YABS: Yet Another Bad Shop

- 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. -

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Mom's Truck -- Balls Out

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- 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. -

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- 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. -

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Friend's Minivan -- Crude Necessities

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- 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. -

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- 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 - completely 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. -

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Monty, My 2013 Ford Focus -- Nut Allergy

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- 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. -

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- 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. -

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- 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. -

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Ol' Blue -- Tunnel Vision

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- 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 - check out Diamond Back's website 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. -

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- 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. -

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- 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. -

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Not All Bad

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- 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. -