Hello Keith. I'm the manager of the Auto Club's ERS training team based in CA. This is a straightforward issue that the contractor should have handled directly. Although Tusla is outside of our Clubs territory, I'd be happy to faciliate a resolution for your customer. LMK if you'd like some additonal support. We appreciate you.
I'm a AAA contractor (locksmith) and our club would give the contractor a choice to fix it ASAP or be billed for it. Our club doesn't let these complaints go like this. I have had AAA members accuse us of breaking a drivers door when we opened the passenger door. I have had them accuse us of breaking their ignition when the call was actually for a damaged ignition so it can go both ways but this seems pretty cut and dry on the contractor. We are all human and once in a while we all make mistakes. I am the one chasing the member down to rectify it ASAP if we damaged something. That contractor wouldn't last long in our club.
One of the rules is to always pay with a credit card. Sometimes, the ultimate choice is to buy a new battery, fix the problem and dispute the charges for the bad battery. In this case, there is a legitimate reason to dispute the charges.
Exactly and my rule for myself. Any time there's a job that may go sideways, I use my AMEX and I defensively document everything - all correspondence, web traffic -everything. I've had to dispute a few where this crap went on. AMEX will charge-back to the vendor with reasonable proof of non-performance and they do it quickly. Others may do this too but I don't have experience with them.
The sad part is that it's not just the automotive industry, the grocery store, construction, parts, etc. This is why back in the mid 80's the Customer Satisfaction Index was started in the auto industry and other consumer related companies followed. The entire Customer Satisfaction part has taken a 180; I don't know if companies will recover with todays young people/
Had a customer with a flat tire in the city. She called AAA to change the tire. He removed the lug nuts and the wheel had some corrosion around the hub and it wouldn't come off easily. He thought the axle nut for the front driveshaft was a wheel lock and he couldn't remove it so the car had to be towed. In the mean time, he reinstalled the lug nuts backwards. A tow truck came and towed the car to our shop. In the process of unloading the car from the ramp truck the driver crashed the car into the side of our shop door, damaging the car and the door. AAA should do more to check the competency of their contractors.
More often than not, I've had horrible experiences with AAA. Anytime I've had customers use them, either damage caused from a tow or batteries jumped backwards requiring module replacements afterwards. For the last 10 yrs I'd say, I've told my customers, friends & family to NEVER allow AAA to jumpstart their vehicles, to just have them towed home or to the shop, if they want to avoid extensive damage. It's absolutely infuriating to now hear Keith's customer is getting shafted by AAA as well. Horrible way to do business.
Yes Cuba very madding for making thinks worst than they started. Never admit they done any thing wrong. Very poor. But every one still gets them and it is CAA in Canada here but the same thing. Cheers
They were good in the 60's and 70's. You were going on a trip, you got maps for the entire way. Now you get the one street you should take all the way there. It has to cost more to print those routes than just giving you the state map for each state. I helped a women who had been waiting over two hours for them to fix her flat tire. It was 2:45 in the morning, and punks were scaring her. She told me cop showed up, and they ran off, and then the cop left her there, and they came back. Open carry works, they fled when they saw me, and I changed her tire. Had a good talk about the state laws, showed here some guns in my car that would fit her hand and are easy to use, and clean.
Have had CSAA for twenty plus years. Needed roadside assistance a couple times maybe ten years ago. Had a breakdown on the freeway a few months ago (an intermittent electrical problem). Called CSAA for a tow home and waited for over an hour. When I called they said they were too busy. Finally a couple of good guys stopped and we pushed the car further down the road into a safer turnout. I was able to wiggle the fuse box and got my ignition back to limp home. Two hours after that I get a call that they’re sending a tow truck to my location. I’ve cancelled my subscription with CSAA. They aren’t what they used to be.
Your opinion. If you only use them for towing it's far cheaper than getting a tow truck, also for lockouts. I never wait more than 45 minutes max, all other roadside services available here through phone service or insurance, will leave you stranded
@@SooSmokie I've had AAA for years and my last two uses of their services were less than desirable. On the first one they ended up telling me they had no one to send on that day and that it would have to be the next day before anyone could show up to tow my vehicle. The last time I used them I had to wait three hours before anyone showed up. They kept putting me off every time I called. The roll back driver told me he finally told them he was coming to get my car because they had put me off so many times and that I had waited too long as it was. I guess they kept sending him to other places other than to get me. Before these last two instances, I had good luck with them.
