Advice Needed: Issue with Mechanic

Okay guys I need some advice on this one. In May I had my MF 290 taken to a mechanic about twenty miles from my home. He had accomplished several little repairs on some other machinery so I thought he could handle the hydraulic issue with this machine. Now, he openly told me this job would be done mostly on his off time on the weekends but in turn I would receive a sweet deal. Well here's where the issue begins. The guy has been absolutely horrible when it comes to keeping me aware of the progress on my tractor. I would call him every few weeks to see how it was going and he would give some info but rarely would he ever call.
Recently after several times calling him he claimed I would be receiving the tractor on Sunday July 3rd. Well Sunday passed with him calling me on Sunday night claiming he didn't have his trailer to bring it out but would do it on Monday. Okay, Monday comes and goes, no tractor. This time I have not yet received a call yet from him as of yet explaining why he didn't show up with my machine.
Okay with that said let me say that I am not new to the game and understand that there is nothing worse then a pesky and bothersome customer. However on the same token this guy really needs to improve his customer service because as of now I'm done with him. Should I call him up and really lean on him now? Should I get a little mean? Part of me believes that would be futile since an angry mechanic could do something to my tractor. Advice please would be greatly appreciated.

20 miles? That's just a nice little road trip. I'd call and tell him what time you'll be over to pick it up.

That's what I was thinking of doing Mike. However I would have to hire a tow truck because I don't have a trailer.

No, no- what I meant was, just drive it home. Some good seat time, and would only take an hour or two. Take the back way, wave at the folks as you go by.

(quoted from post at 23:42:39 07/06/11) No, no- what I meant was, just drive it home. Some good seat time, and would only take an hour or two. Take the back way, wave at the folks as you go by.

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Well I guess I could do that.....

If its done go get it.20 miles is not too far to drive it home,probably take a hour and a half.I wouldnt make him mad until I saw whether he fixed it or not.Your sweet deal might not be so sweet if you get mean about it.I also dont know why you would think he needs to bring it to you?Especially if you want it badly.I guess because he said he would,but maybe he has too much to do to get it over there?If he did the work and gave you a good deal cut him some slack.People will say what you want to hear just to get off of the phone.When you are a mechanic the phone rings a lot,and when you have to stop and talk to somebody it messes up your thoughts and then it makes it hard to concentrate.If you ask somebody thats busy,they might think they can get stuff done but just run out of hours in the day.Also something else could have gone wrong,maybe even he got drunk on the 4th or something,who knows?As soon as he gets off of the phone with you he might go into a mouth foaming wrench throwing fit,because you keep bothering him.I think if that was the case he would have already brought it to you to get you off of his phone.The guys I really like working for would come by and check on their tractor or truck.Sometimes people say stuff over the phone they regret saying,and it causes them problems later,like when they need something else fixed.So dont say anything over the phone you wouldnt say to his face.If you think you can chew on him for saying he would do something and not doing it to his face,do it.I know you are probably mad,but sometimes being mad causes more trouble and its all senseless.

Yeah, roading a tractor in summer is just like driving a convertible. A very, very slowwww convertible. But good clean fun.

You could even take a child or grandchild on your lap. This would arouse the ire of B & D and other safe-niks, but I managed to get many miles with my dad on the old N, and am none the worse for it.

If the tractor is fixed and working fine then say.......What do I owe you? If you owe this guy several hundred dollars then say, I will pay you in cash when you deliver the tractor to my home. Real simple. If he is an idiot that cant plan anything then go get the tractor yourself with a rented trailer or something.

