So when it came time to pay up, I whipped out my AAA card because there is supposed to be a discount @ this place. The guy checking me out says, "Oh, he's already marked you down for discounts,,, here & here." So there was no AAA discount. The bill originally was $229, but with the "discounts" it was $174.

I know we Americans love our "sales" but somehow this seemed ... oh, I dunno.... fishy? It was like nothing had been said about a sale on this service/parts, no coupons, no advertisement. I hadn't even discussed price when I called to schedule. I'm sure if it had only been a AAA discount it would've only been 10%, so I got more this way, so I wouldn't have wanted to argue the point (& looked completely daft).

Sales usually make me "feel good".... this left me feeling like there's some trickery afoot. Knowwhatimean?

I have no idea if you were dealing with a reputable place or not, but the good mechanics I've dealt with often will give a better deal when they can. If they quote me a price on a part and it comes in cheaper, I've usually received the reduced price. And often they will do something without charge, especially when it doesn't cost them. For instance they rotate tires at no charge when they're all off anyway, didn't charge labor for a water pump replacement installation when it was off for another reason, etc.

The last time I assumed on a thing was an oil change. I got a $25 bonus from work that could be applied to a gift card for a number of places. The only one that I thought I could use was Jiffy Lube. $25 off an oil change should make it pretty cheap, right? Even if they're $10 higher than what I normally paid at Valvoline. But their cheapest oil change was something like $45 or $49. Won't make that mistake again. LOL This is why I despise gift cards. Give me the cash.