Watch out for this one!

[Brock94]

I took my Durango in to a fast-lube place for an oil change (I usually do oil changes myself, but I'm a bit behind so wanted to get it done.) After the truck was on the lift for a few minutes, the tech comes into the waiting room with a piece of white paper with three greasy black smears on it. He explains that they are "samples" from the front and rear diff's and the transfer case and that I better have those drained and refilled as well @ $60 each.

I asked him to show me. (I just replaced these fluids 8,000 miles ago). He took me into the shop and I watched as he put his finger into the transfer case to get another "sample" while explaining that his shop does this check as a free "service"-- he wiped his finger in the dirt on the outside of the case on the way out, then made another black-oily streak on the paper.

Boy was he surprised when I put my own finger into each fill hole and made three clean streaks on the paper (bright red for the t-case of course). I enjoyed the embarassed look on his face.

He squirmed a little bit, but finished the oil change and I went on my way (yes, I checked that the oil and filter was in fact new and that all the plugs had been replaced.) I wish there was more I could do, but at least I can post here so others will watch out.

 

[CTO]

I would not have paid him after that kind of deception. (Yet another reason I do all my own maintence) I have one shop that I trust in town to handle things that I cannot do at home like alignments,etc.....

 

[sk1er17]

pricks like that give us legit workers a bad name

 

[Brock94]

Yeah, I looked at an old dealer invoice for a scheduled service and noticed that they charged me $60 to "adjust" my rear brakes-- which I since learned are self adjusting. I got into DIY service because I was suspicious of a number of service charges I had and because I was dissappointed with a dealer install of my trailer wiring harness (They zip-tied the wire to a rubber brake line!) I ended up redoing it myself and realized it wasn't all that hard.

 

[Brock94]

pricks like that give us legit workers a bad name

I assume you do car service work-- I know there are a lot of honest guys out there. My Dad has an independent shop do all his work. One of his first experiences with them was that they broke his A/C compressor while doing unrelated service in the Winter. Instead of waiting for him to come in in the Spring and pay to have it fixed, they told my Dad what happened and asked only that he give them a week or two to locate a good used one so it wouldn't cost them an arm and leg. Of course he agreed and has given them all his business since. They've made a couple mistakes and broken a few things through the years, but they've been honest and I'm sure they've made plenty of money. (Unfortunately for me, I live too far away from this shop.)

The trouble is that every time we go into a new shop, we're putting hundreds on the table on the assumption that they'll be honest. For me, it's a lot less stressful and less expensive, I've found, to just do it myself.

 

[off-road97Xplor]

haha he doesnt seem to smart if he did it right in front of you

 

[Brock94]

haha he doesnt seem to smart if he did it right in front of you

LoL, he had to try because I made him show me! He did try to stand in the way so I wouldn't see it.

 

[Brock94]

... also, I'd agree he's not too smart. Oil changes are a PIA compared to cost savings and I wouldn't do them myself if I could find someone I trusted to do them.

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

oh wow, what a *******!

at the tire center that i work at diff. and transfer case checks aren't included, in fact we don't check those at all.

but even if we did i wouldn't try and con someone into spending more money, first because i'm on honest guy, and second i wouldn't benefit from it, i get paid hourly so i guess its no big deal if a person doesn't wanna have the work done IF it needs to be done,

i've pulled very *****y looking air filters out and have shown them to the customer for suggesting replacement only to turn around and put the black mess back into the box

 

[Brock94]

If I have a pro look at my car, I appreciate it if they let me know that some other things are in bad shape. I think that's an honest way to sell more of their services.

Guys like the fast-lube guy don't realize that it can pay to be honest. My Dad has sent countless new customers to that shop that was honest with him-- it's a father and son operation and has been very successful (now with several employees), no doubt because of a good reputation.