Motu tests 111 response

[Motu]

I decided to give the 111 system a test this morning - got 2 Cop cars and the Eagle overhead...took about 5 mins,but felt like an hour....

[DemonWolf]

Why were you testing??

-hope nothing bad has happened-

[Sniper]

You must be bored then Motu. Or you were in your Pajero

[Colapop]

Same question as DW. What's the haps? You do not seem to be the sort of guy to "test" the 111 system.

[froggyfrenchman]

????


and 10 characters

[Waylander]

So what would make 5 mins seem like an hour? Bike got stolen? House broken into? The shop broken into perhaps?

[DingDong]

So what would make 5 mins seem like an hour? Bike got stolen? House broken into? The shop broken into perhaps?
Nagging wife...:blink:

[vifferman]

So what would make 5 mins seem like an hour? Bike got stolen? House broken into? The shop broken into perhaps?
Run out of sugar for the morning coffee? :spudwhat:

[skelstar]

Someone soiled your stack of p0rn?

[Waylander]

Maybe the wife ran off with the sugar and porn?

[ZorsT]

one of your kids was kidnapped/missing?

[Motu]

Just an abusive customer...

Yesterday he towed an RVR in and left it on my forecourt,the clutch was stuffed and he wanted to know how much to fix it.It was a 4x4 and these take a lot longer to do than a 2wd,and just off the top of my head without checking prices said he'd be up for $800 to $1000,keeping on the high side as I've had dealings with the guy before,but the price is not too far off.He thought that was a bit steep,pushed it to an illegal parking spot and left.Later that day he rang and said we can do the job and when would it be ready,we are really snowed under and I told him a week...and that was ok.

At the end of the we pushed it inside and later he and maybe the owner came in,the other guy asked if he could have an account and I said no,we don't do that for casual customers....he talked about getting someone else to do it and I said that was fine by me....no problems so far,just an ordinary day.

This morning we didn't push it outside as a 4wd is hard to push,and it was a job pending,in the right place to start....so we had 2 cars sitting behind,one a Honda Logo up on stands.Then he comes in and says he wants the car,screaming about how I'm a ripoff bastard,really making a big issue about my excessive ''quote''.That's ok,I don't mind what he thinks and he can take the car,but we have to move the cars behind first.He's really wound up and agro by now and he jumps in the car behind and pushes it out backward slamming the drivers door luckely into my wheely bin,otherwise it would of been the concrete door post,then narrowly missed 2 parked cars.Then he comes back in the shop and just rips a stand out from under the Logo,he pulls the other stand but can't move it so grabs a hammer and starts smashing the stand! By this stage he has threatened me several times and is damaging my and my customers property and I'm on the phone to 111.

The opperator takes frigging ages to take my details and I've had a fist waved in my face several times,I stay on the line the whole time until the cars turn up.At the sight of the Cops he calms down and sets them straight about how it's all my fault.It's a non event now,like what's all the fuss about man,I only want my car....I made sure I didn't provoke the guy,apart from saying he can't get in or damage customers cars,I keep my workers out of it,we just want a calm situation.

After the events in Henderson the other day you just don't know what's going to happen out there....kinda scary.I've been abused and threatened by customers before,but never this bad,and I've never called the Cops.I've had enough - you go into business thinking you are going to help people and give them a good deal...and all they do in return is give you abuse and steal from you....I'm selling up and getting a real job,where I don't have to work 70hrs a week,get paid and have holidays.

[vifferman]

That's a bit grim, Motu.
Sounds like you handled it well, though, given the guy sounds like some kinda loopy upsidedown-b fiend.
Mebbe you should've provoked him just a little, just as the cops were turning up, so they could've got some target practice.

[jrandom]

It was a 4x4 and these take a lot longer to do than a 2wd,and just off the top of my head without checking prices said he's be up for $800 to $1000,keeping on the high side...

Yup, just had the clutch replaced on SWMBO's shopping cart (Vitara) for $900. Mostly labour costs, I figured it must have been a pig of a job.

[Devil]

Ok, Motu wins. HE had the bad morning.

Glad it didn't go any further.

