I've seen things left on bits of paper that I couldn't believe, such as "On first sector it took 5 cycles to get the gear down and and locked, on subsequent sector it took 2 attempts, please be aware and tech at end of shift" This from the fleet manager..............
Needless to say that a/c didn't move an inch further that night and the "fag packet" entry was recorded in glorious technicolour for future backside covering purposes.
In that company that was the final straw for me and I simply took all the data on "Dodgy maintenance" I had, handed it over to the FoI and I was gone within a couple of weeks strangely unchased by the company for things like bonds etc.
It was a culture that had built up from years of pressure on crews and engineers. There are always some who will "toe the company line" and others who realise what is acceptable and what isn't. I did not envy the engineers one little bit and they often performed miracles to keep the a/c going and legal, but there were a few who I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw them. If I saw their signature clearing a defect. I checked it very carefully.
I'll add that this firm went out of business soon after as the only company for donkeys years to have their AOC rmoved by our normally toothless CAA.
It turned me from flying almost completely, why would you blast off into the air with a nagging doubt as to the serviceability of your a/c. It just isn't worth it.