I mentioned in a previous post about some car trouble we were having and I needed to find a mobile mechanic as I couldn’t move the car to get it to the garage, but it turned out to be a situation which required a lot of trust on both sides.

I found a website for a local mechanic and sent them a message pretty late on Sunday evening. I received a couple of emails on Monday morning advising of cost and availability and also one giving me a mobile number. I phoned up late morning and we had a brief discussion about location, when he could fit me in etc – now here is where it gets interesting and I wonder if you would have done the same thing?

The guy told me that if I arranged the parts with a car parts company in the next town (paying for them over the phone), he would go through as he had to go there anyway, pick up the parts and bring them to my house so he could do the job for me. You know what? I did. There was a very small voice at the back of my head saying ‘what if’ but I went with my gut and waited.

I sent a text telling him that the items were purchased and waiting for him to collect and received a reply saying he wouldn’t be long.

Would you have done that – would you have trusted a complete stranger based on a website and a phonecall?

Half an hour later……..he turned up at our house with the parts needed! To say I was relieved would be a bit of an understatement. Not only did he turn up, he was pleasant, got straight to work and we had a good chat while he worked (with coffee). He even did a diagnostic check on some magic wee box AND fixed a rattle which he noticed and just said ‘hold on, I’ll just sort that’. Now you might be thinking, ‘I bet that cost a kidney’ but no. To my immense surprise it didn’t.

Now it turns out that all this seems to have happened for a good reason, for as the mechanic was working on the engine he noticed a substantial oil leak. He will be coming back next week to sort that but he checked to make sure it isn’t reaching the exhaust pipe (which it isn’t yet), saying ‘if you see smoke or smell burning oil, stop and get out – that can quickly lead to a fire’. I didn’t know about this oil leak as we weren’t seeing evidence of it where I park. It is a slow trickle and it is quite well spread over the inside of the engine but to me it just looked like dirt and I hadn’t realised – and if the car hadn’t had the problems it did and I hadn’t needed to call this guy out, I would not have known about this – maybe until I saw the smoke or smelled the burning.

So, you see, what started out as a minor catastrophe has ended extremely well. Problem solved and a potentially major problem spotted as a result which will be taken care of in a few days. (oh and a rattle has been taken care of too!). All this from trusting that someone I’d never met, would go through to the next town and bring the items I’d paid for back to my house! Bearing in mind, he didn’t know me and had to trust I had actually organised and paid for the parts and he wouldn’t be wasting his time. (We found out through chatting that he only started up his business a couple of months ago!)

I wonder though – would you have trusted? Would you have done the same thing? How many times have you relied on your gut instinct and it has turned out exactly the way it should? Or maybe I should be asking how many times have you ignored your gut instinct and it turned out to be a disaster?!

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