It's so hard to find a decent shop. I know when I do, I start establishing a relationship with a shop by getting with oil changes, along with the objective of doing an inspections on the vehicle for other potential issues, especially whenever I pick up another used vehicle where the history really isn't well known.

I have a shop now just a mile from me that does pretty much all the work on all our cars. Most shops now keep a database history of past repairs. That was helpful when I was getting my daughter's Mustang sorted out, and I was able to spread numerous expensive repairs over a couple of years 'til it was nearly mechanically new.

But normally, they print a sheet of what they are going to work on, and your signature authorizes the work. If something else is discovered (which, for older cars, it normally does), a phone call from the shop is expected at minimum before additional work is performed.

The story from the OP sounds like something from the 70's! I thought shops like that went out of business years ago...

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car