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+<?php
+$title = "YABS: Yet Another Bad Shop";
+if (isset($early) && $early) {
+	return;
+}
+include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/includes/head.php');
+?>
+<p>
+	Today I received a text message from a local mechanic/auto shop asking
+	me to leave them a Google review. It was an automated message from a
+	shop that I know well and have used many times in the past.
+	Unfortunately, I have had several poor experiences (at the time they
+	seemed horrific) with them in the past year and I can honestly say
+	they'll never receive my business again. Now I could have used this as
+	an opportunity to leave them an anonymous nasty-gram but instead I'm
+	going to do the opposite. I'm going to write about everything I don't
+	like about them without telling you who they are or hiding who I am. Why
+	would I do that? Well for one, they were an excellent shop for many
+	years. I believe a recent change in management is to blame and I'm not
+	going to ruin their chances of making a comeback (because frankly I
+	would like for them to rebound). And secondly, I don't believe in
+	hiding. This page and its author are public knowledge. Now, in no
+	particular order: a sample of awful work from yet another bad shop.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Mom's Truck -- Balls Out</h2>
+
+<p>
+	Mom's truck is a 2007 Chrysler Aspen that she loves very much. Dad does
+	a whole lot of work on it himself (the both of us do pretty much
+	everything we can in-house so long as we have the right equipment).
+	We've been taking her truck into this shop for years because we've found
+	them to be reliable, efficient, and economical. As I said before, at
+	some point in their recent history they changed hands -- either
+	ownership or management, I can't remember which. It was around this time
+	that Dad decided to overhaul Mom's front suspension. He replaced the
+	ball joints, tie rod ends, and a few other worn out parts. He then did
+	his own best-guess front-end alignment, but left everything loose so
+	that YABS could finish up the alignment and tighten everything. Now read
+	that again because it's important. Dad did his own alignment in our
+	driveway (as a cost-saving measure), got it decently close, but then
+	instructed this shop to finish the job and tighten everything up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	Now here's where things fall apart. This shop full of professional
+	mechanics took one look at the alignment Dad did and decided it was good
+	enough. Hooray for Dad and supernatural mechanical skills, but the shop
+	didn't even touch the car. They called Dad back to come pick up the car,
+	telling him it was already good to go. They never tightened a thing,
+	even after Dad explicitly told them everything was loose and needed to
+	be tightened but they didn't to touch a thing. So what happened? Dad
+	picked up the car assuming everything was A-OK and Mom drove the car for
+	about a week before the two front tires wore down so badly they had to
+	be replaced immediately. Everything fell out of alignment as things
+	loosened further and further and the tires wore unevenly until they
+	ripped themselves to shreds. The worst part? These weren't tires with 6+
+	years on them. These were brand new tires. So YABS got to install two
+	more front tires and then tighten everything. They did not cover the
+	costs, presumably because it was Dad who had done the alignment. Strike
+	one.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Friend's Minivan -- Crude Necessities</h2>
+
+<p>
+	A good friend of ours drives a 2005-2006 Chrysler Town and Country. It
+	was actually Mom's car before upgrading to the Aspen (the minivan was
+	perfect in every way but it couldn't tow). Our friend has been using
+	YABS for just a long as we have. Once again, things started getting
+	kinda strange after several years of good service. She started getting
+	charged extra for simple repairs she had them doing very consistently.
+	They also started tacking on extra items for routine jobs. She would go
+	in for an inspection and they would claim she needed a new Part X. Now
+	this in and of itself isn't an uncommon or even strange request to make.
+	As cars age they need things and sometimes you don't know what they need
+	until you visit a professional mechanic. They remember the things you
+	forget about.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	One day they did all the forgetting, and they forgot a pretty important,
+	nay, crucial engine component: motor oil. Our friend took her minivan
+	into YABS for a routine oil change. Good diligence on her part. And
+	she's not the type to do that change on her own. She's too old to get
+	under a car anyway (no offense!). So she took the van to YABS and they
+	did a job they've done thousands of times: drain oil, replaced the
+	filter, and gave her back the car. Easy peasy right? Now I know I'm not
+	a professional but I'm thinking someone might have wanted to
+	double-check that several quarts of synthetic had left the shop shelf
+	and gone into the car they just backed out of the bay door. Now this
+	part of the story I'm a little fuzzy on so take it with a large, heaping
+	grain of salt, but I can say for a fact that they failed to
+	<em>completely</em> refill the engine oil before returning her car.