I am not perfect and have done a wrong diag more than once. The customer never pays anything more than the original fee. That is how it should be Everywhere! AAA should replace the battery and pay for your time
I recently had a goofy heat soak issue with my Chevy's 4L60E transmission relating to electrical control. I spent a lot of time chasing down the problem. A whole bunch of not-in-the-know friends and acquaintances following the trials and tribulations of my efforts commented that I should just have some shop look at it... Oh no... For if I'm having a hard time zeroing in on the issue, a typical shop will too. And the results will be that they'll say I need a new transmission to the tune of a few thousand dollars. The issue turned out to be a bad electrical connection between the transmission's internal wiring harness and the 3-2 downshift solenoid. Upon heat soak the electrical connection between the harness and solenoid went fully open circuit. The fix? A new harness and replacement solenoid. I also replaced the rest of the solenoids while I was in there... The total cost was a couple of hundred dollars after all was said and done, not thousands. The incompetence of the average repair shop is why none of my family's vehicles, power sports, and lawn & garden equipment has not seen the inside of a retail repair facility in over three decades.
That’s the reason I bought my daughter a jump pack and showed her how to change a tire when she started driving. I don’t need her to be a victim on the side of the road. If it’s anything else the car gets towed home.
I would put a new battery and a battery bolt. If she cannot pay u now then its ok. Later on she can collect the money from AAA and pay you back. That way you have a new customer.
Firestone near me diagnosed a misfire complaint on my mother in laws car (2018 chevy trax) as front pads rotors and calipers. Then when that didn't fix it, they said she needed a transmission (didn't have that work done thankfully). Shortly after that she had a random stiff brake pedal. She went to pepboys and they stated it needed a brake booster. Mind you it was still misfiring, finally I had to get involved (I don't have a ton of time as I work a swing shift for a public utility and 2 kids in a bunch of travel sports) scanned the car and had a code in the brake module that was something like unexpected pressure at brake booster. Pulled a vacuum on the booster and it held. looked into the secondary vacuum pump and the fuse was blown. I could acuate the pump after I changed the fuse, but it wasn't building vacuum. Changed the pump and everything worked as expected. found that the rotor in the pump got shattered somehow. Once that was fixed, I drove it around with my scan tool hooked up and noticed I was getting a cylinder 1 and 4 misfire. Pulled the coil pack and 1 and 4 tubes on the coil were broken off and the leads corroded. Put a new coil, 4 plugs in and it runs fine now. I didn't see the brakes as she already had them done, so it's possible they didn't have to be done asap. So that's 2 places that will never get any money or recommendations from my family now. I wish I had more time to fix family member cars. Was hoping that the guys at the retail garage's that claim to be excellent at repairing cars actually were.
Send them a DEMAND letter . Then a summons to small claims court . Someone was careless threading or over tightened the battery bolt into the lead connection on the NEW battery . Bring your video and a written estimate to court . If the shop is STUPID and wants to waste hours going to court , you can't fix STUPID . It's more than obvious who is at fault .
Who is the company that serviced her for AAA? That is who needs to be called. We have had the best service for years through AAA contracted companies here in the Houston Fort Bend Area. Usually they send League City Tow or a company in Rosenberg to drive to Sienna 22 minutes outside of Houston Med Center. The related company has insurance also. Not that I believe people should go after insurance. But this would be a time to do so.
One time AAA sent out a guy to help me with a blowout after I hydroplaned off of a ramp. Guy seemed like he was having trouble finding my car’s jack point so I asked him if he wanted to see the manual. Guy says “man i’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been driving” and then proceeds to punch a hole through the bottom of the driver’s side floor🙄 The of course I had to wait like, 8 hours or so for a tow.
Took a caddy to a shop and told them it needed the CV carb rebuilt. They said they had to hook it up to diagnose first. I said no, problem, I now what is wrong. I just didn't want to drill out the 18 rivets and tap the holes. 15 min later. Well, the CV carb needs to be rebuilt. We don't do that, that will be $85 for the diagnostic. I didn't pay, I told them to drop dead and left.
The solution(s) to this are complex. This relatively minor battery issue points to a bunch of underlying problems in our industry and society in general. Employing people who actually give a s#$t and are driven to do their job properly is a start. Finding people who have the right attitude to begin with. Clear communication and the right tools to do the job. And the big one off course is the R word; Responsibility...towards yourself and others.
