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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Christine Young</p><p>Consumer Watchdog</p></bylineMeta></div><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Christine Young Consumer Watchdog </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_chris7print-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Christine Young Consumer Watchdog </caption0></div></div>
<p>A couple of weeks ago I heard from Joseph Pasternack of Wilkes-Barre, who claimed Firestone Complete Auto Care in Kingston had taken advantage of him a few months back when he took his car in for a front-end alignment.</p><p>&#8220;I asked them to check my oil and top it off if necessary,&#8221; Pasternack wrote. &#8220;They told me I needed parts for the front-end alignment that would cost $280, which I authorized them to do.&#8221;</p><p>Pasternack also agreed to pay $179 for a &#8220;lifetime alignment,&#8221; meaning Firestone would realign the car whenever it was needed at no further cost, as long as he owned the car. He figured the total would be about $600, including labor, and says his head spun like a tire when he was handed an invoice for $947.52.</p><p>&#8220;They billed me $640.00 for labor for around two hours work,&#8221; he told me. &#8220;They had put in a new air filter and spark plugs and flushed the transmission, which I didn&#8217;t need and didn&#8217;t authorize them to do.&#8221;</p><p>Pasternack immediately emailed a complaint to Firestone&#8217;s corporate office and got a quick response.</p><p>&#8220;They sent a letter saying they understood my frustration that one of their stores would do something like that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They stated they they&#8217;d settle in a timely manner, but I never heard from them.&#8221;</p><p>Pasternack kept trying to reach someone at Firestone, to no avail.</p><p>&#8220;They wouldn&#8217;t respond to emails, and any time I called they weren&#8217;t available.&#8221;</p><p>After two months passed, he contacted me.</p><p>I made a call to the Kingston store manager, Kristine Conners, a pleasant, easy-going woman who agreed to look into the problem.</p><p>Within a few days I heard from Pasternack. He&#8217;d received a call from Josh Evans at the corporate headquarters of Bridgestone Americas, Firestone&#8217;s parent company in Nashville.</p><p>&#8220;We made a settlement that he&#8217;ll take $350 off the labor,&#8221; Pasternack said, adding that Evans would not refund a nickel for the &#8220;lifetime alignment&#8221; he had purchased, even though he has since sold the car.</p><p>&#8220;I have a lifetime of free alignments, but I don&#8217;t have the car,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;ll just be satisfied with $350.&#8221;</p><p>I called Conners to thank her and to ask her what went wrong.</p><p>&#8220;He sold the car and had buyer&#8217;s remorse for the lifetime alignment,&#8221; she said. &#8220;He got the service and maintenance items that were suggested. We would never do anything without authorization. He signed off on the invoices.&#8221;</p><p>So why give him a refund? I asked.</p><p>&#8220;We wanted to retain our customer,&#8221; replied Conners.</p><p>Can&#8217;t argue with service like that.</p><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>HERE FOR YOUHave you been wronged by a business? Have you been the victim of a scam? Christine Young, our Consumer Watchdog, is here to help. To reach Christine, email ConsumerWatchdog@www.timesleader.com.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Christine Young is the Times Leader&#8217;s Consumer Watchdog. She can be reached at ConsumerWatchdog@www.timesleader.com. Her column appears weekly.</shirttailMeta></div>

Consumer Watchdog: Firestone Complete Auto Care knocks $350 off bill to keep customer happy