A sign of changed times. In 1967 I entered
"DAS VW organizatzión", as motor department helper
(sweping floors, cleaning parts & washing overalls). The managment resented more than just loosing WW II
(all ex-Hitlerjugend): they resented that me, of Gothic origins, got along much better with mexican workers
(only the managment was Gothic, all hard workers with dirty hands were mexicans), that they decided to promote me to a dead end: Garantees Department
(Complaints of those days). I soon catched this fact: an angry customer WANTS to be HEARD. If you listen carefully, he will tell of a gremlin with laymen language, sometimes with sounds or words that no one knows their meaning: so the best bet I had was
"Lets go for a ride, and point to me what you do not like". He was a happy driver and would ALLWAYS point to something important & easy to fix, some miss-adjustment like tight ignition points
(even if timing is correct, the correct gap is what loads the spark: a weak spark at 7,000 feet above sea level, equals LOW POWER. The VW sedan was underpowered enaugh with a 1200 CC engine=34 HP!). I trained myself on the road in my weekens, because every VW I saw on the side of the road with blank faces, I stoped to find out
¿why? and give my card
(if successfull!). Mostly ignition points that had no lubricant on the cam: plastic wears out & it gets to a moment were the don't open any more! Sometimes the
"I don't have a spare" because the driver put more lugage there, instead. Or
"They stole my jack at the parking lot" fenomena also was common. Rarely a fan belt or something really important. Same thing in the Garantee Department: turns out the best customers come from angry customers that are paid some atention, instead of ignoring them like the fashion is in this days.
Thanks to the added sales, I became chief of the shop.
(but the salary did not get much improvement, sadly)