Customer Service

This morning I took the Nissan Quest to a little shop in Cihuatlan ("see-WHAT-lan" ) between Barra de Navidad and Manzanillo to have some work done... namely, replace a cracked windshield, a broken turn signal lens assembly, and to have some touch-up paint applied to a badly scratched rear bumper. (You know the kind- it's plastic and the same color as the car). I got there at 9 am and was told it would be ready at 3 pm.

I was able to catch a bus back almost instantly after dropping off the car, and headed back to the boat... and it started to rain- just a light kinda' drizzly thing that kept the temperatures down and everything drippy. The drizzle continue all day, so I just took it easy, practicing guitar, writing emails, tinkering a little. And at 2:30, I caught a bus back to Cihautlan- it's about 10 miles. When I got to the shop, it was locked up tight. I noticed some curtained windows on the second story, so I tried banging on the steel doors to roust somebody. Nobody was rousted. I waited. I banged some more. I stood in the drizzle. I had to pee. I banged some more. I waited. It rained harder.

A little old lady who lived across the street motioned to me that they had closed up and left, so I started walking around the building until I found a phone number painted on the wall up the alley adjoining the building. I called the number and in my broken Spanish, explained that I was waiting to get my car, and I needed my car NOW.

About 15 minutes later, the guy who owned the shop showed up, telling me that the phone number belonged to his son, who got word to him that his customer was wanting to pick up his car (standing in the rain, now for an hour). There was no apology. He had done all he could for the day so he locked up and went home.

The front lens was the wrong one, and with the rain, there wasn't any painting going on. I agreed to pay him a portion of the price and gave him my phone number with instructions to call me when the right part shows up and the weather is suitable for painting. I asked him also to price a door handle for the driver's side door since it was missing when we bought the car.

I've decided I'll wait in the car next time... take my laptop and watch a movie while I wait, maybe.