Gone to an Alignment shop and walked out getting screwed?

[Wizeguy]

Don't wanna say the shop as for now but my truck needed outer tie rod ends so I installed them and took the truck to an Alignment shop.
I walk in and ask for a toe set and counter guy says front end alignments are $59 IF your truck has the cams in the rear and IF they need adjustments it would be a 4 wheel alignment for $99..
So after an hour, counter guy says my trucks all set, It needed a 4 wheel alignment and 99 bucks, gives me a print out to show me it needed all 4.
Next day I go under the car to look at the cams and to me they seem like they haven't been touched!
A little background about me, Before doing construction, I opened and ran about 25 franchised Brake, Suspension and alignment shops in 3 states so I think I have a tad of experience at this?

 

[derbydad276]

File a state complaint!!!

There also maybe a case of fraud by conversion

 

[mustangmike6996]

Did they give you an alignment printout? Ask for one. PM me the shop that you went to. I know of a couple shops in your area.

 

[RSWANNABE]

Wow.

 

[Wizeguy]

The rust isn't even knocked off... The top 2 pics are the driver side cams and those are the ones they supposedly adjusted.. Passenger side (bottom 2 pics) did not need any adjustments.
I got a print out that shows they touched the right rear

 

[Wizeguy]

 

[mustangmike6996]

I sent a PM before seeing this.

So the front tires are aligned to the rear. They probably adjusted the rear. Remeasured and then adjusted the front (if needed)

 

[CMYZ28]

That's a Belle Tire print out, just saying

 

[mustangjoe87]

That's some kind of wrench that doesn't leave a mark.

 

[mustangjoe87]

That's a Belle Tire print out, just saying

Ive seen that style print out from more than just Belle tire. I think it's off a hunter system

 

[1BADAIR]

The rust isn't even knocked off... The top 2 pics are the driver side cams and those are the ones they supposedly adjusted.. Passenger side (bottom 2 pics) did not need any adjustments.
I got a print out that shows they touched the right rear

Left rear and right front. Does the rear toe have cams?
looks like a hunter printout

 

[mustangmike6996]

That is a Hunter printout.

 

[moneypit]

I had a shop that i took wifes vehicle to for a alignment say i needed a 4 wheel, (rear cant be adjusted) and then told me i needed ball joints before they could alimg the front, ball joints had 2-3 miles on them thats the reason i was getting a alignment

 

[MarkVIII93]

What kind of vehicle? Does it have turn buckle style toe links? I'm not sold that they tried to screw you just yet. Although it is possible. I find it odd how close to perfect the rear camber angles are.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Siegel1719]

Looks to me like they adjusted the right front and left rear Toe. Since they made adjustments to the front and rear it seams fair that they would charge for a 4 wheel alignment. I maybe wrong but I'm assuming the cams on your truck are for Camber adjustment and they did not adjust any camber so that's why the bolts were not touched.

 

[CamaroKid91Z]

The cams wouldn't be touched for toe. What kind of vehicle is it? Does it have the turn buckle style toe adjusters.

And to be honest, whenever I was working on a vehicle that was slightly out in the rear on toe, I just went ahead and corrected it and charged for a front alignment. 2 minutes work of work for me was not enough to justify charging for a 4-wheel. But then again that was me.

 

[Wizeguy]

05 Nissan Pathfinder.. It has the cam adjusters on the front and rear of each A arm which you can adjust the toe with by moving one or the other.. You can do a camber adjustment by moving both but because of the size of the cams it wouldn't have a drastic adjustment.

 

[CamaroKid91Z]

Gotcha. The rear cam bolts should have been moved then being a Nissan. They definitely didn't do the job correctly. Which if your rear toe is out will effect your front toe measurements. What you could do is take it back up there, get the service manager involved and tell them you want your truck back on the alignment rack and watch them set it up. No denying the fact if the rear toe is still out, thus strengthening your case.

 

[mdhmi]

Please post the name/location of the shop so we don't suffer the same fate.
I have a 1 strike / 0 tolerance policy for thieves and half-assed work ..

 

[RyeLou]

Gotcha. The rear cam bolts should have been moved then being a Nissan. They definitely didn't do the job correctly. Which if your rear toe is out will effect your front toe measurements. What you could do is take it back up there, get the service manager involved and tell them you want your truck back on the alignment rack and watch them set it up. No denying the fact if the rear toe is still out, thus strengthening your case.

Just playing devils advocate...but it's much more common to lean on a tire that's in spec and move it out, then it is to do so to put it in spec. My assumption is IF the rear was out, it's because a 250lb guy was pushing it that way, if those pictures are accurate.