Can't drive it home if it's not done. you don't know if it is really finished, or he was giving you a line to shut you up. You are the weekend off the books customer, so you won't know till next Saturday- if then. As of last month I have nothing in anyone else's shop, and hope to never again. I buy tools, specialty tools, equipment, manuals...and find new friends... ones that know how to help me fix things that I may need help with in future. Old friends that stand there and stare, sayin' 'I dunno how ta do dat', well it's a new age, they have to go stare at the stuff in the mechanic's shop, and non of it will be mine... at the moment, I hate to say it, you are at his mercy, and there is nothing you can do about it that won't make more problems. good luck

Twenty miles at 20 MPH= 1 hour. Buy the time you could load and tie it down you could be home with a new tan!

the first alarm bells here are when he told you the job will be mostly done on his time off and weekends, WHY? a professional mechanic would not take a job to do "on his time off" when thats how he makes his living, after all this time call him up and tell him you will be there in the morning to drive the tractor home yourself, and see what he says then, im thinking either the hydraulic system has him in unknown teritory, or he cant get the parts to fix it,

(quoted from post at 00:03:22 07/07/11) If its done go get it.20 miles is not too far to drive it home,probably take a hour and a half.I wouldnt make him mad until I saw whether he fixed it or not.Your sweet deal might not be so sweet if you get mean about it.I also dont know why you would think he needs to bring it to you?Especially if you want it badly.I guess because he said he would,but maybe he has too much to do to get it over there?If he did the work and gave you a good deal cut him some slack.People will say what you want to hear just to get off of the phone.When you are a mechanic the phone rings a lot,and when you have to stop and talk to somebody it messes up your thoughts and then it makes it hard to concentrate.If you ask somebody thats busy,they might think they can get stuff done but just run out of hours in the day.Also something else could have gone wrong,maybe even he got drunk on the 4th or something,who knows?As soon as he gets off of the phone with you he might go into a mouth foaming wrench throwing fit,because you keep bothering him.I think if that was the case he would have already brought it to you to get you off of his phone.The guys I really like working for would come by and check on their tractor or truck.Sometimes people say stuff over the phone they regret saying,and it causes them problems later,like when they need something else fixed.So dont say anything over the phone you wouldnt say to his face.If you think you can chew on him for saying he would do something and not doing it to his face,do it.I know you are probably mad,but sometimes being mad causes more trouble and its all senseless.

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I definitely understand what you are saying. I have been nothing but cool, calm, and very kind to this guy. In fact every time I get worked up and feel like cutting loose on him I take a deep breath, gather my thoughts, and call him in a very polite tone.
With that said I called him tonight and left a message on his cell phone stating very politely that since the tractor is done and it's obvious he's having trouble getting it to me I'll pick it up this weekend myself. We'll see what happens next.
Needless to say that after this experience I'll be trying to do even the bigger repairs myself and on my own time. It's impossible to find a legit mechanic here in SoCal so I'll have to be my own mechanic.

(quoted from post at 03:19:19 07/07/11) Twenty miles at 20 MPH= 1 hour. Buy the time you could load and tie it down you could be home with a new tan!

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I'm already dark skinned so I'll come home even darker I guess.

(quoted from post at 01:32:07 07/07/11) If the tractor is fixed and working fine then say.......What do I owe you? If you owe this guy several hundred dollars then say, I will pay you in cash when you deliver the tractor to my home. Real simple. If he is an idiot that cant plan anything then go get the tractor yourself with a rented trailer or something.

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This is exactly what I did tonight.

(quoted from post at 04:39:21 07/07/11) the first alarm bells here are when he told you the job will be mostly done on his time off and weekends, WHY? a professional mechanic would not take a job to do "on his time off" when thats how he makes his living, after all this time call him up and tell him you will be there in the morning to drive the tractor home yourself, and see what he says then, im thinking either the hydraulic system has him in unknown teritory, or he cant get the parts to fix it,

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Yes I should have been a little more wise. It's just so hard finding ANY tractor mechanics here in my region of Southern California. The guy seemed okay but I'll never use him again if I EVER get this tractor back.

Was it fixed. Did he charge you a fair price or give you a hard time about it.

Pooh Bear

(quoted from post at 05:37:19 07/07/11) Was it fixed. Did he charge you a fair price or give you a hard time about it.

Pooh Bear

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I'm still waiting to here from this guy. He claimed on Friday it was fixed and working great. Who knows though. Hopefully this is just a situation where I'm just a little up tight and I get the tractor back and never see him again. At worst, well, I hope he didn't run off with my tractor.

