any aftermarket sales stories?

Man, some of these aftermarket salespeople are really not all there. I have aton of stories about some of the dumb stuff they have done, anybody else?

I had one last year, added a factory look alike cruise control to a Tacoma. It is the type you remove the airbag and it mounts right to the steering wheel. I finished the install and delivered the car, left. I got a call an hour later, the aftermarkey girl was screaming "you put the controls in upside down!!!". Ugh, i told her to turn the steering wheel...

A girl just a few weeks ago told me to go to the customers house and install a DVD player. I did, and the guy quickly told me it isn't correct. He bought headrest DVD's, not an overhead. I rechecked my order form, she messed up. We ended up adding the headrests and leaving the overhead in to cover the new hole in the headliner. This mistake cost her 700 bucks.

I can't tell you how many times a aftermarket girl has called me to tell me she can't get the key to turn in the switch and that i must have done something wrong. I can think of at least twice i had to drive to the dealership only to turn the sterring wheel a little to get the key to move.

On that note, i even had one that couldn't get the E brake off because she didn't know you have to lift up on it while you push the button in.

I'll think of more later...

Mike M2

Tech Manager

CS Dealer Services

I've had that one with the key not wanting to turn experience beacuse of the steering lock, lol,

I've even had someone tell me since we did the alarm she keeps getting shocked from the car, well, needless to say i was speechless for a few seconds until i realized she was serious and wanted us to fix her problem.

I've got alot but i just discovered this thread, so i'll rethink and post back with more.

commit your way to jehovah and he will act in your behalf. psalms 37:5

Sales people = morons, don't even start me off. Wrong product (often). Alarm South East London morning, alarm South West London, afternoon, I protest and they point out that they are only 13 miles apart I reply that this is London, allow 4 hours to do the 13 miles. Told many years ago to put a stereo, 4 speakers and an auto aerial in the (only) Alfa behind the showroom...you know where this one's going.

The thing with sales people is that they don't understand the nature of this field and for some reason this particular field of work has every preconceived notion from all different angles that sometimes the absurdness of the persons really baffles you, no joke.commit your way to jehovah and he will act in your behalf. psalms 37:5

And let's not forget the customer classic_ "the alarm has flattened my battery".

Ahhhhhhhhh yes howard, i've heard that so many times in my few years, i can just imagine the amount of times you've heard it.  I've actually started to charge now when they come back with that story, really, and they pay too, when they could have taken my advice for free, i tell them it's either we temporarily disconnect the alarm and they can monitor the vehicle's battery over the period, or they can take my opinion that it isn't the alarm causing their problems for free, 99% of the time they would pay to have it disconnected and then pay again to have it reconnected.  

Oh well, what can i say, it's all in the job, i guess.

commit your way to jehovah and he will act in your behalf. psalms 37:5

To the point where I once benched a Toad Cat 1 alarm (Avital Maxx clone) after the customer insisted I remove it. I then sent him a solicitor's (lawyer's)letter with the perfectly normal results (current draw etc.)so I didn't have to return his money, he had no legal grounds for making me remove it, promising court action etc. In fact come October November with the seasonal drop in temperature I will guarantee that every call-out blaming the alarm, immobiliser, etc is a bloody flat battery.

Recently i had a new Tundra for a remote start. Works fine for 4 months, no problems. One day the guy comes into the dealership and says "i can't start the truck using the key. I gotta remote start it first and takeover with the key to go anywhere". The immobilizer light would still flash even when he used the key. Service says "we gotta get that aftermarket RS out and install a Toyota RS, that'll fix it". My first word to them was "ok, your gonna take out the part that works to fix the part that doesn't, huh?"

I pulled the RS, even charged them an hour which they were very unhappy about. The tech called me later and told me they had to replace the amplifier coil around the key cylinder. Hope the guy likes the Toyota RS....

Mike M2

Tech Manager

CS Dealer Services

Gotta love these idiots. Seriously.commit your way to jehovah and he will act in your behalf. psalms 37:5

Got to give you some background here, back in 1980 BMW UK decided that everything was going to be installed in-house at it's dealerships. When the E46 came out, I'm installing a Blackjax, no one knows a tach point but I notice a thin black wire at the OBD (data socket), I ring the local dealership, "Is it the tach wire, it measures correctly?" "No it's all data bring the car in (at £120 = $180 per hour)and we will find it for you". Well I didn't and it was. Mid 90s same dealership, the sales dept. is sending new cars to us to install auto-changers and head units, we were taking about 35 minutes per install (2 of us per job), their works were taking about 4 hours and charging accordingly. About 98, the first X5, big audio/video job, 3-4 days, disconnected the battery, dashboard like a Christmas tree when finished, they charged us $75 to walk out to the car, place seat covers in it and plug into the diagnostics to clear the lights. Since then on ALL late cars we almost never disconnect the battery, we run trickle chargers whilst working on them. I hated fighting the dealerships rather than working with them.