I did ,and it makes me very grateful that I can fix my own cars.
I know being an auto mechanic isn't an easy job and it's back breaking and very tough and thankless.
The new electronics on newer cars baffle even the most resourceful and smart professionals. And if you are a true craftsman, people will still treat you badly. I've seen my friend, who is a MB indy, get treated ontemptuously and rudely by customers who dont know how hard his job is. I've seen some customers bear down on him and ask him lengthy rude and nasty questions about their bill.
Anyway the guilty party in this story wasnt the mechanic; it was the shop manager.
Once on a Saturday afternoon I went to get some machine shop work done. I wandered into the attached next door repair shop and sat there dumbfounded as I witnessed a Sting operation where gullible people brought their car in for simple work and ended up with huge estimates and bills.
Worse ,they agreed to have the work done.
The Sting was simple enough, someone with something small like worn brake pads came in, had their car put up on the hoist and a fifteen minutes later every slight defect that you could find on the car was written up as a safety threatening issue on the service ticket. Five of the six victims were women. It all happened in the 45 minutes i was there.
I know it was a sting for a good reason. I recognized the shop manager instantly from ten years ago, where he had stung me as a teenager for front end work. One lady got written up for worn steering boots and new tie rods for $380 bucks. The manager told her that if she didn't do it immediately her car would be a disaster. She was pretty and she whistled a sigh of relief and gratitude that the manager had saved her from disaster.
Another lady needed all new belts for $230 despite coming in for something much simpler. Apparently they would fail that day if she didnt get them fixed. Others had similar high ticket items. I don't doubt that some of the cars did have those problems, but I know what the manager was doing. On every car that came in, he was looking for extra easy work with high profit that he could move quickly. None of the customers seemed very knowledgable about cars.
I didnt say anything to anyone. I made eye contact with some of them hoping they could read my mind, but in the end I left quietly. To this day,I hate to have someone work on my car. I know many pros out there are great and much better than me and I have often called them for advice and paid them back with favors. But that sting makes an impression on my Mind.