As a full time, self employeed mechanic who also takes on projects like your describing, I'll throw my .02 in on this.

If someone askes me to do something and I agree to do it 'off the books', on the weekends, in my free time, etc, etc then that's exactly what I do, especially if I'm giving them the 'deal of a lifetime' on the labor. Like a sign I've seen through the years, I do three types of work, GOOD, FAST, and CHEAP, you can pick any two. In other words, GOOD+FAST doesn't equal CHEAP, GOOD+CHEAP doesn't equal FAST, and CHEAP+FAST probably isn't gonna equal GOOD. In your case it sounds like you chose GOOD AND CHEAP, so don't expect FAST........

In a case like this, I typically won't call the customer until I'm done unless I run into some major problem, need funds for parts, etc. Heck the customer is already getting my actual shop time cheap, so unless he wants to pay for me to take the time and energy to 'remember' to call him on top of that, after I come in for the night, just to give him an update, then it ain't gonna happen unless he's paying for that time too. I know that may sound bad but when you've got several "paying' jobs going on already and then a few backburner jobs at the same time, and you are self employeed, there is already enough 'free time' spent in the evenings on the 'payin' jobs to even think about the 'sweet deal' projects. It may sound crazy to say this after what I just said, but for me if the customer wants to call me 'on occasion' to check on it I don't mind mind that. After all it is his machine, and I also know that for me, oftentimes, without a reminder once in a while, back burner stuff often tends to get pushed further back as more gets piled on top of it.

Now, depending on the situation I have no problem saying "I'll try to get to it this weekend, etc" if asked, and at the time it's said I do mean it. Thing is come the weekend and my truck has problems, my tractor has problems, it rains, I have a full price job come up that is actually pushing me, etc, etc then your machine is going to go right back on the back burner where WE AGREED it was going to be in the first place. Remember, you chose the terms of the deal, not me..

Now if your situation changes and you call and change your mind and say "I need it ASAP" then the job is going to be taken off the back burner and put in line with the rest of the full price jobs. At that time any back burner work I've done will be charged at that price but any work from that point on will be to the full, going rate.

With all that said it sounds like what you said you wanted and what you actually expected subconsiously were two actually different things wether you realize it or not. It might not seem like that's what happened to you, but you'd be suprised what happens when a man's machine sets for awhile waiting to be worked on and he starts 'missing' it and wants it back. For me if the calls get excessive and I start getting pressured to do the job, and the guy is still expecting the 'deal' then I'll admit I often tend to push the project further back on the burner. Basically my 'desire' to do it 'cheap' fades with the increased pressure to 'get it done now'.

Too when the customer gets to the point they really want the machine back I've found that what they are told and what they actually hear are often two different things. "I'll TRY to do it this weekend" is heard as "I'll DEFINATELY do it this weekend".....etc, etc, etc........

Everyone has their own limits in a situation like this. In this case you might have reached the guys limit awhile ago with your calls and he may have also reached yours where you lost the patience you had in the beginning when the time frame 'didn't matter'.

Beyond that if he in fact gave you a definate, iron clad promise to have the repairs complete by a certain time then he should have had them done on time unless there were valid reasons for it not happening. As far as the delievery the same holds true there as well.

In this case it sounds like all the guy is really guilty of is being a bit on the lacking side when it comes to his communication skills. Personally, if I was in his shoes and you 'got mean' with me, you'd be coming to get your own damm tractor and paying in cash for everything before the machine left my yard because I'd be dammed if I was going to deliever a 'back burner' job on a regular work day, and then get 'told off' to top off the deal.

In your case, IF the guy has actually been good to his word and fixed the machine for you I'd suck it up, thank him for his work, and not burn any bridges. The next time you ask him to do something, if there is a next time, you need to insure that his intentions and your expectations are perfectly in sync and if not make sure they are before anything is done.

Again as a self employeed mechanic who also does back burner projects on top of my full rate work, that's just my .02 from the opposing view point.

(quoted from post at 06:38:21 07/07/11) As a full time, self employeed mechanic who also takes on projects like your describing, I'll throw my .02 in on this.

