KingSix Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 Okay... how I spent my afternoon.... I was away for a week and saw that fall had really happened in my absence.. the yard is full of leaves. So I got out my Toro electric blower / vacuum and started to blow off the back yard. I got about 15 minutes into it and the blower slowly slowed down and quit. Turning it off and on again would give a little blast and then it stopped. The thing just died. I checked my information and found a receipt telling me I bought it new in May. That's five months ago. I bought it in the spring when the last of three Black & Decker units actually caught fire. So I switched to Toro. Last spring I did the final spring blowing of what leaves were left from winter. And this was probably the third time I used it. Junk! I check my Toro book and it has a two year warranty. So I call the good folks at Toro and got a woman who actually was American. She told me I could mail it to them at my own cost and wait a few weeks for them to look at it and possibly repair it. Or I could take it to their local authorized repair place, which was a town away. I opted for that. I get to this Toro dealer and they tell me that they don't do Toro electric tools. I tell the lady my plight and she tells me to take it back to Home Depot. Note that all my Toro info tells me not to do that. So I head to Home Depot. At Home Depot the guy looks at my six month old receipt and I explain that it was used twice, the thing isn't even dirty and the vacuum bag is still neatly folded in the box. He agrees to issue me a store refund. Then I can buy a new one. I then explain that I used a Home Depot $5 off coupon and I want an even exchange so I'm not out that $5. He doesn't see why I'm arguing over $5, but gets his boss who tells me to go to the aisle and get one for even exchange. Of course once in the aisle, they don't have any. They tell me they have them in stock and rustle up a stock guy who goes out back and then comes back empty handed. So they tell me there's another Home Depot 10 miles up the road. I know where it is. I tell them that I already had spent a half hour fighting with them and I don't want to go through that all over again. And can I be assured that they'll even have one? At least I was talking to a manager who said he'd call them. Another 10 minutes and he said that they had the thing in stock (note that the first store's inventory said they had them) and I'm off in the Tracker for the next Home Depot. This time it went better. I got to the returns counter and my new one was sitting there. Still, three stops and about two hours of grief to rectify something that shouldn't have broke in the first place! 1st world problems ...
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 (edited) Okay... how I spent my afternoon.... ... three stops and about two hours of grief to rectify something that shouldn't have broke in the first place! Gee Tom, this is pretty typical these days for just about anything. "Customer service" is usually confused and gives out incorrect information, the store inventory computer shows parts or products in-stock that aren't, and the product is usually second-or-third-rate-junk when you get it anyway. This is the new-improved America that all the idiot MBAs and bean-counting "managers" have built. Experts, one and all, and it just gets worse. I deal with THINGS on a daily basis, tools, parts (aftermarket and OEM), and technical services from a variety of vendors. Adventures like made you unhappy today are so common in my life, every day, that I don't whine about it any more. But since you brought it up, let me tell you. I get expensive hot-rod and aftermarket-for-OE-application parts that have to be re-engineered to actually work and fit the supposed application. I get mis-labled parts. I get bolts and fasteners that were apparently made to some odd Chinese measuring system and don't screw into anything, US OR metric. I get double-charged for shipping that's supposed to be free. I get sub-contracted machine work where nobody bothered to follow the scale drawings I supplied. I get body shops that take over a year to do a job they quoted 3 months for. I get rebuilt radiators back that look like they were done by blind 5-year-olds in Guiana. I get powder-coated parts where the coating is 1/8 inch thick on the parts that were supposed to be masked, and so thin you can see through it in other areas. I get bodies painted by "professionals" that are 3 different colors under bright light. I get pot-metal special-application tools that break the first time they're used. I get chrome plated parts where the surface details have either been entirely ground off, or the plating peels when the tape is removed from the wrapping (that's when they don't just lose the parts, period). I get engines assembled by "experts" that are so tight even a compound gear-drive starter won't turn them over. I get wheels from "name" manufacturers that aren't the backspacing and offset I ordered. I get cars coming in from other shops that "just need to be finished", where every bubble-gum snot-weld looks like it was done by a one-eyed drunk with the shakes using coat-hangers for welding rod. I could go on for pages and pages. Most people do their jobs poorly. Most products are second-rate at best. And most folks neither know the difference between quality and crapp, or care about it. And they all tell you "we're committed to quality". Yeah. Have a nice day. Edited October 27, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 1st world problems ... Last time I looked, we still lived in the first-world. The way it's going though, we'll be third-world in my lifetime.
KingSix Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 Last time I looked, we still lived in the first-world. The way it's going though, we'll be third-world in my lifetime. depressing ...
southpier Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 leaves and snow. the good Lord puts 'em down, and he can certainly take them away, then.
