People always say you get what you pay for, especially when you try to cut corners in life, and due to my own ego, I’ve had to learn that lesson far too many times, including one just recently when the air conditioner in my vehicle began having a minor issue again.
About a year ago, my car’s AC was on the fritz. So, I took it into a local car repair shop I frequent often whenever I have any need of a repair. It’s a shop I trust, as I know the manager well and consider him a friend. All they needed to do was recharge it, essentially filing the refrigerant back up and placing dye in it as well for the sake of seeing if there were any pronounced leaks. Thankfully, there weren’t, and it was an inexpensive repair to get my car’s AC running smoothly again.
Zoom forward a year later to a very hot and humid afternoon about a week ago, where I noticed a slight increase in the AC’s temperature coming out of my car’s vents. I wondered if my AC needed another recharge as I was told by the car repair shop the year prior it probably had a very small leak. Rather than taking it back to them though to do another recharge, I opted for a cheaper alternative. So, I took it to a local auto parts store where a friend works. There, his boss was willing to have me buy some refrigerant ($60) that he’d put it my vehicle for me, which would roughly save me between $60 and $80 from what I would have been charged at the car repair shop. After he was done with the free service, I was left with an AC system blowing out nothing but hot air, as compared to the mostly cold air it had blowing prior to the refrigerant being added by him. I had no choice at that point but to take my car back to the local car repair shop.
For the next 16 hours or so, I’d spend most of that time beating myself up, not getting any real sleep, wondering if I had caused more of a problem in trying to save a buck. When I finally got the call late the next morning, I discovered all that had happened was that my AC system had been overcharged. In other words, the man who had done the quick fix for me had put too much refrigerant in my vehicle causing the system to shut completely done. Once the entire AC system had been evacuated and refilled, it was returned to its normal functioning.
While I once again had to learn this invaluable lesson that has repeated many times in my life, I did have some good news come out of it. Not only was I able to get my money back from the refrigerant I had bought at that parts store, but the local repair shop also didn’t charge me their AC diagnostic fee, because they knew exactly the source of the problem given the details I had told them. Yet, while the cost of this entire process didn’t set me back much, it did cause me an undue level of stress and anxiety.
How many times I’ve done things just like this in my life, always trying to save a dollar somewhere, is countless. Trying to cut those corners and make out more ahead than behind, only to cause myself more problems and usually more financial hardship in doing so, it’s never worth it. You truly do get what you pay for, or in this case, what I didn’t pay for, which I pray I’ll clearly remember the next time I’m presented with a potential solution to some problem I’m having, where it seems like it will cut a corner for me and save me a dollar, where I know it won’t…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
Cutting corners to save a buck is common but when you try to save a buck and your gut instinct is telling you no that’s where the problem usually starts with me.
It’s a form of insanity.
That AA definition, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.s
Very true indeed!
We have all tried to save a buck or two and have it turn out less than positive! Prayerfully, this lesson is behind both of us.
Agreed! ❤️🙏