If someone askes me to do something and I agree to do it 'off the books', on the weekends, in my free time, etc, etc then that's exactly what I do, especially if I'm giving them the 'deal of a lifetime' on the labor. Like a sign I've seen through the years, I do three types of work, GOOD, FAST, and CHEAP, you can pick any two. In other words, GOOD+FAST doesn't equal CHEAP, GOOD+CHEAP doesn't equal FAST, and CHEAP+FAST probably isn't gonna equal GOOD. In your case it sounds like you chose GOOD AND CHEAP, so don't expect FAST........

In a case like this, I typically won't call the customer until I'm done unless I run into some major problem, need funds for parts, etc. Heck the customer is already getting my actual shop time cheap, so unless he wants to pay for me to take the time and energy to 'remember' to call him on top of that, after I come in for the night, just to give him an update, then it ain't gonna happen unless he's paying for that time too. I know that may sound bad but when you've got several "paying' jobs going on already and then a few backburner jobs at the same time, and you are self employeed, there is already enough 'free time' spent in the evenings on the 'payin' jobs to even think about the 'sweet deal' projects. It may sound crazy to say this after what I just said, but for me if the customer wants to call me 'on occasion' to check on it I don't mind mind that. After all it is his machine, and I also know that for me, oftentimes, without a reminder once in a while, back burner stuff often tends to get pushed further back as more gets piled on top of it.

Now, depending on the situation I have no problem saying "I'll try to get to it this weekend, etc" if asked, and at the time it's said I do mean it. Thing is come the weekend and my truck has problems, my tractor has problems, it rains, I have a full price job come up that is actually pushing me, etc, etc then your machine is going to go right back on the back burner where WE AGREED it was going to be in the first place. Remember, you chose the terms of the deal, not me..

Now if your situation changes and you call and change your mind and say "I need it ASAP" then the job is going to be taken off the back burner and put in line with the rest of the full price jobs. At that time any back burner work I've done will be charged at that price but any work from that point on will be to the full, going rate.

With all that said it sounds like what you said you wanted and what you actually expected subconsiously were two actually different things wether you realize it or not. It might not seem like that's what happened to you, but you'd be suprised what happens when a man's machine sets for awhile waiting to be worked on and he starts 'missing' it and wants it back. For me if the calls get excessive and I start getting pressured to do the job, and the guy is still expecting the 'deal' then I'll admit I often tend to push the project further back on the burner. Basically my 'desire' to do it 'cheap' fades with the increased pressure to 'get it done now'.

Too when the customer gets to the point they really want the machine back I've found that what they are told and what they actually hear are often two different things. "I'll TRY to do it this weekend" is heard as "I'll DEFINATELY do it this weekend".....etc, etc, etc........

Everyone has their own limits in a situation like this. In this case you might have reached the guys limit awhile ago with your calls and he may have also reached yours where you lost the patience you had in the beginning when the time frame 'didn't matter'.

Beyond that if he in fact gave you a definate, iron clad promise to have the repairs complete by a certain time then he should have had them done on time unless there were valid reasons for it not happening. As far as the delievery the same holds true there as well.

In this case it sounds like all the guy is really guilty of is being a bit on the lacking side when it comes to his communication skills. Personally, if I was in his shoes and you 'got mean' with me, you'd be coming to get your own damm tractor and paying in cash for everything before the machine left my yard because I'd be dammed if I was going to deliever a 'back burner' job on a regular work day, and then get 'told off' to top off the deal.

In your case, IF the guy has actually been good to his word and fixed the machine for you I'd suck it up, thank him for his work, and not burn any bridges. The next time you ask him to do something, if there is a next time, you need to insure that his intentions and your expectations are perfectly in sync and if not make sure they are before anything is done.

Again as a self employeed mechanic who also does back burner projects on top of my full rate work, that's just my .02 from the opposing view point.

