service department not competent

To my surprise I have learnt that when you take your car in for service,you must know what is wrong with it or else they can't be blamed for not fixing it. They have all equipment and technicians too but you must see the problem with the naked eye. My car was pulling to the left and I thought it was an alignment problem,after years of alignment then the technician decides to check it out n tell me I need to pay R5700 for the part that is damaged since my car is now no longer under warranty. So disappointed because when I take my car for service I allow them to test drive my car and to give me feedback on what they could be picking up. They job should not be to just change oil and plugs only. I bought my car at palm motors and all my service takes place there,shocked to hear that they never picked this up.