Not about mechanics but heres one about someone else that does lettering work.

Dad and I met this customer at the marina to talk about/give an estimate on re-doing his boat name while it was out of the water as when it was done he was taking it way down the river.

The name on the back was faded to hell and wasnt but a couple years old. He talked to the guy that did the work and he said "it faded b/c of the diesel fumes". I laughed out loud big time when the customer told us that guy said that...I couldnt hold it in.

We got the job.

24 v cummins customer
Customer "I need a new injection pump"
Me "why?"
Customer " well this guy diagnosed it"
Me "he's wrong "
Customer "nope it needs it, I ordered one it will be here this week, please put it in when it gets here, I need my truck ASAP, I'm low on funds, need to get to work blah blah blah."
Me "so don't diagnose it just replace the pump?"
Customer "yes"
Couple days later.
Me "trucks all set, I know I said $400 but it's going to be $500"
Customer "umm why?"
Me " the map sensor I replaced to fix the problem was $100 and the labor to replace your perfectly fine injection pump with this. $2300 unit you bought was $400 "

that sounds like a guy i do work for,you just got to rememberTHE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT,even when they are wrong.

Funny how many boaters have empty cans of seafoam and starting fluid in the boats.

So I have a story not mine but its from another marine tech since the customer is always right. This is a true story from marine tech I know out of state.

Boat owner & family stop by his shop towing their boat because they wanted to buy a couple cans of seafoam as they are on the way to a lake that is 2 hours away for their boating vacation.

So the tech asks the boat owner why do you need seafoam - your boat having running problems? The boat owner says it hard to start and dies at idle unless you give it gas to about 1500 rpms.

The tech asks do you want to make an appointment for me to fix your boat - the boat owner says no we just want seafoam as a lot boaters on the internet use it and inwhich makes your boat run better.

The tech ask how old is your fuel in your boats gas tank ? The boat owner says over a year at least . The tech says you will have to drain your gas tank and use fresh gas plus have your carb overhauled most likely along with new fuel filters. The boat owner says thanks but we are going to try seafoam 1st and get rid of the old gas like you said.

The next thing the boat owner does is starts his boat on the trailer - the tech asks what are you doing and you need a water supply to your engine. The boat owner says should I keep at 1500 rpms or do think I should give it more throttle to get rid of the bad gas faster in the gas tank so it can be all gone before we get to lake .

The tech said sorry I have to get back to work - the boat owner bumped the throttle up to around 2500 rpms and then drove off with the boat running yelling out the window thanks for the help.

My reply was I hope trailer park bob and his family had boat orrs so they could get out on the water to enjoy themselves.

WOW
That customer running the boat on the trailer has to "take the cake"

No bull true story and the customer is always right plus seafoam is the fix in bottle. on a side note - one of the worst things you can do for 2 stroke outboards is overdose your fuel / oil mixture with fuel cleaning products. .

I was renting a house on the water one summer and the guy who owned the house owned a marina and was the head mechanic. I walked down to the docks one day and he was working on someones boat so i stood and waited for him to get down. Hes over there spraying starting fluid in it having someone else turning the key and revving the throttle wide open to get it to run. Obviously it would run on the starting fluid and quit. He used five cans of starting fluid trying to get it to run and the only reason he didn't use more is because he ran out. I walked up to him and said don't you think you should probably clean the carb and change the filters? "Oh no she runs good once she gets going." I now know which marina to never ever take my boat too.

back in the 70's I was driveing home from work in my 66 Vette when it started to overheat (rural area) stopped at a small garage. Asked the mechanic if he could pull out the thermostat for me, He looked at the car and said "we don't work on those kind of cars. 327cu-350hp pretty complex.

dumbest thing? "this is only an estimate".
on the crazy things people do. my friend had a small family owned marina. one day they put a boat in for a guy and the battery was dead. my friend went out and jumped it and bumped the idle up to around 1500 so it could charge. some how the owner decided that every time you start the boat it had to run wide open for a while. I never believed him till one day I was out there and he said "there's the guy, watch this". the guy fired it up and ran it wide open against the limiter while he loaded the boat with his fishing gear. he never would believe my buddy that he didnt need to do that so thats how he started every trip till it scattered.

there are some DUMB people in the world! why do we let them reproduce!