Customer said my brake lines looked 'sloppy' last Tuesday

I had a guy bring his 1998 F-150 in for a brake job, and he leaned over my shoulder while I was flaring the lines. He told me my bends were too tight and would crack under pressure. I thought he was just being picky, but I stepped back and looked at it, and he was right. I had been rushing the curves to save time. So I re-did the passenger side line with wider, smoother bends, and it actually seats better against the frame. Has anyone else gotten useful feedback from a customer who actually knew what they were talking about?

3 comments

3 Comments

lee.drew2d ago

Man I had a buddy who does his own work on his old Bronco and he swears by a similar story. He was welding a frame patch and the guy who owned the shop just watched for a minute before pointing out his weld beads were too cold and would crack. My buddy got all defensive at first but then checked his settings and sure enough the guy was spot on. Ended up grinding it down and redoing it with hotter settings and the thing held like a rock for years after that. Sometimes the know-it-all customer actually does know it all, I guess.

elliot_johnson312d ago

He's got a point there about the weld beads. I've seen that same thing happen more times than I can count, where a guy rushes a weld and ends up with a cold joint that looks fine but will snap under any real load. It's just like the brake lines, you think you're saving time by being quick but you're really just creating a headache for yourself later on. And the thing is, a lot of these older guys have been around long enough to spot those mistakes from across the room. They didn't get that experience by being polite about it, they got it by making the same mistakes themselves and having someone call them out. So when a customer who clearly works on his own stuff steps in, it's usually worth listening even if it stings your pride a little.

shanem372d ago

Ever had a customer point out your work was sloppy and you just wanted to say "oh yeah, well your face is sloppy"? No, just me?