VW Continue to Annoy
I wanted to give VW the benefit of the doubt, and thought that the extra cost was probably worth having the car serviced by the garage that bears the same name. Not only is it supposed to be 'better' (though heaven knows how), but I would get the benefit of the VW stamp in the service history logbook. All good. But then they go and make it really difficult, and I end up going to my local garagist - he's nicer, less pretentious, less expensive and more accommodating.
I'd like the free MOT retest for my car please"
"Of course sir, but the retest is only free if you come back within 14 days"
"That's Ok, I have another 5 days left then"
"Well, yes, but we're fully booked for the next few days. Actually, by some incredible coincidental stroke of karmic bad luck, we're fully booked until the day after your free retest is valid. Awfully sorry Sir."
I should've known, really. I mean how could I not see this coming? After the horrid quote for the repairs, and the fact that I deliberately dissed them by getting the car back and having it repaired elsewhere, they were clearly going to stiff me on the free retest.
Only this way they've also lost the 190 pounds they would have made servicing my car. I did explain this, but they didn't really get the picture. Besides, I actually don't trust people who overcharge that much - I think they're setting their prices high so that customers think, "Gosh that's expensive, they must be really really good," when in fact it's all a clever exercise in reverse psychology, and in reality you're probably going to find the spare wheel attached to the steering column, the exhaust pipe instead of the gearstick and the windscreen wipers on the inside of the car (specially for people with a lisp who like to sing while they drive).
I'll get it done locally. I get a good feeling helping out a little business, plus it's cheaper, and the VW stamp in that annoying little book is unlikely to make enough difference to the final resale value of the car that I'm going to notice the difference. It's already worth less than the rear bumper of a Merc.
This morning, people were driving exceptionally badly. The man in the car in front of me kept looking in the drivers seat - I could see he was turning his head because he was wearing a cap. I dropped back a bit because he was visibly not paying all that much attention to the road, and then he swerved violently and stopped doing it - one wonders what he was thinking.
I can think of few responsibilities we all enbrace daily that are more serious than that of driving a car. It weights upwards of 2 tons, has a motor inside it that will propel it at high speed, and does so in close proximity to other big heavy metal objects that are moving just as fast. Nevertheless, while people embrace this responsibility with arms wide open, they do so when they've been drinking, when they've not slept properly, when they're angry at the world (and they let it show in the way they handle their 2+ ton weapon).
What's more, the act of sitting in the drivers seat, closing the door and starting the engine seems to turn quite a few people into their dark inner twin. Out comes the most amazingly selfish behaviour, regular flashes of recklessness and a willingness to risk the wellbeing, peace of mind and tranquility of all and sundry just to get 2 places ahead in a line of 500 cars.
Posted by nlvp at February 21, 2005 08:41 PM