fragile little ego.
The only way they have to feel better about themselves, is to try and make someone else feel bad about themselves.
When you go to a really busy bar?
Get your drinks and tip a twenty.
Every time you go back?
Drop a buck per drink.
You wont have to stand in line.
Fun aint cheap but cheap aint fun.
If you order a steak at Dennys?
Dont take a **** on the wait staff.
What did you expect would happen?
If your flight gats cancelled and you are stuck at the airport?
Dont scream at the ticket people.
They are not in charge of the airplane, the weather, the FAA none of that.
(And, if this happens to you, immediatly right friggen now book a hotel room. Dont be the dope sleeping on the airport floor because you were busy complaining. Get a room while you can)
Dont patronize businesses that dont help you.
But make sure that you arent the problem Karen.
 

Erik the Awful

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If your flight gats cancelled and you are stuck at the airport?
Dont scream at the ticket people.
They are not in charge of the airplane, the weather, the FAA none of that.
(And, if this happens to you, immediatly right friggen now book a hotel room. Dont be the dope sleeping on the airport floor because you were busy complaining. Get a room while you can)
Don't scream, but be assertive. They have ways of helping you, but they're typically not concerned for you and have no problem leaving you to solve your own problem. A couple years ago my wife, my parents, and I were flying overseas. We were supposed to fly with American to Dallas, then to New York, then switch to Lufthansa to fly to Geneva. When we got to Dallas, the airline had cancelled the flight to New York and told us we'd have to wait eight hours for the next flight. I told them we had a connecting flight that wouldn't wait for us.

"Oh, well. We can't do anything."

My blood pressure spiked, and I'm pretty sure the gate attendant could see the veins in my forehead. "Yes you can. We've already paid for the flight, and they're not going to give us a refund because you cancelled your flight. You need to get us there."

Five minutes later they hustled us over to the Lufthansa gate and we flew to Frankfurt then Geneva.

Polite assertiveness. If you're being passive, you won't get their attention.
 

Erin

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Polite assertiveness. If you're being passive, you won't get their attention.
Squeaky wheel gets the grease. This applies a lot. I found this out myself trying to get contractors to my home for bids. They’re so booked right now around here that, if you don’t stay on them, you’ll be forgotten in the shuffle. But as you said, be polite, or they’ll surely toss you aside.
 

df2x4

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After two weeks of BS and going to two different shops, the red truck finally has a good alignment! The little mom & pop gas station shop really came through. Truck drives awesome and no more off-center steering wheel. Think I've found my new go-to alignment place.
 

MrPink

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I live in a bigger city but when I lived in BFE I would only support the mom and pop shops. I need to find a decent one down here that does gears and various other things.
 

thinger2

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Don't scream, but be assertive. They have ways of helping you, but they're typically not concerned for you and have no problem leaving you to solve your own problem. A couple years ago my wife, my parents, and I were flying overseas. We were supposed to fly with American to Dallas, then to New York, then switch to Lufthansa to fly to Geneva. When we got to Dallas, the airline had cancelled the flight to New York and told us we'd have to wait eight hours for the next flight. I told them we had a connecting flight that wouldn't wait for us.

"Oh, well. We can't do anything."

My blood pressure spiked, and I'm pretty sure the gate attendant could see the veins in my forehead. "Yes you can. We've already paid for the flight, and they're not going to give us a refund because you cancelled your flight. You need to get us there."

Five minutes later they hustled us over to the Lufthansa gate and we flew to Frankfurt then Geneva.

Polite assertiveness. If you're being passive, you won't get their attention.
Yep. I used to have to fly quite often and I absolutely hate it.
The enitre experiance just sucks.
If I have enough time, I will drive to a job in New York or Florida.
I have been in the seat next to people who puked and **** themselves.
Nut bags who freaked out and tried to open the door.
******* that tried to sell me Amway.
You name it.
But one of the worst was a morning Denver to Chicago on United.
We got sent back to de-ice 4 friggen times
When they finally got that pig in the air,
United served bran muffins, bananas, brocolli slaw, orange juice, tomato juice, and airplane coffee.
People were lined up in the aisle trying to get to the *******.
Some actually didnt make it.
It was vile.
Labor dispute at the catering service.
Nothing but respect for that United pilot though.
Once he figured it out he put that ***** on the ground.
I really hate flying.
Ill take my chance on the highway.
If you need to blow ass?
I will pull right the **** over.
And then decide whether you get back in the cab or if I need to put you in the bed and Google the nearest car wash
 
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