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lifeiswhatyoumake
Trance in my sig n blood



Registered: 09/30/11
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An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me
#27077190 - 12/07/20 01:48 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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In North Carolina, USA we have to get our cars inspected and passed every year to renew our registration. This is my first time getting my car inspected in NC.
My car is a coupe with two main side windows and two tiny rear windows. All windows are aftermarket tinted with around 35% tint (I forget the exact percentage I paid for). My windshield has a 5% tint strip across the upper five inches from the top.
After the inspection was done, they took me into the garage and told me that my windshield tint strip is too dark and my rear windows are too dark, so I won't pass inspection. However, if I paid the guy $60 cash in addition to the $30 inspection fee he would pass me and "look the other way" with regards to the window tints. 
I told him, "okay, sure, I need to get money. Where's an ATM nearby?" He tells me where to go. While I get the money I check NC window tint laws and the windshield strip can be any darkness as long as it doesn't extend beyond 5 inches from top. Side windows can be no darker than 35%. Then I realize all my side windows are the same tint, the back look darker because the black seats in the back...
So I'm totally legal and this guy is trying to scam me.
I come back and go to the main lobby to check out. There are other customers in the waiting room. The guy who wants to scam me comes to check me out. He assumed at this point he had me in the bag and I was fully cooperating with this scam. He has all the paperwork finished and asks for my card for the $30. Then he makes a motion with his hand for the $60 cash. I straight up just say, "no. I checked the laws and I'm legal."  The guy goes into the garage to talk to his coworker/manager, then comes back out and is visibly angry. He tells me the total will be $40 inspection fee (instead of $30 fee and $60 cash) and that's it. He added the extra $10 for the fee because there's a law where NC inspections are +$10 for aftermarket tint... sure, whatever, that's fine.
While he's checking me out he randomly says, "Don't play with me, son." Look out everyone, we got a badass here, apparently. I reply, "I'm just following the law."  Then he says, "your window tint will become darker the longer it's in the sun, so you might not pass next year." That's bullshit, isn't it? My tints are the crystalline version, FYI. I just play it cool and check out and get the fuck out of there. What a bizarre experience. Anyone have similar experiences?
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  I dropped a trance track "Peace Love & Trance": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4uQBM-mRYU ;   
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split_by_nine
i am the liquor

Registered: 07/11/18
Posts: 21,288
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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: lifeiswhatyoumake] 1
#27077240 - 12/07/20 02:20 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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weird. dude was mad over $60 lol and he was the one breaking the law. what a child.
same rule in PA. safety inspection and emissions every year. glad i dont live there anymore because cops will pull you over if your car has any damage. out west (where i live now) people drive with no windows, no bumpers, shit.. sometimes no license plates. its crazy lol
-------------------- 🐴 hpoo or die
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Baby_Hitler
Errorist




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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: lifeiswhatyoumake] 2
#27077247 - 12/07/20 02:24 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Report that fucker.
-------------------- Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ (•_•) <) )~ ANTIFA / \ \(•_•) ( (> SUPER / \ (•_•) <) )> SOLDIERS / \
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blackhawk
Newton's Law of Majesticity



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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: split_by_nine] 1
#27077255 - 12/07/20 02:31 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
split_by_nine said: weird. dude was mad over $60 lol and he was the one breaking the law. what a child.
same rule in PA. safety inspection and emissions every year. glad i dont live there anymore because cops will pull you over if your car has any damage. out west (where i live now) people drive with no windows, no bumpers, shit.. sometimes no license plates. its crazy lol
I'm in PA and I'm in a county that only requires safety inspection. Also, I've never been bothered with tints on my car by cops or inspection. I got around 30% and the legal limit is 70%.
I've been bothered when I lived in long island, so I had to go to a guy who would overlook it and pass me and hope no cop gives me a ticket for it.
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christopera
Stranger


