Beware of Pep Boys repair scams
Chetan Gadgil
I had given my car for brake repairs at a Pep Boys facility.
My experience:
Background:
-----------
I had previously gotten a brake job done on my rear brakes at the same Pep
Boys facility.
Current Experience:
-------------------
1) Service was horrible. It took the service desk about 45 minutes to ask
me about the problem. After filling out the stupid form describing the
brake problem, I was asked to leave the car there. They said they would
call me back at home after some time. (*** BEWARE OF THIS TRICK ***)
Comments:
This seems to be a common trick for Pep Boys at least. They won't
give you an estimate right away. They will wait for you to get home and
then barf about what needs to be done. You usually will not want/be able
to get back to verify the validity of their claims.
2) I decided to wait there anyway. After about 3 hours when they saw that
I wasn't leaving, they stalled for the estimate and did not even touch the
car. Finally I went home. ( I had left the car there on Saturday
afternoon. I had been told that I would get it back on the same evening.)
I repeatedly kept calling them that day. The phone response was bad too.
Each time I called, they took at least 20 minutes (on Saturday) to
transfer me to the service desk.
I was finally told that they were unable to even examine the car. They
promised to complete the job first thing on Sunday morning.
3) Sunday:
I started calling them at about 10:00 am on Sunday. This time, they saw to
it that I was put on hold each time for at least 50 minutes. I was also
hung up on (twice) after holding for that long. Finally after spending
many frustrating hours at the phone, I was told in the evening that the
brake warning lamp on my car was coming on because of some electrical
problem.
I would get the car on Monday morning.
4) Monday:
I went there to find that the stupid idiots had just replaced a blown
brake bulb at the rear of the car! The brake warning light still came on!
They charged me $38.00 labour for changing the bulb. $1.39 for the bulb!
I complained to the Pep Boys central office via the web interface. A lady
assured me that the case "would be looked into". That was about 3 weeks
ago. Till now - no response.
I just hope that no one is sucker enough to be scammed by Pep Boys again.
If anyone has had similar experiences with Pep Boys, please post them so
that any more people will not get screwed.
Alan Quan
perform the necessary work due to lack of tools or time constraint, I would
take the car to them and tell them *specifically* what to fix. Save them the
time to diagnose the problem, save me the time having to wait for them to
diagnose my car and, if the place is a horrible one, charge me for
unnecessary repairs. Twice, I've taken my car to them for repairs (once A/C,
another to replace a clicking halfshaft (separate vehicle)), and although I
didn't pinpoint the exact location of the problem, I did do my research on
the problem by asking people with similar experiences and find out what they
had to have done. I would then let the service manager know that I am having
so-and-so problem(s) with my car that I suspect is a bad so-and-so, and would
like them to check it out, and if that is the problem, please fix it for me.
So far, they haven't failed me yet.
Though on the other hand, if I did have an undiagnosible problem, I would
take it to a private, independant mechanic who has a good reputation. Sure,
his rates might be slightly higher, but at least he'd do the job right the
first time.
Hogan Whittall wrote:
> Chetan Gadgil <che...@eval.nms.fnc.fujitsu.com> wrote:
> : PLEASE READ ONLY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SCAMMED BY PEP BOYS
>
> The most I'll have Pep Boys do is change my oil with what *I* tell them I
> want. Anything more and it goes to a "real" shop. Luckily, I have the
> advantage most of the time since I'm knowledgable about auto mechanics
> (went to school for it and all), so I can go to places and give them a
> good idea of the problem and what I think is wrong. Not necessarily to
> make their job easier, but to let them know I can't be taken for a ride,
> so to speak. I know my vehicles better than anyone (just about), I just
> don't have the time or tools to do all the work myself.
>
> If you let the service techs know you have a clue, they'll play it smart
> and not mess with you. Nothing more embarrassing for them then getting
> called into the manager's office with a customer that knows he's being
> screwed with and can give details as to why the tech is lying.
>
> Then, of course, you have the corrupt managers... ;)
>
> --
> ---
> Hogan Whittall
> ho...@primenet.com
> '98 XJ
Hogan Whittall
yong
depends on the owner. But Pep Boys auto service has been consistently rated
bad by my friend and according to my experience. When I was in Charleston,
SC, for a 3-month contract job, I had Pep Boys take a look at my brakes for
free. What I didn't notice at the moment they screwed up one lug nut stud on
one rear tire even though I immediately retorqued them at the shop after
they were done. (This is my habit.) After a month, I had to replace the stud
and the fairly new tire was also bad in treads.
Yong Huang
Graeme J Quinn
>The most I'll have Pep Boys do is change my oil with what *I* tell them I
>want. Anything more and it goes to a "real" shop.
I once phoned a Pep Boys store in Columbus, OH. I asked for; "An idle
air control valve for an '87 Celebrity..."