+	Supposedly there was enough in there such that the minivan survived long
+	enough for them to realize it before she drove off.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Monty, My 2013 Ford Focus -- Nut Allergy</h2>
+
+<p>
+	I decided to give YABS another try after a long leave of absence. I
+	needed new tires all around for my daily driver. I also needed an
+	inspection and an alignment. A simple set of tasks for any shop (you see
+	where this is going). I initially tried to go to another local shop but
+	they were all out of the tires I was looking to get so I caved and went
+	to YABS. About halfway through the job they gave me a call and told me
+	they had some bad news. They said that there were some issues getting
+	the lug nuts off my wheels and that they had all been stripped, warped,
+	or otherwise destroyed in the process. They told me the only fix was to
+	get new ones from a supplier in town for about $160. Keep in mind the
+	entire job (inspection, tires, etc.) was going to cost $650.
+	Furthermore, dad and I had no problem getting those lug nuts off and
+	back on again just a few weeks prior when we changed the transmission
+	fluid.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	They didn't have an explanation that I could reconcile with. Joe Schmo
+	over the phone told me this is typical of Fords and Chryslers these days
+	and that they'd like to keep my lug nuts for a class action lawsuit
+	they're participating in. Now why on Earth would any sane mechanic, with
+	full knowledge they are dealing with a defective set of lug nuts, take a
+	high power impact wrench to those wheels without speaking with the owner
+	about it first? Smelled fishy to me honestly. But what was I gonna do?
+	Dad went out and grabbed twenty new lug nuts for cheaper than they
+	wanted to sell them for.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	Oh the tires were Cooper GTs by the way and they're amazing. They're
+	smooth and quiet and came with a very nice warranty. They're also made
+	in the USA, which is very important to me. 10/10 would recommend.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Ol' Blue -- Tunnel Vision</h2>
+
+<p>
+	This was the real kicker. And this one doesn't really have any trailing
+	narrative. I got four new tires on Ol' Blue, my 1953 Hudson Hornet. They
+	were delivered to our house: four brand new Diamond Back wide white wall
+	radials. Super nice tires, with a super nice road hazard warranty (as a
+	side note I totally recommend you
+	<a href="https://dbtires.com/">check out Diamond Back's website</a> if
+	you're looking for white wall radials). So we brought the car to YABS
+	with the new tires and asked them to mount them on the car.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	When we went to pick up the car everything looked great and I drove off.
+	I made it all the way to the Monitor Merrimack Memorial Bridge Tunnel
+	before I heard a loud rattling and a bang. I looked in the rear-view
+	mirror and swore I could see my precious hubcap rolling off to eternity.
+	When they replaced the hubcaps they didn't fully press one of them on.
+	And it's not that difficult. These hub caps are very secure when pressed
+	on the rim, we've never had problems with them. Oh and we're talking
+	about Hudson hubcaps that came with the car, and aren't super easy to
+	find. And I couldn't stop to get out and grab it because I was right at
+	the mouth of the tunnel. We went back later to try and see it but we
+	couldn't. And it was probably destroyed getting thrown from the car
+	anyways.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+	The worst part is, the hubcap took a chunk out of my white wall on its
+	way out from under the wheel skirt. So the day I got the tires I had to
+	take a picture and redeem my road hazard warranty. Luckily, Diamond Back
+	were true to their word and sent me a new one no questions asked. The
+	beat up tire is now my spare.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Not All Bad</h2>
+
+<p>
+	Like I said before, YABS used to be a very nice shop with friendly
+	people that did good work. And they didn't charge exorbitant prices for
+	their work. Times have changed, and I believe management has as well.
+	I've stopped visiting their shop completely. I found a new one that I
+	trust and will be taking all of my cars to. They've already done a
+	safety inspection on Ol' Blue and didn't put up a fuss. They're clean
+	and friendly and don't seem to be out to screw me. But as with
+	everything else, your mileage may vary.
+</p>