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You makes some good points and good input for sure Wayne. But let me remind you that it has been three months now and there is no way in my mind that a job on the back burner should take three months. I've dealt with auto mechanics and am not a bad customer. In fact I'm a good enough customer that I've had one auto mechanic since the age of sixteen and I'm now thirty seven. If his patience was lost when I called after a month then he needs to get a new profession. As far as the back burner goes he openly mentioned that after my first call. He claimed he was "behind" on some jobs. Okay, he was behind but again, in the auto world behind means a couple of weeks not three months. I've not once been pushy with the guy. In fact I didn't even have a tough tone on this last call. I politely mentioned that if getting it to me is a problem then I'll go get it.
Would you be so horribly offended if a customer offered to come pick up a tractor on his own time?

I like these kinda ???'s......... You can learn a lot about folks' ethics, character, and work practices by the advice they give.
Bet you learned a lesson on this one. Can't wait to see what that sweet deal ends up costin you. In your place, i'd put together a couple sammiches and a jug of water and have someone take you to pick the tractor up and drive it home. The guy may not be a crook at all, just having a good run of business with normal paying customers.........oooooorrrrrrrrrrrr........... promised you a sweet deal so he'd have your stuff there in case of a slump at which time he could make up for lost business???

either way, I'd pay the bill and pick up the tractor and not be real optomistic about it being a longterm fix......

best of luck.

Dave

A lot of good advice and words of wisdom in the above posts. Myself when I use a mechanic I just pay cash and get the job done. Cash usually gets the job done cheaper I find and saves taxes for us both. Now I lost my job and not working yet I need to do things as cheap as I can but still done correct.
As for 20 mile drive thats nothing. Before my dad and me built a traier I use to drive his Farmall M to the local antique tractor pulls for him. Might be an hour drive or 2 hour drive to one. Then would be the drive home again after pulling a couple of classes. I enjoyed it. I am 51 now but still wouldnt mind driving a tractor a couple of hours on the road, espically a nice sunny summers day, wind blowing in your hair, sun glasses and hat on.
Good luck to you on your deal.

Don't get so excited, he told you it was to be done between jobs therefore it is going to take time. Have you been to visit him? How is he doing really? Do you need it now? Did you tell him when you had to have it done?
Here's my situation--Before christmas I had a guy look at my combine. The question was repair it or replace it? He advised to keep it and he would get all the issues fixed. I told him it needed to be done by September 1. Bought the parts but no work has been accomplished. So I have talked to him twice to 1) ensure he hadn't forgotten and 2) get an idea of when he plans to start.
Along about August (9 months later) I'll will remind him that September is only 4 weeks away and that he will be renting a combine come September. I'm sure that will get him going but I will lose a mechanic.

Let's see there's the opinion that you shouldn't call because you're bothering him and he shouldn't call you and up date you in a three month period without extra compensation.
My truck sat at a shop for three days, they finished it the first day and parked it in the same place.

I understand where your coming from and to answer your question, no it wouldn't hurt my feelings if a man offered to come pick up his machine after I got done with it. In fact most jobs I take on like that are both brought to me and picked up by the customer. Heck in the end just them picking it up saves them the cost of my time and fuel to deliver it.

As far as the time it has taken to get it done, I don't know that much about the car repair world but the tractor repair world, at least as far as my business goes, is a whole different ball game. There are so many different variables when it comes to getting work done 'back burner' it's not funny. One is the sheer volume of the daily jobs already commited to and the consequenses/cost of not getting them done ASAP, along with the fact that the volume is subject to change on a daily basis. Most of my ongoing/full paying customers use their machines as part of their business and every day their machine is down it's costing them money. I mean I may be working on a machine for one man when another man calls with a machine down on the job that's holding up a whole pipeline crew, etc. In cases like that everything has to be prioritized based on the immediate need, the cost to the customer, and just the problem in general. Basically if machine A is down and costing the customer $10,000 a day and holding up a pipeline project then his machine is going to take prioroty over the guy that is just using his machine to clear a vacant lot and not holding anyone else up.

