Posted by mark dingbaum on Thursday, June 06, 2002 at 9:55AM :
In Reply to: Off topic; disk brake question posted by Dave on Wednesday, June 05, 2002 at 4:43PM :
Hi,
In '89 I was talking with a former 'big name-chain' brake mechanic. He said that they'd routinely turn NEW rotors to the legal minimums before installation to ensure the customer would be back for another brake job. They warranty the pads but not the rotors.
I have no idea if this is/was true, it might have been common practice at some shops but not others. At the time I decided that if I ever needed to get brake work done at a big name shop, I'd measure the rotors/drums before and after as a means of protecting myself.
In your case, I'd find an area of the rotor that was not scored (extreme inner or outer edge) and mic it. Cut the rotor apart to get a mic on that spot if you need to, they're junk anyway. You should be able to easily find the new and legal minimum thickness of the rotor and use that as a comparison of what was done previously.
If you find they charged you for new rotors but installed used or new 'machined to minimum' rotors, or simply turned and reused your old ones, I think you'd have a pretty good case for fraud. Given the safety aspects of brake work and liabilities associated with it, they might be very agreeable to settle with you. Then again maybe not.
good luck,
mark