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In a way it is off subject but I had to tell a customer no today. This afternoon I got a call from my dentist's office. There are within walking distance and some of them bring their cars to me including the dentist. Alexa explained that a gentlemen who had been in their office had a car smoking in the parking lot and wondered if I could help him. We were busy but I told her I would try. In a few minutes the guy walked in obviously distraught. He thought he had blow a hose. I told him to give it a while for the car to cool down and we would try to start it and bring it over. After about an hour I gave one of my guys his keys and asked him to see if he could bring it over. My two guys came back a few minutes later and said that there was no way they wanted to sit down INSIDE this vehicle. It was piled full of trash even with the rear window glass and the guy had a wood 2"x4" propped in the center of the car to keep the trash from falling on him. They said the trash and the smell were unreal and unsanitary to the highest degree. Based upon things I heard this guy say in the office and based upon what my guys told me I decided to punt. As kindly as I could I told the gentleman that there was no way we could work on the car in the condition it was in. Obviously he was mentally ill because he talked about having no money to fix his car but he also told me he was feeding 30 cats.

So John is 10 below zero a balmy winter day?

Good to hear.

I was a big Star Trek fan while attending college. I was watching Star Trek the night my wife went into labor with our first child. I asked her if she thought we could finish the show but she nixed that!

I attend the local auction a few times with my brother-in-law but I always thought the stuff sold too high. 3-5 times a year I will buy one off a customer.

You sound like a true entrepreneur!

If I were getting into exhaust that Is the way I would do it. I started with a new bender and lots of inventory. I had an investment if about $50k. I listened to others and never knew any better. Today I only keep a few hundred dollars of inventory.

There was an article in today's Sunday paper that churches in the NE have been hard hit and some may not be able to recover.

I think cameras on the front counter and drawer will help the most.

Keep your hand on your wallet when they say that because they want something.

I have never heard of Vogue. However we own a Huth bender and it has been a great machine. If I were starting a new shop I would not buy a bender. If I dud I would find a used machine.

Be sure to post questions should you have any. If you want to know where the ditches are at just ask us because most of us have been in about all of the ditches at some time or another.

Congratulations on your success!

Free rotations attract people who care about their cars. It is one of the best moves I have ever made. Often I sell tires and alignments by finding and showing the customer the problems they have.

I had a service writer supplement his income that way. I found out when a customer showed me an invoice to complain about something we didn't do and I saw that it was an estimate not an invoice.

This is pretty much what I did but I had to make sure everything was in order. I also had to produce invoices for purchases and tax exempt forms. The audit was prompted by the luck of the draw. We have been in business 16 years and this was a first. The auditor who I personally knew from my environmental days (he used to work for BFI locally) said they try to get around to all businesses every few years. All these audits are are fishing expeditions from the state looking for more money. If they audit you they are going to find something. In fact I think you are better off with a little because it makes the auditor look like he is doing his job. The whole thing cost me about $5,000 plus $1,500 for the accountant plus all the extra hours my wife and I worked assembling what he asked for which included over 13,000 invoices. I meant to say three years not seven.

Last year we had a state sales tax audit and had to produce invoices for the previous 3 years. That took us three months to pull it all together and organize it. I save everything for at least 7 years before discard.

An Engineer was unemployed for long time. He could not find a job so he opened a medical clinic and puts a sign up outside: "Get your treatment for $500, if not treated get back $1,000." One Doctor thinks this is a good opportunity to earn $1,000 and goes to his clinic. Doctor: "I have lost taste in my mouth." Engineer: "Nurse, please bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in the patient's mouth." Doctor: "This is Gasoline!" Engineer: "Congratulations! You've got your taste back. That will be $500." The Doctor gets annoyed and goes back after a couple of days later to recover his money. Doctor: "I have lost my memory, I cannot remember anything." Engineer: "Nurse, please bring medicine from box 22 and put 3 drops in the patient's mouth." Doctor: "But that is Gasoline!" Engineer: "Congratulations! You've got your memory back. That will be $500." The Doctor leaves angrily and comes back after several more days. Doctor: "My eyesight has become weak." Engineer: "Well, I don't have any medicine for this. Take this $1,000." Doctor: "But this is $500..." Engineer: "Congratulations! You got your vision back! That will be $500."

Gonzo you have a very accurate take. For the last three years I pretty much have had one guy whose job it is is to know the facts and figure out what is wrong and then it was up to someone with fingers to do the physical work. Maybe not the best solution but how many guys are out there with both facts and fingers?

We have two loaner cars which are loaned out. My insurance agent needed some work done badly and needed something to drive. He is driving one of my personal vehicles. Do you think I am covered? Ha!

Good way to handle things.

Now it is my time to vent. On Saturday we tried to do an alignment on a pickup truck and found that lower ball joints were loose and we also were of the opinion that camber kits were going to be needed to get the camber acceptable. The customer declined the repair and was somewhat belligerent on the phone talking to the service writer. He was charged nothing for the inspection. Subsequently, he came in on Monday all belligerent saying that we had broke his truck. Now his driver's window switch wouldn't work and we were going to buy him a new one because he knew what we had done. We had hit it. Then he tell us that there was a certain way you had to hold the switch to get it to work and we hadn't done it right. We had HIT it when it wouldn't work. First, he had a bad switch to start with. Second, he didn't tell us to not use it. Third, who HITS a window switch. If they won't roll down we leave them alone and want no part of it. I told him to go take a flying leap. Then he got all belligerent and says he knew we were trying to rip him off from the estimate we gave him. He was a Discount Tire referral and he even called the store and was bugging them about it. The manager called me and I told him the story. Where do these sub-humans come from that think they can bully the whole world and want something for nothing?

WElcome to the forum. As far as insurance is concerned you will need (1)liability insurance, (2)garage keepers insurance, and (3)probably insurance on the building and contents. Get a quote from an independent agent or two. Workmens Compensation if you have employees.

We have worked fir some crummy warranty companies lately that will pay our labor rate $90 but want cheap parts.