What's a pack of cigarettes worth to you?

****Warning, this is longer than I had planned, but it needed to be said!
You know those hidden camera investigations with mechanic shops when they find out that no work was actually performed on your car and they end up charging you twice what they should. Welcome to my week...sans the hidden camera. (If only I had been smart enough to think of that before taking my car in) My car had been acting up for a couple of weeks only when I would shift into 2nd. The gear was grinding and I would have to go right from 1st to 3rd or slow way down before it would go into 2nd smoothly. I called my dad and he said he knew exactly what was wrong that the synchros were out in 2nd gear and that my warranty should cover the cost to replace it. So I took my car to the dealership on Monday and I told them what was wrong and asked them to fix it. The service technitian who helped me (we'll call him Mike - since that's his name) said that if it was the synchros than I would be covered under my warranty, but if it was the clutch then I would have to pay for it. I told him I was sure it wasn't the clutch and I signed some paperwork and left my car. The next day in the afternoon I finally got a call from Mike after I had been calling all day trying to get a hold of someone. He told me that it was the clutch. I told him no way and that I wanted my car back to get a second opinion. He said that was fine, but that I would have to pay $400 for the labor of taking apart my transmission and discovering that the problem was the clutch. I told him no, and he said that I had signed for that. ***note to self, always read paperwork thoroghly before signing. I told him that they were supposed to have called me before doing any work and he said that the hadn't done any work yet, but if I wanted to take the car I would have to pay $400 or if I wanted them to fix my clutch then it would cost $1,258. I called my dad for support and he got equally as upset because he also knew that the clutch wasn't the problem. My dad talked to transmission experts and a dealership in Minnesota and they all said the same thing, that Mike was smoking crack. (Well they didn't actually say that, but something to that effect) I really didn't know what to do because I couldn't even get my car back without paying at least $400. I mentioned it at work to the president of the company and he told me I should get Griff, our mechanic shop manager, to go down with me and check out this apparently shady operation. Griff was able to go with me yesterday afternoon and I was ready for a fight. Griff, by the way, is a very typical mechanic with the constant black fingers, a little gut and a little rough around the edges. If you saw him in a croud of 1,000 people you would know instantly that he's a mechanic. We arrived and I told Mike that we wanted to see my car. They had already put it back together since they were waiting for me to tell them what I wanted them to do. Mike asked if we wanted to drive it and I said yes, so Griff and I went for a little drive. I was tempted to just drive off and not go back, but I stayed strong. Griff drove it and said that the clutch was working fine. I drove it and noticed that mysteriously it was no longer grinding in 2nd gear. Magically the synchros had fixed themselves since that wasn't the problem acording to the dealer. We got back to the dealership and I told Mike that there was nothing wrong with the clutch. Mike looked at Griff and asked him if he was a mechanic. (Duh!) Griff said yes and Mike asked him, "And you don't think it's the clutch?" Griff's reply, "There's nothing wrong with that clutch" Woohoo! I could've kissed him! (I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it very much...but nevertheless...) I asked to see the paperwork that the mechanic filled out and Mike said that there wasn't any. I asked to talk to the mechanic and conveniently he wasn't there. So I said, "So according to the mechanic's opinion, the clutch is worn down." Mike said yes and asked me if I was going to get the work done or not. (You could tell he was getting annoyed at this point) I said "No, of course not. Why would I replace the clutch, there's nothing wrong with it." Mike started printing out paperwork and asked me to sign stating I was getting the car back and I had opted not to get the suggested maintenance. I signed and he showed me the original paperwork I had signed where it said I agreed to pay $400 if it was a clutch issue. He then told me he was going to waive the fee because he didn't want to get into a shouting match with me. I was so shocked I didn't know how to resond. I walked out in awe and told Griff how greatful I was that he was with me. I know that if I had gone by myself that Mike would've jerked me around, but with Griff there he didn't say a word. I told Griff that I was indebted to him for $400 and see said, "Nah, don't worry about it. You can buy me a pack of cigarettes."
I happily complied, well wouldn't you? What's a pack of cigarettes worth to you? It's worth about $400 to me!
Oh happy day and I will never again take my car to that dealership. Hooray for knowing the right people!