Bad customer experience & treaty of waitangi blogs

Customer Story of a Bad Experience

Instructions:

discuss the following questions in your small groups. Then write your answers

in the space provided.

This is a true story.

The year was about 1958, in California, before there were strong consumer

laws. Don Higgins owned a laundry and dry cleaning business, in which he

used one of the new Volkswagen bus trade vans for his deliveries. He would

pick up dirty clothes from businesses (like restaurants and auto repair shops),

clean them and deliver them back. He liked his Volkswagen van: it had lots of

space to hang the clothes and it got good fuel economy. Up until recently, it

had been very reliable. But lately the engine wasn’t running very well. The

engine was regularly missing and had low power.

So in the morning, Don took his van to his local auto repair shop. He told them

it needed fixing, maybe just a tune up, and he got a ride back to his cleaning

business. Then in mid-afternoon, he went back to pick up his van.

To his surprise, the van wasn’t ready. If fact, the repair shop owner showed

Don the engine that was now out of the van. The exhaust valve for number 3

cylinder was burnt, causing the poor running engine and lack of power. The

shop owner said he could have the engine fixed and back in the van in 3 or 4

days. And the bill would be about $400.00. (In 1958, this was a lot of money.

Don’s monthly mortgage on his house was only about $120.00 per month.)

Don was very upset. He was so upset that I (Steve McAfee) heard about this

as the little boy who lived next door to Don.

Q.1; From Don’s point of view, what was wrong here? What did the shop do
wrong that upset Don so much. (After all, they were fixing his van.)

Answer; I believe that the workshop did not quote Don correctly, I think that any work that needs to be done should be made obvious, aswell as the price of the repair costs to the customer. All the conditions of the repair should explained accurately before the customer signs the contract between the work-shop and the customer.

Q.2; From the repair shop owner’s point of view, what was wrong with Don
getting upset at them? What did they do right or wrong?

Answer; I can see things from the work-shops point of view, I can see how the thought Don may-be in the wrong. Don did not specifically tell the work-shop what he would like to be done to the vehicle, he said "I need my van fixed" although he did say it "may" need just a tune up but that doesnt really allow the work-shop to draw any perimeters in reference to the repair, so to their understanding they were to repair the van at any cost.

Q.3; What should have been done in this circumstance? If you were Don, what
would you have wanted to be done?

Answer; If I were Don, I would have liked any repair costs to be quoted to me before any major repair is done, the complexity and amount of time needed to repair can be easily judged by the work-shop. I would also like the shop to draw up an agreement or produce a job-sheet which states all the work required, labour costs, part costs, any extra charges that will need to be made towards the repair.


Q.4; When the repair was finished, and Don went to pick up his van, he took the

van and did not pay the whole repair bill. Did the repair shop have the right to

hold the van until they got paid?

Answer; The work-shop would be able to detain the vehicle within their possession untill the bill was paid IF the repair costs and labour costs were clearly displayed then agreed to by the customer with a signature or evidence of approval. BUT because the work-shop did not give sufficient information towards the cost of the repair before the repairs were carried out and agreed to, Don has the right to remove his vehicle from their possession before he has paid the bill, because he has not been quoted correctly before the work has been carried out aswell as he did agree to work carried out before it was done.


Q.5;  If Don took the repair shop to court, what would you have ruled if you were

the judge? Should the repair shop pay for a replacement rental vehicle?

Should Don pay the whole repair bill? Should the repair shop pay Don for lost

business because he could not pick up and deliver clothes to his customers?

Answer; If I were the judge I would rule that Don should be re-emburst the money that Don used to get a rental car, because he needed a vehicle to try keep his buisness running for the days his car was off the road for. I would rule that Don and the work-shop come to an agreement of a lower price to be payed to the work-shop for the repair, I dont believe Don should have to pay the full amount of the money quoted by the work-shop. Finally I would rule that the work-shop reiemburse Don for some of the lost buisness he would have encountered due to the amount of time with-out his van, The reason for me not ruling that the work-shop reiemberse Don fully for buisness lost is because Don did have a car which I have ruled to be payed for by the work-shop, with this car Don still would have been able to do some buisness, meaning that he didnt lose out on all potential buisness.

Q.6; What New Zealand laws relate to this story? What do New Zealand laws
say should have been done in this case?

Answer; http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1993/0091/latest/DLM311053.html
Part 1, Guarantees as to tittle; This law basically states that anything that the Seller is trying to sell must be clearly displayed, if not various legal actions can be taken to ensure the consumer is given his rights in the matter.




Treaty of Waitangi

Treaty of Waitangi and Sustainability Worksheet

How does sustainability and freedom from pollution pertain to the treaty?

Instructions: Read the Treaty and answer the questions below. This may be used for theory classroom discussion.


What part of the treaty relates to pollution and sustainability? Write the phrase the relates to it here;

I have highlighted the phrase in the screenshot below;

What are the ways that modern civilization could polute the land, the sea or the air?;

I believe that polution could take place by Human waste which is not recycled properly, Modern day vehicles because they produce emissions from the gas being burnt, rubbish that is not bio-degradable (man made stuff that is un-able to be broken down by the earth) also industrial stuff like oil waste, all the chemicals they use to produce products etc.

What NZ legislation directs what should happen about pollution?;

The resource management act. This legislation basically believes in managing what happens to our country, pollution wise. So in a way they stop excessive amounts of pollution in our country