When I talk to anyone who said, "It won't start", I immediately ask, "Does the engine spin/crank and not start or does it not turn over/crank, like a dead battery?" Then they would typically latch on to the one word I said that they understood and that was, "I know the battery is good". Then I would have to say, "No, I am not saying the battery is dead, I am asking about the symptoms". I would remind them that "engine will not start" is a very wide area to look for problems and my asking them for info, as a service manager, will save them money. I had to tell them that narrowing down the field of the problem makes it faster for the tech and therefore less expensive for the customer.
Too many times they have no idea what is going on and they don't want to sound like they are clueless, so they latch on to something they know about, like the "battery".
I threw a guy out of my shop one time when he refused to shut up while I was asking the owner of the vehicle, his girlfriend, questions about her vehicle problems and he would not stop throwing in his own assumptions and thoughts of how we should proceed with the diagnostics. The girlfriend thanked me and when we replaced her failed alternator and worn belt and she came back to pick up her car she told me she broke up with her "know it all" ex-boyfriend.
We both LOFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Home wrecker.