How do you even managed to strip out a battery connector I mean that's silly And what's the big deal You're right why aren't they just replacing the battery
On my area the AAA service is terrible the company's the provide AAA service only want to provide service on a case of a accident because they charge the AAA for the tow and they bill the insurance separately and when they have to provide road side the left the customers waiting for hrs
I like this guy . Need more honest folks . Ive worked auto retail for a while, and i deal with some of these mechanics. a lot of them are just not honest . Not all of them but enough to know to be cautious
It's a shame that were I live it's hard to find an honest mechanic. I could tell you stories but it's not gonna change the fact that there are just not that many honest folks in the industry here in Arizona
I thought it was going to be a "jumped it backwards" video. Can't believe they wouldn't warranty that instantly through shame alone, I presume the AAA is a massive company like the AA here in the UK. It's funny, I had the conversation on a football forums general page just a couple of weeks ago on this exact subject. Only one person in the motor trade agreed with me that the customer shouldn't pay for garage mistakes and miss diagnosis. The chat started around a BMW Mini glow plug snapped in the head, the garage wanted to charge the customer £250 to get a specialist in to repair it. For me that's not how this trade works and never has in my 30 years, you break it you fix it, I simply don't understand when this started to be the norm. Greed, reaching new levels year by year, thanks for the upload.
It's not a triple a problem. Its the shop that is contracted to triple a. Call out these shops by name, they either up their game or lose business. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that i put shoddy work or screwed over someone.
That was true for all cars in the 70s when they had generators, this is an alternator, many vehicle require the ground to be hooked up to a battery in order for the DC coupling to happen in the internal voltage regulator.
What makes techs look bad is not actually showing what's wrong was battery striped or bolt . Bet that would have took a whole 10 seconds to actually see what the problem was not guess and point blame good job man
Huh? Every flow chart starts with a visual inspection. This was most likely a stripped bolt. 78series batteries almost never strip on the battery side nowadays.
Exactly how I run my shop. I have all repeat customers and more work than I can handle. Being honest and fair is all people ask for. We are all out here trying to make a living, customers and techs. So don’t take advantage of the customer. They worked for their money also.
The Tacoma I recently acquired, had a whole bunch of stuff replaced on it... I'm still finding and fixing complete disasters... No oil light during bulb check... Broken wire zip tied to the sensor...? What a mess. Front struts on the wrong sides...
Thats one bad move and behavior from the battery guys..we should stand on our work and repairs.customer should get back work against the money he is paying..you are right sir this kinda thing give us diag guys bad reputation..cheers
Seems a easy solution. Reverse the charges for the battery on your credit card. Then buy a new one, or simply tap and rethread the battery. No use wasting a perfectly good battery if it's gonna be free
what is the torque spec on that bolt??? lol i doubt anyone knows but i'm sure there is one. thing is that would be for a factory battery. i hate side posts just for the fact the construction of the threads varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. some have a steel nut imbedded and some are just lead. you have people that reef the crap out of bolts some who torque them and some that screw them in and give them a 1/4 turn. irregardless the shop that did that needs to step up and replace it.
After over 40 years owning vehicles I have absolutely 0 experience with AAA, or any other "auto club" (I've always felt that their annual fees for what you get are a rip off). Does AAA actually have its own shops or, does it let just any shop willing to pay a fee hang a sign on the wall? Seriously, I just had my pickup towed to a shop today because I don't have time to do the rear brakes that it needs. The tow cost $130 but, it's also the first time in over 20 years that I've had a vehicle towed. It's also not the typical pickup that you see all the time. Mine is a F-250 Super Duty, Ex-cab with an 8' bed, in other words, it's heavier and LONGER than most so, they brought a bigger rollback. How much would I have spent on 20+ years of AAA memberships before actually using it? I'm sure more than $130!
My customer had a 51R series battery installed in his 2003 Civic by AAA. It's supposed to have a 51 series battery. If the hood prop were to be secured in its clip, you would cause a dead short from the Positive terminal to ground. The "battery changer" left the hood prop dangling down the side of battery into the engine compartment. It took 2 months of calls, correspondence and inspections, before AAA would exchange the battery.
Kinda reminds me of warranty companies as well. They take their time to approve repairs and don't always cover all parts when it's an involved repair. Off topic though, I would like to know more about pressure sensors vs. master cylinder diagnosis. What kind of testing did you do to help pinpoint the fault? Thanks and thumbs up!
obviously put the new parts cannon on it. LOL I had a reputable mechanic once. Worked on car for 3 hours, and could not find the problem, didn't charge me anything. It was a nightmare intermittent that makes the car just shut down randomly while driving, and it never would die for him. Dealer said they fixed it, called me back 5 minutes later, and said it was being towed back. I told them their parts cannon ECU and Carb were not the problem when I dropped it off. They tried to charge me for them. It was a faulty magnet in the distributor pickup. The field just stopped, so no spark. Who ever heard of a magnet that works sometimes, then stops working. Years later my sister had the same problem, and I told her to go to a parts store, buy a new distributor, and have it put on. She refused, $1200 later in shop bills she finally did, and never had an issue after that.
