There's no real thread for dodgy bike shops so putting it here. My neighbour went to the LBS, Trek in Phillip ACT to get them to look at a bike which he'd bought privately off one of the employees, so thought the guy might look after him. His headeet was loose, and the BB/crank area had a creak. He asked me to keep an eye out for a new bike as the shop said "nah mate, that's stuffed and will cost more than the bike cost you to buy" which was $400.
I had a quick look, removed a 1mm spacer and added a 3mm spacer to the head tube, good as new in about 60 seconds. Going to send him to Mal (adjusted) for the BB and a general check over of the rest as I am not sure of the exact source of the creak and it needs new bar tape (it's some unheard of by me generic made in China road bike brand) but it the creak isn't terrible so at least he can ride the bike in the meantime.