You can almost be prepared for everything

Sometimes in the field you run into troubles that are beyond you. I had the pleasure and I do mean pleasure, of working on a leaking tire in the pouring rain just the other day. It didn’t go as well as it normally does but there were a few factors working against us.

First, I was already in the field heading to do something completely different. On this particular occasion, I was picking up a car to take to the yard for personal gains and got a call that someone was in need right across the street. We don’t hesitate to get someone back on the road, bottom line, we value our customers safety. So, not hesitating, I went over to assist the customer. Which brought me to the next set of issues.

Second, the customers spare tire and full size rim were both flat. That may seem like a no brainer to just change the tire and put on the spare but within that was the trouble: It was flat! I usually carry a very small pump with me to help customers out in this particular type of situation but, the bead wasn’t sealed on the spare and the nail in the primary tire was to big to fill before the air came right back out.

This brings us to the last main issue that arose from this disastrous attempt and that was the slim fit placement of the lug nut wouldn’t allow anything I had on me to get on the lug nut. This was by far the worst part because not only could I not take the rim off to patch it, I literally had to call a tow truck, just to get it to the nearest tire shop.

Not to mention after all this ,the customer gave me a cursing like no other and refused to comment to dispatch about the attempt to even help her. Not to sound to upset but it was also intermittently raining. You can try to help customers but you have to know your limit.

What was learned from this?

You can never have enough tools
There is no limit to the amount of effort you may have to put into any job
The customers are almost always right

Although I couldn’t help her, the fact that I didn’t have the right tools at the right time made us lose a customer. That’s never a good sign for the company or the individual but you never know what your dealing with until you get there. Moral to the entire story, we will be getting a tow truck soon to avoid any job we can’t handle on the road. In other words, to make a customer happy and return, give them what they want.

Here is a quick video of the attempt and the customer is pacing in the background. I apologized intently but some people aren’t that forgiven.