Agreed if I don't fix the problem the customer pays nothing. Unless there is an agreement between me and the customer otherwise to try something that might or might not work, usually something the customer ask me to try that might work.
There are few technicians that have the ability to root cause a problem anymore. They load up the parts cannon, shrug when the problem isn't fixed and send the customer out the door with a car that isn't fixed, but still expect to be paid. "We tried everything, you might want to go to another shop that knows about __________. We don't specialize in foreign cars."
I would take a look at bulletin #02-06-04-015A. The threads in that battery are stronger than the threads on that bolt. I couldn’t tell you how many battery bolts I replaced back in the day when all of our vehicles had side post batteries.
You might want to let the customer know the vehicle isn't worth the repair cost, but do it if they still want to. I'm one of those guys eccentrically keeping an old car he's had forever on the road. I put an $8000 engine in a $1500 car five years ago because it was honestly worth it to me. The shop that was willing to do it with A grade parts has gotten a good recommendation in my book. A combination of worn timing chain cassettes in a Ford 4.0 SOHC and a bad head gasket caused by a bad mechanic.
Did you guys check the threads? They are coarse threads inside the battery,what usually strips is the actual bolt because the bolt is the softer metal. I’ve fixed a couple by buying a battery terminal kit that comes with those new bolts.
The difference is, Paul and his videos advocates charging the video rather the customer for absolutely everything that you do even if you're wrong. He believes you should be able to charge the customer for diagnostic time if you don't know something. That is where Paul is wrong. You seem to have a lot more integrity than him.
Paul advocates for the same cause. Charge for diagnosis but if didn't fix it the first time, you eat the misdiagnosis and go for the correct one where you chare properly. i.e. parts, labor or not
A agree with Paul, I may spend 30+ minutes looking up systems and description of operation to correctly test a system or component, I am charging for that.
Nice FYI video. People should not have to deal with this but we are our own first line of defense. It is a shame that it’s come down to this though. Steve
See Part 2 here: ua-cam.com/video/O426tf70EBw/v-deo.htmlsi=5guuHHdS1aHtW7x_
Hello Keith. I'm the manager of the Auto Club's ERS training team based in CA. This is a straightforward issue that the contractor should have handled directly. Although Tusla is outside of our Clubs territory, I'd be happy to faciliate a resolution for your customer. LMK if you'd like some additonal support. We appreciate you.
A call to the local area manager would be great. It has been here over 2 weeks. Completely unacceptable.
I'm a AAA contractor (locksmith) and our club would give the contractor a choice to fix it ASAP or be billed for it. Our club doesn't let these complaints go like this. I have had AAA members accuse us of breaking a drivers door when we opened the passenger door. I have had them accuse us of breaking their ignition when the call was actually for a damaged ignition so it can go both ways but this seems pretty cut and dry on the contractor. We are all human and once in a while we all make mistakes. I am the one chasing the member down to rectify it ASAP if we damaged something. That contractor wouldn't last long in our club.
One of the rules is to always pay with a credit card. Sometimes, the ultimate choice is to buy a new battery, fix the problem and dispute the charges for the bad battery. In this case, there is a legitimate reason to dispute the charges.
Exactly and my rule for myself. Any time there's a job that may go sideways, I use my AMEX and I defensively document everything - all correspondence, web traffic -everything. I've had to dispute a few where this crap went on. AMEX will charge-back to the vendor with reasonable proof of non-performance and they do it quickly. Others may do this too but I don't have experience with them.
Good customer service is getting tough to find these days 😒
Good morning Ivan
That's all it would take to be a step above as well.
The sad part is that it's not just the automotive industry, the grocery store, construction, parts, etc. This is why back in the mid 80's the Customer Satisfaction Index was started in the auto industry and other consumer related companies followed. The entire Customer Satisfaction part has taken a 180; I don't know if companies will recover with todays young people/
You just like Ivan have INTEGRITY, it’s not as common as it once was. This is a nice channel and am here from Ivan’s channel.
