Town Fair Tires designs their buildings so that no customer can see them work. I refuse to go there. I will not patronize any shop that hides what they’re doing from me, not even a tire store.
PepBoys, regardless of any other issues, has installed huge windows between their waiting areas and the shop bays so that the customers can sit (or stand) in the waiting area and watch their cars being worked on. This to me is a great idea.
There are still a few private shops that will allow me in their bays while they’re working on my car. Perhaps it’s because they know me well, perhaps they’re just more “open” than other shops. I can understand why this isn’t common practice in this litigious world in which we live.