Mechanical Failure
I have a cousin who is a mechanic. He is superb with cars. He works at an auto repair shop and is always busy.
In the beginning of last month, he started working on my dad's car. His car is still not running because my cousin has not finished the work.
My cousin keeps saying, "I'll finish over the weekend." The whole month has gone by, and my dad is getting impatient.
Now my car is also not running well. I do not want to ask my cousin for help, even if we live together under one roof.
I don't understand what his problem is. Maybe it's because in the past our family has not paid him for working on our cars. He fixes other people's cars in no time.
The price for the job I want done is $180, which is much cheaper than any other shop, but I don't want to ask him to do the job because he doesn't keep his promises.
What should I do?
I'm a mechanic and I share a house with my uncle and his family.
In what little spare time I have (I work at a busy autobody shop) I try to help out with the family cars, but after a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is come home and fix more cars. My cousin, though, is constantly nagging about the latest repair job on my uncle's car. And now I've noticed her engine knocking and I fear I'm about to get yet another task I don't want.
Her job would only cost a couple hundred dollars at the garage, where I have all the equipment I need to get it done. I'd be happy to get her an appointment and cut her a deal, but I don't want to give up any more weekends to my job. I'm not sure if I can ask a family member to pay me for my work, though.
What should I do?