Remember when all those Toyota recalls were going on? And the horrible press? Every day the news had more bad things to say. One man was even let out of jail after all the Toyota mess came to light.  From my hometown no less.

Well I definitely remember because I have a Toyota.  And I kept receiving letters that my car was on the recall list. You know, regarding that whole gas pedal getting stuck thing. And Toyota blamed it on floor mats getting in the way. Please, that is such a lame explanation. The gas pedal itself sticking or a computer malfunction causing acceleration sounds much more likely.

So, I took my car in for an oil change and brought my recall letter to see what I needed.

The Toyota employee, Jose… I will leave out his real name. For now. HE told me that MY car didn’t need the recall.

Me: Are you sure? I keep getting these letters saying I need it.

Jose: Nope, your VIN# starts with a J so that means it was made in Japan and none of the models made there are being recalled.

Me: You are POSITIVE?

Jose: Yes.

Months later, guess what? Yesterday I went back for a routine oil change and this time they said “You have a recall on your car, did you know?”. No actually I DON’T know because you see, last time I was here, I was ASSURED that my car was NOT being recalled.

Jose was there yesterday and I wanted to go up to him, punch him, and say “Hey thanks to you, I’ve been driving around in a kill machine!  What if I had been in an accident?  Killed someone? Myself?”

But I didn’t.

Anyway, my recall involves getting my gas pedal removed and resized and also the floor mat replaced.  Nice. Real, real nice, Jose.

You know that saying ‘the customer is always right’.  Well, I personally am tired of always proving that I’m right.  Can’t I ever rely on the company, the employee, the rep on the phone.  EVER?