[Coyote]

That is just ridiculous. At least he didn't use the hammer on your head and instead went for the stand


I hear a lot of this crap as my Mum works at a chemist. Since with all this P buisness, they have to ask for details when someone tries to buy cold medicine. Since my mum is the only thing standing between them and their next dose of P, they can get very abusive

[spudchucka]

I'm selling up and getting a real job,where I don't have to work 70hrs a week,get paid and have holidays.
Join the cops, want a referee?

[vifferman]

Yup, just had the clutch replaced on SWMBO's shopping cart (Vitara) for $900. Mostly labour costs, I figured it must have been a pig of a job.
That's very reasonable. My naughty tooth is costing more than that.

[jrandom]

Since my mum is the only thing standing between them and their next dose of P...

Doubt it. The buyers will be supplying the cookers on order, and the production time isn't that short. Surely nobody goes into chemists, buys some Codral tabs, heads straight home, reduces the pseudoephedrine, adds whatever-the-hell-else and smokes up.

[MOTOXXX]

man that realy sucks motu. what a crazy bastard
i would imagine being the christmas season that people are getting all pissed off because they havent booked in advance and cant get things done strait away. I realy hate people like that.

ps you did well to hold back from not bashing him. i would have bet him down like he stole something

[Big Dave]

Doubt it.

You've never spoken metaphorically?

Good work not just braining the asshole with a wrench, motu.
sleep on it a few days and have a good ride before making the big decisions.

[stify]

at least the cops didn't send a taxi

[madboy]

Doubt it. The buyers will be supplying the cookers on order, and the production time isn't that short. Surely nobody goes into chemists, buys some Codral tabs, heads straight home, reduces the pseudoephedrine, adds whatever-the-hell-else and smokes up.I think you are overly optimistic on your impression of the f***tards that engage in this sort of activity - at any part of the production process. My ex used to work in a chemist. Although in her case there was never any violence, there were plenty of "interesting" stories to tell.

Motu - bugger. That's the problem in an industry like yours. It's not the dangerous goods, it's not the working in and around moving/heavy/slip hazards, it won't be that arthritic joints and cold floors, it won't be the spine giving up the ghost... it'll be the prolonged exposure to c***smokers that will tip you over the edge one day.

Get an office job like mine... the c***smokers around here are more civilised, and we don't have any hammers readily at hand.

[Sniper]

Bugger mate, hope it works out OK. Charge him with something

[Matt Bleck]

Good on you Motu for keeping your cool mate.

[DemonWolf]

Glad to hear you and your workers are ok and nothing 'major' came out of it..

Well done on keeping calm... Its days like these you really need to think long and hard about what you are doing.. just make sure that you do think long and hard.. with some friendly advice from your loved ones.

[thehollowmen]

good work keeping cool under fire
bling awarded
less than three... please relax and we're glad you're safe

[skelstar]

You might have to find a way of limiting your clients to the non-wankers. Could start by eliminating the BMW 4x4 drivers and carry on from there.

[Motu]

ps you did well to hold back from not bashing him. i would have bet him down like he stole something

You should seen the size of the bugger! He was a Pacific Islander of some sort.He was implying that the owner of the vehicle was a person of some note who should be feared...he wrote the name down with phone number and tossed it on my desk,saying that guy would come down and cave my head in.Soon as the cops came he went into my office and snatched up the card,all I remember is the surname Tahu,I wrote it down.My main fear now is relatiation - the owner of the next garage along was attacked a few months ago and called the cops,I went up to see him and talk about it...a few days later paint was thrown at the building and all his windows smashed.

I've had good support from my fellows in the trade around me - my nearest compettitor rung and we had a good talk,one of his mechanics dropped in to see us,a couple of panelbeaters have been in and the service station came over and said they have had trouble with the same guy.

[tracyprier]

Man, just what the f@#k is the matter with some people!

We didn't used to get this sort of behaviour regularly here in NZ.

Just what a hard-working garage owner needs in a day.... what an arsehead.

