Not that I'd fault anyone for trying to save some $---but this is exactly why my son--a top notch BMW and MiniCooper tech had to give up his independant shop and go back to the dealer taskmasters. Too many of his clients were opting for the cheapo-chains for oil and brakes leaving him starving between "big" mechanical and/or diagnostic jobs.
You should not have to pay for the alignment just done--the shop should not have proceeded with it knowing there's worn parts in the system. It's not that the alignment won't "hold" -- with worn parts it isn't in alignment to begin with.
"porkface" is right about the pricing if it needs the inner joint--and correct about it being WAY to much if it's the outer but that doesn't matter---you should run (drive) away from this place as fast as you can. Bring your regular guy a cup of coffee or a six-pack along with a "thank you for being there" note. -- Dave

Thanks for the feedback. It is an inner tie rod end. The $200 quote I got is *just* for that repair and doesn't include the original alignment. And then they originally were telling me I would have to pay for the realignment after the tie rod repair. I have it in writing that they first quoted me that, and then later said they'd realign at no change. (But do I really want to take my car back there??)

Thank you for the tips on how to handle such places in the future, ie checking on issues before asking for actual work to be done.

In any case, there wasn't much play in the steering but a lot of pulling to the right. And they had it up on a different lift for tire rotation and balancing + oil change just minutes before. They even called me back there to point out the smallest oil leaks in other spots, etc... while it was still up on the lift, but didn't mention a damaged or bent inner tie rod until **after** taking it to a different bay and actually completing the alignment and parking it back outside. To me that seems unethical and I'm trying to determine if it really was (unethical) or just my slant on it.

Thanks!!