The response came back; "Celebrity? Who makes that? Dodge?"
Four seconds later, I was on the phone to Napa...
Grae
____________________________________________________________________________
Graeme J Quinn
Worthington, Ohio
ky...@geocities.com
Charles Pflanze
>PLEASE READ ONLY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SCAMMED BY PEP BOYS
>-------------------
>1) Service was horrible. It took the service desk about 45 minutes to ask
>me about the problem.
minutes or so at any garage for an initial consultation.
> This seems to be a common trick for Pep Boys at least. They won't
>give you an estimate right away. They will wait for you to get home and
>then barf about what needs to be done. You usually will not want/be able
>to get back to verify the validity of their claims.
and third opinions before starting any expensive repairs, and to let
the shop know that you can't pay for anything they do without your approval.
>2) I decided to wait there anyway. After about 3 hours when they saw that
>I wasn't leaving, they stalled for the estimate and did not even touch the
>car. Finally I went home.
>4) Monday:
>I went there to find that the stupid idiots had just replaced a blown
>brake bulb at the rear of the car! The brake warning light still came on!
>They charged me $38.00 labour for changing the bulb. $1.39 for the bulb!
tests on the brake system to determine what caused the brake light to
come on. Apparently they failed and couldn't find the problem, but
charged you for the time they wasted anyhow. That should have been
their problem, not yours. But now, you've told thousands of people
your story, and have cost Pep Boys a lot more than the 38 bucks they
ripped from you. You're more than even.
chyneseguy
accord. it was a VERY simple job. it there's 10 bays, 7 open, and 6 mechanics just
hanging around. it took them 3 hours to finally drive my car into a bay. every thing
on my car was original. took them one hour just to get the strut assy. out. not only
did the mechanic not mark the relationship of the strut mounts to the springs, he
forgot which strut belonged to which corner. i was assured by the service mgr that
"alan is the BEST strut installer." after 2 more hours, it was done. they test drove
it. they came back, and said its fine. i drove away, and i hear this clattering sound
from the front. i told them to reinstall it. the mechanic refused. the service
manager refused, stating that it was already like that before the installation, and a
bushing was missing before they installed the new bilsteins (impossible because the
struts were never replaced.) i went to a wrecking yard to purchase complete strut
assemblies for the front. i took my car home. diagnosis?
1. strut assembly not installed properly onto the damper forks.
2. missing bushing. since it was missing, the springs were crooked. bent piston rod
3. overly tightened piston rod nut.
4. 2 missing washers. found washer sitting near windshield wipers. washers they used
also mismatched from right to left.
5. missing wheel lug nuts (2!)
i installed the wrecking yard strut assy, went back the next day, showed them the
"new struts", explained what ALAN did, and received a full refund from the ASSISTANT
mgr, and they paid for the ruined bilsteins (showed them proof of price). i believe
management is to blame for such shoddy work. while i was there, 4 other customers
were there complaining about the same mechanic. don't they have a demerit system or
something???? i've learned my mistake. i will NEVER take my cars to any of those
shops again. what do you expect from $8/hr mechanics? PEP BOYS: "cars like us,
people LOVE us"...they should be sued for false advertisement.
On Wed, 28 Oct 1998 16:44:36 -0800, Chetan Gadgil <che...@eval.nms.fnc.fujitsu.com>
wrote:
>PLEASE READ ONLY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SCAMMED BY PEP BOYS
>
>I had given my car for brake repairs at a Pep Boys facility.
>
>My experience:
>
>Background:
>-----------
>I had previously gotten a brake job done on my rear brakes at the same Pep
>Boys facility.
>
>Current Experience:
>-------------------
>1) Service was horrible. It took the service desk about 45 minutes to ask
>me about the problem. After filling out the stupid form describing the
>brake problem, I was asked to leave the car there. They said they would
>call me back at home after some time. (*** BEWARE OF THIS TRICK ***)
>Comments:
> This seems to be a common trick for Pep Boys at least. They won't
>give you an estimate right away. They will wait for you to get home and
>then barf about what needs to be done. You usually will not want/be able
>to get back to verify the validity of their claims.
>
>2) I decided to wait there anyway. After about 3 hours when they saw that
>I wasn't leaving, they stalled for the estimate and did not even touch the
>car. Finally I went home. ( I had left the car there on Saturday
>afternoon. I had been told that I would get it back on the same evening.)
>I repeatedly kept calling them that day. The phone response was bad too.
>Each time I called, they took at least 20 minutes (on Saturday) to
>transfer me to the service desk.
>
>I was finally told that they were unable to even examine the car. They
>promised to complete the job first thing on Sunday morning.
>
>3) Sunday:
>I started calling them at about 10:00 am on Sunday. This time, they saw to
>it that I was put on hold each time for at least 50 minutes. I was also
>hung up on (twice) after holding for that long. Finally after spending
>many frustrating hours at the phone, I was told in the evening that the
>brake warning lamp on my car was coming on because of some electrical
>problem.
