I was rebuilding the forks on my motorcycle. I removed all components, drained the oil, and then noticed that for the last step -- removing the damper, I needed a special "damper holder" tool -- basically a metal rod with a nut welded at the end. I took my disassembled forks to to Brooks Yamaha's service department, and asked them to remove the damper screw, pop the seals, wipe down the damper, and re-install it -- basically the whole job consists of removing a screw and putting it back -- with the proper tool, it would take anyone at most 10 minutes per fork (I actually did this several times before, as part of my hobby). I was quoted $40 and thought that was fair, as it saved me the time to fabricate the holder. As I was leaving, I asked the blond guy at the front desk whether he understood what I wanted, and he replied with an annoyed "I understand". A few hours later I get a phone call that my forks are ready. When I get there, the damper is not installed. The service technician informs me that he thought I would want to change the bushings. I point out to him that the coating on the bushings looks perfectly fine, and ask him to install the dampers. Now, as I get ready to pay, the blond guy at the front desk informs me that the service is basically equivalent to the entire job of replacing the fork seals, but he is going to do me a favor and only charge me for one fork -- that is $80. After trying in vain to understand what had changed since our first encounter earlier in the day (he kept saying that now, that the job is done, it looks simple to me), I paid the bill (to which they added about $5 worth of shop supplies -- I guess for the paper towels?) and left. It is not the $92 charge (with tax), or the fact that I had to wait 10 minutes for them to complete the job I had originally asked for, that bother me. What I think is really disturbing is how naturally they acted like the initial agreement (from my point of view, a verbal contract), had no value -- although they never denied that it did in fact happen. In truth, I would have chosen to fabricate the tool I needed, had I known that I was going to be charged $92. When I got home and filled one fork with oil, I realized they did not tighten (much less torque) the damper bolt, which caused fork oil to leak -- so I had to fabricate the tool after all. I guess they are not only dishonest, but also incompetent (or perhaps malicious). read more