jayc
Texas-South Chapter Leaders
While traveling to Elkhart to have some work done to the trailer, I had a brake problem on my truck just north of Indianapolis IN. My right rear wheel brakes began to smoke after a really hard braking experience. I called Good Sam Road Service for help and had a choice of having the truck/trailer towed into a shop on a Saturday afternoon or having a mobile service come out to make the repairs on the road. I didn't want to spend a weekend in someone's shop with no facilities, so I chose the mobile tech service.
About an hour and a half later, Tony with Superior Service drives up. He looked at the problem and determined that one of the brake calipers had failed. He then explained that I would be required to pay $90 an hour for his services from the time he left home after receiving the call from Good Sam, then the same for any time that he needed to go pick up parts. He said that GS only pays him to take a call from them ($120.00) and that the customer is responsible for all other parts and service time. He also said that the caliper would cost $169.00. Of course, being broke down on the side of the road, what choice do I have? I told him that I would pay, then he says he only accepts cash, no credit cards and no checks. Wow! Who carries several hundred dollars in cash around?
So he goes to a parts store about 20 miles away. It takes him an hour and fifteen minutes to make the round trip. Hmmm. He gets back and he can't get the caliper apart and needs a special socket and of course, has to go back to the parts store to get it. I question why I must pay for him to go get tools which he should have had to begin with, but his reply is that he wouldn't have needed the tool if I hadn't broken down. Again, I'm on the side of the road, broke down and now with the wheel off and the brake system taken apart, so what choice do I have? I agreed to pay him and he goes and gets the tools he needs and returns about 5:15. It takes him about 20-25 minutes to finish the job, and he tells us that he's "only" going to charge us until 5:30. Thanks a lot pal.
The total time he spent actually working on my truck was 30-45 minutes. Even with the hour he spent running for parts and the cost of the parts, which incidentally, actually can be bought for $39.00 when he charged me $169 for, I should have had to pay less than $200 but we had to come up with $570. Thank goodness there was an ATM at the convenience store across the street He would probably have charged us an hour's service to take my wife to the machine to get him his money.
I intend to call Good Sam tomorrow to tell them about their "service". I will likely be looking into another road service also.
About an hour and a half later, Tony with Superior Service drives up. He looked at the problem and determined that one of the brake calipers had failed. He then explained that I would be required to pay $90 an hour for his services from the time he left home after receiving the call from Good Sam, then the same for any time that he needed to go pick up parts. He said that GS only pays him to take a call from them ($120.00) and that the customer is responsible for all other parts and service time. He also said that the caliper would cost $169.00. Of course, being broke down on the side of the road, what choice do I have? I told him that I would pay, then he says he only accepts cash, no credit cards and no checks. Wow! Who carries several hundred dollars in cash around?
So he goes to a parts store about 20 miles away. It takes him an hour and fifteen minutes to make the round trip. Hmmm. He gets back and he can't get the caliper apart and needs a special socket and of course, has to go back to the parts store to get it. I question why I must pay for him to go get tools which he should have had to begin with, but his reply is that he wouldn't have needed the tool if I hadn't broken down. Again, I'm on the side of the road, broke down and now with the wheel off and the brake system taken apart, so what choice do I have? I agreed to pay him and he goes and gets the tools he needs and returns about 5:15. It takes him about 20-25 minutes to finish the job, and he tells us that he's "only" going to charge us until 5:30. Thanks a lot pal.
The total time he spent actually working on my truck was 30-45 minutes. Even with the hour he spent running for parts and the cost of the parts, which incidentally, actually can be bought for $39.00 when he charged me $169 for, I should have had to pay less than $200 but we had to come up with $570. Thank goodness there was an ATM at the convenience store across the street He would probably have charged us an hour's service to take my wife to the machine to get him his money.
I intend to call Good Sam tomorrow to tell them about their "service". I will likely be looking into another road service also.