Typically the guys I work for understand this and have no problems with it. In my case some of my customers do drilling and blasting on pipeline right of ways, power line right of ways, etc. If one of them calls and a machine is down and setting on a loaded shot them I have no choice but to drop whatever I'm doing and go get him going. Often that involves a temporary fix to move the machine away from the explosives so they can do the shot, but that, in turn, also results in another trip out to do the permanant repair. In other words it all works out to not one but two days work thrown into the middle of a schedule that is already full. Then when you get out to the jobsite, 40 miles in the middle of nowhere, to do the permanant repair and get rained out, find that the new part isn't right, find there are further problems that didn't show themselves until the main repair was completed and the machine was again operational, etc, etc, etc, it makes things even worse. Basically a two minute phone call about a broken machine can easily turn into several days worth of extra work that was not planned for. Often those days are from daylight to dark and in the 90 plus degree summer sun, with no shade even close, when I get home at night going back down to the shop for a 'back burner' project the guy was in 'no rush' for is the least of my worries.


With the economy being what it is things have slowed down alot for me compaired to two years ago.. At that point in time I kept about a three month backlog of ongoing/'pressing' work needing to be done, on top of frequent calls when a machine went down on the job somewhere. As it stands now I've still got that much backlog, if not more, waiting on me. Unfortunately the difference now being that my customers are just trying to come up with the funds to get everything done. Even so when the money is right they typically have an upcomign job, etc and therefore a real need for the machine so when they do call they still want everything done ASAP. Again when you've already got several things scheduled and something else gets thrown into the mix, it makes scheduling everything a little crazy. Then throw into an already crazy mix a call like I did this morning saying that the parts didn't come in as planned for the job I has scheduled for today. When that happens the whole crazy schedule you thought you had just goes further out the window.

I know it still probably doesn't sound THAT bad or THAT complicated but with equipment something simple like the parts not coming in this morning create a huge ripple effect. As it stands I've been setting here this morning doign paperwork, goofing off on here, and mainly just waiting on the parts. I knew I wouldn't have time today even start to do the other job I've got to get going so my only choice was to kill time til the parts got in. Now I find that I don't have parts for the one job I had planned so now if i want to have something to do and earn a living today, I've got to go move a bunch of stuff around from a third job to make room to park a tractor that will be setting for a few weeks while I rebuild the motor and replace the clutch. Even then I'll probably have time to basically just get started on splitting the tractor today and then have to pull back off of it to go do the job I had planned for today when the parts come in tomorrow.

Ok, I know that's kind of long winded but hopefully you get my point. I don't know anything about the guy your dealing with but if his business is anything like mine, for a back burner job that your in no rush for setting three months, it isn't a big deal at all. In fact I once had a large commercial mower that was a 'no rush' project that sat for close to 8 months before I was even able to get it in the door and get the work needed done on it. In that case it had to come inside to do the needed work and it simply took that long for the me to get the shop emptied of the 'full price' jobs to make enough room get it inside.

In the end, IF the guy was good to his word to the point of getting your machine fixed, I wouldn't be too hard on him about the time frame.....Unless you know and can prove he was knowingly and purposfully screwing around with and/or flat out lying to you. Otherwise, yes, he does sound is guilty of having somewhat poor communication skills or a 'shorter fuse' than most. Regardless the lying, etc I personally can't and won't put up with myself but if it's nothing but communication ussues, then the way I see it you didn't take your machine to him for his communication skills you took it to him for his mechanical skills and IF he followed through with that part of the deal then all should be OK. Worst case tell him in a nice way that things didn't go exactly like you had planned and that you got a little upset over the deal, and hopefully he'll be able to learn from the experince and do better the next time.

Okay I believe I finally got down to the bottom of what happened. The guy wouldn't return two of my calls so yesterday I called him again but this time I dialed *67 before dialing the number. I got him on the line and he told me he made a big mistake on the repair and will have to re-open the tractor. He claims he was too embarrassed to tell me since it might reflect poorly on his skills as a mechanic. I told the guy that all I want is honesty and communication. I also told him I understand that things happen and was beginning to think perhaps something "funny" had occurred with my tractor. After some details he said the cost to re-open and repair would be on him and that he'll get back to me asap on the repair. I told him that I need the tractor asap but to please do the job right. I hope this clears it all up and we have a positive outcome with this repair.