Ever Since You Fixed My Car…2012

 



There’s a special place in collision repair folklore for a group I lovingly refer to as The Ever Since Club. You know the type—“Ever since you painted my bumper, my Bluetooth won't sync.” Or, “Ever since you fixed my fender, my coffee doesn’t taste right.”

So when a woman came back to our shop in Poughkeepsie complaining that ever since we’d replaced her front bumper, her radio reception had gone to hell, I figured I knew where this was headed.

As Mr. Customer Service, I did what I always do: I explained. I gave her the whole behind-the-dash tour—the antenna on the roof, the cables routed through the interior, the distance between her issue and the area we actually worked on. I even dropped the line about how we document the damage, submit to insurance, and don’t touch systems unrelated to the repair unless we’re paid to do so.

Still, she insisted. “I can’t listen to Bob and Todd in the morning on the Taconic anymore!” she screamed. Loudly. In the office. In front of other customers.

A few days later, she called. Same voice, same fire. “I HAD IT DIAGNOSED,” she declared. “RODENT DAMAGE.”

Now, I’m used to a lot. But I admit, I had to pause.

“Did you say rodent damage?” I asked, carefully, like I was walking a tightrope in a thunderstorm.

“Yes! You people let rats into my car!”

So now, I’m on speakerphone. Not to be rude—but I figured if the office was going to hear her shouting anyway, they might as well enjoy the full drama. I calmly explained that we don’t house rats, squirrels, mice, or any other members of the rodent family. No complaints from anyone else. No scratch marks, no poop pellets, no holes in headliners.

She screamed louder. Said she was going to sue us. Claimed we’d infested her vehicle.

I made the mistake of explaining that rodents do sometimes sneak into cars in the colder months, especially ones parked outside for extended periods. It’s unfortunate, but not uncommon. I even tried the empath thing: “It’s no one’s fault really—it just happens.”

She lost it.

“You’re telling me you’re not liable for letting RATS into my car??”

At that point, I gave up and returned serve: “By that logic, maybe I should sue you for bringing your rat car into our clean shop.”

Click.

She hung up, called her insurance company, who apparently laughed her right off the phone. I got a follow-up call from the DRP manager. For the next four months, I had a stuffed squirrel on my desk and heard rodent jokes at every turn.

Moral of the story? The Ever Since Club is alive and well. But remember—it works both ways.

Thanks for reading—now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go check the shop for rats… again

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