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TheGrooveking

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 30, 2007
Messages
3,233
Location
An alternate reality in a parallel universe.
Yeah? How many of those do you get?

I've had a few, the funny thing is if you can get one to do it, then their girlfriends will do it. As one friend I know states, "All women want to be photographed naked" applies, convince them how hot they look and then dare them to do it. Most women will succumb, I learned this being in a band years ago, girls would bring their friends to watch us play, so we would just say "Let us see'em.." you would be surprised how many would show you their assets. The first thing you need to do is get over the fear of rejection, after that as long as they are of legal age it never hurts to ask.

TheGrooveking
 

krusty the clown

Member Emeritus
Joined
Nov 18, 2007
Messages
7,535
Location
niangua, mo
i had one today that wanted to watch. he had been trying to fix his truck himself for 2 months and wanted me to show him how to do it. of course it was a 4x4 concern and it had to be done right now. the boss told him no but he wouldn't listen. he told me that he had to have the codes so he could take them to autozone to find out what it was. i asked him do you want me to fix it or autozone? of course it took 3 times as long and i made a whopping $55 dollars today.........i usually make 4x that. yep.......i need to loose my *** to gain more customers that i don't make money on........
 
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herbet99

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
65
Location
NJ
But don't watch every move I make like I am stealing from you.

A valid point.

However, the thread was started with the description of someone watching through a window or from the garage door. I didn't get the sense from tpolly that it was a case of the customer thinking he was stealing from them.

And most of the replies in favor of watching range more from a sense of curiosity to making sure (or <i>trusting</i>) they don't get an inexperienced person working on their car, and not because they think they are being robbed.
 
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Iroc-Z

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2006
Messages
720
Location
New Germany, MN
A valid point.

However, the thread was started with the description of someone watching through a window or from the garage door. I didn't get the sense from tpolly that it was a case of the customer thinking he was stealing from them.

And most of the replies in favor of watching range more from a sense of curiosity to making sure (or <i>trusting</i>) they don't get an inexperienced person working on their car, and not because they think they are being robbed.

I can understand if your curious and are watching from the customer area. Its when your standing right behind your car as I work on it.
 

Racecarl

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Messages
474
Location
McCook, NE
Interesting post.... I formerly worked in a green/yellow ag tractor shop. There were all kinds of farmers and most of them were OK. One guy really stands out in my memory. Mr. Farmer just knew he was smarter than anyone in the shop. If I worked on his tractor he insisted that I keep all the old parts I changed out, which I was more than happy to do. He wanted to take the parts home and study them to figure out why they failed. Once I had all the old parts in a box and the cleanup crew came through, saw the old parts, and chucked the box, parts and all. I went on a service call the next morning and did not know that the parts were gone. He came in to get his tractor (he thought we charged too much for trucking) and the parts were not there. HE CAME UNCORKED!! I calmly apologized and explained what happened and that his parts were somewhere in the scrap iron trailer. He insisted that I get into the trailer and dig out his parts. OK, I said, and told the service writer to reopen his ticket so I could bill my time. This really frosted him and I calmly explained that if my time is not billed out I do not get paid. My service manager got involved and re-explained what happened and that he was not going to have me spend hours digging through the iron trailer to find the broken parts. Mr. Farmer left in a huff.

A few years later I was on this same guy's farm attempting to wire in an auto-restart timer into a center pivot panel. Normally this is not a difficult job but on this installation it was very confusing. There were 3 wells that each had to be turned on in a specific sequence. My full concentration needed to be on the panel box in front of me and I was struggling to get everything to work correctly. He shows up and I get away from the panel box (480 volt 3 phase). I explained that I was having problems with a couple timers, that I nearly had it sorted out, and I would call him on his cell when I was done. He wanted to stay and watch me work so I said OK as long as you stay behind my pickup. This lasted a whole 5 minutes. He was barking instructions on his two-way radio, answering his phone, and asking me every 15 seconds how I was doing. Every time he talked I would have to start over mentally tracing the circuit logic.

I finally stood up and walked away from the panel. He giggled excitedly (you have to know this guy) thinking I had it figured out. I shook my head. I told him that there was too much distraction for me to continue and that if he insisted on staying at this well site that I was going to leave so I could get something done for someone else. He whined and sniveled but finally left. It took me a little while to get the last timer configured but I did and when I left the machine ran correctly.

Sadly, lightning struck the well panel the following week and fried EVERYTHING I had installed. The farmer thought I was rude by asking him to leave and in hindsight I could have been a little nicer about it. My 'supervisor' was pretty sure he was smarter than I was so he offered to rewire the panel himself. Good riddance, I thought, until my boss was calling me while I was on vacation asking me how I had wired the panel. I told him to call T & L (the manufacturer of the machine) and have them fix it or figure it out himself, but DO NOT call me while I am on vacation again.

This longwinded story is a lot of the reason I drive a truck hauling equipment for this dealership now. At least I don't have to deal with one whiny farmer anymore.
 

whaler2001

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 12, 2009
Messages
260
Location
Blythewood, South Carolina
I have never had a spectator that could keep his mouth shut. That being said, customers watching is a huge distraction. I am the type of **** technician that wonders if he tightened everything, 10x over, even after the car has left. I always double/triple check myself. When someone is chatting away, I can't remember what i've done and haven't done.

I don't want to be replacing a Valley pan on an E38 and have some guy asking me why i'm cussing as I fight the rear crossover pipe (that's really happened.)

If you don't trust someone to do the job right, then why take it to them?

I learned from an old timer a long time ago.... when you have a spectator, and they are chatty....put your tools down, get your drink, and get face to face with them and chat away. They'll get the hint. It works, too :)
 
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