<VV> Jiffy Lube Scam - scams in general

[mygroups]

Frank DuVal wrote:
> Your friend is very unfair. Mechanics do not rust parts. Mechanics do 
> not make steel plug shells seize in aluminum heads. They wish these 
> things never happen. But owners expect miracles from mechanics. 
> Miracles need to be paid for.
>
> How would you remove a seized spark plug?  Would you charge the same 
> amount of time as a plug that comes out easily?
> Fair is fair. Time is money. Your friend wanted something for nothing. 
> Doesn't sound fair to me.
Well I can see it both ways. On one hand the mechanic should be 
competent enough to remove the plug without breaking anything (being GM 
certified, doing plugs several times a week), and yes if the problem was 
due to the friend's neglect then yeah, I can see how he should bear the 
cost or some of the cost.

We're in TN (not much salt) and the car was getting new plugs at around 
80K miles if I recall it correctly. He has owned the car since new. I 
can't imagine there being a corrosion problem but hey, I could be wrong.

He went to them to get new wires (a necessary maintenance item he 
thought), new plugs, etc. He asked them to make the repair and how much 
would it cost. These guys quoted a price to do the job. He went to them 
b/c they were the factory trained pros and he was not (don't think he 
has ever done any of the repairs on that car) and they messed up. So 
from his point of view they could not carefully accomplish what they 
should have been able to, their carelessness or incompetence... Two 
sides of the same story...

Me? Never broke a spark plug on any car or engine ever - probably have 
replaced spark plugs on several dozen engines over the years. Cold 
engine, loosen/tighten/loosen/tighten/loosen/squirt of oil/repeat. Apply 
anti-seize when new plugs are installed. So  far so good. (I did manage 
to strip the threads out of a couple old VW heads once upon a time... 
<griN!>)

Chris