My car has been acting up for a month or so. It’s been very hesitant. AKA, it’s been a real asshole. I took it to a mechanic who does not specialize in European cars and he ran a diagnostic test on it and found 3 codes to explain the problem.
He would not, however, fix it since he was a diesel mechanic. The last car I had was a super great little Honda. And I had 2 mechanics that were the only two people that ever worked on her. So I took the BMW to one of them and told them the code situation. He, too, said that wasn’t his area of expertise but said there was a shop right down the road who did specialize in European cars, BMWs specifically.
So I took the car to them and asked about getting it fixed. They told me they could definitely fix it and that they could even give me a ride home and fix it the same day. I took the deal giving them a specific amount that I absolutely could not exceed to get it fixed, seeing as how I don’t actually have a real job anymore. They agreed to stay under my budget and to call me if they found any major issues.
About 3 hours passed and I still hadn’t heard anything. I went online to look at the reviews and there weren’t many of them and most of the ones that were there were pretty positive, except for 2. Two of the reviews were terrible and immediately had me starting to stress out. But the more I read into them, I saw that they were, in fact, the same people. One must have been the husband and one was the wife. Of course, I wanted to know if their review was trustworthy so I clicked on their profile. The one bad review was the only review they had ever given.
I am a fan of reviews because it gives you a pretty realistic picture of what you can expect, but I also know that reviews can’t always be trusted. I’m a total reviewer. I review everything. Especially if it’s good. If it’s bad, I usually won’t give a negative review unless I’ve given the place a second try and it was still a bad experience, then I will definitely give a review, but I do make concessions for busy days, or shorthanded offices, or poor management that trickles down. I just don’t make many.
So I sat a little worried about my car. And when they finally called, they told me the car was ready and that it was only $130. I was literally expecting to pay hundreds more. But they were super honest and timely. And they renewed my faith in humanity that those two- one star reviews almost took away from me.
I ultimately found out about those two reviews (because I asked when I went to get my car) and it turns out they were just part of that group of people who will never be happy no matter what. The kind you give their money back to and just never work with them again. And I’ve had a few of those in my life so I definitely could relate.
Just goes to show, you can’t always believe everything you read.
RouletteWeekend 