I recently brought my car (Mazda) in to get a possible transmission issue looked at. They inspected the car, and when I checked the report via text back, it said that they did not check the transmission fluid because my car does not have a transmission dip stick. I found that odd because my car definitely does have a transmission dip stick. Then, they called me to go over their findings. The guy on the phone told me that they did not find any issues when they drove the car, but, that the battery was low and that that could possibly cause my issues. I felt that something wasn't adding up, so instead of replacing the battery like he suggested, I took the car to autozone to check on the battery quality. At autozone, they say that the battery is completely fine. Weird. So then, I go back and look at the receipt they gave me when I picked up the car. I noticed there, that the mechanic notes did not match what the guy on the phone had told me. They had not found anything wrong with the car, but, they had recommended further investigation into the transmission. They also did not find anything wrong with the battery. It seems to me like the mechanic wasn't very knowledgeable about my car, since they didn't know there was a dipstick. It also seems to me like the guy working the counter had no idea what was going on with my car, and if I hadn't have gotten a weird feeling, I would've wasted money on a new battery and not gotten the problem fixed. On previous occasions, they also lost the keys to my car, I found someone's shoes in my car (did a homeless person spend the night?) they lost my engine cover, they damaged my door, and, they were completely useless in diagnosing a complex issue I had with my airbags. They also charge ALOT more for smog inspections than other shops do. I unfortunately gave them too many chances and overlooked their shortcomings. I did this because finding a trustworthy mechanic is so difficult, and I liked that they sent the online inspection report, as that seemed like a more honest way to do business. But, looking back, the way they run their business has likely cost me alot of money over the years. I don't think they purposefully ripped me off, but, I do think that the front desk guy has no idea what he's talking about, and that he needs to make sure he's relaying the proper information to the customer. I also think that because I had an older car, they didn't feel like they had to treat it with the same care as a nicer car. Hence the damage to the door, airbag issues, and engine cover. I'm assuming they're not making those same careless mistakes when a Mercedes pulls in, but then again maybe they do. I did not pay for the inspection on the Mazda, which is nice. HOWEVER, in my life experience, I've found that places that offer "free" services are usually because they know that they're going to convince you to get more work done, and the "free" inspection is to get you into the door. So, a bit scammy in my opinion.