Ok, since I live in Florida and you’re at the heel of the NYS DMV, not me, I will talk about that last visit at your request.
So I had the timing belt done, a tooth off then fixed, in April. In June or July I called ASS and asked for an appointment to have my CV boot replaced and have an inspection. I didn’t think this would cause a problem since my catless exhaust was installed by ASS and they had passed it at least once before, possibly twice but I’m not certain. They booked me out two weeks. When I arrived that day Harold told me he forgot to order the CV boot but he might be able to get one there in an hour or two. To be honest, after the timing belt job, I was a little nervous but was giving the shop another chance bc I had been going there for so long. Forgetting to order a part isn’t a big deal except it wastes the customers time. So they decided to bring my car in for inspection while I wait for the part to possibly arrive. So the tech starts the inspection. Harold begins to tell md that he may not pass the car bc of the exhaust but that he’d try to talk to him. Harold tells me that they’ve had a lot of attention from the NYS DMV lately for allegedly passing cars that should have failed due to the cat. Harold told me that the DMV can see that the car is tuned for a catless exhaust but their system doesn’t fail it and that’s why the DMV was rolling out webcams.
So the tech stops the inspection when the car goes up on the lift due to the straight pipe. Harold says he’ll go talk to him and see what he can do. They talk for a bit out of earshot in the bays and Harold comes back saying the tech is refusing. I protest saying I’ve had it done before, I don’t understand the difference today, and no…I wasn’t yelling or cursing. But I was upset bc now I’ve had a timing belt installed incorrectly, the part I scheduled my appointment for wasn’t here and potentially could not show up for hours, and the inspection couldn’t get done. So I told Harold I was done and I just wanted my car back. Harold tells me he wants to talk to Daryl and goes to the office.
Daryl walks out and says he’ll go try talking with the tech. Again, he goes into the work area and they have a conversation. This time I watched and the tech is adament about refusing and is beginning to get upset.
So Daryl walks back in and says the tech is refusing BUT they might be able to fashion a false cat out of some spare parts. I took this to mean that I could pay to have another tech fabricate a false cat in the same work area as the tech who just vehemently refused to do theIspection. That did get me real mad and I said something to the effect of “Why would I pay you to make something to fool your own tech?!”
At this point I told Daryl that I had been repping the shop for two years, that I just wanted my car back, and I was done bringing my business there. Daryl said I was taking my frustrations about the tech out on him. I said that it wasn’t just the tech, it was the timing belt, the part not being there, now the inspection, and finally the suggestion that they make a false cat to fool the guy that’s ten feet away.
During this conversation my car had been pulled around. When I turned around to leave the tech that refused to do the inspection was standing there with, what I took to be, a smug smile on his face and he said, “Good luck,” as he dangled my keys in the air. So yeah, “Go fuck yourself,” was my response.