Can customers get fired? Heck yes, they can.

It sounds crazy since the customer service mantra is "the customer is always right" but there are certain industries that are willing to "fire" troublesome customers. Those customers are the ones that cause the business to lose money, lose time, and lose marbles. One of those qualities exclusively probably won't get a patron fired, but all of these combined will definitely do the trick. A mechanic is willing to listen to a customer with complaints and anxieties, as long as they are willing to pay the bill. On the other hand, a person who never seems to be happy, no matter how much blood sweat and tears the tech put into their car, and then to top it off, isn't willing to pay, is not worth the hastle. This may seem far fetched to some people, but I believe that customers like that have a broken MORAL COMPASS. The mechanic is still human and deserves respect (as long as he is honest and thorough). It is not OK to treat a guy on the street like trash, so it shouldn't be OK to treat your mechanic like a minimum wage grease monkey.

My husband sacrificed for years to get his education. He has a skill that most people do not, so his time is worth what he asks. I am referring to a specific incident. A gentleman called that J never worked with before, so my husband went to his house to fix his car. (By the way, the trip alone costs $20 because of our lovely gas prices.) There was a problem that was not exactly clear so he fixed a few things on the car to see if that would solve the problem. He spent several hours going back and forth to get parts and make sure the job was done correctly. Unfortunately, the original problem was not fixed. He charged $75 for the work that was done because that is what they agreed on, even though he ended up doing more work than that. He told the guy he would go back over and pull his dash out for him for FREE if the problem was not fixed. Meanwhile, they were texting back and forth, and J was giving him tips on what to unscrew or move and other car related stuff. The guy found the the wire that was causing a problem and fixed it. He texted back that he was more "pro than the pros" and that he wanted a refund. He told my husband that he was only worth $8.50 an hour.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over this dude because I'm sure he has a lot of other issues he is dealing with. My point is, that is no way to conduct yourself when you are doing business. Sure, you have to stand up for yourself if you are being taken for a ride, but in this case, the only thing my husband did wrong was to get involved in the first place.

Let's all try to make the world a nicer place. Peace out people!