Car repair is a stressful situation.
It doesn’t matter if you’re the repairer or the repairee.
Car work is a hassle.
Case in point…
Redditor Snoo59091 wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback. So naturally, she came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
She asked:
“AITA for telling a customer that I’m not responsible for filling his car with gas?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I (23 F[emale]) work as an auto repair tech in a shop a block from a gas station.”
“This will be important later in the story.”
“This afternoon a guy (30s M[ale]) came in to pick up his car after having it repaired for a fender bender.”
“I was telling him the total as he looked over the car and asked me why it had only a quarter tank of gas left in it.”
“I told him I had no idea and didn’t check the gas.”
“He then demands I take his car and fill it up with gas or he’s not paying for anything.”
“I told him no and if he didn’t pay he wasn’t leaving with the car.”
“He complains to my boss (40s M) about what I wouldn’t do and how I’m a bad worker that should be fired.”
“My boss backed me up, telling the guy he had 10 minutes to pay for the repair, leave or he’d call the cops.”
“He eventually paid but a few of my coworkers said I was a bit rude by not filling his gas tank when he asked.”
“Now I must add that, we don’t fill up cars unless they are running on fumes at that point.”
“AITA?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA?:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared our OP was NOT the A**hole.
It’s a tricky situation.
Let’s hear some thoughts…
“If I ever even heard of a repair shop filling my tank I’d be outside with a sign telling everyone to go there because they’re the best in the freaking world.”
“The idea that you are supposed to do that is insane.”
“Who the f**k expects the repair shop to fill your tank?” ~ realauthormattjanak
“The only dealership that I’ve experienced this with is BMW.”
“When we take my boyfriend’s car in, they clean the interior/exterior and fill the tank because they have gas on premises.”
“This is exceptional service to me because it’s so outside the norm for how dealerships do things in my opinion.”
“I’ve never experienced this at other dealerships – not Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi or Dodge.”
“They’ll wash the car sometimes (but always will if you request it), maybe vacuum the interior if they’re feeling extra nice but definitely don’t fill the tank.”
“Just texted my grandma and she said Mercedes has never fills her tank either (but now she’s jealous BMW fills ours lol).”
“Any repair shop I’ve gone to would’ve laughed me out the door if I asked them to fill my tank.” ~ princess-sauerkraut
“Sometimes the mechanic at the place I take my car because it is where my parents take their cars does it if we ask as part of the repair.”
“They’ve been our mechanics for like 50 years though and are part of a service station that has gas pumps handy though (they just add the gas to the bill).”
“But even they wouldn’t assume we wanted gas added unless we’d asked!”
“OP could just as easily have gotten in deep crap with someone who was budgeting on a shoestring.”
“And then ‘these crooks gouged them for fuel costs!’ and then what are they going to do, put the gas back? NTA…” ~ Steamedfrog
“NTA- a quarter tank will get him to a gas station and then some.”
“Some people go out of the way to be jerks, and this guy was one of them.” ~ PhoenixReboot
“NTA. If he’s so worried about gas, he should have filled it up before bringing it in to your repair shop.”
“This guy is an entitled prick.” ~ drulenarendes
“NTA – your boss should offer a service like the car rental companies .”
“We’ll fill your car, but it will cost $15 per gallon for us to do so.”
“That will shut him up.” ~ 86max86
“NTA. Unless the odometer shows your place of work was moonlighting and driving his car around (which I assume was not the case).”
“Why on Earth would he expect you to be filling up his gas tank??”
“He was just a chancer who knows that the price of gas is extortionate right now.” ~ Senti2com1
“NTA. He shouldn’t make an auto repair shop pay for gas when the gas station is right across the block.” ~ Celulestin
“NTA, based on how it sounds your work does things, filling his gas at a quarter tank would just be a nice gesture.”
“I’ve never dropped my car off at a workshop and expected a full tank when I came back.”
“If he was so concerned about it, he should’ve asked if you could do that beforehand.” ~ lumigloom
“I have never heard that a car is filled up with petrol at any service/repair center.”
“The reason his car only had a quarter of a tank when he picked it up is because it went in with only a quarter of a tank.”
“I may expect a couple of pints extra on the clock if the staff need to take the car out to trial any work that was done.”
“But that really shouldn’t make enough of a difference to the tank.”
“He’s just trying to get a freebie from you.”
“Your co-workers don’t understand that it wasn’t your responsibility nor your work place’s to fill up a customer’s car.” ~ DiamondHeist1970
“NTA. He just sounds really entitled.” ~ stargazer-02
“You really should have filled his tank, changed his oil, polished his knobs and been his personal unpaid chauffeur for a week after kicking his entitled butt to the curb. Definitely NTA.” ~ NewComixbear1
“NTA and I’m glad your boss backed you up.”
“From what you described, it sounds like the customer was implying that someone used the car so the tank was lower than it should be.”
“I’d be offended to be accused as such.” ~ Fresh_Process6822
“NTA – I would only fill up the tank if the car was almost out of gas and the business should charge an inconvenience fee for it.”
“Business should update their contract and then business pays for it.” ~ Snoo90169
“NTA. I have owned cars for over thirty years.”
“Never once in my entire life has a repair place put gas in my car.”
“I’m astounded that anyone would even ask.” ~ Tim-oBedlam
“My mechanic barely acknowledges me when I go in but I go in because he fixes my car without bullsh**.”
“He does not detail my car, he does not fill it up with gas, he’s a mechanic not a cleaner/assistant. Wtf was this dude smoking before?”
“Was he going to pay the extra for the gas on his bill or just assumed you’d eat that expense?”
“NTA. Next time, tell your coworkers to go fill the dudes car out of their pocket.” ~ fear_nothin
“Who just demands their car be filled with gas after getting it fixed!?”
“Out of all of the repairs I’ve ever had on my car, I’ve never gotten it back with a full tank of gas (brakes/shocks/struts/coolant leak/fender bender).”
“The only time I’ve ever gotten a car with a full gas tank was when I just purchased it, and that’s 100% expected.”
“Picking it up from a repair? No.”
“This guy is delusional. NTA.” ~ AUDMCJSW
“NTA. I’m from California where they definitely cheap out it seems, it seems like a weird expectation to have when you had no course to drive his vehicle, thus didn’t reduce any of his gas.”
“The gas he came in with is the gas he left with and that seems just fine.” ~ JCBashBash
“Not that it has to be said NTA.”
“My general experience with mechanics is exactly the opposite.”
“I have to take a picture and email/text for a timestamp because of repair shops using my car for errands or siphoning gas or whatever.”
“I had to take a shady mechanic to court for putting almost 800 miles on my car during a test drive.” ~ zmach21
“NTA. Guy probably throws a fit with any service provider to see if he get extras free of charge.”
“Add to it that you’re a young woman in a male dominated industry, and he probably through you were an easy mark.”
“F that guy.”
“Good on your boss for both backing you up, and not rewarding bad client behavior.”
“Every time they win it bolsters their confidence to do it with next business.” ~ hellinahandbasket127
“NTA – So why didn’t the coworkers pool their money together and fill the tank?”
“If it was so rude, why didn’t they step up and buy the gas?”
“I should get my car fixed every week so I don’t need to pay for gas from now on.”
“Never have I ever received free gas because some business fixed my car.” ~ weeblewobblers
OP… it sounds like Reddit is behind you.
It would be lovely if we all could get our tanks filled with repair.
Don’t let customers make you stressed.