Bargaining with Car-X

Well, this was interesting. I took my car in over the weekend to have my brakes serviced on my 116,000-mile car. A few days ago, I took my car in to Firestone to have my oil changed (with a coupon), and had them rotate my tires as well (unfortunately, without a coupon). Since they were going to do that, I asked them to check my brakes. They told me that the front pads were 80% worn (I had a feeling), but the back drums were fine. They gave me an estimate which came to about $125 bucks for parts and labor for the front brake replacement. Luckily, I had a coupon for Car-X that provided the same service for about 20-25 bucks less, so I went there. After dropping it off, they called me an hour later giving me an estimate for the work that needed to be done. Turned out, the pads needed to be replaced. But also, I needed to have the rotors replaced, the calipers replaced, the back drum brakes cleaned out, and the brake fluid replaced. Altogether, the bill came out to about $660.00...a little more than I bargained for. Fortunately, Duksim was with me at the time, so knowing her prowess in bargaining - I transferred the call to her. After some severe arm-bending, she knocked the price down to about $560.00 or so. A few hours later, the job was done, so we went and picked up the car. We payed the price that was agreed upon, and the manager was good-natured about the whole thing - saying to me that I should never leave the house without her (Duksim). I really should brush up on my bargaining techniques, but then again, I probably wouldn't get the best price as I would if I transferred the phone over to Duksim and let her do her thing...