>I would get the car on Monday morning.
>
>4) Monday:
>I went there to find that the stupid idiots had just replaced a blown
>brake bulb at the rear of the car! The brake warning light still came on!
>
>They charged me $38.00 labour for changing the bulb. $1.39 for the bulb!
>
bkem...@my-dejanews.com
Escort for a front end alignment. It pulled slightly to the left and the
steering wheel was off-center. They "ran" their diagnostics, "corrected" the
problem and of course charged me for it. When I drove it home, the steering
wheel was still off-center, but the pulling was gone. I will NEVER take my
car back there again, nor will I ever buy parts from a Pep Boys again.
Oh, by the way, did I mention the 1 hour wait to pick up my car.
In article <363a06ea...@news.mindspring.com>,
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
EJ
>
> I too have been exposed to Pep Boys SHODDY service. I brought in an '89
> Escort for a front end alignment. It pulled slightly to the left and the
> steering wheel was off-center. They "ran" their diagnostics, "corrected" the
> problem and of course charged me for it. When I drove it home, the steering
> wheel was still off-center, but the pulling was gone. I will NEVER take my
> car back there again, nor will I ever buy parts from a Pep Boys again.
I have not had problems with buying parts from them, but I have had
problems with their service department. After a couple of exposures to
Pep Boys service, I don't believe I'll ever let them touch one of my
vehicles again. From what I noticed, at least some of their techs don't
seem to be very experienced. It was also my observation that some of
them had less than a professional attitude, and I've seen Pep Boys
service writers who were out-right rude on more than once occasion.
(I've tried them myself, and I've been with a friend who was giving them
a try, and both times the service writer's attitude was piss poor.)
By the way, it sounds like your steering wheel is simply "out of clock",
which means they need to do the alignment over, this time with the
steering wheel locked in the 12 o'clock position. In other words, they
didn't do the alignment correctly, and I'd make them do it over again.
EJ
ma...@mec.edu
>bkem...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>>
>> I too have been exposed to Pep Boys SHODDY service. I brought in an '89
>> Escort for a front end alignment. It pulled slightly to the left and the
>> steering wheel was off-center. They "ran" their diagnostics, "corrected" the
>> problem and of course charged me for it. When I drove it home, the steering
>> wheel was still off-center, but the pulling was gone. I will NEVER take my
>> car back there again, nor will I ever buy parts from a Pep Boys again.
>I have not had problems with buying parts from them, but I have had
>problems with their service department. After a couple of exposures to
>Pep Boys service, I don't believe I'll ever let them touch one of my
>vehicles again. From what I noticed, at least some of their techs don't
>seem to be very experienced. It was also my observation that some of
>them had less than a professional attitude, and I've seen Pep Boys
>service writers who were out-right rude on more than once occasion.
>(I've tried them myself, and I've been with a friend who was giving them
>a try, and both times the service writer's attitude was piss poor.)
Ive never had anything major done on my car at pepboys, but the times
ive been in, the service writers/mechanics seemed cordial and
profesional and there were no problems with the work quality.
>By the way, it sounds like your steering wheel is simply "out of clock",
>which means they need to do the alignment over, this time with the
>steering wheel locked in the 12 o'clock position. In other words, they
>didn't do the alignment correctly, and I'd make them do it over again.
kinda off topic, but all the "PepBoys Express" stores on the US East
coast closed because of poor financial performance. The only
difference between a full pepboys store and an express store is the
express didn't have service bays and mechanics. The autozone a mile
down the street took advantage of the big closed sign on the pepboys
store and stuck, "Visit our autozone location at ...":)
geor...@ix.netcom.com
>so to speak. I know my vehicles better than anyone (just about), I just
>don't have the time or tools to do all the work myself.
>
>If you let the service techs know you have a clue, they'll play it smart
>and not mess with you
Couldn't agree more. I do the same for the same reasons.
I find most of them are inept and just start changing parts till the problem
or customer go away. What ever happened to troubleshooting???
-GC
ax...@best.com
everytime they get their cars back, they would have another problem
somewhere. I been rip-off by Midas before tho... my car was making a loud
noise which I thought was the muffler( it was actually the manifold
exhaust gasket) and when I took it to Midas, they told me I need to change
most of my exhaust systems and it was estimate at about $200. Afterward
they found more problems and the cost when upto over $600 and they didn't
even fix the problem. When I ask them about it, they just said they don't
fix the manifold gasket( which was really the problem). My question is,
why tell me to spend over $600 on something I don't need to fix. Anyway,
the stuffs they fix is falling apart now, and it's only less than 2 years.
Anyway, I looking for a reliable service place in the San Jose area and
was wondering if you guy have any recommendations? How about Firestone?
