Early vs Later part of a career
Tying together what we pay and value in a service
Recently, I got engaged into a fiery dispute with my auto shop of 3 years. They are the only shop that I left the lot without a flat tire .ie they kept the place clean. But -guess what- they changed owners, my entire case history deleted, and it appeared the same friendly face have a new view on client services. The issue I had was a flashing engine light in my car and they said it will be $150 to check it out, but will deduct it from the work done on it. From what my brother did over the weekend, I felt that it was probably an issue that will need to be handled or I’m not having a car for the week. The problem after they had a look is they couldn’t do anything to the car but expected me to pay for the inspection and go somewhere else to handle the matter. So when the young kid told me it would be $160 (with tax), I asked “for what?” Every other place it’s free, but I paid ahead of time expecting the same service I have always received from you. Instead of having a conversation they were ready to get down (and these were well endowed WWE mechanics) after asking me in a very Joe Pesci manner “Ohhh, so you don’t want to pay for my labor? My parts?”, but I maintained a somewhat calm demeanor and responded “I’ve been a customer for 3 years and have paid for whatever you said the price was, I’m asking now what am I paying for since you can’t provide the service?” I think I displeased the supervisor with my comments who shouted “Here’s your key, never come back” and I said “fine.”
In another situation, my door in my bedroom with my office computer was locked by my kids, there is no key and requires a handyman or some knowledge on how to jiggle the hole. The locksmith couldn’t make it and he didn’t want to disappoint my wife, so he asked that if he showed me the “trick” that I pay him for the service call. I agreed. He “revealed” that all it took was a screwdriver and a lot of jiggling. Sounded simple but I didn’t know. I valued the information and got something out of it.
Like many of you I like anecdotes and filed a few in my mind, but recently I don’t really file away anything if I know Google has a search ability on it (keeps my mind fresh. Some of the Google searches came up with some famous retorts to the above scenario and I feel it’s very important for investors to think about professional services. At the end of the day, you can do it and what I write encourages you to do it for yourself because
You never know, you make take to it
You will appreciate the what goes into it
From the story above, is there anything I could have done differently? Is there anything they could have?
Here is the article from Google search: Artists Retort
In it features three famous artists:
Pablo Picasso… Mark H. McCormack… James McNeill Whistler…
But You Did That in Thirty Seconds.” “No, It Has Taken Me Forty Years To Do That.”
This retort is by Picasso who charged a fan a substantial amount to doodle on a napkin. When you are an artist that rose from nothing, they know what their value is.Asked in court why he charged so much for his work, Whistler responded:
“No;—I ask it for the knowledge of a lifetime.”
So the next time you overpay for something, think about what you paid for. Sometimes it pays to receive someone’s wisdom which is the cumulation of time you may not have had.
And when one masters a certain profession that doesn’t mean he is all-knowing or makes the right decision. Only that in that specific domain, he is master.
Here is Picasso joining the Communist Party…It may have taken another lifetime for him to realize that it may not have been his brightest inspiration but great men never admit their mistakes?
