Do women get a fair deal with tradespeople/mechanics?

[Little Miss Trouble]

I used to say that too about the one I used to go to, got my car serviced there for the past five years and my van too since we bought it, but after this last ordeal and a few other dodgy things that have apparently "needed" to be done which seemed unnecessary to me I've decided that customer loyalty means dick to them and they can shove it up their arses. And they had the cheek to charge me $10 for a courtesy car for half a day that had no petrol in the tank!

Hmm, if thats the way the rest of them are its no wonder my guys have a big shiny trophy for being the best Pit Stop in the country. Good service, good price and they don't talk down to me

Isn't it sad that customer loyalty means so little these days? Mind you, given the way I've had 'loyal' customers mess me around at times its not that surprising either.

[MsKABC]

Went in on Monday. "Oh come to have the clutch fixed ". " Well, no, it's fixed - tell me, how did you check the hydraulic fluid?". Some argument later, and they were telling me that there was no such thing as a cable clutch! "they are all hydraulic , you must have meddled with something else, it could be very dangerous, we need to check it out". Piss off buddy.

Remind me never to take my fiddly french car there then - hubby informs me that not only is it a cable clutch, but it's a push rather than a pull one. OK, so that means diddly squat to me, so I guess they'd have trouble with it too!

[Ixion]

Cable clutch is not so common now. I wasn't expecting it. I wouldn't condemn them for noting - oh clutch is slipping, needs replacing. But to say they'd checked the hydraulic fluid - when there was none to check, now that's a downright lie.

And they'd surely have opened the bonnet. The cable was pretty obvious, and so tight that when I gave it the usual whack with a spanner it sung like a guitar string.

[MsKABC]

I have to say I have experienced this, but I've also gotten some really good, honest service too, and you do tend to stick with them.

We took the aforementioned little poodle to an auto-electrical place because the airbag light was flashing and it failed a WOF. I was charged $700 for replacing the seatbelt pre-tensioner. Hubby was dubious, but unfortunately didn't get involved.... Sure enough, the light started flashing again less than 12 months later, but this time we took it to a poodle specialist and it was DUST IN THE CONTACTS!!

FTR, Redwood Autos in Swanson is fantastic

I'm reasonably mechanically minded for a chick, so often times when I get to talking with a tradesperson they realise I'm not a complete fool and change their attitude a bit.

These days I have the consumate DIY hubby who refuses to pay anyone to do something he can do himself, so we seldom deal with tradespeople.

[martybabe]

I'm convinced if I'd put this thread on a similar web site in England town it would have been full of women with horror stories to tell. Whilst there are some shockers on here, I guess the boy blokes could come up with a not too dissimilar percentage of rip off tales.

Is the conclusion then that women are not ripped off a disproportionate amount in comparison to their penis packing counterparts and that shit trades people are not necessarily sexist, just shit?

Or is it, as I strongly suspected form the start, That kiwi girls have big enough balls, metaphorically speaking, to challenge rogue traders and their disrespecting, thieving, bullshit at source.

Whatever your gender, you deserve good and honest service. Stick it too em guys! but don't forget to praise the good ones on here so we can all have a bit.

[karla]

Have got to say, finding a mechanic that you can trust is a god-send. My car mechanic has always been a good bloke, charged appropriately and fixed all my problems. Life is far easier when you have a good Mechanic! I may have to dig a bit deeper or look a bit further afield to find a motorbike mechanical God, but I believe I am already on the right track there too ...

I do have a problem finding a builder, gardener, painter ... it seems like all the ones that I know are honest and trustworthy have so much work on that they are booked up for years ahead.

Which kind of says it all, really.

[Her_C4]

I'm reasonably mechanically minded for a chick, so often times when I get to talking with a tradesperson they realise I'm not a complete fool and change their attitude a bit.

Hmm me too. When it is evident that I am being played for a fool, I do like to string them along a wee bit for a while playing the dumb blonde bit (now that I am blonde!!) It makes the 'kill' so much more satisfying.

I do have a problem finding a builder, gardener, painter ... it seems like all the ones that I know are honest and trustworthy have so much work on that they are booked up for years ahead.

Which kind of says it all, really.

Yep - not often I get ripped off, I thought I did my homework reasonably well, but I have to admit a certain local landscaper got the better of me lately. Not too recently I bought a house that desperately needs some garden help, so I contacted three landscapers to give me a quote and have a chat.

I selected what I thought was the best one (gift of the gab got me! - THAT surprised me ). Paid thousands of dollars for a plan and some work on the back slope to tidy it up, the job was less than shoddy and the plants are dying and because they haven't been planted properly (some look like they are just sitting on top of the clay) and there is no irrigation in place, everything is either dying or being choked by weeds.

His response was amazing when I rung him to advise that I would not be proceeding with the rest of the plan (many thousands of dollars worth) and he came around to have a look at it with me and STILL tried to justify the issues talking down to me (oops never a good move)! His final payment is outstanding... and will always be.

[Owl]

We all hear horror stories involving women and rip-offs from time to time. It sucks and shouldn’t be tolerated by anyone.

However the thing that bugs me most at work is the lack of respect towards women customers. I’m talking about the perving that goes on behind the scene’s that is often blatant and something I find extremely embarrassing. Another time, another place, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, but not in the workplace! Surely women out there must get annoyed with this crap!

As far as dealing with customers, my preference would be males rather than females, but gender is really neither here nor there. There is however two job descriptions that come to mind when I think of problem customers. School teachers and Air Force personnel!