How's their price and reliability?
axis
bro...@my-dejanews.com
>
> I just hope that no one is sucker enough to be scammed by Pep Boys again.
>
> If anyone has had similar experiences with Pep Boys, please post them so
> that any more people will not get screwed.
>
>
it is not only the service you have to be careful of. you have to watch the
parts and accessories you purchase. back in june my wife got a 86 mcss with
360000 miles . we stopped at pep boys and purchased about $500 worth of items
for the car. seat covers, car cover, dash cover and other similar items.
two a week later i took back about $300 worth of the items, most of it
turned out to be junk, even the special order items. the special order items
were not even close to what the sales rep had told me i was getting. pep
boys prices were only a few dollars cheaper than what auto specialty shops
get for quality name brand items. now when i shop at pep boys i only buy
name brand items and only what i can see before the purchase, also their
prices are not always the cheapest. at pep boys i stay away from anything
mechanical of electrical, no matter what the price. . even k-mart sells
their mobil 1 oil cheaper than pep boys.
--
brock85
mey...@my-dejanews.com
(http://www.puma-access.com/specials.html) for High Efficiency H4 headlamp
bulbx (EC standard). Apparantly manufactured by a company named "Jahn."
These bulbs claim to put out the light of a 100/90 watt bulb while drawing
only 60/55 watts of juice, and generating correspondingly less heat. Has
anyone heard of these bulbs before, or have any experience with them?
Anyone heard of Jahn?
And, finally, if these claims are accurate, will an H4 bulb fit in an HB2
socket (since the HB2 is essentially an H4 that meets DOT positioning
standards)? If so, I may try these in a car with DOT "aero" headlamps.
Thanks much,
Bob
Jeffrey J. Potoff
>
> >
> > I just hope that no one is sucker enough to be scammed by Pep Boys again.
> >
> > If anyone has had similar experiences with Pep Boys, please post them so
> > that any more people will not get screwed.
> >
> >
>
> it is not only the service you have to be careful of. you have to watch the
> parts and accessories you purchase. back in june my wife got a 86 mcss with
> 360000 miles . we stopped at pep boys and purchased about $500 worth of items
> for the car. seat covers, car cover, dash cover and other similar items.
> two a week later i took back about $300 worth of the items, most of it
> turned out to be junk, even the special order items. the special order items
> were not even close to what the sales rep had told me i was getting. pep
> boys prices were only a few dollars cheaper than what auto specialty shops
> get for quality name brand items. now when i shop at pep boys i only buy
> name brand items and only what i can see before the purchase, also their
> prices are not always the cheapest. at pep boys i stay away from anything
> mechanical of electrical, no matter what the price. . even k-mart sells
> their mobil 1 oil cheaper than pep boys.
Pep Boys sucks, sucks, sucks. The drones behind the counter couldn't
find their own ass with two hands and a flashlight. I've made calls
asking if they had a specific part, they say "oh yeah, we've got that"
and when I get there, "whoops, we don't have that". Or they get
the wrong parts. "Oh, my computer says this is what you need". When
I show them the old part (which looks nothing like they brought out) they
just shrug their shoulders and say "I don't know". These jackasses can't
even find the right parts, why would anyone trust them to actually work
on their car ?
Jeff
Daniel J Stern
> (http://www.puma-access.com/specials.html) for High Efficiency H4 headlamp
> bulbx (EC standard). Apparantly manufactured by a company named "Jahn."
Yes.
> These bulbs claim to put out the light of a 100/90 watt bulb while drawing
> only 60/55 watts of juice, and generating correspondingly less heat. Has
> anyone heard of these bulbs before, or have any experience with them?
100/90 claim is vastly overstated according to accurate luxmeter tests.
Better performance from other high efficiency H4s (Narva XB3 is good, as
is Osram Super 30 Plus, Philips Premium...)
> Anyone heard of Jahn?
German company.
> And, finally, if these claims are accurate, will an H4 bulb fit in an HB2
> socket (since the HB2 is essentially an H4 that meets DOT positioning
> standards)? If so, I may try these in a car with DOT "aero" headlamps.
Yes, you can use H4 in an HB2 headlamp. They are mechanically and
electrically identical, except that the HB2 spec has tighter tolerances
for base geometry and filament placement, because at the time HB2 was
legalized, US headlamps used only blind mechanical aim that REQUIRED that
the filament be exactly positioned, rather than visual-optical aim as used
in Europe.
Do not expect a high efficiency bulb to knock your socks off with
increased light. The maximum physically obtainable increase is on the
order of 30 percent. (This also takes care of PIAA's outlandish wattage
equivalence claims).
TO WRITE TO ME: Remove the "headlamp" from my return address.
.___STERN LIGHTING CONSULTATION.____.
| http://lighting.mbz.org |
---
dastern "at" vrx "dot" net
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