in October 1976, an Oshkosh, Wisconsin newspaper first said, " You have to kiss a lot of frogs " and that must have been after trying to find a good garage to get some work done

my brakes are overdue for replacement, I'm talking grinding of course, but instead of tossing some new brake pads on, and getting the rotors turned, the way we've been doing it since 1969 when disc brakes started becoming a part of day to day life, I learned (and posted about it) last summer that no one wants to turn rotors anymore. 

And the price of rotors has dropped, so damn low for the basics ones, that it's just cheaper to bolt on new ones. Of course, I hadn't needed to do brakes in decades to any step past pads or shoes. So that was a surprise to me. 

Then problems with jobs and income made brakes something that would have to wait until the last minute, and a payday not already reserved for rent. 

So, for the past couple days I've stopped into 4 garages (wanting to get the shocks and struts done too, as the car has 105,000 miles, and why the hell not replace them too? And since I don't have a spring compressor... )  

The 1st one would only get parts from O'Reillys. What the hell is that about? the next one wanted to get paid 100 to "inspect" my car. 

I don't need to waste 100 on an inspection that is unnecessary. I know that I want the rotors replaced, the pads replaced, and the shocks/struts replaced. I don't need the rest of the car "inspected" to waste my time and money. 

They, and the next place, REALLY want to get rid of the customer, and have the car dropped off. The less time the owner is nearby seems to be the goal... of them making money by getting the cars dropped off, and the owner to pay by credit card when they pick it up, with zero interest in what was done, how, or with what parts. 

Yeah, I don't operate that way. I tell my barber what I want, I tell a waiter what I want (if I could afford a sit down restaurant) and I tell a rental car assistant what I want. 

That's how things go in the Merry ol Land of Oz, am I right? 

So, since I'm not in jail, and no longer in the military, I don't get told what to do. I don't work for them, they are in business to work for whoever walks onto the lot. When that's me, and my paycheck, I expect that any business that wants my money, and "please give us a review on Yelp" has to ask me what I want, and then (referring to a brake job) give me a written estimate 

California law (BPC § 9884.9, CCR § 3353) requires automotive repair dealers to provide a written, itemized estimate for parts and labor before beginning any work.

So I emailed on Saturday, they ignored that. I stopped by on Monday, asked for an estimate, didn't get one, stopped by on tuesday, got a verbal and a look at the computer screen, but nothing in writing. 

So I called and texted, and got an estimate without part numbers, and asked for the part numbers to verify those would be what I asked for, rotors that are drilled (hopefully giving better braking, shorter stopping distance) and got those on the drive over today to visually check the rotors they got. 

They didn't get what I told them to. 

How can any shop be so inept when they've achieved this many customer voted awards? 

So, failure to respond to email, failure to come through on the 1st request for an estimate, failure to put in part numbers when 1)requested 2) after saying they'd email me the estimate with the part numbers and failure to get the parts I requested. 

Oh, yeah, and they spelled my name lower case, and misspelled it. How do you take that

THEN when I pushed the issue, the young guy in the office, who I doubt knows a Haynes from a Rand McNally, a socket from a paper weight, and I know has never used a pickle fork on a vehicle and wouldn't recognize a strap wrench if it would save his life. If he's not a nepo baby I don't know what he is. 

Anywho, he proceeded to tell me to get lost, and I told him that where he was working wasn't one I expect to last long enough to see 2030. Then he confessed that it was a horrible place. Well, I wasn't looking to contradict that. I left. 

I had another place in mind, over close enough to my garage that I can walk over and putter around, also walking distance to a Starbucks, Denny's etc. 

I stopped in, and this guy was FRIENDLY. I'll keep you posted, I'll be there at 730 am tomorrow, and already plan to get them breakfast/coffee and lunch. Yeah, I do that. I did pizza for the shop that upgraded my 69 R/T