Had a customer with a flat tire in the city. She called AAA to change the tire. He removed the lug nuts and the wheel had some corrosion around the hub and it wouldn't come off easily. He thought the axle nut for the front driveshaft was a wheel lock and he couldn't remove it so the car had to be towed. In the mean time, he reinstalled the lug nuts backwards. A tow truck came and towed the car to our shop. In the process of unloading the car from the ramp truck the driver crashed the car into the side of our shop door, damaging the car and the door. AAA should do more to check the competency of their contractors.
More often than not, I've had horrible experiences with AAA. Anytime I've had customers use them, either damage caused from a tow or batteries jumped backwards requiring module replacements afterwards. For the last 10 yrs I'd say, I've told my customers, friends & family to NEVER allow AAA to jumpstart their vehicles, to just have them towed home or to the shop, if they want to avoid extensive damage. It's absolutely infuriating to now hear Keith's customer is getting shafted by AAA as well. Horrible way to do business.
Cheaper to buy a small jump pack (the size of an old laptop battery) and keep it in your spare tire well or glovebox.
Yes Cuba very madding for making thinks worst than they started. Never admit they done any thing wrong. Very poor. But every one still gets them and it is CAA in Canada here but the same thing. Cheers
They were good in the 60's and 70's. You were going on a trip, you got maps for the entire way. Now you get the one street you should take all the way there.
It has to cost more to print those routes than just giving you the state map for each state.
I helped a women who had been waiting over two hours for them to fix her flat tire. It was 2:45 in the morning, and punks were scaring her. She told me cop showed up, and they ran off, and then the cop left her there, and they came back. Open carry works, they fled when they saw me, and I changed her tire. Had a good talk about the state laws, showed here some guns in my car that would fit her hand and are easy to use, and clean.
Have had CSAA for twenty plus years. Needed roadside assistance a couple times maybe ten years ago. Had a breakdown on the freeway a few months ago (an intermittent electrical problem). Called CSAA for a tow home and waited for over an hour. When I called they said they were too busy. Finally a couple of good guys stopped and we pushed the car further down the road into a safer turnout. I was able to wiggle the fuse box and got my ignition back to limp home. Two hours after that I get a call that they’re sending a tow truck to my location. I’ve cancelled my subscription with CSAA. They aren’t what they used to be.
AAA is a waste of money. They make you wait several hours and send a jiffy lube reject out to finish off your car.
Your opinion. If you only use them for towing it's far cheaper than getting a tow truck, also for lockouts. I never wait more than 45 minutes max, all other roadside services available here through phone service or insurance, will leave you stranded
@@SooSmokie I've had AAA for years and my last two uses of their services were less than desirable. On the first one they ended up telling me they had no one to send on that day and that it would have to be the next day before anyone could show up to tow my vehicle.
The last time I used them I had to wait three hours before anyone showed up. They kept putting me off every time I called. The roll back driver told me he finally told them he was coming to get my car because they had put me off so many times and that I had waited too long as it was. I guess they kept sending him to other places other than to get me.
Before these last two instances, I had good luck with them.
I am not perfect and have done a wrong diag more than once. The customer never pays anything more than the original fee. That is how it should be Everywhere!
AAA should replace the battery and pay for your time
I recently had a goofy heat soak issue with my Chevy's 4L60E transmission relating to electrical control. I spent a lot of time chasing down the problem. A whole bunch of not-in-the-know friends and acquaintances following the trials and tribulations of my efforts commented that I should just have some shop look at it...
Oh no... For if I'm having a hard time zeroing in on the issue, a typical shop will too. And the results will be that they'll say I need a new transmission to the tune of a few thousand dollars.
The issue turned out to be a bad electrical connection between the transmission's internal wiring harness and the 3-2 downshift solenoid. Upon heat soak the electrical connection between the harness and solenoid went fully open circuit.
The fix? A new harness and replacement solenoid. I also replaced the rest of the solenoids while I was in there... The total cost was a couple of hundred dollars after all was said and done, not thousands.
The incompetence of the average repair shop is why none of my family's vehicles, power sports, and lawn & garden equipment has not seen the inside of a retail repair facility in over three decades.
Besides incompetence , many are trying to scare customers and fatten their own WALLETS .
All they have to do is exchange the battery put a new bolt in it and call it a day I don't see what the big deal is
Yep, that's all we asked for.
The battery had a problem because it was made in the future 11/23 date stamp
That’s the reason I bought my daughter a jump pack and showed her how to change a tire when she started driving.
