Why do mechanics have such a bad rep?

I have been doing it for almost 30 years, you get used to it. I think the biggest problem is for every good tech out there that tries to do their best, there are 5 that either don't know what they are doing or just don't care.

You always hear about the bad more than the good. My experience with mechanics is they think they know everything and since I am female, I must know nothing. I had to take my car to one guy 4 times before he would believe something was wrong because he wouldn't take the time to listen when I told him what my car was doing. Then he tried to nickel and dime me to have him fix it. He said he could do it cheaper and better than anyone else, but if I would have taken it to him and let him try this or that until he came to the same conclusion as the first guy, he would have cost me more. I now have one mechanic (the first guy from before) I use and he gets plenty of good word of mouth advertising. Just treat everyone with respect and do the best you can do and you won't have to worry about bad press from word of mouth. And if you don't know what is wrong, admit it, don't try to bullsht anybody. They will respect you more for admitting you don't know than trying to fake it.

There are just some people who will find fault where there is no fault. It's a fact of life. Perhaps a good way to deal with such people is to accept the fact that they exist and that no one can do anything their attitudes. And just move on to the next job, giving it your best shot.

Because most people don’t know how their cars work. If they take it to a mechanic but later their car doesn't start, they assume the mechanic didn't do the job right.