Wouldn't it be great if people like that just "spontaneously combusted"

[oldrider]

I only know you from your postings on this forum and have never seen anything that suggests you asked for this sort of treatment.
I hope everything goes well for you and that you don't make any irrational decisions based on the way you feel about this incident at the moment.
As long as you your family and your staff members are safe things will turn out OK. :calm:
All I can offer you is my sincerest best wishes for a satisfactory outcome .Good Luck. John.

[**R1**]

Shoulda smacked him with a hammer and dumped him and the 4x4 off the nearest bridge.....but then I act first and think second, you should also never take advice from me.....



I have thought about it and you still shouda smacked him with a hammer, duznt matter how big thay are a hammer will still crack their skull.. and if ya miss RUN like f@%k!! and still dont take advice from me.

[Colapop]

Bullies are cowards unless they know they have intimidated their target. There are no day-time window smashers and paint spreaders that I know of. They stay in the shadows because they are scared someone will stand up to them.

Motu,
The good people that you have helped over the years have been genuinely thankful, don't let this asshole bully you into submission.

[kerryg]

Anyone who deals with the public on a daily basis has my respect. Tried it for a while in a retail business, takes a stronger stomach than mine. So many arseholes, so few bullets. Try running a retail business in Parnell..... and you will be AMAZED at how many jumped-up self-important over-dressed wankers there are in just one small suburb. And the shit they make you eat on a daily basis in exchange for their poxy patronage. I guess I wasn't cut out for retail...(or possibly for LIFE). Now I just hide in my little office and don't have to talk to any bugger I don't want..:D

[SPman]

and you will be AMAZED at how many jumped-up self-important over-dressed wankers there are in just one small suburb.
Not amazed at all - remmers, parnell, ponsonby, central, eden-epsom,everywhere, generally...... treat them all with equal disdain!!..:lol:
Violence has always been around - just the population was smaller and communications were not as "instant"...so it didnt seem as much........
Still a barstard when it happens though and Motu seemed to handle it pretty well.

[Indoo]

What area are you in Motu?

And the cops did arrest the guy right?

[erik]

Sorry to hear that Motu.
I hope it hasn't rattled you too much.

[Motoracer]

After the events in Henderson the other day you just don't know what's going to happen out there....kinda scary.I've been abused and threatened by customers before,but never this bad,and I've never called the Cops.I've had enough - you go into business thinking you are going to help people and give them a good deal...and all they do in return is give you abuse and steal from you....I'm selling up and getting a real job,where I don't have to work 70hrs a week,get paid and have holidays.

I know what you mean man. Fully been there myself. I feel for ya. Though tomorrow is another day and is it really worth packing up forever and leaving what you enjoy doing and leaving all the good clients behind? If it's time to move on then you gotta do what you gotta do but you really gotta weigh up your options. I reckon if it's just the one client putting you off, don't worry, you'll get over it eventually.

There are some real fukwits out there... Just don't let them get to you.

[justsomeguy]

Golly......

Sorry to hear about this Motu, I guess the fear of retaliation is the worst thing.

Hopefully it all turns out ok..... it's horrible when shit like this goes down. There's no real way of fighting against bastards like this, I see why you want to choose a more mainstream occupation.

Hope the sun shines on you soon.
JSG

[Pillick]

What a crap situation to be in. I can see why a customer like that would be enough to put you off owning your own buisiness. But one good thing about being your own boss is you have the right to refuse service. Sounds like the mechanics, panel-beaters etc in you're area are pretty close-knit bunch - could you build up a black-list of people you agree not to serve? abusive customers, bad credit, etc?

[Brett]

Well handled, it's a good thing to be able to keep the temper in check...especially with a nice fair sized wrench or spanner handy.

[_Gina_]

Can completely relate Motu, ran my own "shop" for 9 years. Made the mistake of helping a needy lady out by taking a deposit to repair her cyl head gasket on a shitty Viva. She lived on the wrong side of town, but was completely genuine about the fact that she didn't have much money, said she would give us $200.00 to start the job = Remove head and send to machine shop, which we did. She was getting a loan from the credit union for the balance and didn't want us to do any more until she had the money to complete the job. We stored the car out the back for her for about 3 weeks. Then this Sat morning she rings up stressing out saying her old man was back in town and he wanted to come and get the car. He rocks down (fresh out jail I would say) and proceeds to start abusing and threatening me & my ex (who was not a small guy) apparently wants the $200.00 back and the car too, gonna make us pay by burning our building down. Make a long story short I went in the office and called the cops, the ex went out with the guy to show him that all the bits were in the boot and BAM he sucker punches my ex in the face.
We pressed charges and he was done for assault.

