Minor nitpick rant on alignment charges

[Gary Allan]

My daughter hit a curb in the jeep. Now you can't notice it too much ..except when you hit painted lines in parking lots ..or are stopping and roll over painted lines in the rain ..or if you hit a good enough bump on the highway to lift a single tire off the pavement (doesn't occur all that often in a modern jeep, even with solid axles) ..but she altered the toe enough to be annoying (let alone increasing tire wear).

So, a "set the toe and let it go" alignment was in order. I could go to my preferred garage that I use for such things ..but that's a "leave it and we'll get to it" ..and make that next Tuesday ..or I can go to the local Firestone store (the Firestone factory used to be down the same street about 20 years ago - it's kinda a historical site - it's also the training center for all Firestone managers in the region). There you can get an alignment in a few hours. So I leave it ..I have the all season tires on the front swapped with the mounted snows while I'm there.

The bill comes to $101.xx. I asked how much the alignment was ..it was $69.99 (up $10 from last time) and the tire rotation was $20 (they had to rotate the spare ..and essentially 3 out of 4 tires were taken off and put on ..plus putting the 6th tire back in the plastic bag and putting it inside ...no problem. That still should have only totalled $89.99+tax.

Then I asked what other charges were on there. The guy says "shop supplies". I asked, "What possible shop supplies can you use during an alignment? It's not like a brake job where you go through brake cleaner or whatnot.

He says "paper floor mats and seat covers" $5.40+ (he almost lost it when I pointed this out that there should be no shop supplies with an alignment - and then quickly pulled that out of his behind).


69.99 is bad enough for a true "set the toe and let it go" alignment. No "thrust angle" ..no 4wheel ....no camber or caster adjustments (you can set pinion angle - but essentially it's a non-issue) They don't even have to center the steering wheel by making sure that each wheel
is toe'd in correctly ..it's got a drag link that you can just shorten or lengthen to make the wheel center.

..but to bone you for the stuff to keep their grubby paws off of your interior was just enough to produce a flame about "cheek high".

Rant off.

I did thank them for doing the job on a "spot market" basis. Again, I'm nitpicking.

 

[Drew99GT]

It just goes with the territory these days. You have to be prepared to bend over and take it, wherever you go for whatever service it is!

Shop supplies charge is extra profit in most cases.

 

[Spector]

I recently got ripped off at Firestone as well, out of town, nail in tire, they first would not plug it then called to say in sidewall and would not repair it, hads to purchase a new tire on Sat afternoon to get home. Trust me, that nail was not in the sidewall, it was 1 inch into the thread, they had me by the **** and they knew it. i will never return to a Firestone shop.

 

[Drew99GT]

Discount Tire, in most cases will repair a flat free of charge even when you didn't buy the tires there. They are perhaps the best company I've seen with respect to customer service.

 

[Tosh]

That should remind us to always get a written estimate for work done (even if it should be covered under warranty).

 

[Kestas]

I believe Discount Tire changed their policy. They'll repair any tire they sold for free. All other flats are charged for repair. I found that out the last time I was there.

Because of the charges for alignment and all the extras shops tack on, I've been getting myself up to speed on home wheel alignments. I've already customized a level for use on camber measurements. I'm surprised at how accurately I can measure camber. Toe-in is more important, though, and more difficult to measure.

 

[bdcardinal]

in CA it is illegal to charge for shop supplies. it is supposed to be put in with the labor charge. they are allowed to charge a disposal fee. also charging for a seat cover is pathetic. we put them on all cars in my shop as a courtesy, and for protection for the technician on some cars.