When Anita Carrillo pulled into her local Goodyear Auto Service Center in Beaumont, TX for a routine oil change, she found herself on the receiving end of a really dumb prank.
The sticker placed in the top left corner of her windshield to remind her when to have her oil changed again had an extra message: “UR GAY,” Carillo said.
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“My shirt that I had on was multicolored, maybe he thought I was trying to represent gay pride or something,” Carillo, befuddled, told her local news station. “I have no clue.”
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Carrillo says she was more confused by the sticker than upset, and she felt it was unprofessional, so she contacted the service center’s manager.
“He didn’t really apologize for it,” she explained. “He just kind of made an excuse for it.”
Unhappy with the manager’s response, Carrillo took to social media. She posted a picture of the sticker on Facebook. The picture quickly went viral, eventually attracting the attention of Goodyear’s corporate headquarters.
“I got speak to a higher-up manager and he really apologized and he was like this shouldn’t have happened and he took action,” Carrillo said.
The manager who initially blew her offer then refunded Carrillo for the oil change and gave her a new sticker sans the “UR GAY” messaging. The manager also told her the mechanic responsible for the offensive sticker had been let go.
Carrillo says she’s not holding any grudges, but she hopes her ordeal encourages other businesses to remember to treat all customers with respect.
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Justin Weeks
Good for her for standing up for her self
Cam
Well thank goodness he did, that, I mean if she WAS gay, she might not have known it unless he told her.
Seriously though, why do the managers always blow off these complaints? These days with social media it ALWAYS comes back to bite them in the ass.
Glücklich
@Cam:
Lots of people in small business environments aren’t all that savvy.
The local elementary school called and wants their sticker back.
Damian Healy
Who else was thinking: if she sued, I wonder how much she’d get?
ð???
erasure25
It’s not offensive to be gay…
Milk
Without the story just looking at the sticker, I thought it was the mechanic who is gay that serviced her car and reminding her to seek him out in the future.
Kevin Stoneking
Wait was she upset about this? Aren’t we all a little gay?
jwtraveler
“The manager who initially blew her offer…”?
Is this some kind of sexual double entendre?
Rather than fire the mechanic, a more constructive approach would have been to have a discussion with him about discrimination, professionalism and treating ALL customers with respect accompanied by a warning. Better an educated, sensitive employee than a bitter, angry and still ignorant ex-employee.
@erasure25: Agreed, but it’s inappropriate to print the statement on a customer service notice.
brooklynbobby
@jwtraveler: I have to agree with jwtraveler. Firing the mechanic isn’t doing anybody any good. Maybe dock him a days pay and put him through a sensitivity course. And yes sit him down and talk to him about all the things you list. This way he isn’t pissed off about losing his job because of those DAMNED FAGGOTS! We need to teach people right from wrong and bring them into the light of the real world. I take from this article that this woman was not gay and she probably got great satisfaction out of seeing him get fired and for all the wrong reasons. The original manager should also go through the same treatment as well since he obviously didn’t take her complaint seriously. His management and customer relationship skill are truly lacking!! Education is always key in these matters!
robho3
Where did this happen???? Texas of course. I commend the Goodyear company for taking action.
Cam
@brooklynbobby:
A business isn’t interested in spending a year to make somebody more sensitive. A business is interested in not having a bunch of pissed off customers.
And if somebody is fired for doing something please don’t try to tell me that they don’t learn not to do it again at work.
brooklynbobby
@Cam: Well I disagree sorry. First off it doesn’t take a year to put someone through some sort of sensitivity training. I know because where I work it is mandatory for every manager to attend 4 session in the space of a month. You would be surprised at how much they can teach you, especially with the promise of loss of employment hanging over your head. A good company does care for their customers of course but they don’t just give up on an employee who makes a bone head childish mistake.
And you are absolutely right. If someone is fired for doing something they don’t learn not to do it at work again. In fact it might be all they need to be inspired to go out and beat up the first queers or perceived queers they come upon the night they go out and get drunk and decide to let off some steam! If you had read my reply you would have seen that I said that right up front. Keep him employed. Educate him. Show some compassion. And he just might surprise you and come around even a little bit. Fire him and he goes out with a big fat grudge on his shoulder. That’s just not going to help anyone.
Jacob23
I just watched the video. It shows her FB post and you can see her profile pic. She is with a guy. So I think she is straight and the mechanic just had it in for her. He also left a greasy mess on the car.
brooklynbobby
@Jacob23: Where do you see a video? I often blind to these things so you might have to help an old guy out!
Alistair Corvin
What a dick, I’d kick his ass.
Charli Girl
I disagree… He SHOULD’VE been fired! Time in the soup line will help to see the error of ” Uncle Daddy’s ” way
jwtraveler
@Cam: It doesn’t take a year to explain to an employee why writing “UR GAY” on a customer claim notice is inappropriate and the importance of treating customers with respect.
@Charli Girl: One of the greatest flaws in this country is that we think that the way to change behavior is through punishment rather than education. That’s why we have millions of people who never learned self-control ending up in prison, where they learn nothing except how angry they are about being in prison.
@brooklynbobby: Great response to Cam. BTW, I’m a Brooklynite too.
brooklynbobby
Thank you for that jwtraveler it must be something in the water here that makes us think that way! I was going to respond to Charli Girl but to be honest I didn’t understand half of that message? Obviously you speak that “language” and what you said is perfect.LOL
Jake Riley
They’re letting 10-year-olds do oil changes now?
Ali Cabulong
So?
lykeitiz
It was probably the old…..He made a pass, she either didn’t notice or blew him off, & then……hence, the sticker.
Philip Ramirez
Because #GoodYear sucks as hell when it comes to customer service
Transiteer
I was going to say BOYCOTT GOODYEAR, but maybe just this location. Headoffice seemed to realize the severity of what was done to their client. I would hope that the mechanic WAS fired, and won’t be hired back. Let him fix the church bus instead.
Brian JC Kneeland
Why is this business still open?
Jack Marshall
I like her attitude
Dan Steele
Now, that’s my kinda story….fire the dumb people that can’t remember that they serve the general public.
jwtraveler
@Transiteer: If you boycott every company with a bonehead employee who does or says something stupid, you’ll never be able to buy anything.
brooklynbobby
Apparently a lot of people don’t know what it takes to really boycott a company. Or a business. Or an association. If you really want to make an impact you have to have a lot of people who are really committed to the cause and enough of them to really make people sit up and take notice. It’s not an easy thing to do and in this day and age where a lot of folks aren’t necessarily ready to put their money where their mouth is it’s damn near impossible. People have become so complacent. I give you the MAJOR orange juice boycott of the 1970’s when Anita Bryant was crusading against just gay people in general. Everyone came together and gave up their screwdrivers and mimosas and the Florida Orange Growers Association took a serious look at the kind of money they were losing and tossed her bigoted old ass out as their spokesperson!!! Can anyone imagine getting the community together to that on such a scale today? Now that we have marriage equality we will be lucky if we can get enough people interested in the fact that we still do not have protection as far as jobs, housing and so many other things that are the next real fight we have before us. Why would you waste time because some straight woman was upset that some dumb mechanic put an idiotic sticker on her car window?? Save your energies for the real fights ahead folks we aren’t done yet!
jwtraveler
@Dan Steele: Right, because what every society needs is a lot of angry, ignorant, unemployed people.