Cape Auto

On 11/13/2012 I dropped of my 2003 Ford Escape to Cape Auto Body & Service in Plymouth, MA to diagnose two cylinders that were skipping. Although I do 99% of my own mechanical work, I have been using this company for probably close to 15 years on the rare occasion I do need an outside service company.  On 11/14 Cape Auto called and told me when the job was complete. They also told me my valve cover gaskets were leaking and needed to be replaced. I got the vehicle back on the 14th and worked on it myself on the next day to replace these gaskets. In doing so, I found the threads stripped for the #4 cylinder spark plug. I called Jim, one of the service managers, and he denied that they even touched this cylinder. 
Now for some background. First, I am certified for numerous brands of engines ranging from air cooled small engines to diesel engines rated at excess of 1,000 horsepower. I personally changed the spark plugs in this engine on Oct. 3, 2012 and torqued them as I always do for plugs going into an aluminum head. Usually when removing plugs set in my engines, I can easily do this with a 3/8” drive ratchet. When I needed to remove the “only two plugs” Cape Auto replaced, I needed to use my 1/2” drive ratchet because they were way over torqued!!! Jim claims that he worked with the mechanic on my engine the entire time and that the mechanic never touched any other plug except the two new ones. As I previously mentioned, I have been using this company for many years and have observed Jim (and the other service managers) these times I've visited. They do NOT hover over their mechanics doing their work. As a matter of fact, the desks they work at face the opposite wall of the service garage giving them no possibility of seeing the actual work being done unless they physically stand over their mechanic's shoulders. And, if Jim had been watching his mechanic closely, how did he let him/her over torque the “only two” spark plugs they claimed to have touched??? 

At this

You see those reports on TV all the time about auto shops taking advantage of people by telling them they need repairs that they don't really need. Well, my wife and I caught these guys in the act. She brought her car in for an inspection and they said it would not pass because the car's computer was reporting a transmission error. They said for her to leave the car there for the day, it would be $75 just to look at it and they'd call her when they knew more about the issue. Not sure how they expected her to get home since she was there alone, but that's besides the point. She asked them for the code being thrown by the car's computer and they said they could not give her the code and said perhaps she should just take the car back. What a red flag this was. When I got home from work I scanned the codes on the car. It was throwing only one code...a failed O2 sensor. A $55 part and 30 minute repair at any other shop. They could have simply replaced the sensor, passed her inspection and sent her on her way as a happy customer. But instead they had to lie to her and piss her off. Don't get pissed off, go somewhere else.