What's the score at Austec?
Discussion
Having real problems getting hold of Paul at Austec (as usual).
There seems to be a new girl answering the phone who hasn't a clue about anything, and on top of that has a poor telephone manner. I only want to know when my car is going to be ready!
Anybody else having problems with Austec, or is it just me?
There seems to be a new girl answering the phone who hasn't a clue about anything, and on top of that has a poor telephone manner. I only want to know when my car is going to be ready!
Anybody else having problems with Austec, or is it just me?
I know Paul wasnt in yesterday, family took priority. (It would appear he has a life outside work...fancy that!
)
The lady on the phone is a temp but when I spoke to her the other day I found her to be very polite, maybe my charm & whit won her over
No doubt its not easy getting through sometimes, but leave a message with the temp & Im sure someone will get back to you.
Good luck
Nick
) The lady on the phone is a temp but when I spoke to her the other day I found her to be very polite, maybe my charm & whit won her over
No doubt its not easy getting through sometimes, but leave a message with the temp & Im sure someone will get back to you.
Good luck
Nick
thegreengoblet said:
Having real problems getting hold of Paul at Austec (as usual).
There seems to be a new girl answering the phone who hasn't a clue about anything, and on top of that has a poor telephone manner. I only want to know when my car is going to be ready!
Anybody else having problems with Austec, or is it just me?
Alex was good at her stuff.Having the right person on the phone affects business. There seems to be a new girl answering the phone who hasn't a clue about anything, and on top of that has a poor telephone manner. I only want to know when my car is going to be ready!
Anybody else having problems with Austec, or is it just me?
springbok said:
Popped in to see Paul on Saturday.
The workshop was manic with tons of work coming Austecs way. That's what happens when you provide a good service - everyone wants to use you.
The workshop was manic with tons of work coming Austecs way. That's what happens when you provide a good service - everyone wants to use you.
Agreed, it has been manic down there all year. I try to be as flexible as possible in letting Austec schedule their work. Since I don't use the Cerb everyday where some folks do, I'm happy to let things slide if something else pressing comes along. The flip side is that on the rare occasions where I need something done at short notice, before I go away on a big trip or whatever, Paul has always sorted things out for me.
Steve.
Edited by Steve_T on Tuesday 27th March 16:46
I was down there yesterday dopping my car off..... very very busy.
Its mixture of work load - accidents from the recent snow/wet period & everyone wanting their cars sorted for bank holiday and beginning of hooning season (dry roads n sun), as well as people being off ill.
.... can't comment on the secretary as I only said hello to her, and Alex I only said hello to as well... always delt with Paul direct with regard to booking in and finding out what is going on (may be I'm lucky).
I must admit it has taken probably best part of 2 months to book the car in... most of that period was sourcing parts for my gear box conversion though... and then a 2 week wait for booking in ..... personally I think that the 2 weeks is reasonale as my Mazda nrmally needs the same kind of notification.
No complaints here
Its mixture of work load - accidents from the recent snow/wet period & everyone wanting their cars sorted for bank holiday and beginning of hooning season (dry roads n sun), as well as people being off ill.
.... can't comment on the secretary as I only said hello to her, and Alex I only said hello to as well... always delt with Paul direct with regard to booking in and finding out what is going on (may be I'm lucky).
I must admit it has taken probably best part of 2 months to book the car in... most of that period was sourcing parts for my gear box conversion though... and then a 2 week wait for booking in ..... personally I think that the 2 weeks is reasonale as my Mazda nrmally needs the same kind of notification.
No complaints here
Hoover. said:
No complaints here
Ditto!
Their workload has increased significantly recently - partly due to Gatwick TVR closing, but mostly due to their excellent (and well deserved!) reputation.
Alex leaving was a blow to everyone - not least the customers, as anyone who dealt with her will no doubt testify.......
The 'new girl' does indeed have big shoes to fill, but give her a chance FFS!
She's only been there a week or so, and specialised TVR/ Indie/ Secretary/ Receptionist/ Telephonist/ Customer Relations positions aren't that easy to slip into!
Someone had to take some of the workload off of Paul - the poor guy suffered a lot last year and has precious little time for his family life as it is, without the added burden of answering the phone every 30 seconds............
At the end of the day, it's four guys and four ramps (in the main workshop), and everyone thinks their car is the only one being worked on!
I'd much rather use somewhere like this than somewhere that was constantly empty.....
I'm not knocking the work... this is my second respray at Austec in 5 months. The first was excellent, that's why I went back 
I just get peeved when I get no feedback. I've been fobbed off by the temp (as I now know that's what she is) for well over a week, getting on for 2 in fact - "I'll get him to call you back". Getting this every few days started to wind me up! I'm not too bothered about when I actually get the car back, I just want to be kept in the loop. I too have a life outside of the Cerb! But I need to plan my work etc around getting the car back. That's all.