I don’t need her to be a victim on the side of the road. If it’s anything else the car gets towed home.
I would put a new battery and a battery bolt. If she cannot pay u now then its ok. Later on she can collect the money from AAA and pay you back. That way you have a new customer.
Firestone near me diagnosed a misfire complaint on my mother in laws car (2018 chevy trax) as front pads rotors and calipers. Then when that didn't fix it, they said she needed a transmission (didn't have that work done thankfully). Shortly after that she had a random stiff brake pedal. She went to pepboys and they stated it needed a brake booster. Mind you it was still misfiring, finally I had to get involved (I don't have a ton of time as I work a swing shift for a public utility and 2 kids in a bunch of travel sports) scanned the car and had a code in the brake module that was something like unexpected pressure at brake booster. Pulled a vacuum on the booster and it held. looked into the secondary vacuum pump and the fuse was blown. I could acuate the pump after I changed the fuse, but it wasn't building vacuum. Changed the pump and everything worked as expected. found that the rotor in the pump got shattered somehow. Once that was fixed, I drove it around with my scan tool hooked up and noticed I was getting a cylinder 1 and 4 misfire. Pulled the coil pack and 1 and 4 tubes on the coil were broken off and the leads corroded. Put a new coil, 4 plugs in and it runs fine now. I didn't see the brakes as she already had them done, so it's possible they didn't have to be done asap. So that's 2 places that will never get any money or recommendations from my family now. I wish I had more time to fix family member cars. Was hoping that the guys at the retail garage's that claim to be excellent at repairing cars actually were.
I see those new bolts get stripped very easily. You did make sure it wasn't just the bolt didn't you?
Yep
Send them a DEMAND letter . Then a summons to small claims court . Someone was careless threading or over tightened the battery bolt into the lead connection on the NEW battery . Bring your video and a written estimate to court . If the shop is STUPID and wants to waste hours going to court , you can't fix STUPID . It's more than obvious who is at fault .
Who is the company that serviced her for AAA? That is who needs to be called. We have had the best service for years through AAA contracted companies here in the Houston Fort Bend Area. Usually they send League City Tow or a company in Rosenberg to drive to Sienna 22 minutes outside of Houston Med Center. The related company has insurance also. Not that I believe people should go after insurance. But this would be a time to do so.
One time AAA sent out a guy to help me with a blowout after I hydroplaned off of a ramp. Guy seemed like he was having trouble finding my car’s jack point so I asked him if he wanted to see the manual. Guy says “man i’ve been doing this longer than you’ve been driving” and then proceeds to punch a hole through the bottom of the driver’s side floor🙄
The of course I had to wait like, 8 hours or so for a tow.
Took a caddy to a shop and told them it needed the CV carb rebuilt. They said they had to hook it up to diagnose first. I said no, problem, I now what is wrong. I just didn't want to drill out the 18 rivets and tap the holes. 15 min later. Well, the CV carb needs to be rebuilt. We don't do that, that will be $85 for the diagnostic.
I didn't pay, I told them to drop dead and left.
I quit using AAA back in the '80's I was getting a run-a-round back, even then! Screw AAA!
The solution(s) to this are complex. This relatively minor battery issue points to a bunch of underlying problems in our industry and society in general. Employing people who actually give a s#$t and are driven to do their job properly is a start. Finding people who have the right attitude to begin with. Clear communication and the right tools to do the job. And the big one off course is the R word; Responsibility...towards yourself and others.
How do you even managed to strip out a battery connector I mean that's silly And what's the big deal You're right why aren't they just replacing the battery
I agree with you
On my area the AAA service is terrible the company's the provide AAA service only want to provide service on a case of a accident because they charge the AAA for the tow and they bill the insurance separately and when they have to provide road side the left the customers waiting for hrs
GM broke that battery 40+ years ago when they went to the side post. Side post batteries are junk. Does anyone other than GM use them?
I like this guy . Need more honest folks . Ive worked auto retail for a while, and i deal with some of these mechanics. a lot of them are just not honest . Not all of them but enough to know to be cautious
You should be swamped with your work ethic. You work hard and smart. Hats off to you.
I am pretty sure they are swamped.
It's a shame that were I live it's hard to find an honest mechanic. I could tell you stories but it's not gonna change the fact that there are just not that many honest folks in the industry here in Arizona
It doesn't help that GM battery bolts are on the short side and/or the rubber weather ends are too thick.
AAA all ways gives ppl the runaround when thay need a tow in gatlinburg
So simple yet so hard. Typical corporate nonsense.
