When did the problems at the Burien Big O Tires start?
How were you supposed to find $1,000 worth of repairs? We were supposed to be very aggressive. If a woman walked in there, it was attack, attack, attack, get her money. If she’s got kids, that’s a bonus, because you can hit her for the safety thing. If they were elderly, you could really nail them. The new manager had some women almost in tears. He’d have stories like, “Your car won’t make it five miles–this is a safety issue.” If they had children, he would hit that hard, like, “Are you willing to risk your children’s safety?” Did you say anything? I brought it to the new manager’s attention: Come on, $1,000 a car? And he said “Hey, don’t you care about the customers’ safety?” What did you see happen under that sales policy? An elderly lady came in one time, with an ’84 Cutlass. It was in the best condition an ’84 Cutlass can be in. I did my inspection, it needed some new tires, and she needed a ball joint. She left, and her son brought the car in the next day. Another mechanic did t
