THE CATALYTIC WHAT??

I have no clue what a catalytic converter is... and I have no plans of learning about it, either. I DO know that it has something to do with my car engine and I DO know that an icon of sorts showed up on the dash display screen of my car. Which, come to find out, had to do with my engine emission system. Totally can't be a good thing.

And uh... it wasn't. I made an appointment with my car dealer, who I ALways use for my maintenance problems, and was told about the catalytic converter deal. Boom. It would need to be replaced. It was at that point that I told Steven... "Look... I don't care what the hell lie you have to tell the warranty people, just make sure it gets covered. Got it?" Got it. And then I left the car and headed out to lunch.

Except uh... Steven didn't get it. Turns out there is a little baby clause that states this particular part is no longer covered by the extended warranty. It WAS covered at one point, but  get this... on August 17th, the coverage for THIS part had expired. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? SEVEN WEEKS AFTER THE EXPIRATION I HAVE TO COUGH UP $1100 FOR THE REPLACEMENT?? This so has to be a joke.

Except uh... it wasn't. I had to replace it, warranty or not. Which is why as soon as I returned from lunch I searched out Walter, my ever popular salesman, and told him my story. He then sat me down, gave me a pencil and paper and told me to write down exactly what he said to do. Which uh... turned out to be fantastic info.

First I should put the charges on my credit card. Then I should call the home office for the owner's service department. Then... when someone from India answered my call, I had to be sure I asked to be switched over to a representative here in America, who apparently has a much better understanding of what customer loyalty is all about. Okay. Check, check, check.

Then, I was to tell the American, Cheryl as it turned out, that I have been a loyal customer for 50 years, which I have been, that my dealer alone, has taken care of all the maintenance on my car, which they have and then see if Cheryl can in any way please help me by offsetting the cost somehow, given the warranty expiration bit of just a few weeks ago. Which they might. Check, check. Check, check.

So yesterday morning, I did exactly what Walter told me to do. Naturally, I first tried sweet talking Cheryl as much as I could and the next thing you know, bingo. She took down my VIN number, gave me a case number, said she would contact the powers that be, and while she could promise nothing, she was going to try to get me something called "customer consideration".  Walter had even prepped me to then ask who would contact me with the decision and when I might hear back from said contact. Boom. Cheryl and I have a phone date set for Wednesday at 4:00.

DEAR GOD: PLEASE LET CUSTOMER CONSIDERATION LISTEN TO CHERYL AND THEN KICK IN TO HELP DEFRAY SOME OF MY REPAIR COSTS. I WOULD TOTALLY LOVE THAT. AND OH YEAH... I PROMISE TO NEVER SPEED, WHICH AS YOU KNOW, I NEVER DO ANYWAY. THANK YOU GOD. AMEN.

Okay... so the bottom line is: until Wednesday I won't know whether or not I'm totally screwed for the entire $1100. I will say this however: if I am screwed, I am completely convinced that I did pretty much everything I could, especially given that Walter even called the warranty company for me. Which is when, btw, we found out about the Aug. 17th expiration. Anyway...

I am totally keeping my fingers crossed that I do get some financial consideration because this money layout is definitely cutting into my want of two other things: 1.) a new desktop and 2.) a new smartphone. Now I'm not saying it will comPLETEly cancel out my two other wants, but man... I would so like to save a few bucks SOMEwhere. On the other hand... my car has never caused me any problems whatsoever in the seven years I've had it. Thus, it's therefore cost me almost nothing in repairs.

So maybe I can't complain TOO much. Although I'm pretty good at bitching, I will admit. I seem to have the finesse of that... and worrying... pretty much down pat. I know. Yet two more of my very best talents.