[Kobi]

The loss of the local entrepreneur is on my mind these days.

I went to have my car serviced today. The "local" dealer is part of a regional conglomerate which translates into better deals on new vehicles but negatively affects service. I rarely see the same service advisor twice. The turn over both in service and sales is about 95% every 6 months.

They now have centralized scheduling for appointments ( a call center by any other name is still a call center). This is fine if you just want an oil change or need an inspection sticker. If you are having a problem, it is a different story.

And, based on todays visit, I am gathering they are running out of service advisors who actually know something about cars. A service advisor should know more than me about cars. Todays order taker was pleasant but clueless. The service manager, who also does not look familiar, resorted to mansplaining my car to me. It didn't turn out well. LOL.

I learned my dentist sold his practice to a conglomerate out of the midwest. Not sure how this works. He is still my dentist. The practice name didnt change but I expect the overall financing did. This would explain why I cannot get a refund for being wrongly charged for something.

I keep changing veterinarians because they keep being bought out and now like to order unnecessary tests and xrays, per the protocol, just to boost the bottom line aka the vet cannot exercise their own judgement based on their own experience.

I am really not liking this.

I like developing working relationships with the folks I use for things. I like seeing familiar faces, hearing familiar voices, and feeling confident in the professionals I use.