Last Monday I shared with you the story of how my humble experiment with social media became a passion and a career changer.
Click here if you missed it = http://www.sclohosocialmediaadventure.com/2011/06/power-of-social-media-in-my-life.html
Today, a story of how I saved at least $1200 Friday due to this thing called Social Media.
If you click on the names mentioned you will connect to each persons Twitter Profile. All Good People you should follow.
It was just after 11am and I was getting ready to meet a friend for lunch. I hoped in my car, drove out of the parking lot and stepped on the gas and heard a pop.
My car came to a coasting stop on the road. I turned on my flashers and had a sinking feeling in my gut.
I had some type of transmission problem. I tested all the options from Park to Reverse, Drive to the individual gears and nothing would engage. I got out, looked under the car, on the road and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
With the help of a police officer who stopped to help, we pushed my car into a driveway and he gave me a ride back to the radio stations where I still work, for about 5 more days.
I call my friend, he decides to come pick me up for lunch and I also call a well known transmission shop Russ Moore because I have met the owner at a social media breakfast.
Bad news. They don't work on Mercedes.
My car is nothing fancy, it's a 16 year old Benz that I paid cash for 6 years ago, so it is paid for, except for the repairs which are extremely expensive and sometimes it's hard to find someone who has the knowledge to do the work.
I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagination, but I can make an educated guess that this is not the entire transmission taking a crap, but something minor. First guess is the transmission linkage snapped, which would be an easy fix. Minor fixes still equal Major dollars on this car.
I've been unhappy with the "Dreaded Dealership place" I've been taking my car so I decide to ask my friends on Twitter:
#FortWayne transmission repair for a 95 Mercedes? Recommendation? you have 5 min before I start calling around
I get a few responses but after 5 minutes I call the "Dreaded Dealership place".
By the way, the "Dreaded Dealership place" is a local VW dealer that I used to like, but they lost some of my trusted mechanics and service has gone downhill.
The "Dreaded Dealership place" tells me if I can get my car towed to their shop, they might be able to look at it...Tuesday...or Wednesday. And if it is a major repair they would have to ship it to another town 90 miles away.
Now this is Friday, and I need a car to drive every single day. "Dreaded Dealership place" has no loaners available, so I'm looking at several days of rental car bills before knowing if the car can be fixed locally or not.
Thoughts are running thru my head, like maybe I need to work my old job and my new job to be able to afford this nightmare. I call the towing company and wait for 30 minutes and check twitter again.
Friends on Twitter are offering suggestions, warnings, and talking between themselves.
A few of the selected Tweets:
from Rick:
@ScLoHo Co worker with Mercedes says only 2 places are Mercedes Benz FW and Vorderman. He likes Vorderman much better.
from Amber:
@scloho How about Mercedes Benz Fort Wayne?
@ScLoHo u could also try import docs. My former boss took his Acura there for everything and highly recommends.
My answer back to Amber:
@amrecker Import Docs only do Asian imports
Amber again replying to me and Rick:
@longsre @scloho I have had TERRIBLE experiences with Vorderman.
And I was waiting to see if either the "Dreaded Dealership place" or the local Mercedes dealer would join in the conversation.
Sure enough, they did.
@ScLoHo Yes Mercedes-Benz of Fort Wayne !! 260-432-7200 :) came from @mbfortwayne
I get on the phone and call. They can look at my car and tell my what's wrong if I can get it to them soon. I tell them I should be there within an hour or less.
My thought process is that what ever the problem is, they will be able to fix it and I'll know something, (what the problem is & cost) today, even if I don't get my car back right away.
There were many others on Twitter joining the conversation including: Joe, Carrie, Kit, Jim, & Tyler.
One of the comments from Jim who works for another dealership recommended the service manager I was working with!
I met the woman behind the @mbfortwayne tweets who said, "You tweet a lot!"
And along the way, I was given some inside information about how I could trim the $1700 estimate down by $1200. I can't say how publicly, but it pays to have friends who can direct you to legitimate ways to save and if you ask me privately, I can share the website that I was directed to for parts.
Before I wrap up this long story, there is a side story to share.
As I was standing in the parking lot when the tow truck arrived, the driver, Steve Hire said to me, "I know you, you're Scott Howard and you used to live across from Klug Park."
It turns out, this was someone I went to Elementary School with in the late 60's- early 70's who recently connected with me on Facebook but I have not seen face to face in 35 years.
And now, let me ask you... What has your Social Media Adventure been like?
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