Anyway, Paul did eventually get back to me today. Looks like it will be ready for Saturday, although they cannot get her back to me on the low loader. And no idea of when they could. Not good. Gonna have to leave that one with the insurance company to sort out as I can't afford the time to go and get her.
The saga continues......
I just get peeved when I get no feedback. I've been fobbed off by the temp (as I now know that's what she is) for well over a week, getting on for 2 in fact - "I'll get him to call you back". Getting this every few days started to wind me up! I'm not too bothered about when I actually get the car back, I just want to be kept in the loop. I too have a life outside of the Cerb! But I need to plan my work etc around getting the car back. That's all.
Anyway, Paul did eventually get back to me today. Looks like it will be ready for Saturday, although they cannot get her back to me on the low loader. And no idea of when they could. Not good. Gonna have to leave that one with the insurance company to sort out as I can't afford the time to go and get her.
The saga continues......
nelly1 said:
Hoover. said:
No complaints here
Ditto!
Their workload has increased significantly recently - partly due to Gatwick TVR closing, but mostly due to their excellent (and well deserved!) reputation.
Alex leaving was a blow to everyone - not least the customers, as anyone who dealt with her will no doubt testify.......
The 'new girl' does indeed have big shoes to fill, but give her a chance FFS!
She's only been there a week or so, and specialised TVR/ Indie/ Secretary/ Receptionist/ Telephonist/ Customer Relations positions aren't that easy to slip into!
Someone had to take some of the workload off of Paul - the poor guy suffered a lot last year and has precious little time for his family life as it is, without the added burden of answering the phone every 30 seconds............
At the end of the day, it's four guys and four ramps (in the main workshop), and everyone thinks their car is the only one being worked on!
I'd much rather use somewhere like this than somewhere that was constantly empty.....
Oh, totally. Alex was good, but hse had moved on. The new one needs time to settle. Thankfully my office is 150 yards away - so I can walk over at lunchtime and keep an eye.
Oh s
t are they busy, but the work is so good that sometimes you do have to wait a bit.... it is always worth it, both the paintshop and the workshop. 
Paul, my car, next week ? yes 
thegreengoblet said:
I'm not knocking the work... this is my second respray at Austec in 5 months. The first was excellent, that's why I went back
I just get peeved when I get no feedback. I've been fobbed off by the temp (as I now know that's what she is) for well over a week, getting on for 2 in fact - "I'll get him to call you back". Getting this every few days started to wind me up! I'm not too bothered about when I actually get the car back, I just want to be kept in the loop. I too have a life outside of the Cerb! But I need to plan my work etc around getting the car back. That's all.
Anyway, Paul did eventually get back to me today. Looks like it will be ready for Saturday, although they cannot get her back to me on the low loader. And no idea of when they could. Not good. Gonna have to leave that one with the insurance company to sort out as I can't afford the time to go and get her.
The saga continues......
I just get peeved when I get no feedback. I've been fobbed off by the temp (as I now know that's what she is) for well over a week, getting on for 2 in fact - "I'll get him to call you back". Getting this every few days started to wind me up! I'm not too bothered about when I actually get the car back, I just want to be kept in the loop. I too have a life outside of the Cerb! But I need to plan my work etc around getting the car back. That's all.
Anyway, Paul did eventually get back to me today. Looks like it will be ready for Saturday, although they cannot get her back to me on the low loader. And no idea of when they could. Not good. Gonna have to leave that one with the insurance company to sort out as I can't afford the time to go and get her.
The saga continues......
Get a train to Gatwick Airport. Get up early Saturday, leave your house early and when at Gatwick, call Paul and he will pick you up, or someone will, then drive the car back home
Sounds simple to me! I do it quite alot when collecting my car from Paul. I even do this when my car is at power, Dom would pick me up.
Anyone know the phobia of trains BTW?
Mr F
andyoleary said:
erm...trainophobia??...
Trainophobia
by Stacey Duck
March 27, 2006
There is a train that passes a few miles from my house. I seldom hear its whistle, but whenever I do, the low, mournful sound gives me chills.
My mother-in-law first pointed out the whistle to me, one summer weekend when she was visiting. I told her she was wrong, there couldn’t be a train. I was very careful when I bought my house. The realtor knew not to even show us homes within spitting distance of train tracks — the closest ones to our home are at least three miles away. Even the thought that a train whistle might be audible from inside my home put a slimy lump of fear in my gut.
The cold, mechanical hiss and chug of trains has always made me uneasy. I once spent a 15-hour train trip from Barcelona to Paris tossing and turning in my seat, trying to sleep. The car around me was dark; the other passengers’ muffled snores drowned out by the sound of the wheels on the track. Grrr-chunck, grrr-chunck, grrr-chunck.
About every 45 minutes, we’d pass a sleeping town or a train station, and the conductor would blow the horn, just a short blast. But it kept me awake, icy fingers of fear pricking my back. I wasn’t nervous about the trip; it was the train itself, the rocking, the clang of the couplings between train cars.
