Sorry for you bad experience, but yes I've heard of this and it scares the hell out of me...............
........so much so that I go home from such services and retorque the lugnuts to be sure the job was done properly.
More often than not, the nuts are too tight with disastrous consequences, and ocassionally, as you found out, too loose with even worse consequences.....
You shouldn't have to, but believe me, it's worth having a torque wrench on hand these days.....
Colin