AAA can’t even change a battery
AAA is the worst bunch of hacks and their batteries are junk
Side terminal batteries should be banned... 😂
I tell my customers not to let aaa touch their car tow the car to the shop Napa will warranty aaa batteries
That’s just crazy!
im that way at my shop if i cant fix it i dont charge
ah, leaving the car worse than what it was 🤔🤔Not a good look on them for sure. Thanks for sharing
Ouch. Better call Keith! 😅
I thought it was going to be a "jumped it backwards" video. Can't believe they wouldn't warranty that instantly through shame alone, I presume the AAA is a massive company like the AA here in the UK.
It's funny, I had the conversation on a football forums general page just a couple of weeks ago on this exact subject. Only one person in the motor trade agreed with me that the customer shouldn't pay for garage mistakes and miss diagnosis. The chat started around a BMW Mini glow plug snapped in the head, the garage wanted to charge the customer £250 to get a specialist in to repair it. For me that's not how this trade works and never has in my 30 years, you break it you fix it, I simply don't understand when this started to be the norm.
Greed, reaching new levels year by year, thanks for the upload.
It's not a triple a problem. Its the shop that is contracted to triple a. Call out these shops by name, they either up their game or lose business. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing that i put shoddy work or screwed over someone.
What a cockroach move by them.
That don't make sence to me once the vehicle is running it runs off the alternator.
That was true for all cars in the 70s when they had generators, this is an alternator, many vehicle require the ground to be hooked up to a battery in order for the DC coupling to happen in the internal voltage regulator.
What makes techs look bad is not actually showing what's wrong was battery striped or bolt . Bet that would have took a whole 10 seconds to actually see what the problem was not guess and point blame good job man
HUH? We have a huge write up with pictures and voltage drop data, I didn't film everything...
Huh? Every flow chart starts with a visual inspection. This was most likely a stripped bolt. 78series batteries almost never strip on the battery side nowadays.
Exactly how I run my shop. I have all repeat customers and more work than I can handle. Being honest and fair is all people ask for. We are all out here trying to make a living, customers and techs. So don’t take advantage of the customer. They worked for their money also.
I was shocked when AAA changed my bad battery WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING! God forbid if it damaged anything in the car. Never again.
ya, AAA sucks all around
Good video Keith.alway do what's right and build business off that reputation.thanks bro
That's aggravating.
The Tacoma I recently acquired, had a whole bunch of stuff replaced on it... I'm still finding and fixing complete disasters...
No oil light during bulb check... Broken wire zip tied to the sensor...?
What a mess. Front struts on the wrong sides...
Thats one bad move and behavior from the battery guys..we should stand on our work and repairs.customer should get back work against the money he is paying..you are right sir this kinda thing give us diag guys bad reputation..cheers
Seems a easy solution. Reverse the charges for the battery on your credit card. Then buy a new one, or simply tap and rethread the battery. No use wasting a perfectly good battery if it's gonna be free
what is the torque spec on that bolt??? lol i doubt anyone knows but i'm sure there is one. thing is that would be for a factory battery. i hate side posts just for the fact the construction of the threads varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. some have a steel nut imbedded and some are just lead. you have people that reef the crap out of bolts some who torque them and some that screw them in and give them a 1/4 turn. irregardless the shop that did that needs to step up and replace it.
"Do better" There's a sticker that says exactly that on the lid of my diag cart as a constant reminder.
After over 40 years owning vehicles I have absolutely 0 experience with AAA, or any other "auto club" (I've always felt that their annual fees for what you get are a rip off). Does AAA actually have its own shops or, does it let just any shop willing to pay a fee hang a sign on the wall?
Seriously, I just had my pickup towed to a shop today because I don't have time to do the rear brakes that it needs. The tow cost $130 but, it's also the first time in over 20 years that I've had a vehicle towed. It's also not the typical pickup that you see all the time. Mine is a F-250 Super Duty, Ex-cab with an 8' bed, in other words, it's heavier and LONGER than most so, they brought a bigger rollback. How much would I have spent on 20+ years of AAA memberships before actually using it? I'm sure more than $130!
Like home warranty repair, they farm it out to the cheapest bidder, don't care if they can do the job.
