I agree with your first paragraph 90%. I do not perform without mistakes at my job. However, this is a different world now. A world with Yelp, forums, tweets, Facebook, etc. For every restaurant there is a dissatisfied customer commenting. And yes, at my job, when somebody calls the one eight hundred number I am TOTALLY accountable for what happened. With an independent shop, there is no number. It’s just up to the shop owner. What you don’t understand is that I, without sponsorship or comment, boasted about A.S.S. for nearly two years because of the people that I met there when I first came back to Albany. Those people have left A.S.S. for their own reasons. I also don’t believe that I’ve “trashed” A.S.S. or Daryl. How is what I said different from what he said? I stated facts. Derive from them what you may. I assure you that if I contacted Daryl today and he said, “You know what. You’re right. We might have messed up considering the situation, I’ll refund you ___ of the labor.” I would’ve come on here and said, “Wow. This shop gets it and they will back you.” And you know what? Future customers love that stuff.
And no, I’m not surprised at the dealer not wanting to work on my car. I was surprised that they were welcoming to it, then suddenly not despite my full disclosure. I wouldn’t have posted or batted an eye if they said, “Ya know, we can’t really work on a car of your type,” the first time I called them.