Will the Lark 76 smog test station give you a satisfactory and prompt smog test? Yes.
Will the Lark 76 offer you a free drink while you wait? Yes.
Will the Lark 76 offer you a good price if you request a quote here on Yelp? Yes.
But here's the crucial one - will the Lark 76 try to claim that the promotional price they offer you if you request a quote through Yelp is not valid? Yes.
Here's the fully story:
I brought my car in to get a smog check because I was looking to sell it. I had to fix a sensor on my car before bringing it in because I was getting an intermittent check engine light (CEL). So, I fix the sensor, reset the codes, drive around for a bit, and take it to get a smog check here after getting a quote for $49.95 here on Yelp. I thought this was already a bit strange since I had brought a different car here for a smog check a few months prior and the quote was $29.95, but I figured "oh well, prices go up."
I bring the car in and the technician gets it all plugged in. However, he first tries to argue with me that the price is $69.95, and that the quote I got online was not valid because "that is not our Yelp account," even though it obviously is. He calls someone and talks to them (another language, could not understand, but he seemed irate) and eventually begrudgingly accepts to give me the original quote. He runs the car and it fails the smog test because I did not drive enough miles to fully reset all of the monitors. Fair enough, happens. Now, most Smog Check stations offer one free re-test, and this one is no different. It clearly states on the wall that they offer a free re-test. However, the technician tries to say it will be $20 for a re-test (amusingly bring the price back up to the $69.95 he originally wanted to charge me). I take the car back and go drive it some more.
However, before bringing the car back in for the re-test, I messaged the owner of the Yelp account (who does work there because his information is clearly visible on the certificate that they have to by law post inside their office) and asked him to confirm that re-tests are free. He confirms this and says "yes, just bring it back in and the re-test is free." So, I double check that all of my emission monitors are ready on my OBD2 scanner and bring the car back in. The car passes this time (1st re-test) but the technician is still trying to charge me $20. I inform him of my conversation with the man on Yelp and he gets upset saying that the guy there "has nothing to do with them and doesn't really work there." He trundles away and calls someone on the phone again and then comes back and makes ME get on the phone - turns out its the guy who I spoke to on Yelp, now trying to say that he did not know that the guy gave me a different quote ($20 for re-test) and that usually re-test are free but since I got a "promotional price" re-tests are not free. I tell him that this back and and forth is completely inconsistent and unprofessional but I agree to pay the $20 to avoid a larger issue (he eventually reduced it to $10 in the end).
The technician then comes back over to me, still angry, arguing that everything they do is for the customer - the free drink, a place to sit, re-testing my car with their OBD2 port to see if monitors are ready - but if the customer were that important, wouldn't they honor a quote they gave me and not try to stiff me out of another $20? He also tried to argue that my car was more "difficult" to smog and that is why it needs to be more expensive, but I find that hard to believe as the only difference between the car I brought in this time and the one I paid $29.95 for is that one says "Porsche" on it and the other says "Toyota."
So, I will not be returning to this smog station and I will not be purchasing gas from them either. I will also be telling my friends and family about my experience here. I appreciate the difficulties of running a business, but this is not how business is conducted. Hopefully the money I paid them was worth it. read more