Registered: 10/13/17
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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: blackhawk]
#27077341 - 12/07/20 03:46 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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I'm in PA, I own a diesel, so it's safety inspection only. Though my wife's gas car gets both.
I actually wrote a letter to the PA Attorney General after my last attempt with an inspection for my Diesel car. I own a VW, and VW got in big trouble with their Diesels. For the uninitiated look up "Dieselgate."
Anyways, my car was in for some warranty repairs (Dieselgate warranties are off the charts good), so while it's there I tell them to inspect it as well. So after like 12 business days of it being in the shop they still haven't gotten the thing fixed, they call and tell me they will do the inspection while they wait for parts but that they can't do it until I buy a battery. The battery will be $295. I look it up, a good battery with a three year warranty is $165. I tell the service guy that they've already had my car too long, and that they need to charge the battery and inspect the car. He said they can't do that, the battery has to be replaced. I said, "fuck you, it's not happening" So I marched down to the auto parts store, bought a battery, then rode over to the dealership and dropped the battery square on the fuckers desk. I said, "now you are out the labor for the battery change, see how that works?" He didn't have much to say about that.
I went back to work. They changed the battery and called me back. They couldn't pass the inspection because the brakes were shaking. I asked him how they drove the car since according to them the replacement parts hadn't shown up yet. The car had been towed to the dealership because the slave cylinder on the clutch went out. It's a common issue and is covered under warranty. The service guy stammered and said he'd call me back. About a half hour later I get a call. "That was the wrong car with the brakes shaking, your car just needs rotors and pads, they are too far worn out." I said I have pads, and that I measured the ones on the car before I dropped it off. Which I had in fact done, in PA they give an exact thickness where pads are too thin. I literally have a box of pads for the car, but why put them on when I can get another 15% out of these ones. So I explained to the service guy that the pads are fine, and that I'd be contacting VW of America and the Attorney General, because I knew they were thick enough to pass inspection. He stammered again, got quiet, made some excuse about talking to the tech. I said, "You better have my fucking car ready today or there's going to hell to pay." He told me they won't pass it on inspection unless I replace the rotors and the pads. The front brakes were going to be $495 and the rears $316. Meanwhile, to do this myself it would cost about $200 to do all four rotors, and all the pads. I was getting pretty hot at this point, "I don't care if the car passes or not, I want my fucking car back." I hung up on the guy.
A few hours later he called, my car was ready for pickup. I ride over there to get it. The belly pan for the car is in the trunk. I look around, the "dead" battery is missing. I go inside and walk to the service counter desk, "you better get my battery back, I own it, and if you don't I am calling the cops. Second, you guys left the fucking belly pan off. What the fuck are you going to do about it?" The dude literally ran out of the building and carried the battery back. He said they'd get a technician to put the belly pan on immediately. I told him to fuck off, I was tired of their shit. He handed my my bill, a whopping $0.
When I got home I was steaming. So I look through the paperwork. In their own paperwork it shows the brake pads are thick enough to pass inspection. Mother fuckers. The technician failed the inspection because the battery was dead, a battery that they killed, and that I replaced. Woah buddy, my head about exploded. That's when I contacted the Attorney General. I am sure nothing will come of it, but at least I got to vent.
I guess the moral of the story is that these places will make a buck wherever they can. Luckily, I called them on their bullshit. I'm sure I am in the vast minority. It's a shame that they get away with it.
-------------------- Enjoy the process of your search without succumbing to the pressure of the result. A Dorito is pizza, change my mind. Bank and Union with The Shroomery at the Zuul on The internet - now with %'s and things I’m sorry it had to be me.
Edited by christopera (12/07/20 04:36 PM)
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split_by_nine
i am the liquor

Registered: 07/11/18
Posts: 21,288
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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: christopera]
#27077380 - 12/07/20 04:17 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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its a good idea to make record of this and OP's experience by filing a complaint with the better business bureau. they have an online portal on their website for complaints. the business has the chance to remedy the complaint or risk having a negative mark on their permanent record.
file complaint
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theRealrollforever
I DID-DENT



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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: split_by_nine]
#27077390 - 12/07/20 04:26 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Seriously report them to the BBB. Dude will get fired. He also deserves it. I could give a shit if he has a family. Sell some weed. Don't rob me. Also if he did the whole inspection I also live in PA; they will know he was the only one responsible. Shops know who inspects what. It's not DE where it's the goddam DMV AND I just drive thru
Oh woops looks like Carolina, either way if it's a private inspection (where he could ask for money to overlook something) his name will be all over the inspection. Get him fired. Or try to.
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sunshine said: The order has to be secret and no one is sure.
Edited by theRealrollforever (12/07/20 04:28 PM)
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searching



Registered: 06/08/11
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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: theRealrollforever]
#27077451 - 12/07/20 05:28 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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The shop can lose their inspection license for that shit. You should have made him pay you $50 to not report them.
A friend of mine took his car to a shop to replace his timing belt. A week later the timing belt broke and destroyed the motor. They lied and told him they replaced it but really didn't. They ended up paying for a new motor.
I absolutely hate repair shops. It's so hard to find a good one.
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M44
Ballbagasaurus


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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: searching]
#27077499 - 12/07/20 06:00 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Man that sucks that you guys have dodgy testers and mechanics, the only way to stop them ripping someone else off is by reporting them, we tend to have mechanics do that but it's usually to females, my wife has been told a whole heap of things need fixing but when she drops the "let me just ring my husband" line they change their tune pretty quickly. I put most mechanics in the same category as used car sales men and real estate agents, I don't trust them.
Thankfully we have found a mechanic recently that seems to know their shit, only fix what needs to be, and doesn't try and rip us off. We have to drive 50 minutes to them past about 5 other shops, they are a little bit more expensive but I think it's definitely worth it being able to trust your vehicle to them.
-------------------- ... White trash get down on your knees... ... It's time for cake and sodomy...
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lifeiswhatyoumake
Trance in my sig n blood



Registered: 09/30/11
Posts: 16,712
Last seen: 1 hour, 8 minutes
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Re: An employee at the auto inspection shop tried to scam me [Re: split_by_nine]
#27077817 - 12/07/20 08:41 PM (3 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Baby_Hitler said: Report that fucker.
I am going to call the BBB or something and report them. They are probably scamming almost every one that comes to them.
Quote:
split_by_nine said: weird. dude was mad over $60 lol and he was the one breaking the law. what a child.
For real!
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  I dropped a trance track "Peace Love & Trance": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4uQBM-mRYU ;   
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