Had a customer argue with me for 20 minutes that his brake job didn't need new rotors because they 'look fine'

He was at my shop in Austin last Tuesday, a guy in his 50s driving a 2015 Ford F-150. I showed him the rotor measurements with my caliper - they were 2mm below spec. He kept saying I was trying to upsell him. Finally I told him to feel the vibration when he stops on the highway. He came back 3 days later asking for the rotor swap. Has anyone else dealt with customers who trust their eyes more than the numbers?

3 comments

3 Comments

benk2615d ago

Yep, that's a classic one. Had a guy last month argue his pads were fine because he could still see some material left, but the backing plate was already scoring his rotors. Some folks just don't trust measuring tools, they trust their gut until the car starts shaking. It's almost like they think we're running some kind of scam instead of just reading numbers off a gauge. Glad he came back around eventually, that's more than some do.

adam_robinson14d ago

@benk26 did he end up admitting you were right or just pay in silence?

patriciacarr14d ago

Funny how people do that, @benk26. The gut feeling over a micrometer every time. Had this one guy bring in his truck convinced the brake fluid was just "low" because it was dark, but it was actually full of moisture and cooked. Ran a test strip right in front of him, color changed from pink to brown in seconds, and he still argued the strip was defective. Some folks need to hear the screech before they believe the numbers, I guess.