Getting Caught by the Wrong Person

[dieselguy]

My son needed a couple of new tires for his Chevy Colorado as well as an alignment. A major brand tire store quoted him a good price. While dropping off his truck, he asked if they could make him a good deal on an oil/filter change as well since they were doing the rest … they basically said regular price. He said never mind then, and left his truck at the tire store.
When he went to pick his truck up, the bill was $43 more than quoted as they went ahead and changed his oil/filter with the pricier synthetic. Being a kid, he just paid for it and didn’t get around to telling me till a week later. I was not as easy going as he was and paid a visit to the tire store. After some discussion with the manager, I got money back for labor on an oil change that wasn’t authorized, a $20 alignment coupon that wasn’t offered, a refund of road hazard warranty that we did not ask for, and a stupid $2.50 charge on top of the oil change for an oil filter disposal fee. (You can go by any O’Reilly’s or Autozone any day of the week and drop off you used oil and filter for FREE). Anyways, I then asked for the alignment sheet that he didn’t get when he picked his truck up. Mysteriously, none could be offered even off the store work invoice copy. The manager said just to bring the truck by the next day and they would put it back up on the rack and run the numbers for me. My son calls me the following day and said they missed a bad tie rod the first time and were going to replace it and recheck the alignment on his truck all for free. I could see them eating the labor on the tie rod, but not the price of the part as well. I went back up to the store and watched the alignment tec finish the truck and take it down the road for a test drive. When he drove back in the parking lot, I met him at the truck and he showed me the bad part … biting my lip, not much more was said. We drove away never to return. There’s no way of proving it, but I firmly believe my son’s truck was never aligned the first time … they got caught by a mechanically minded customer's Dad … they tried smoozing it over by paying for the part and install. The really sad issue here is how much of this crap happens daily at similar stores nationwide and never gets caught????