“PSA: Some Mechanics Suck” — Woman Confronts Tire Shop for Allegedly Trying to Scam Her Aunt

Over in Canada, a tire shop allegedly tried hoodwinking someone's aunt into thinking that she needed to spend thousands of dollars on repairs that were unnecessary. They probably banked on the fact that the woman didn't have enough knowledge of how cars work and the type of maintenance they require to keep running properly.

What they probably didn't bank on was the fact that Stephanie R. Katelnikoff (@thattoolgirl) is her niece, and a mechanic. A mechanic who is pretty darn proficient at her selected vocation and has amassed a sizable TikTok following chronicling her work in her field.

In a recent video, however, she called out the store for handing her aunt this bill, and went through the charges, demonstrating how they were straight-up lying about her needing to replace her brakes and tires, among other work they attempted to charge her for.

"So Tirecraft in Blackfalds tried to tell my aunt that her brakes were metal on metal when there's 70 percent of the brake pads left," she says, holding up the brake pads in question up to the camera. She continued, "They also told her she needed four new tires 'cause her tires were low on tread."

Again, Stephanie rejects this idea, showing off her aunt's car's tires on camera. They appear to have plenty of tread. "These Firestones with 7 32nds left? Among other non-required repairs, totaling $3,100," she says, holding the quote up to the camera that reads $3,148.22.

"And when I confronted him about it he said 'yeah we did a quote saying it needed it, we told them it needed this work, but we weren't gonna actually do any of the work it didn't need.'" Stephanie's video then cuts to her conversation with a shop employee who says "I wouldn't have done what it didn't need."

The look on the TikToker's face after the video cuts back to her speaking into the camera says it all — she wasn't buying it. "I mean I'm not really good at bulls------- on the spot either, so..." she says, before her clip transitions back to her conversation with the auto tech at the tire shop.

She tells him that she took the invoice "at face value" after the store sent in the bill. The tech tries to defend not eating the cost of a part; however, Stephanie reminds the employee that it was their shop who said she needed the parts for the car. "So those expenses were incurred because of."

The man then starts to hit his finger on the invoice as he speaks to Stephanie, saying that it's the onus of the customer to "verify" whether or not they need parts themselves first before the store orders them.

This didn't make sense to the TikToker, as she stated that it doesn't make sense for the customer to be blamed for effectively "believing" the mechanic they went to when they were told they needed to get work performed on their vehicle.

"Could I get a volunteer to explain to this man how professions work?" she asks the camera, cutting back from her conversation in store with the mechanic.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like there was any resolution whatsoever to her grievance at the end of the video, where the mechanic states that he's going to "talk to [his] guys about" the matter.

"Problem, not solved," Stephanie says at the end of her video.

Numerous TikTokers were blown away by what they perceived to be a lack of professionalism on the Tirecraft employee's part. One individual penned in a response to the video: "The Tirecraft employee is fully in the wrong. As a welder, someone comes to me to get something fixed, as the professional I give them advice and a quote and they hope that i’m honest."

Another remarked that being able to do work with a mechanic who isn't going to try and finagle you is like finding a needle in a haystack: "Finding an honest shop is hard but when you do, never leave them. They take care of you and you take care of them."

Someone else couldn't believe the Tirecraft employee wanted customers to verify whether or not they needed parts themselves: "'Without verifying yourself,' sir I’m not the mechanic."

Have you ever been in a situation where you spotted a mechanic was flat-out lying about the type of work that needed to be performed on your vehicle? How did you handle it?