💯💯💯
I have that problem once stupid Napa battery bolts made cheap with a bit of a taper and a hair shorter, not even a half trunk and the bolt was ruined
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My customer had a 51R series battery installed in his 2003 Civic by AAA. It's supposed to have a 51 series battery. If the hood prop were to be secured in its clip, you would cause a dead short from the Positive terminal to ground. The "battery changer" left the hood prop dangling down the side of battery into the engine compartment. It took 2 months of calls, correspondence and inspections, before AAA would exchange the battery.
Terrible.
ive had that on a few i installed a longer bolt w/nut to be able to tighten securely
Thats fine on a personal vehicle, NOT a customer car. Never do anything other than a proper repair on a customer vehicle.
@@aaadamt964 i get it for legal reasons
Get the local media involved in revealing this story. I bet that will get some action.
Kinda reminds me of warranty companies as well. They take their time to approve repairs and don't always cover all parts when it's an involved repair. Off topic though, I would like to know more about pressure sensors vs. master cylinder diagnosis. What kind of testing did you do to help pinpoint the fault? Thanks and thumbs up!
obviously put the new parts cannon on it. LOL
I had a reputable mechanic once. Worked on car for 3 hours, and could not find the problem, didn't charge me anything. It was a nightmare intermittent that makes the car just shut down randomly while driving, and it never would die for him. Dealer said they fixed it, called me back 5 minutes later, and said it was being towed back. I told them their parts cannon ECU and Carb were not the problem when I dropped it off. They tried to charge me for them. It was a faulty magnet in the distributor pickup. The field just stopped, so no spark. Who ever heard of a magnet that works sometimes, then stops working. Years later my sister had the same problem, and I told her to go to a parts store, buy a new distributor, and have it put on. She refused, $1200 later in shop bills she finally did, and never had an issue after that.
Or better yet convert that to top post and put the top post connectors on it and call it a day that would be even better
Agreed if I don't fix the problem the customer pays nothing. Unless there is an agreement between me and the customer otherwise to try something that might or might not work, usually something the customer ask me to try that might work.
Exactly. Charging a customer for no repair is nothing short of a catalyst for a shop to provide inferior work.
That actually could be a manufacturing defect when the battery was assembled.
Ok, they should still cover it.
I've heard about other aaa battery horror stories.
I see it every week, a car rolls in from another shop with new sensors and/or modules and the problem is still present.
There are few technicians that have the ability to root cause a problem anymore. They load up the parts cannon, shrug when the problem isn't fixed and send the customer out the door with a car that isn't fixed, but still expect to be paid. "We tried everything, you might want to go to another shop that knows about __________. We don't specialize in foreign cars."
That's a dick move AAA!!!
with you 100 percent
Put duct tape on it. If fixes everything. 😏
Or Flexseal.
I would take a look at bulletin #02-06-04-015A. The threads in that battery are stronger than the threads on that bolt. I couldn’t tell you how many battery bolts I replaced back in the day when all of our vehicles had side post batteries.
Yea, we actually wrote it up, but the battery is stripped.
@@L1Training that just brings so many other questions to mind. Was it an incompetent tech or are AAA batteries just that cheap?
I doubt its the batteries, they are most likely east penn, exide or clarios/johnson controls
You might want to let the customer know the vehicle isn't worth the repair cost, but do it if they still want to. I'm one of those guys eccentrically keeping an old car he's had forever on the road. I put an $8000 engine in a $1500 car five years ago because it was honestly worth it to me. The shop that was willing to do it with A grade parts has gotten a good recommendation in my book. A combination of worn timing chain cassettes in a Ford 4.0 SOHC and a bad head gasket caused by a bad mechanic.
Did you guys check the threads? They are coarse threads inside the battery,what usually strips is the actual bolt because the bolt is the softer metal. I’ve fixed a couple by buying a battery terminal kit that comes with those new bolts.
Yea, the battery is completely stripped.
HUH please
The difference is, Paul and his videos advocates charging the video rather the customer for absolutely everything that you do even if you're wrong. He believes you should be able to charge the customer for diagnostic time if you don't know something. That is where Paul is wrong. You seem to have a lot more integrity than him.
Paul advocates for the same cause. Charge for diagnosis but if didn't fix it the first time, you eat the misdiagnosis and go for the correct one where you chare properly. i.e. parts, labor or not
@rickgaine3476 nothing you said made any sense whatsoever 😂
If you don't know something, then RESEARCH is part of the billable diagnostic time, within reason 😉
A agree with Paul, I may spend 30+ minutes looking up systems and description of operation to correctly test a system or component, I am charging for that.
Nice FYI video. People should not have to deal with this but we are our own first line of defense. It is a shame that it’s come down to this though. Steve