CRISIS AVERTED
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I admit, I was really surprised when my wife, who looked at it first while I cowered in the car, came back and said "It looks pretty darned good!". So I timidly worked my way over there, and....son of a gun....it looked pretty darned good. Maybe a 9.5/10, not absolutely perfect, but way, way into the acceptable range. So I worked a deal with the manager to cut the cost to cover our trouble and heartburn, whipped out the credit card, shook a couple of hands, and we were on our way. Hallelujah. I still shiver a bit over how messy it might have been had this second job not been acceptable.
Thanks for all the suggestions, y'all.
Lesson learned? Spend more time vetting a service center, especially for a large dollar job. I normally check with at least three shops, even before buying new tires, and I didn't here. You can bet I will next time.