Nader Emusov energetically sought customers for his home improvement business, often stopping at homes uninvited and recommending repairs, the authorities said.

In the last two weeks, state officials have charged Sears's auto-service centers with defrauding customers by systematically recommending unnecessary repairs.

Massachusetts officials said 114 Massachusetts stations were suspended for various activities that included improper signs, falsifying data or recommending unnecessary repairs.

When the program first was put in place in Massachusetts in 1999, 114 stations were suspended for violations ranging from falsifying information and recommending unnecessary repairs to improper signs.

A perfectly healthy car, for example, is taken to a dozen service stations with a question, and 10 of them recommend expensive, mysterious repairs.

The newest diagnostic systems, however, take a step forward, incorporating an expert's ability to analyze symptoms and recommend specific tests and repairs.

The minimum cost to make it roadworthy, the mechanic told me, would be £2,240 - though he would recommend additional repairs amounting to well over £3,000.

From the late 1980s until 2010, the local Meetinghouse Committee recommended repairs to the Town House to the Board of Selectmen.

After workers' reports, P.S.E.G. assigned a team of engineers to examine the pump and recommend repairs.

At the end, the auditor will recommend repairs.