Dash Cam owners - Should I be pissed?

[Commbubba19]

took my car in for an alignment (hit something in the road and steering wheel was off).

Alignment was performed but of course they never get the steering wheel straight. (fixed myself instead of taking it back)

So last night i pull the card from the camera and just wanted to check to make sure the tech didn't beat the shit out of my car after performing the alignment. I see the video where i drop the car off, and then when i leave but nothing in between. Which leads me to believe the tech turned off the camera (mine has a switch) or a unplugged it.

Should i be pissed? The tech could have drove like miss daisy, but since he turned it off, i'm assuming he didn't want me seeing him drive the car and I think that's kind of BS.

 

[Torch10th]

Does your dash cam have a parking meter type function where it only records information when the car is off if it's hit or jostled?

If you haven't noticed anything wrong with the car, why fret about it?

 

[Commbubba19]

No. If the car is on it is on.

Principal i guess. It's my car. I pay for it, not the tech. I just don't see a reason to turn it off for a test drive after an alignment unless the tech didn't want me to see him driving the car. Then i wonder wtf he was doing with my car. It's a malicious act IMO.

 

[Mach828]

Fix it yourself or let someone else do their job. I wouldn't want people recording me while I worked as a mechanic only to have them criticize me afterwards.

 

[Planter]

Fix it yourself or let someone else do their job. I wouldn't want people recording me while I worked as a mechanic only to have them criticize me afterwards.

unfortunately some people cant afford to do this but dashcams are the only way to keep people honest these days.

he should have told the supervisor theres a dashcam in the car and it is not to be turned off at all.

 

[STAMPEDE3]

Maybe he didn't want you to see that he did NOT do a test drive.

 

[R.D.P.]

What kind of car? I've taken my cars and truck in for alignment and they never test drove it after.

 

[Commbubba19]

evo x.

the dashcam doesn't record the dude working under the car. all i'd see on the camera is the inside of the shop while the car is on the lift.

this is about somebody driving your car without you being there. albeit my car isn't a 50k+ exotic, it's still my car and idiot techs like to beat on customer's cars.

i shouldn't have to tell the front desk to tell the tech not to turn off the cam. the tech should not touch anything he isn't supposed to.

 

[Mach1USMC]

IMO think it's BS and weaksause IF the mechanic in fact turned off your camera... a little different scenario but one of my customers I used to detail for ALWAYS recorded me detailing his Ferrari with GoPro's he had setup in his garage. (Rossi F430 Spyder). I had no issue with it at all.

If you're working on a customers property and you have an issue with being recorded you need to check yourself.

 

[mrlrd1]

Maybe he didn't want you to see that he did NOT do a test drive.

Road testing a vehicle is diagnosis. It is NOT included with an alignment unless requested by the customer and paid (additionally) for.

To the OP: he most likely turned it off to avoid issues with people like you LOOKING for a problem. What was the in/out odometer recording?

 

[Commbubba19]

he drove the car 6 miles.

every place i've ever got an alignment at in this town, be it private shop or dealership has driven the car after the alignment. obviously you've had different experiences.

it's a test drive. his job is to make sure the alignment is indeed correct and no problems exist due to the alignment. not to pick his nose and wipe it on my dash, not to run it up to redline for the thrill of it, not to rummage through my glove box, etc.

to me its no different than a security camera on/in a house. if you pay a cleaning lady to come over and you have a nanny cam setup to keep an eye on her and she turns it off while she's there, you wouldn't be suspicious? same logic applies in this instance.

 

[STXDriver98544]

It's simple, he had something to hide he didn't want you to see. If he had nothing to hide then he should feel perfectly comfortable driving a customers car while the cam is on. If you do your job in a professional manner like you're supposed to, then you should not have to worry about the customer coming back with a complaint of how they abused or rummaged through the vehicle. Hell, if it were me, I'd let the camera run, so my honesty would show and eventually you'd develop a trust with customers which equals fat pockets because they'd reach out to you for side work perhaps. The guy threw up a red flag IMO by doing that.

