Would Men Be Treated Like This

Hmm
I'm also widowed and its mot been my experience. However I think you just need a new garage not a dealership for the car work- ask around for recommendations from friends

You could get your SIL to ring about the mower - see if that is more effective!

My experience with garages is that yes if its a lousy garage then men would be treated the same way. I think the bigger difference is that maybe a man wouldn't wait so long befofe losing patience....but then i wouldn't either and I am most definitely female!

Perhaps once life opens up again you should look at attending an assertiveness course which may give you more confidence.

Not sure if it is a male/female thing or just an unlucky choice of companies or, even that, especially the mower people, have genuinely been rushed off their feet. Taking on extra staff when you are very busy is difficult because training someone is also time consuming, as we found to our cost!

Very bad service from everyone. I'm not sure its related to gender. I would find a better garage. Maybe ask online locally for recommendations.
Four weeks seems a long wait for lawnmower service. Perhaps ask SiL to ring as Mawbe suggested. But I would have tried elsewhere.

I'd ring a different company. Ours just pick them up and take them away and don't make a song and dance about it.

We're in the middle of a pandemic. People are off sick or having to isolate and staff are rushed off their feet. Perhaps cut them some slack.

My husband is disabled so I deal with most of this sort of stuff. I haven't had your experience.

Don't you think it is dangerous to be driving GC round without indicators working properly?

Mowers are notorious time wasters for workshops, wether you are male or female it makes no difference, best option is take it to them and ask them to service it, SIL could do that for you.
If you ask nicely at the garage they might have a courtesy car you can use

Sparklefizz

We're in the middle of a pandemic. People are off sick or having to isolate and staff are rushed off their feet. Perhaps cut them some slack.

Don’t agree. If it had been June last year certainly, but certainly not so much now.

I’ve been messed around big time by my burglar alarm company & more recently the installers of my new double glazing & front door. It has driven me to tears of frustration because, being deaf, phones are a real struggle for me to understand others’ voices. Trades don’t return calls which I’ve struggled to make in the first place. Drives me wild. What happened to customer service & care? I feel your pain OP!

I was divorced years ago and I've run my own life ever since. I haven't experienced anything like this .I never put up with poor service and I'm capable of dealing with anyone male or female.

Sorry for your loss. I am on my own and not had any issues. I am of the opinion that if you give someone a chance, call once more and if no reply, find someone else. It’s always good to get a recommendation from friends or off of Facebook, then I keep a note of all the good trades people that I have had good experiences with. That way I can also recommend to others. It takes a bit of confidence and sometimes a bit of banter to get what you want. It’s all a game at the end of the day, and I’m sure you can play it. Best of luck x

So sorry Bobbydog for your loss.
I can only suggest that you shop around for a decent garage (little independents are best), plumber, decorator etc preferably on personal recommendation of a trusted female friend/colleague.
Once I've found one, I ask them to recommend someone. I always start introductory conversations with "I've been recommended by..."
I have moved around England quite a lot in 40 years, and it seems to work reasonably well.

I have arranged all sorts of things from car maintenance in garages to plumbing, decorating etc and not found a problem.
However, when returning things to shops or similar where it would be dealing with mainly female assistants have found that sending DH in works wonders, straight refunds no questions asked !
With garages, I think you can be messed about if you aren’t knowledgable about cars sometimes, but that applies to both men and women.

Halfords would change the bulb, I wouldn’t use a garage, they’re reasonable and same day. The mower people are probably very busy, or, as others have said, try elsewhere, Calendargirl not sure where you are, but here, Hampshire, most trades are booked solid after lockdown.m

Garages are notorious , many will try it on with anybody, male or female. You just have to be assertive and tell them what you want and threaten to leave lousy reviews on any webites they are on.

DD has lived alone throughout her adult life and when she moved, she worked her way rapidly through about half a dozen garages before she found one she trusted.

As others have said lawnmowers are a problem, even DH has problems getting the mower service in a reasonable time.

I took my car to Halfords initially but because it was in an unusual position, under the wheel arch, they couldn’t do it and advised me to go to a garage. My SIL uses the garage and has found it ok so I went there. I was told initially that there would be a 1 month wait for the mower service and was happy with that. What annoyed me was the fact that when I rang 2 months later they had no record of my ringing therefore I was never going to get a call. This is a well known company that service plant. I had rung a few companies that I had been directed to but non actually came out to service or pick mower up. We have no means of getting the mower anywhere, it’s not something you can shove in your boot.
My husband ran a business for over 40 years, employing people, dealing with the public and he would go out himself before he would let someone down.