I would have refused to pay. Not only did they go for a joyride, but the one worker blatantly lied to you.

 

the customers info is sometimes not correct thats why I would drive it beforehand to find out what the exact problem is. then after an alignment take it out again to make sure all the problems are corrected. numbers on the alignment machine doesnt always guarantee that the car will drive straight.

 

sounds like some fcked up white kid lacking his teeth

 

u could be an ass and waited an hour when he left then reported the car stolen, then he'll be in deep crap, no reason for a 2 hour test, most test are performed in 15-30min per run

 

First of all the joy ride was only for about 4- 5 minutes. I think some of you might be reading the story wrong.

I would be ok if the test drove my car before and after if I knew thats what they were actually doing.

but in my case, my car was the ONLY car that went for a test drive.

There was atleast 3 other cars being serviced before mine... A ford truck, mini van, and an 4 door accord. I know for a FACT that none of those cars were taken for test drives.

 

Its a 1 year alignment package that I bought a few months ago. This was my 2nd time coming in, I couldn't really complain much to them.

btw, if you're from columbus, this is the NTB on polaris.

 

Teawins21, i know where you're coming from. i had an alignment done on my car because the steering wheel was off-center, and i explicitly told the dealer to NOT test drive the car, because they must have crooked eyes or something and think that "straight" is 5 degrees off-center. does it make sense for someone to test drive a car after an alignment? absolutely. does it make sense for a tech to do it instead of you? no, it does not. if the alignment is in spec and it's taken for a post-alignment test drive, chances are the tech isn't going to feel anything different than you are if you're driving it. in my case, the techs i've dealt with don't know when the steering wheel is centered and when it's not. they see it centered while they're on a side-sloped crowned road and say it's straight, but...it's obviously not straight.

at any rate, twice i've told the dealer to not drive my car before or after an alignment was done (they couldn't get the steering wheel straight either time, actually) and they took it for a spin anyway, ignoring my request. when i posted here a few months ago, all the other members were like "what's the big deal, it was only for a mile," etc etc. well guess what, it doesn't take a mile of driving to know if the steering wheel is off center, and i specifically told them to not drive it, but they did anyway. and so, they lost a customer. i've read at least 3 horror stories here about techs taking S2000s out for "test drives" after work was done and having them crash the freaking car and/or rev the living hell out of it. that is definitely not the "service" i'm paying for.

in summary, i feel for ya. i wish i owned my own shop (or a crappy car that no one would target) so i wouldn't have to worry about this kind of garbage.

 

I take my car to my cousin's work place. He's the manager at Wheel Works. I've never seen any of his techs take out my car(s) pre-alignment, only post. I can ask them if it's policy. I can imagine them taking a car out if the customer says something is wrong with the car and not sure what it is. I used to take it to a local tune shop that a lot of the local autox/track guys take their cars to. He's never taken out any of our cars, pre-alignment either.

 

haha i had my s in the shop and as i was walking up the tech pulled it out to a parking spot and curbed the front bumper and had to back up to get it off then when i was like WOAHHH MAN he didnt kno what i was talking about and walked off....yehh that was a $200 mistake they made

 

Its like that Here in PR

20 min and you are outta there!