"Auto sales and service rank very low in overall customer trust." Really? That's actually not the case nationally according to the BBB. There are quite a number of occupations that score much worse than ours. I'll challange anyone to take a hard look at what they do for a living, and then across the board imagine only a 2.4% occurance of an issue that requires the work to be done over. Granted less experienced and trained techs have a higher ratio of comebacks than the better trained, and seasoned technicians, so if your seeing a lot of cars have to go back it's most likely a training/experience problem, not one measured in honesty or lack thereof. That's the problem with most of these "sting" operations. The people attempting to do the story themselves don't have the knowledge and skill required to properlly access what the actual outcome of their own "study" was. "I used to work in that industry and witnessed a lot of corruption. .... I still own a 4 bay auto service garage that I lease out." I never said there aren't things that are wrong, I am talking about going about fixing them the right way, not the trash this reporter put out there. Why did you get out of this business? With the kind of money that you must of had (or have) that you can own a building like that you had a leg up on many that try to run a shop, anyone can fix cars, right? Would you have fallen victim to this reporter if they had shown up at the shop you were working at? Remember, or if you need to go look at the video's as linked too. The transmission pan gasket is "not sealing". The wetness is indeed evidence of a leak, the dealer tech admits that it is leaking with his "re-check". "BUT", they still attack the tech and the shop for discovering the leak and treat it as if observing it was wrong. Never mind the fact that missing it is wrong for quite a number of reasons. One thing overall stands out and needs to be recognized, I called them, and her out on this. They are NOT willing to have me re-evaluate their story, even if it cannot be aired which means they don't have to apologize to anyone if it is found, and I'm willing to bet lunch on this that repairs have since been performed to the car after the "sting" that would exhonerate a number of the shops from the "alledged attrocities". Your last paragraph. If these are things you "witnessed" in places where you worked, I only would have needed to see something like that one time, and I would have walked out. It is my hope that places that run like that fail, and yesterday isn't soon enough. Unfortunately IMO the places that do things like that, are where we see the cheapest labor rates, and "discount" prices on telephone quotes.

I'd rather pay a LOT less, as you put it, for something I can fix up myself.. for instance, I'd rather pay, say, $8, for an old chandelier, then take it home, paint it myself, add my own crystals, etc. INSTEAD of paying $25 for one that's already 'prettied' up.... some of the things I look for a lot are: iron/metal doo-dads, crates, windows, glass ware, vases, cups, saucers, little animal statues, baskets, wicker anything, small tables, table legs, old spindles, candleworks, old chandeliers, candleabras, votives, lanterns, plates, anything made out of clear and colored glass, old jewelry, beads, costume jewelry, gaudy earrings, mardi gras beads, anything miniature (for fairy houses/gardens), etc. etc. you get the idea... :) some of this I find at garage sales, but a lot of it I find at thrift/junk shops... I'll usually go with about $20 and end up leaving with the back of my SUV filled with stuff.... hope this was helpful... from the sound of things, I'd love to shop at your booth!!! *lol*

I was paying $190 (with HBO)to Comcast. I switched to Verizon for $117, still way too much for the junk that is on tv. I actually used to enjoy the HBO documentary programs, but not enough to pay that amount. Once my intro price runs out, I will consider going to the most basic cable and getting programs through Netflix or something similar. I am most disappointed with the morning news shows. They have become so fluffy. Every day it's showing silly youtube videos, cooking segments, interviews with idiots like that Snookie person and very little real news. Bring back Dave Garroway. The Today Show is the worst. I like some of the HGTV shows, even though I know they are staged. I like Modern Family and Suburgatory and the one about the rich girl who works as a waitress. Most nights I turn off the tv and play around on the computer. There are some great shows on The Smithsonian channel but I no longer get that with Verizon.

I read the article twice and I still don't see where he's " bashing her character ". IMO, it's another one of those sensationalist articles that turns out to be nothing like the headline suggests, and exists only to draw attention and stir up dissention. I feel sorry for the young lady, and I'm sure it was a huge disappointment, but why would she want to keep the medal - as a reminder that she lost ? I'm certainly not a follower of Mike Rowe - too rough around the edges and too full of himself to suit me - but I think we need to stop reading things into these articles that aren't really there.