When I walk into a place of business, all they seem to notice is my wrinkles (age) and gender (female). This often leads them to treat me with less respect and to misjudge my abilities.
I am currently having problems with a business called Matthews Motors in Clayton NC. They sold me a car 14 months ago. It’s a 2015 and still has less than 40,000 miles on it, so you would think it would be dependable.
Well, on Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, that car stranded me at Walmart. I called my mechanic and he sent his tow truck. He is also the tow truck driver for Matthews Motors. He refused to take the car to his garage, because I had bought it from Matthews Motors (their logo was on it) and he said he HAD to take it to them.
What I saw was a battery spewing acid when he popped the hood. I figured they’d clean that up, replace the battery (and aren’t those things guaranteed for 3 years? Pete at Matthews Motors Service Dept said no, batteries are not guaranteed for three years.)
Anyway, on Monday, Nov 6, Pete called to tell me that the battery plus the cost of cleaning up the battery acid would be $544.58. I said I could afford that. Pete said they would call me Monday afternoon when the car was completed and send someone to pick me up to get it.
Monday afternoon Pete called and said the car still wouldn’t start and I needed a starter fuse box. It was not ready to go after all. They’d work on it tomorrow and surely get it fixed by then. That didn’t fix it either.
Today is November 11, 2017, and they STILL haven’t fixed my car although they’ve had it nine days.
Two of the people I’ve spoken with said it might be the pcm. The woman, Victoria, in the service department that I spoke to yesterday said they were trying all these other things to save me money because a pcm costs $500 to $600. I told her pcm’s are warranted up to 80,000 miles and my car has less than 40,000 miles on it. She seemed surprised that I knew that. What does she think I’ve been doing for nine days?
I happen to be a retired school teacher, who has a Masters Degree, and I’m also a member of Mensa. I’m sure none of those possibilities occur to them when they see an older woman walk into the Service Department of a Car Dealer. Also, my first husband worked on cars every weekend. Because I loved him and loved being with him, I spent hours, probably days, beside him having him explain the workings of car engines to me as he tinkered here and there with whatever car he was fixing.
So appreances can be deceiving and sometimes the lack of an open mind about who someone is that you’re dealing with might lead you to badly mistaken their abilities.
Just saying . . .
Proud of Every Wrinkle 