We know what it is like to meet a professional who seems to know so much in a certain area that there is nothing but respect we can feel for such a skill. However, with skill and most certainly without it, we get annoyed when the price requested far exceeds the amount of work required to do such a thing as well as the market price. Let’s just say it feels as if someone is taking you for a fool, and we are not always in the mood to be fooled. This woman certainly was not when she was charged $650 for simply changing a side-view mirror on her car, so she posted a video showing how to do it yourself for $60.
More info: TikTok
This woman needed the side-view mirror of her car to be replaced, but she was told it would cost her $650
Image credits: soshethinkssheisfunny
So she wished the auto shop workers a nice day, did it by herself for $60, and posted a video online
Image credits: soshethinkssheisfunny
"If you have ever hit someone's car mirror, or someone has hit your car mirror..."
"...and you're at the auto shop and you're like, 'how much is this gonna set me back?' and they quote you at $650, you say, 'Have a nice day, sir'"
Image credits: soshethinkssheisfunny
"And you go to eBay, and you get your power drill"
"And you get your, I think it's called, the drill bit. And we're gonna do it ourselves. And I'm gonna show you how."
Image credits: soshethinkssheisfunny
"Step one is to obtain the part from Ebay"
"I have a 2011 Chevy Cruze. This is that mirror, and we're going to replace this mirror that I currently have attached to my car with a yoga strap. Alright, step one is you have this panel here. I don't know if all cars have this but Chevy Cruzes do and all you need is something to like wedge up under it to take it off."
Image credits: soshethinkssheisfunny
"Step two, which at the auto shop, they tried to tell me this is why it would cost me $650 is because it's powered"
"That's the power, you've just gotta unplug it. Then we're going to take out our three bits or three little bolts right here. All you do is take the mirror off, whoa, just put the new mirror right on there. You take the drill. You put it in, you hold it. And the power that the auto shop is going to try to charge you so much more for, you just plug your plug back in. And that's how you fix your mirror not for $700. Have a great day."
Image credits: soshethinkssheisfunny
"How much did this cost you? $60"
Image credits: soshethinkssheisfunny
You can watch the original video here
This woman posted a video where she showed her way of fighting the con artists who charged her $650 for replacing the broken side mirror of her car. What she did instead was to wish the auto shop workers a nice day and go straight to eBay to get the required items - the power drill, the drill bit, and the correct model of the car’s side mirror based on the car model - a 2011 Chevy Cruze in her case.
She showed in her video that the process of replacing the side mirror of one’s car is far less complicated than the workers at the auto shop tried to convince her it was. As they were explaining, the high price was due to her car’s side mirrors being powered, which took her one second to simply take it out and unplug and another second to plug it back in. It took this woman around 15 minutes to replace the broken mirror with the new one and it cost her $60, all included.
This woman sharing her video might encourage people to question the prices that are presented to them and sometimes consider doing it themselves, in this way not only helping themselves to save money and become more skillful but also helping to fight con artists setting prices way above a reasonable amount of money for a certain service.
Finally, those who have the side mirror of their car broken and need it to be replaced, thanks to this woman, were given full instructions on what to do exactly! And what not to do. The video got 7.2 million views on TikTok.
Image credits: Morgan (not the actual photo)
While one might ask whether this woman replacing the side mirror of her car by herself can be considered part of do-it-yourself, this would depend on what one means while using this term. She definitely did something on her own, which is usually done by a professional.
In their study “Understanding the do-it-yourself consumer: do-it-yourself motivations and outcomes” Marco Wolf and Shaun McQuitty, define do-it-yourself as the process during which an individual engages raw and semi-raw materials and component parts in order to produce, transform or reconstruct material possessions.
While scholars follow Xie Chunyan, who claims that consumers are typically understood as passive buyers, they agree with Stephen Vargo and Robert Lush, who emphasize the importance of consumer involvement in the co-creation of value.
Discussing the motivations for engaging in do-it-yourself activities scholars distinguished two main categories - individuals were motivated to do things themselves based on their evaluations of goods and services in a marketplace as well as achieving the effect of their identity enhancement.
Finally, pointing out the outcomes for individuals engaging in do-it-yourself activities, Wolf and McQuitty noted that these went beyond the direct benefits of such projects, as they also included feelings of accomplishment, control, and enjoyment.
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