Quite a number of years ago, a good customer of mine was stranded on a Christmas vacation with his vehicle. He called me up while we were unwrapping our presents, but he was 400 miles away and I really could not do anything for him. I told him just to sit tight for another day and a shop might be open on the 26th.
Well, he didn't sit tight. He convinced a local mechanic in the town where he was vacationing to look at his car on Christmas day. The mechanic called me in the afternoon, and together we worked through the diagnostic problem on the phone. It turned out my customer's computer went bad. I turned it over to him to call my customer and arrange the repairs after I shipped a new computer to him.
My customer called me and was furious demanding to know why it was a computer and blaming the local mechanic of gouging him. I told him, "Pete, this mechanic was willing to work on your car on Christmas day. He is missing time with his family. Just stay cool and your car will be repaired. It just so happened that your computer picked a bad time to go out." He slammed the phone down on me and in a few minutes the mechanic calls me up.
"What is with your customer? What kind of a man is this? I am being quite patient to work on his car on Christmas Day, but he's almost lost his welcome." I assured him he was more bark than bite and when his car was repaired he would be more civil.
As it turned out he was able to make it home a few days later with a new computer in his vehicle.
I suppose that a break down on a holiday, or during a vacation, is an emotional experience; but if a mechanic is willing to go out-of-his-way to repair it, or push other customers aside to fix your car, just sit tight and keep your mouth shut. Pay the bill, and thank him.
And if he is working on your car on Christmas day; You better make it worth his while.
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