Trying to Find a Windshield Pt. 1

So I mentioned before that I needed to get a new windshield for the Micro. It did have a lot of cracks in it (several that went all the way to the edge and one from top to bottom), but the main reason was that it was so tinted that you couldn't see out of it! During the day it was fine, especially if you want to drive around without anybody seeing you, but at night you could only see if you were the only one on the road. Any other light from any other source would make it like you were driving blind. This is a problem especially with all of the motorcycles, bicycles, people and horses that roam the highways at night with no taillights.

When taking the Micro to the Serviteca to get all of the usual service things done, I mentioned to the mechanic about fixing the windshield. I really didn't want the place to try and do it, so I just asked if he knew a guy that could come do it while it was there. He said no problem.

So when I went in later they had a list of all the things I wanted done that would have to wait for another day while they ordered the parts. No worries because they order it the same day and so "tomorrow at 8:30am you can drop it off and we'll be done with it."

I should state here that this place is notorious for being late. A job that they say will take 2 hours takes 6. Since this is 45 minutes from my house, I plan on doing lots of other things in the city while I'm there, but I still end up spending many hours sitting in their office which only runs the A/C on cold days...

I waited two days before taking it back. They had my other items that I needed (door handle, turbo belt) but "fijese" there wasn't room for the windshield. But don't worry, we'll have it tomorrow for you.

The problem is that I don't like driving back and forth 1.5 hours round trip and wasting each and every day just sitting around, so I had them fix the things that they could and I waited a week before going back for the windshield.

This is a Friday before a Sunday that we are leaving for Guatemala City. I didn't think too much of this because they said they had the windshield. It was more expensive than other places should have charged me, but the assured me that this came directly from the Toyota agency. It was so specific that they took my registration card out of the Micro and didn't give it back that first day (which could have caused lots of problems in the case of a police checkpoint) just so they had all the right information.

So I dropped off the Micro at 9. They said it was a 2 hour job, but they had to take it to the place where they would install it. This was something I could have done myself, but they were dishonest about that point from the beginning. I went and met with an architect about our new house and when I arrived at 11:30 hoping to pick up my Micro, it was still sitting there! They hadn't even taken it to the guy yet.

So I sat there until 3:30 pm when one of the girls comes over with some really bad news. The way she's carrying on without getting to the point had me thinking they had wrecked it or somebody had stolen it, but it turned out that the windshield...DID NOT FIT!

Oh but don't worry because we're ordering it right now and it will be here tomorrow morning first thing and it won't even take very long because they already have the old one off....Wait a second...You mean I can't drive it home...and you can't put the old one back on because you broke it into a thousand pieces...but I have to trust that you'll have it here tomorrow when you didn't have the first one after TWO days... I told them what I thought about their business practices and then caught a taxi home.

The lady in charge even blamed it on God, saying that everything happens for a reason... While I believe this to be true, nobody has the right to blame their own poor decisions or mistakes on God. God doesn't make people do stupid things.

To be continued...