 

[Black2010]

Red flag but I gotta ask. If you are so concerned that you need a dash camera on your car why not stay there while the work is being done? I always do this when I have my car aligned. I also, stand outside the bay while the work is being done after asking the tech if they mind if I watch. I always tell them that I like to watch as that type of stuff is interesting to me. Truth be told I've had some issues in the past and I'm just making sure I'm getting what I paid for. Never once have I had a tech say no and 90% of the time we wind up talking cars while they work on my car.

 

[Equalbracket]

Road testing a vehicle is diagnosis. It is NOT included with an alignment unless requested by the customer and paid (additionally) for.

To the OP: he most likely turned it off to avoid issues with people like you LOOKING for a problem. What was the in/out odometer recording?

Ya people like him who take pride in their property, you know his property, that he owns.

 

[Uncle Meat]

If it was set up to record when the ignition is turned on and was working when you dropped it off.... then it sure sounds like either a test drive wasn't performed, or they disabled the recorder before the test drive. The ONLY reason they would disable the recorder would be because they did not want what they were doing captured for posterity. Next time HARD WIRE it!

U.M.

 

[Commbubba19]

i was there waiting while they did the alignment. I wasn't worried about what they did while the car was in the garage, but on the test drive.

Short of asking that i go with on the test drive, the camera is the only way to know what the tech does.

Regarding hard wiring the camera, he didn't unplug it at the power source, but at the camera itself. Plus the dumb thing has a power off switch. It's a good camera but I wish it didn't have the switch.


I called the shop and told them what was going on. The guy at first didn't understand what a dash cam was but after explaining my concerns he seemed to understand. However I told him i won't be bringing my car back to his shop nor can i recommend it to anyone else because my trust is lost.

 

[SonicDTR]

I see both sides. I dont blame the tech for disabling it, and I dont blame you for being pissed.

I'd call and notify management, then move on, so long as there is nothing apparently wrong on the vehicle or evidence of ill-intent(hooning, poking around glove box, etc...).

 

[08mojo]

i was there waiting while they did the alignment. I wasn't worried about what they did while the car was in the garage, but on the test drive.

Short of asking that i go with on the test drive, the camera is the only way to know what the tech does.

Regarding hard wiring the camera, he didn't unplug it at the power source, but at the camera itself. Plus the dumb thing has a power off switch. It's a good camera but I wish it didn't have the switch.


I called the shop and told them what was going on. The guy at first didn't understand what a dash cam was but after explaining my concerns he seemed to understand. However I told him i won't be bringing my car back to his shop nor can i recommend it to anyone else because my trust is lost.

Let it go. Is there anything wrong with the car to make you suspect it was beat on? Are you just offended because someone might have driven the car like you do?

If I was working on a car and saw a camera, I'd make sure it was turned off too. There is too many whiny, PC police, irrational people in the world today. I'd like to know I could bs with my friends/co-workers without being spied on by a stranger LOOKING for something to come unglued about.

You should have gone on the test ride, or stated you do not want the car to be test-driven, if you are that paranoid. Spying on people is shady...being honest about them taking care of your car is not.

 

[Screw-Rice]

Let it go. Is there anything wrong with the car to make you suspect it was beat on? Are you just offended because someone might have driven the car like you do?

If I was working on a car and saw a camera, I'd make sure it was turned off too. There is too many whiny, PC police, irrational people in the world today. I'd like to know I could bs with my friends/co-workers without being spied on by a stranger LOOKING for something to come unglued about.

You should have gone on the test ride, or stated you do not want the car to be test-driven, if you are that paranoid. Spying on people is shady...being honest about them taking care of your car is not.

If I'm paying you to work on my property than I expect it to be done professionally. Turning my camera off would not sit well with me at all. Means you're hiding something you did. Asking people to blindly trust mechanics (when we've seen plenty of abuse stories) is laughable. If you're really that worried about privacy, than refuse to work on any vehicle with a camera installed.

 

[Steve1578]

There's definitely both sides, but if I were in your shoes, I'd be pissed. It's not his place to do that. True, there are people who are literally looking for ANY reason to come unglued about this stuff, but is turning off their camera really gonna help you? It's just going to make matters worse. Leave it on, don't act like an idiot. Case closed. I would've done the same in your shoes.