A less good day

As the Pajero was getting close to service time I decided to get it done here at the Mitsubuishi dealers in Atherton.  It was a cramp that they were fully booked for about 10 days but I put it in.  They reckoned it would take about 2 - 3 hours and could drop me off at Hasties Swamp and pick me up again.  Excellent.

It turned out dropping me off meant I drove out with one of their guys who took the car back.  I did birding.  Here are a few ducks:

Here are a lot of ducks.

Here are ducks on a log!

An Intermediate Egret showing the limited extent of yellow skin relative to the eye.

Finally, some Chestnut-breasted Mannikins posed for a snap.

All good stuff but after 3 hours I hadn't heard anything (they had my phone number) so rang them.  It turned out the tappets needed resetting so it was going to take another 2 hours.  Not happy but I thought I'd walk back to town.  By chance one of the 5 people I know in the Tablelands was driving by and gave me a lift for a couple of kilometres from where I could walk the rail trail.

When I got back the car was done, but they had to find the paperwork.  When this eventually appeared there was the usual recitation of what was done.  Yadda yadda yadda.  Then the bombshells.

• There was a leak in the sump which needed fixing asap.
• The front discs needed replacing asap.
• This would take a full day.
• They were fully booked for the next 10 days.

I explained that we were out of accommodation after Saturday.  That was obviously my problem.  So I asked if there was another place nearby which might be able to help (this wasn't volunteered by them).  Yes, Mareeba.  Rang them and they can do it on Friday and Reddings can lend me a car.  OK not too bad.  The another two bombshells (which came up incidentally when they said we could keep the loaner over the weekend.

• They need to keep the car overnight (on Friday) to let the seal set.
• The service department isn't open on a Saturday so I wouldn't get the car back until Monday!

I explained that we were out of accommodation after Saturday.  Despite already having explained that it seemed to be news to the person I was speaking to.  The f-word got used a few times!!  Back on the phone to Mareeba: OK drop the car in at lunchtime on Thursday and pick it up Friday afternoon.  Reddings will get the loaner to and from Mareeba.

The essential problems are that 

• there was no attempt to let me know any of the problems during the day. In contrast all dealers in Canberra that I have dealt with ring while working on the car with all sorts of details to get clearance;
• there was no realisation of the timing problem I was facing; and
• they are so tightly scheduled they had no capacity to respond to an emergency (which from my view this is).

Yes, they have been good with the loaner but really their "business" model is appalling in its disregard for customer impact.  (After we got home I got a newsletter blurb from Reddings saying that the Mareeba branch was closing and everything was being done in Atherton.  On thinking about it, and being hopeful, what this meant was the ugly incompetent idiots in Atherton knew they were being sacked and the nice people from Mareeba were taking their place.  If there is any justice ....)

To complete a toenail of a day I then found the place I was intending to stay two nights out from home was canophobic.  Everything else in the area of Miles mentioned on caravanning sites read like a disaster but I then came across a farmstay a bit North-East of Miles that will do the job.  Finally some good news.

• Bird of the day: Square-tailed Kite.  Flock has to be ducks.
• Vegetation of the day:   Lignum around the swamp.
• Memorable moment: Finding out the car problems: memorable doesn't always mean good!
• Comment of the day: "Most of vermin round here have two legs - and walk upright." Comment by the Reddings guy at the swamp, after a discussions about wild pigs.
• Pie of the day:ay.  Back to Brumby for another pretty good effort. 7/10.
• Troppo moment of the day. My reaction to the issues at Reddings was a classic definition of going troppo, unfortunately.  

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