My parents used to drag me to train festivals as a child. They would try to get me to blow the wooden train whistle, or wear the blue-and-white-striped conductor’s hat. I learned a lot about trains. But something about them always left a queasy, greasy feeling in my stomach.
I was six the first time I heard a train whistle. My family had driven from Maryland to Illinois to visit my grandma, four of us squished into a compact car for 14 hours. I was exhausted when we got there that night. My 16-year-old sister offered to tuck me in and tell me a bedtime story.
Sheryl gave me a bath in grandma’s pink ceramic tub. Then she carefully tucked me between the sheets of the double bed in the guest room. It was a strange room, full of old, dark wooden furniture and green and pink crocheted doilies. The air was thick with a dusty, slightly musty odor and a bit of cloying rose perfume.
My sister sat down on the quilted comforter. Outside, a conductor blasted his whistle as his train rumbled by the house.
“Do you hear that whistle?” she asked.
I nodded.
“That’s a train whistle. At night, when the conductor blows the horn, it’s the signal for the smoke people to get off the train and go into the nearby houses, searching for little children asleep in their beds.”
She paused, looking at me for a long time. I shivered.
“When the smoke people find you, they slice off your head and put a plastic cap on your neck to keep the blood in. Then they pull up the covers and leave your body for your mom and dad to discover in the morning.”
I burrowed under the covers, terrified all the way to the tips of my 6-year-old toes, too scared to say anything at all.
“Well, good night!” she chirped, patting me on the head. Then she turned off the light and left.
I lay awake for a long time, watching the moonlight play on the quilt as I counted the train whistles, waiting for the smoke people to come.
----------------------------------
Im sorry, but if that was my sister I would have given a slap for that.
Edited by Mr Freefall on Wednesday 28th March 13:49
Mr Freefall said:
andyoleary said:
erm...trainophobia??...
Trainophobia
by Stacey Duck
March 27, 2006
There is a train that passes a few miles from my house. I seldom hear its whistle, but whenever I do, the low, mournful sound gives me chills.
My mother-in-law first pointed out the whistle to me, one summer weekend when she was visiting. I told her she was wrong, there couldn’t be a train. I was very careful when I bought my house. The realtor knew not to even show us homes within spitting distance of train tracks — the closest ones to our home are at least three miles away. Even the thought that a train whistle might be audible from inside my home put a slimy lump of fear in my gut.
The cold, mechanical hiss and chug of trains has always made me uneasy. I once spent a 15-hour train trip from Barcelona to Paris tossing and turning in my seat, trying to sleep. The car around me was dark; the other passengers’ muffled snores drowned out by the sound of the wheels on the track. Grrr-chunck, grrr-chunck, grrr-chunck.
About every 45 minutes, we’d pass a sleeping town or a train station, and the conductor would blow the horn, just a short blast. But it kept me awake, icy fingers of fear pricking my back. I wasn’t nervous about the trip; it was the train itself, the rocking, the clang of the couplings between train cars.
My parents used to drag me to train festivals as a child. They would try to get me to blow the wooden train whistle, or wear the blue-and-white-striped conductor’s hat. I learned a lot about trains. But something about them always left a queasy, greasy feeling in my stomach.
I was six the first time I heard a train whistle. My family had driven from Maryland to Illinois to visit my grandma, four of us squished into a compact car for 14 hours. I was exhausted when we got there that night. My 16-year-old sister offered to tuck me in and tell me a bedtime story.
Sheryl gave me a bath in grandma’s pink ceramic tub. Then she carefully tucked me between the sheets of the double bed in the guest room. It was a strange room, full of old, dark wooden furniture and green and pink crocheted doilies. The air was thick with a dusty, slightly musty odor and a bit of cloying rose perfume.
My sister sat down on the quilted comforter. Outside, a conductor blasted his whistle as his train rumbled by the house.
“Do you hear that whistle?” she asked.
I nodded.
“That’s a train whistle. At night, when the conductor blows the horn, it’s the signal for the smoke people to get off the train and go into the nearby houses, searching for little children asleep in their beds.”
She paused, looking at me for a long time. I shivered.
“When the smoke people find you, they slice off your head and put a plastic cap on your neck to keep the blood in. Then they pull up the covers and leave your body for your mom and dad to discover in the morning.”
I burrowed under the covers, terrified all the way to the tips of my 6-year-old toes, too scared to say anything at all.
“Well, good night!” she chirped, patting me on the head. Then she turned off the light and left.
I lay awake for a long time, watching the moonlight play on the quilt as I counted the train whistles, waiting for the smoke people to come.
----------------------------------
Im sorry, but if that was my sister I would have given a slap for that.
Edited by Mr Freefall on Wednesday 28th March 13:49
More to the point what are you smoking Mr F? That story was right outta left field!
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