I had a negative experience at this place. They did a smog check on my car, which failed. They told me I could come back for a free retest once I got my car fixed. I took it to a repair shop who did a tune up but they told me it still failed the smog and that I needed to get a new catalytic converter. I took it to an exhaust specialty shop to get this done. I had it installed and was ready for the retest. About a month had gone by and I couldn't find all the paperwork from my original smog. My guess is that the first repair shop never gave it back to me. I let them see it for troubleshooting purposes. I had all the other paperwork (document from DMV, form for financial assistance in getting the car fixed if you meet the low income qualifications, etc.) so the conclusion that I left it there is the only logical one I could come up with. Unfortunate, but shit happens.
Anyway I did have the estimate copy with my name, the date of smog and the info about my car including the license plate number. I brought it in on a Saturday afternoon thinking that with the sheet I had and the info in their computer it should be no problem. In the month that had gone by I had moved to San Francisco so this place was out of my way, but at least it was free. When I got there they were waiting for someone who was five minutes late for an appointment. He said he would start on my car, fully aware of my missing paperwork which he asked me about, but would have to stop if the appointment arrived. A few minutes later the appointment arrived and my car was moved to the next stall. I didn't have a problem with this, I didn't mind waiting for my turn. Twenty minutes later the previous appointment leaves and the guy comes up to me telling me he can't find my info in the computer and since I don't have the other form he can't do my smog. He said I could come back the next day and talk to the employee at their shop who gave it to me.
Now on this particular day I was not in the mood to argue. I didn't want to come back the next day only to be turned away again and I didn't want to call the repair shop to see if they still had my smog paper, go pick it up, go back to this station, etc. Time was running out and I was tired of dealing with the whole thing and after considering what it would cost in gas, time and hassle I decided I would just take it somewhere closer to home and repay the ridiculous fee. If the guy would have been cool, I believe he would have done it for me. But he wasn't. :( read more