[sunhuntin]

i havent overly bad service, but i did stop going to the local former suzi dealer when the mechnics looked at me like i was just another biker chick riding just for image and not for the love. considering i spent a fair amount on gear for the bike when i first started, it was a pissy attitude on their part.
the other suzi dealer wont see my money again either due to the same type of attitude, calling a years worth of fuck ups on a brand new bike, that had done less than 10,000k, "consumables" not covered under warrenty. this included a chain that jumped off the cog and the part that charges the battery [cant recall the name!] amongst other things. they also were not keen to throw a new helmet in with the purchase of said bike.

paragon, the yamaha dealer, on the other hand, have been awesome to deal with. my money will be staying with them until they give me sufficiant reason to get annoyed.

[smoky]

Do you think Women get a fair go when it comes to dealing with mechanics in particular but tradesmen/sales people in general, or do you have experience of the way some of these guys treat the fairer sex like they know nothing or simply don't matter when it comes to anything mechanical.

Misogyny, arrogance or ignorance ? I don't know but it pisses me off!

Yes you’re right women do get treated differently, even in a positive way sometimes; I’ve seen guys bending over backwards to help young ladies when they’ve unbuttoned their blouse a little and flirted a bit.
I guess, from experience, trades people do to some degree lag behind the rest of the PC world when it comes to female and macho perceptions.
But you even see it with guys who go into places like that who have no idea about what their talking about – they often get ripped off as well.
So I think it’s probably more about taking an opportunity to rip someone off regardless of sex, it’s just that most ignorant men think women will naturally be less knowledgeable and easier to rip off.

I work in a profession dominated by women in the senior positions; stereotyping gender perceptions work the other way as well.

I sometimes think I would have more opportunity at work if I were gay, but have learnt to tone down my testosterone traits and just ignore some of the sexist bullshit.

[martybabe]

(gift of the gab got me! - THAT surprised me ).

Surprising isn't it, then again, those that talk the talk and ultimately rip you off have probably spent a life time fine tuning the art of duping customers by telling them what they want to hear and then delivering woeful service.

I've suffered from the silver tongue too, I had a new drive laid by the keenest nicest bloke you can imagine. It warped, it melted and the whole thing moved like a magic carpet whenever you parked a largish vehicle on it.

The best of it was, he came back 6 months later to see if I still wanted the other work doing that we'd discussed. mmmm fool me once.....I lifted up a large section of the drive way with my bare hands and showed him the gravel underneath and explained that if he gave me a few minutes to dig a hole there, my four sons would be along shortly and the whole family would spend some quality time burying the bastard in it.

He was a c#nt but I was the fool. c'est la vie.

[Her_C4]

Surprising isn't it, then again, those that talk the talk and ultimately rip you off have probably spent a life time fine tuning the art of duping customers by telling them what they want to hear and then delivering woeful service.

I've suffered from the silver tongue too, I had a new drive laid by the keenest nicest bloke you can imagine. It warped, it melted and the whole thing moved like a magic carpet whenever you parked a largish vehicle on it.

The best of it was, he came back 6 months later to see if I still wanted the other work doing that we'd discussed. mmmm fool me once.....I lifted up a large section of the drive way with my bare hands and showed him the gravel underneath and explained that if he gave me a few minutes to dig a hole there, my four sons would be along shortly and the whole family would spend some quality time burying the bastard in it.

He was a c#nt but I was the fool. Se la vie.

Yep, what is it that says something along the lines of 'fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me'?? Or summat like that.

When the aforementioned landscaper came back to inspect his work (at my behest), he told me that I needed to pay his bill ASAP, so that he could get on with the next stage of the plan... WTF??

Let me tell you again S.L.O.W.L.Y that hell will freeze before I (or any of my friends) do business with you again....

c'est la vie indeed.

[fireliv]

Yes you’re right women do get treated differently, even in a positive way sometimes; I’ve seen guys bending over backwards to help young ladies when they’ve unbuttoned their blouse a little and flirted a bit.

Yup thats true too. My partners sister used to wear a small skirt when taking her scooter in to the mehanics (Typical no protective gear), they would fix the problem, do everything else for her, and charge her crap all.

Obviously I'm not hot enough cos I dont get that kinda treatment. I dont do the mechanical side of thing, leave that to phoenix to deal with. However I am the enforcer. If we get ripped off (which seams to always be insurance companies...) its me that gets these bastards on the run.

But I guess predujuces against women have been round for years. Its not going to change tomorrow, but maybe over time. I mean I still get the weirdest looks from both guys and girls when I take my helmet off and they realise I'm a chick.

[Her_C4]

I mean I still get the weirdest looks from both guys and girls when I take my helmet off and they realise I'm a chick.

ha ha ha me too!! Especially when they realise that I am an (cough cough) OLDER one. They look from me to the bike and back again with a look of 'cannot compute' aka sheer bewilderment, and then curiosity and then the braver ones come over and ask (having seen me just get off it)... 'are you riding that? Is it yours?'

[martybabe]

Yep, what is it that says something along the lines of 'fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me'?? Or summat like that.

When the aforementioned landscaper came back to inspect his work (at my behest), he told me that I needed to pay his bill ASAP, so that he could get on with the next stage of the plan... WTF??

Let me tell you again S.L.O.W.L.Y that hell will freeze before I (or any of my friends) do business with you again....

c'est la vie indeed.

And let me tell you S.L.O.W.L.Y. you....... rock....... lady!

P.s. Apologies for the French spelling, I'm old and confused