Doesn't change the fact that for the next couple of months we were a little uneasy everytime someone different pulled in.

People are idiots.

Hope you work through it and are able to keep on doing what you no doubt love doing.....working for yourself not the man.

Gg

[crashe]

Shit Motu that aint good....

Did you get a Trespass order put against him, so that he can't come anywhere near you or you property for 2 years?

[Motu]

The decision to give up my business was taken a while ago - we have shifted out of Auckland (2nd time) and the next step is for me to not work in this city.I'm not giving up being a mechanic,that is what I am and always will be - I have no desire to be an IT worker.But every tradesman needs to be his own boss at some stage and in 6 mths I'll have done my own business for 10 yrs,that's enough for me.After more than 5000 posts,if you haven't figured it out yet - I'm not a people person,I'm also not into image and presentation and customer relations....I'm very old school and see nothing wrong with how I've always done it,there's no dragging me kicking and screaming into the new world...I'm just not going there.Still lots of exciting things I haven't done in the mechanicing field,or go back to some stuff I used to enjoy.

Thanks for the support in your posts,I appreciate that.Just one more learning experiance in life,one more tick in the ''to do'' book of this lifetime.

[trev]

Wouldn't mind knowing his rego. - for future refernce.

[justsomeguy]

The decision to give up my business was taken a while ago - we have shifted out of Auckland (2nd time) and the next step is for me to not work in this city.I'm not giving up being a mechanic,that is what I am and always will be - I have no desire to be an IT worker.But every tradesman needs to be his own boss at some stage and in 6 mths I'll have done my own business for 10 yrs,that's enough for me.After more than 5000 posts,if you haven't figured it out yet - I'm not a people person,I'm also not into image and presentation and customer relations....I'm very old school and see nothing wrong with how I've always done it,there's no dragging me kicking and screaming into the new world...I'm just not going there.Still lots of exciting things I haven't done in the mechanicing field,or go back to some stuff I used to enjoy.

Thanks for the support in your posts,I appreciate that.Just one more learning experiance in life,one more tick in the ''to do'' book of this lifetime.

Don't move too far away - I don't think all your loyal clients would like to drive too long to be able to enjoy their great service.

You better not leave KB though:nono: We need you here like a fish needs water - no not you JR:lol:

[Yokai]

Just an abusive customer...

Dude that sucks, man... Absolutely no reason for people to be like that... Hope you are OK - definitely did the right thing - I'm surprised you didn't take a tire iron to the plonker... Glad you are OK...

[Biff]

Well done for keeping your cool mate.

Customers eh. Can't live with them, can't feed them a barrell full of 12 bore.

[sels1]

The decision to give up my business was taken a while ago - we have shifted out of Auckland (2nd time) and the next step is for me to not work in this city..

Hope it all falls into place for you. You may look back on this incident and regard it as a turning point which nudged you in a new direction

[stify]

I'm not giving up being a mechanic,that is what I am and always will be


i've just gone back to it after 5 odd years off the floor, and it is what i am, am enjoying work for the first time in a long time, good luck with what ever you end up doing

[Pixie]

Get some jalapenos or better still the hotter variety (I can't recall the name).
Mash them up and soak in alcohol (meths will do) for a few days.
Apply to the problem area with a squirt bottle:bash:

[aff-man]

shit that really sux man. Some people are just so irrational..

I'd be interested to know what the cops had to say??

[Motu]

A mate of mine works at the garage at the other end of the road,my opposistion,but he's only been there a few months and we've known each other for years.His boss is a prick and so he comes down to make private calls on my phone,and we bounce problems off each other...he's into electronics,and I help him with mechanical stuff.