Tom Geiger Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 (edited) leaves and snow. the good Lord puts 'em down, and he can certainly take them away, then. Actually the snow will melt if ignored. Leaves will hunker down for the long haul. At this time of year it's best to do a quick blow of the yard every few days. If you wait until the yard is knee deep... well, moving those leaves is like driving cattle! Which is why I wasn't waiting for Toro to ship me a repaired blower several weeks from now. Edited October 27, 2014 by Tom Geiger
Greg Myers Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 Is there some secret guild of panhandlers in Arizona? the weather
Tom Geiger Posted October 27, 2014 Posted October 27, 2014 the weather Yea, I guess we'll never see a pan handler frozen to death in Arizona or Puerto Rico...
KingSix Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 Gee Tom, this is pretty typical these days for just about anything. "Customer service" is usually confused and gives out incorrect information, the store inventory computer shows parts or products in-stock that aren't, and the product is usually second-or-third-rate-junk when you get it anyway. This is the new-improved America that all the idiot MBAs and bean-counting "managers" have built. Experts, one and all, and it just gets worse. I deal with THINGS on a daily basis, tools, parts (aftermarket and OEM), and technical services from a variety of vendors. Adventures like made you unhappy today are so common in my life, every day, that I don't whine about it any more. But since you brought it up, let me tell you. I get expensive hot-rod and aftermarket-for-OE-application parts that have to be re-engineered to actually work and fit the supposed application. I get mis-labled parts. I get bolts and fasteners that were apparently made to some odd Chinese measuring system and don't screw into anything, US OR metric. I get double-charged for shipping that's supposed to be free. I get sub-contracted machine work where nobody bothered to follow the scale drawings I supplied. I get body shops that take over a year to do a job they quoted 3 months for. I get rebuilt radiators back that look like they were done by blind 5-year-olds in Guiana. I get powder-coated parts where the coating is 1/8 inch thick on the parts that were supposed to be masked, and so thin you can see through it in other areas. I get bodies painted by "professionals" that are 3 different colors under bright light. I get pot-metal special-application tools that break the first time they're used. I get chrome plated parts where the surface details have either been entirely ground off, or the plating peels when the tape is removed from the wrapping (that's when they don't just lose the parts, period). I get engines assembled by "experts" that are so tight even a compound gear-drive starter won't turn them over. I get wheels from "name" manufacturers that aren't the backspacing and offset I ordered. I get cars coming in from other shops that "just need to be finished", where every bubble-gum snot-weld looks like it was done by a one-eyed drunk with the shakes using coat-hangers for welding rod. I could go on for pages and pages. Most people do their jobs poorly. Most products are second-rate at best. And most folks neither know the difference between quality and crapp, or care about it. And they all tell you "we're committed to quality". Yeah. Have a nice day. ^this^
blunc Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 sure, they say they're committed to quality...they don't say what "kind" of quality.
Old Buckaroo Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 And they all tell you "we're committed to quality". Yeah. Have a nice day. Bill, you hit the nail right on the head with your post. Makes you miss the old "Cal Custom" parts. Funny how everyone expects top dollar for their sub par work also. No Pride in their work anymore it seems. Only there for the dollar.
cobraman Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 Didn't Cal Custom have a nice line of paints ?
Old Buckaroo Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 Didn't Cal Custom have a nice line of paints ? I am not sure, I just remember all their "Chrome and Aluminum" dress up parts . Back in the day that was the first item - CC valve covers and a air cleaner and you had added an extra 20 hp Those that could afford Miloden and Moroso ect all made fun of the Japan parts. They CC were afffordable for the era. I would really like to find a set of the aluminum finned valve covers for my '55 chevy .
my80malibu Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 Go to a Goodguys car show there are always available there both new,and used.
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 Didn't Cal Custom have a nice line of paints ? Yup. I used their black wrinkle on the instrument panel of my hot-rod '62 Bug when I was 19.
Old Buckaroo Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 no one had the footprint gas pedal? Guilty had the matching dimmer switch also !
KingSix Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 no one had the footprint gas pedal? I wonder if in 30 years men will be this nostalgic over todays mods, like neon lights & fart can exhausts... god I hope not ...
Ace-Garageguy Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) I wonder if in 30 years men will be this nostalgic over todays mods, like neon lights & fart can exhausts... god I hope not ... If the feminists have their way, there won't be any "men" in 30 years anyhow. It's getting harder and harder to find one even now. Edited October 28, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy
KingSix Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 If the feminists have their way, there won't be any "men" in 30 years anyhow. It's getting harder and harder to find one even now. Couldn't agree more. Kid came into a resto shop I managed looking for a job. Wearing skinny jeans. Guess who didn't get the job. LOL
Pete J. Posted October 28, 2014 Posted October 28, 2014 What is worse is that there won't be any women left either!
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