2000 v70xc Aargh, yet another crooked mechanic.

[abscate]

People run shops because they want to, it's not an easy way to make money. Shops are 95% good or more IMHE

[shiloh51933]

C'mon, I think that statement is inaccurate for a lot of shops. I have to disagree with such a broad generalization.

Yes there are plenty of crooks working in auto repair (and elsewhere), but I have also been able to find many good people. You just need to find them, that is the continual challenge.

+1 I'm employed at a Lexus Dealership in NY and our mission is to exceed customer expectations when servicing there vehicles. Yes the hourly rate is at a premium price but to me it's well worth the additional 29.99 compared to the average service shop. I did work previously at a Sunoco tech shop and the Service Manager was a f*^*ing crook!! The owners were decent and when the service manager finally got caught they fired him It's all about reputation in this business and word of mouth can either feed you a feast or starve you out of business.

[cn90]

...Shops are 95% good or more IMHE

I fix my own vehicles and do my own alignment at home so shop honesty is irrelevant for me, for now.
However, in the past when I didn't fix my own vehicles, the honesty rate is about 50%, in my own experience with the many shops I had to deal with in the 1970s and 1980s.

If I have to guess, I think the honesty rate is still around 50%.

The general public are usually not interested in car repair because:
- it requires knowledge and many people don't want to learn, they just want to pay someone else to do it.
- it is hard work
- it can be greasy
- it can be dangerous work/safety issues etc.

[chrafael]

I guess I'm lucky. The honest mechanics around here will refuse to align a car with worn parts. They just won't do it. So them charging you anything is the real rip.

[precopster]

Usually people don't get fired on the spot unless they have a string of warnings prior to the event. The manager probably didn't bother to investigate because it wasn't the first time, but who knows........different people have different tolerance levels for this sort of thing.

What I DO know is that he was taking food from other babes mouths and that shouldn't be tolerated by people at the top. Who knows perhaps it's all a scam and play acting by the whole team and the guy will be back on the job tomorrow

[instarx]

instarx, surely you must feel guilty for the guy losing his job? he may have a little kid at home and he was stuck in a rut trying to make money, now he won't be able to feed his kid, or get them birthday or Christmas presents.


Disclaimer: I'm not sure if the crooked mechanic has kids so if he was a crooked mechanic and enjoyed ripping people off then I would say he deserved to lose his job.

No I don't feel bad for him and I certainly don't feel guilty. Evidently he had already been warned for other things. Plus I did not fire him or even ask that he be fired. He brought it on himself and if he has a little kid that needs things he should have thought of that first. I'm a soft-hearted guy - really. But trying to steal from me is just too much.

What would you have me do - just ignore it when someone tries to steal $450 from me?

I'll give you a little more detail. The manager had been at that location for three days. This was not the first person he had fired in those three days. This particular technician got caught doing something else that morning (I don't know what) so it wasn't just me that got him fired. The manager had brought his asst manager with him from another location and he did NOT fire him, even though it was clear to me he was in on the scam. The asst manager was the one who tried to scare me with "you won't be able to steer if it lets go on the highway!"

So, was it all a ruse and the alignment guy just transferred to another store in the chain? I don't know. I do know I won't go to the chain again (Mr. Tire). I do have some mechanics that I trust but I need an appointment to see them and these guys were just 1 mile away and took walk-ins.