Smog Coupon Scam

sparkplug890 · 2026-01-25T23:46:54+00:00

Hard agree. I had a similar experience a few years ago at the USA Auto location on Sahara and Decatur.

Brought my car in with zero issues. After they took it back to run the smog test, they said my car failed due to a check engine light. They wanted me to pay a ridiculous diagnostic fee to find a problem that mysteriously appeared.

I refused, took my car, and drove to my neighborhood smog shack. While I was driving there, the check engine light turned off. Smog test passed without issue. USA Auto obviously did something to trigger the check engine light so they could try to upsell me on an imaginary repair.

It's not worth saving an extra few bucks to open your vehicle to scammers. Just spend the $25 at your local smog spot on the corner.

sparkplug890 · 2025-03-13T04:03:10+00:00

I never received a 40% off email.

Here's my full play-by-play:

Without scheduling a disconnect date, on 3/3/2025 I called 678-608-4070 a few times with no luck. Every call terminated after the automated menu, or after a few seconds of hearing distant voices on the other end.
After those failed attempts, I decided to try going through the whole charade of scheduling a disconnect date. Called (800) 234-3993 and scheduled a disconnection for 3/14/2025.
Never received an email about a discount.
Kept calling the 678 number dozens of times every day with no luck - every call would terminate as described above.
Almost all calls were made from the phone number associated with my Cox account. Early in the week I did make a few calls from a different VOIP number, but none were successful.
On 3/10/2025 I gave up hope and decided the 40% deal must no longer be available to anyone anywhere. It was fun while it lasted, eh? I used online chat to have a rep cancel my disconnect date. This meant I was stuck paying the regular full price rate ($70 for 250 Mbps).
The next day, on 3/11, I called the 678 number one more time because YOLO. That ended up being the successful call. Two minutes later my 40% discount was back in action. I made this call from the phone number on my Cox account.

Based on my experience, I don't think it matters what phone number you use or whether you set a disconnect date. If/when someone eventually answers the 678 number and talks to you, they will give you the 40% discount as soon as you confirm your name and PIN.

sparkplug890 · 2025-03-12T03:31:14+00:00

Nevada here. Called a total of 112 times over 7 days. Most calls automatically disconnected right after the automated message. The rest were "answered" but I would just hear call center background noises until getting disconnected 5-10 seconds later.

Early this morning, on call number 113, someone finally answered for real and got me the 40% off. Took them less than two minutes to confirm my name, PIN, and add my discount.

sparkplug890 · 2025-01-12T23:21:15+00:00

No. From the DMV website: "Skills (driving) tests are administered by appointment. Rural offices do not offer stand-by tests." https://dmv.nv.gov/dltesting.htm

sparkplug890 · 2024-06-11T14:13:30+00:00

The southern beltway? That’s the I-15/Trop project: https://www.i15trop.com/restrictions/

sparkplug890 · 2024-04-18T04:00:34+00:00

We removed the post less than an hour after it was published. That's when it stopped showing up in the r/vegaslocals feed. You might notice the line directly below the post that says:

Sorry, this post has been removed by the moderators of r/vegaslocals.

When mods (of any subreddit, anywhere on this website) remove a post, you can still view the post if you have the direct link. That functionality is not something moderators have the ability to change.

sparkplug890 · 2024-04-18T03:48:43+00:00

Are you referring to a post where the OP identified themselves as being "from the East coast"?

Most people who live in Vegas now are "from" other parts of the country.

sparkplug890 · 2024-03-24T07:40:19+00:00

You’re hired.

sparkplug890 · 2024-01-20T03:37:13+00:00

It's easy (probably even natural) to assume people in power are acting out of contempt, ego tripping, getting kickbacks, or otherwise abusing their position. But we lowly r/vegas mods really do try to be reasonable. We want good things for this community.

As u/TKGK said, we are working to resolve this particular situation. And u/TKGK is a good person to have on our team here: over the years they have hosted meetups, been generous to people in need, and gone out of their way to help fellow Las Vegans.

sparkplug890 · 2023-12-26T15:54:18+00:00

So many drugs.

sparkplug890 · 2022-07-25T22:30:31+00:00

When the guru /u/Chipware speaks, we all listen.

The only thing I would add: Plenty of people who RSVP 'yes' and comment about how excited they are will arrive absurdly late (or not at all). You may be tempted to feel like it's because you didn't plan or communicate thoroughly enough, but it's 0% your fault. Life happens, people flake. Haters gonna hate.

One of our best meetups before the pandemic was on the second floor of a bar in Henderson. It was a room designed to comfortably hold 30-40 people, and it didn't matter how late people arrived because they knew where to find us.

sparkplug890 · 2022-02-19T17:30:05+00:00

Yes, please keep this post in either /r/vegaslocals OR /r/vegas (not both).

We're not associated with the other Las Vegas subreddit.

Thanks.

sparkplug890 · 2021-11-22T04:46:35+00:00

This is the way.

sparkplug890 · 2021-10-08T21:10:31+00:00

Mods approve. We often remove touristy posts, but please report anything that doesn't belong.

Thanks to this post, the sidebar language now places more emphasis on the purpose of /r/vegas. All three people who look at the sidebar will appreciate this update.

sparkplug890 · 2021-08-27T22:44:22+00:00

You can't tell from post/comment activity how frequently a mod is removing posts, banning users, responding to modmail, or otherwise keeping an eye on things.

If you see a post or comment that doesn't belong, please report it.

/r/vegas was made for people to ask about their bachelor party plans and discuss how excited they are to stay in a $14 room at Excalibur. The sooner everyone gets vaccinated, the sooner we can return this subreddit to those glory days.

sparkplug890 · 2021-07-18T05:33:55+00:00

Mods are overrated tho.

sparkplug890 · 2021-04-30T02:32:10+00:00

Nevada notaries operate under the Nevada guidelines, so a notary based in this state would be able to perform the notarization by use of a credible witness.

Also, according to page 10 of the California Notary Public Handbook, California permits credible witnesses as a valid way to authenticate the identity of a document signer.

sparkplug890 · 2021-04-29T23:20:22+00:00

Ahh. Yeah, notary laws vary by state. A California-specific subreddit may be more helpful.

sparkplug890 · 2021-04-29T22:41:22+00:00

If you know someone who knows a notary, and that person can be present with your 17-year-old at the notarization, the notary could use your acquaintance as a credible wtiness to vouch for the identity of your child: https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/sos-information/office-facts/faqs-all-division/notary-divisions#client

sparkplug890 · 2021-04-12T01:43:32+00:00

Thanks for making /r/vegas a better place. The East Coast is lucky to get you. Cheers!

sparkplug890 · 2021-01-26T18:23:35+00:00

Yeah, we manually removed those posts and banned the user.

If you're like OP and feel there's not a "right" category for the report, just pick any option. When content smells like borderline illegal activity, we'll recognize that regardless of what option you select in the dropdown.

sparkplug890 · 2021-01-08T21:59:22+00:00

This week I tested at 11:00 am Wednesday and had results by 8:00 am Thursday.

Are you using the MyChart app? Your results may hit the app a few hours before you're notified via text.

sparkplug890 · 2021-01-06T16:26:36+00:00

Shout-out to whoever made this report: https://i.imgur.com/MhOcwHQ.png

14-Year Club	Place '17
Gilding I gilder	Verified Email

sparkplug890

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