Ralph Mowery wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:44:04 -0500:

I worked at Sears changing and repairing tires and a few other minor
repairs. They had plug/patches similar to them back in 1970. Used a lot of
them.

Yikes! I hate Sears! I promised myself in 1981 that I'd *never* go
to Sears ever again! I tell everyone *not* to go to Sears!

begin rant

When I was young and stupid, I brought my 1970 clunker to Sears for
a $100 alignment.

The car had 90K miles on it and I had failed inspection (in those days,
they lifted the front end and checked for suspension wear).

I brought it to K-Mart, who, for something like $20 told me I needed
to replace the idler arm, the pitman arm, and the tie rod ends.

I replaced all of them, and started to do the alignment but quickly
realized that I just didn't have the tools to MEASURE the angles
correctly (and to convert inches to degrees, etc.). I got as far
as doing the toe but gave up when it came to camber and caster.

I had MARKED EVERYTHING though, with yellow nail polish, because
I wanted a before-and-after look at things (I was pretty detailed,
even then).

So I take it to Sears, pay my $100, and watch they guy. He never
once touched the car, but at one point, I was distracted by the shop
asking me to pay so maybe he did the work while I wasn't looking?

Anyway, I pay and drive home and put the car on a lift to snap
pictures. Guess what. Not a single eccentric was touched! Not one.
I could tell because I was sloppy with the nail polish and not a
single bolt was even MOVED!

The *******s. They stole my money. And my time. And, I'm sure,
I wasn't the only one.

I go back. I complain. They put it on the lift. Not a single thing
was right except for the toe (which "I" had done myself!).

Turns out, they mechanic *ADMITTED* he didn't do a thing!
He said his charts only went back 10 years and my car was 11 years
old! Can you believe that.

I should have complained to high heaven and gotten a refund.
I just let them re-align it.

I wasn't as crotchety when I was young, but I would have complained
to the district attorney or something had I been the age I am now.

It's criminal what Sears does to rip off people.
Absolutely criminal.

I watch all my alignments like a hawk watching a mouse now.
Sears sucks. I will *never* ever go to Sears for the rest of my
life, and I make sure everyone knows how bad they are.

The're criminals.
I'm sorry you worked there, and I do apologize for the diatribe.
It's not your fault they are criminals. It's their fault.

end rant