Anyway he drops in on a road test this morning and I'm telling him about my little drama - when some guy comes in looking for some address.I see he has handcuffs on his belt - ah,a detective...probably on a back up call.He asks to speak to someone - but my mate says - ''I work with him,you want the garage at the other end of the street!'' Oh,the Street of Shame!

[heavenly.talker]

Just an abusive customer...

I'm selling up and getting a real job,where I don't have to work 70hrs a week,get paid and have holidays.


Sorry to hear that you got a scare Motu...totally agree that you can't be too careful these days.

The whole world seems to be going crazy at present. Is it just me in thinking that people's stress levels are totally unhealthy?


Little things seem to be setting otherwise normal people off!

Take care out there, hope you get a nice holiday over the new years to think about the best way to look after you and your family from here on in.

Cheers
K

[Lou Girardin]

You on you for knowing when to make the jump Motu.

[Brian d marge]

i've just gone back to it after 5 odd years off the floor, and it is what i am, am enjoying work for the first time in a long time, good luck with what ever you end up doing
This may come out all arse about face , but i am dead tired and have been meaning to reply to this thread for a long time.

I have over the years look after 2 shops while owners away, know very well how you feel motu , it leaves a horrible feeling which you dont need or should ever have to deal with, ( you did the right thing, but any damage to another customers car, will most likely come out of your pocket ?? insurance ?? take the guy to court ,etc sorry to hear that )

I dont know, I have tried to get out of being a mechanic, I stopped being a bike mechanic and do conversation classes at night ( read play with kids for 4 hours and read KB for 2 ) no stress lots of fun , and someone pays me for it.
In the mornings I still play round with bikes, though Now I have the money to try all those Ideas I always wanted to ,,as in I wonder if ...whhops :doh: that didnt work ....

So now after 3 year of that I am finding myself wanting to go back to fixing the bikes more as in drop some hours at nite , ( when I play with bikes the time just flies and the next thing its time to go !)

Thats what I am busy setting up now, I will play with bikes till 4 then earn real money till 10 , wife happy, Im happy ,,,( well wife never happy when sees money spent on bikes !!)

As for the customers you do get sucker punched every once in a while ...you size them up ,,,the dodgy ones you say you cant do the job till the first of Octember ,,,sorry but we are flat out till then ....
The big breasted blonde driving a merc, you look after personally after dragging either the dog or the apprentice of the wheel ....

Over time you foget , and only remember the funny ones , but its something No one should have to deal with in any society , ( strange how they always seem to be best mates , with the leader of the local Thuggees, They never say I am da man ,,,,always I get me mate ,,, Basha to come here and taunt you a second time ....)

either way hope what ever you chose works out ,,,

best of luck
Stephen

[ducatilover]

fuck thats a bit drastic.......i never worked where i deal with the public....cos i dont like the public.....well all the shit heads anyway. I'd get my arse kicked every day, i had some fucker walk past me on the street and point at my jeans [normal jeans] and say "haha look at your pants" and i thought he was going to start a scrap so i smacked him in the nose......it broke too.....but thats beside the point. sorry to hear bout that fucker motu:slap:

[Pillick]

i had some fucker walk past me on the street and point at my jeans [normal jeans] and say "haha look at your pants" and i thought he was going to start a scrap so i smacked him in the nose......it broke too.....but thats beside the point.

Hey, a random tangent that didnt involve your crash! Well done!

[Hitcher]

Yup, just had the clutch replaced on SWMBO's shopping cart...
OK then. I'll ask. What is a SWMBO?

[myvice]

Bugger mate, hope it works out OK. Charge him with something
Yea, a truck!
Hope you don’t hear any more from this guy, I've been threatened a few times but not like that!
Can’t see it happening in our workshop but you just can’t tell anymore.
Good on you for not belting the crap out of him with a jack handle!:bash:
I doubt I would have had your self-control.

[Ixion]

OK then. I'll ask. What is a SWMBO?
She Who Must Be Obeyed

[NordieBoy]

OK then. I'll ask. What is a SWMBO?
She Who Must Be Obeyed.


Too slow again.....

[Hitcher]

Must keep taking those tablets...

[ducatilover]

Hey, a random tangent that didnt involve your crash! Well done!
:killingme thank you now vote me :stupid: