Customer ethics--no more extras!

[Ron Nossaman]

>I am more frustrated with customers than I am with the dealers.  I usually 
>charge the dealer something if my appointment goes into overtime, but I 
>always give them a good deal.  I have good relationships with them, and it 
>has paid off.  Lack of customer loyalty is my gripe here.  MOst of the 
>people who do the "free" tunings here do little more than that, and often 
>don't even do a necessary pitch adjustment.  I have always tried to make 
>sure the customer is well taken care of, and as Mr. Bullock said, it is 
>usually not recognized.
>
>Thanks for the input,
>
>Dave S.

Dave,
At the risk of aggravating the situation, I'd like to offer an observation. 
I really - REALLY - dislike the concept and use of the term "free" tuning. 
The implication (because of the word "free"), and resulting practice, is 
that since it is "free" there's no penalty for being unavailable at the 
time of the appointment. The assumption being that the tuner is paid by the 
dealer whether he does any work or not (as is apparently the case in the 
situation between the customer and their employer), and nobody pays a 
penalty for a no-show. Far and away, the worst record for folks standing me 
up on a scheduled appointment are for dealer tunings. That leaves me in a 
position to decide who eats the income loss. By all that's right and 
proper, it ought to be the twit customer who couldn't be bothered to meet 
their commitment to someone else's time and livelihood, but they don't see 
it that way because the tuning was "free". The dealer, rightfully, 
shouldn't be liable for the service call for obvious reasons, nor is he 
going to be amused if I monetarily penalize the twit customer for wasting 
my means of eating. So I get a choice. I either offend the dealer, offend 
the customer and the dealer, or take my shafting quietly without raising a 
disturbance. I'll get the shafting in any case, but I get the luxury of 
determining what sort of disturbance I'll cause en-route. A dubious benefit 
at best...

Ron N