TTEC4849 Bad Customer Experience

TTEC4849 Business Practice and Vehicle Safety

Customer Story of a Bad Experience

Instructions: Divide up into small groups. Read the following story, and

discuss the following questions in your small groups. Then write your answers

in the space provided.

This is a true story.

The year was about 1958, in California, before there were strong consumer

laws. Don Higgins owned a laundry and dry cleaning business, in which he

used one of the new Volkswagen bus trade vans for his deliveries. He would

pick up dirty clothes from businesses (like restaurants and auto repair shops),

clean them and deliver them back. He liked his Volkswagen van: it had lots of

space to hang the clothes and it got good fuel economy. Up until recently, it

had been very reliable. But lately the engine wasn’t running very well. The

engine was regularly missing and had low power.

So in the morning, Don took his van to his local auto repair shop. He told them

it needed fixing, maybe just a tune up, and he got a ride back to his cleaning

business. Then in mid-afternoon, he went back to pick up his van.

To his surprise, the van wasn’t ready. If fact, the repair shop owner showed

Don the engine that was now out of the van. The exhaust valve for number 3

cylinder was burnt, causing the poor running engine and lack of power. The

shop owner said he could have the engine fixed and back in the van in 3 or 4

days. And the bill would be about $400.00. (In 1958, this was a lot of money.

Don’s monthly mortgage on his house was only about $120.00 per month.)

Don was very upset. He was so upset that I (Steve McAfee) heard about this

as the little boy who lived next door to Don.

Discussion Questions:

1. From Don’s point of view, what was wrong here? What did the shop do

wrong that upset Don so much. (After all, they were fixing his van.)

The shop went ahead and took Don's motor out without consenting him beforehand, making the total cost  so high

2. From the repair shop owner’s point of view, what was wrong with Don

getting upset at them? What did they do right or wrong?

Don told the repair shop that his van "needs fixing". In the view of the repair shop, they thought they were doing Don a favour in diagnosing the problem and beginning to fix it. However, they really should have consulted Don first before going ahead and taking his motor out. 

3. What should have been done in this circumstance? If you were Don, what

would you have wanted to be done?

If I was Don, due to the unfair and awkward circumstances, I would enquire about paying off the repair shop slowly, as the repair shop really is in the wrong. If they had good business etiquette, they should do this for Don. 

4. When the repair was finished, and Don went to pick up his van, he took the

van and did not pay the whole repair bill. Did the repair shop have the right to

hold the van until they got paid?

If Don had pre agreed that they were to finish the van, then yes, the repair shop has the right to hold it until paid.

5. If Don took the repair shop to court, what would you have ruled if you were

the judge? Should the repair shop pay for a replacement rental vehicle?

Should Don pay the whole repair bill? Should the repair shop pay Don for lost

business because he could not pick up and deliver clothes to his customers?

I would make the repair shop repair Don's van free of charge, due to Don's business losses.

6. What New Zealand laws relate to this story? What do New Zealand laws

say should have been done in this case?

The "Consumer's Guarantees Act", and the "Fair Trading Act". 

The repair shop was vague and bad in communication, which lead to Don being worse off.