Some situations are viewed in black and white; right and wrong. Yet, many people think situations also have a grey area where solutions are not so easily discerned. This is not just about the choices people make, but the thought process they go through to arrive at their decisions.
Submitted for Your Discussion & Consideration
You take your car in for an oil change. The shop is fast, so you wait for your car. It is done in less than half an hour and you are on your way.
Later that afternoon, you’re driving home and roll down the window to feel the cooling air. You smell oil, and realize the car is smoking a little. Quickly you pull into a parking lot, park, and raise the hood to check the engine.
The oil cap is missing. Oil coats the inside of the hood and over parts of the engine. It seems clear that the person who just changed your oil left the cap off. Checking the oil level with the dipstick, it is still above the minimum mark.
Likely, you would immediately return to the shop to locate the cap. Do you think that you would argue for them to not only replace the cap but also clean the engine? What else might you ask them to clean, repair, or replace? In your opinion, would a refund also be in order? If they denied it was their fault, do you think that you would react angrily, or keep your cool? If the shop did clean your engine, are you still likely to file a complaint on paper or online?
Issue date: Aug 30–Sept 12, 2013
