Did this mechanic steal my brake pads?

I got new front tires installed and alignment.

The car's brake pads weren't making a squealing noise before I came in, and now they are squealing noticeably. Do you think they stole the old pads, which were 2 months new, and replaced them with worn ones?

Squealing can just be debris in between the pads and shoes/discs. They might have used compressed air to blow out some dirt from the assembly and they got into the shoes.

Just go back and ask about the squeaking. Simple.

I doubt that. You know how much longer it takes to take off all the tires and re-put on breaks? How long was it in the shop for?

@ribstaylor1: Maybe an hour and a half. Maybe 2 hours. For two new front tires and alignment.

*I guess there was other stuff going on in the shop though, so hard to tell how long mine was worked on.

There's probably dust in the tires. happened to me one and my car mechanic advised me to wash out the tires. when the car is cool and didn't drive for a good while. Others than that, he said he needs to scrub the insides.

@Two400: Maybe not but it is possible. I had this one mechanic I suspected was changing out working parts for older parts in the engine whenever I left the car with him overnight so one day, before taking the car in, I lightly marked most of the parts with a small red dot...upon getting my car back the battery had been swapped out when the reason I had left the car there didn't even require him to pop the hood, let alone swap batteries (and he never mentioned he did) so I told him to put my battery back and never used his services again...

Yup. And I have a really good idea to get back at him. Nearing the closing time of the garage, find him alone, chloroform him, and throw him in your trunk. Put him in a bathtub full of ice and cut out one of his kidneys. Sell it on the black market and get $50,000. I'd say that's a fair trade off.

JK, don't actually do this. You'll get in a lot of trouble. :(

No he didn't steal them. What happen was your car was not aligned, so it naturally started to uneven your brake pads. When you got the alignment, it all went the way it was suppose to, but your brake pads are all uneven, not their fault ! So they will continue to make noise, until you even them out correctly. Your actually suppose to get new pads when doing the alignment. But it cost more. They were probably trying to save you money, but you'll have to deal with the noise.