From c701a961ccddfaf14c99837e51db6a282c563e2d Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Adam Carpenter Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 20:01:06 -0400 Subject: Added YABS --- posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md | 36 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+) create mode 100644 posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md (limited to 'posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md') diff --git a/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8961159 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md @@ -0,0 +1,36 @@ +--- +permalink: "/posts/{{categories}}/{{slug}}" +title: YABS - Yet Another Bad Shop +categories: ["automotive"] +tags: [] +layout: post.liquid +is_draft: true +--- + +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. + +# Mom's Truck -- Two Destroyed Tires & Loose Suspension + +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 + +- pp minivan no oil, buy more parts +- hudson hubcap, ruined tire +- monty lugnuts, buy more parts -- cgit v1.2.3 From 5db36dd98f659474278ad0a49e8963e168edc776 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Adam Carpenter Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 21:17:57 -0400 Subject: Updated YABS --- posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md | 60 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-- 1 file changed, 57 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) (limited to 'posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md') diff --git a/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md index 8961159..50bae51 100644 --- a/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md +++ b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md @@ -22,15 +22,69 @@ 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. -# Mom's Truck -- Two Destroyed Tires & Loose Suspension +# Mom's Truck -- Balls Out 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 +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. + +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. + +# Friend's Minivan -- Crude Necessities + +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. + +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. + +# Monty, My 2013 Ford Focus -- Nut Allergy + +# Ole Blue -- -- pp minivan no oil, buy more parts - hudson hubcap, ruined tire - monty lugnuts, buy more parts +- good things -> hassle-free inspections, etc., honestly years of good service -- cgit v1.2.3 From 11131a68035cd20063ee738f6a430498b901e382 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Adam Carpenter Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2019 13:38:41 -0400 Subject: Updated yabs. --- posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md | 9 +++++++-- 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) (limited to 'posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md') diff --git a/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md index 50bae51..3f994a0 100644 --- a/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md +++ b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md @@ -83,8 +83,13 @@ survived long enough for them to realize it before she drove off. # Monty, My 2013 Ford Focus -- Nut Allergy +160$ for new lugnuts; knew that these were a problem with ford and chrysler, class action lawsuit so keep lugnuts + # Ole Blue -- -- hudson hubcap, ruined tire -- monty lugnuts, buy more parts +Lost hupcap, took a chunk out of tire sidewall + +# Not All Bad + - good things -> hassle-free inspections, etc., honestly years of good service + -- cgit v1.2.3 From f565767d261fa5de6286356905a8fca6cee3c5f7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Adam Carpenter Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2019 17:38:57 -0400 Subject: Added leaves, gas station, wrote gopro, updated yabs. --- posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+) (limited to 'posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md') diff --git a/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md index 3f994a0..0a4929a 100644 --- a/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md +++ b/posts/yabs-yet-another-bad-shop.md @@ -85,6 +85,27 @@ survived long enough for them to realize it before she drove off. 160$ for new lugnuts; knew that these were a problem with ford and chrysler, class action lawsuit so keep lugnuts +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 lugnuts 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 lugnuts off and back on again just a few +weeks prior when we changed the transmission fluid. + +They didn't have an explanation that I could reconcile with. Joe Schmoe over +the phone told me this is typical of Fords and Chryslers these days and that +they'd like to keep my lugnuts 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 lugnuts, take a high power impact wrench to +those wheels without speaking with the owner about it first? Smelled fishy to +me honestly. + # Ole Blue -- Lost hupcap, took a chunk out of tire sidewall @@ -93,3 +114,6 @@ Lost hupcap, took a chunk out of tire sidewall - good things -> hassle-free inspections, etc., honestly years of good service +Oh the tires were Cooper GTs by the way and they're amazing. They're smoothe +and quiet and came with a very nice warranty. They're also made in the USA, +which is very important to me. -- cgit v1.2.3