So, how was your day?

"Jeff-God-of-Biscuits" (Jeff-God-of-Biscuits)
07/24/2014 at 23:25 • Filed to: None

Update: I called over to the shop this afternoon and asked what the procedures were on test drives. The answer given to me was that unless the tires were being replaced in relations to something like a suspension or alignment issue, their policy was not to test drive the vehicle unless asked by the customer.

I went to the shop to get tires put on today! For those that had been reading earlier, I think you can guess the tone this post is going to take. Anyway, I got there at 8AM, just like my appointment said I should. Of course, they didn't even bring the car onto the shop for another 30 minutes, but I was willing to let that one slide a bit. Mind you, it's summer. No school, so I had my 10 yr old son with me. When they bring it around into the shop, I am watching in through the door as he pulls it up on the rack. I had forgotten to pull the lug key out of the trunk, so I pop in and grab it out and the guy that brought the car in starts chatting me up about the car. Meanwhile the tech that was actually going to be doing the work, takes his paper, throws it on the hood, leans on in and starts filling out his form, (ballpoint pen mind you) RIGHT THERE ON MY ALUMINUM HOOD!!! It took a second to register what I was seeing, but I hastily called him on it, and he just said it was a habit. sigh... at this point I was pretty much afraid to go back and sit down.

So, I keep watching in, and after that he seems to do a pretty good job. As I am watching, he takes the lugs off in a star, and then re-installing, he snugged them a bit before the torquing. I am not sure if he managed to get the weight marks lined up on the valves, two of the marks are askew maybe and the other two appear to have been rubbed off. So then the guy (one of the other mechanics, I think) that brought the car into the shop comes back to pull the car back off and bring it around.

Now, here is where today's earlier question comes into play. If you think of the shop as a big square, you come in through the front, and the bay entrance is on the right. As I am watching him pull the car out, instead of turning right to bring the car to the front, he turns left, which leads out to Prince William Parkway. 8-9 minutes later, he brings the car around, from the same side as the bays, and parks it as if he had just brought it out. Says nothing, but has one of those shit eating grins on his face. You know the look: it's the same look you have when you have just pranked someone and gotten away with it. Says nothing about a successful test, or everything checks out, but just kind of hands the keys over and says something inane... maybe you car is ready, finished, something like that. Sadly, I forgot to write the mileage down before I drove off, or I would have known just how far it was from the bay door to the parking lot.

So at this point, I am more than a little cautious, but I also have to be careful, I have my 10 yr old with me. So I head up to the counter to pay the man and get going, we had been there for 2 hours. So just to make sure I would never want to come back, I then have to go through the process of making sure that they honor their "preferred installer" prices! $12 may not be a lot, but it's still $12, and I wasn't about to reward ANY shop that is gonna show that little respect to a customer's car.

So now I have to go write a bad review for these guys. I kind of feel bad for the tech that did the work. He made a mistake, and I called him on it point blank, but he took it head on, and seemed like he understood the gravity of his mistake. Some people, I told him, might have expressed their displeasure with a bit more knuckle exposed. And he seemed like he learned from the experience. And the tires seem to have been nicely balanced and display no wobble.

But I am having a hard time with joyrider...

Good news though is that I am now riding on real tires and not 9 year old rim protectors! Traction is nice. Traction is your friend.

DISCUSSION (2)

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > Jeff-God-of-Biscuits
07/24/2014 at 23:55

As a fellow Prince William County Jalop I have a pretty good idea which shop this is but now you have me curious to see if I am right. I'm also glad I use a shop to do my tires where the owner is likely to be the one answering the phone to schedule you in. Unfortunately they are in Chantilly so that makes it a bit of a hike for us, we are out in Gainesville though.

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
07/25/2014 at 00:35

Not quite ready to go naming names quite yet... I still need to figure out my plan of action for this. I admit, I do want to help my fellow Oppo's but at the same time, I need to hear the shop's side of things first.