Garage rip-offs

[koda2000]

So I sent my daughter to a local tire shop to get her wheels aligned after me replacing her upper control arms and lower ball joints 4 days ago. An alignment of her 2000 Mountaineer should have taken them about 30-45 mins. My daughter called be 90 mins later to tell me they weren't done yet. I told her to inquire as to why it was taking so long? When she asked them she was told that her car was done, but that they had forgotten to tell her... WTF? Then they proceed to tell her that she needs ball joints. When she tells them they had just been replaced 4 days ago they asked her if cheap parts were used (they were not). I'd told my daughter to make sure the steering wheel was straight after the alignment. She told me that it was still crooked, but that she'd already wasted enough time at their shop and was leaving.

I'll be paying the shop a visit on Monday to have the steering wheel set straight, and to give them a piece of my mind. When I'm done they'll probably tell be to leave and not come back (not that I ever plan to). This is a shop I've used in the past with excellent results, though not the tire shop I usually use. They have a 4.5 star customer review rating, but if you read their reviews they're mostly either 1 star or 5 star.

No wonder repair shops get a bad reputation. Do they just try to pull this crap on women?

 

[SoHK_alumni]

Far to many shops pay their techs on commission to encourage upsales. Problem is, many of those upsales are unneeded parts and service. The tech gets paid more, the shop makes more. Only problem is the customer has to foot the bill.

And no, they don't just target women. I rebuild the front suspension on a Dodge Ramcharger a few years ago. All new side to side including the steering box and every moving or wear part. Got the same story when I went to have it aligned the next day. Bad ball joints, worn bushings etc and an $800 quote just "to make it safe enough to drive!!"

Thievery is the only description for it.

 

[david4451]

You can lock up from a thief!!!!! But you cannot lock up from a liar?????

 

[RandomNerd2000]

Same thing on my green truck, carried it to get a rear tire mounted, place does amazing work and I still use him, his new mechanic said my rear brakes were shot, down to steel, fronts too, the ball joints were so sloppy he wouldn't cross the parking lot in it, and the end links were broken, and a $500 estimate unless something else was wrong, and I told him I had the truck looked over two weeks prior (had paperwork proving) and showed it to him. Next time I got a tire mounted, he was nowhere to be found, told he got fired.

 

[XLTrunner]

I'm curious to know how they did the alignment when supposedly the ball joints were bad? And, they couldn't tell from looking at them that they were new? Ridiculous...

I'm dating myself somewhat...but, remember back in the early-mid 80's when front wheel drive vehicles had really come into their own. The repair of choice among shops were the inner tie rods. Didn't matter why you had your vehicle in the shop, the inner tie rods ALWAYS needed replaced...lol!

 

[toypaseo]

Sorry to hear this possible gender related issue. Sucks.

One of my past co-workers, female, was told she needed this, that, or whatnot. She's wrenched on vehicles before she could drive, so she knew better, and left.

I just got an alignment, with my usual local guy. It went in, he called and said I needed an alignment kit, and rescheduled. So it got rescheduled, kit installed, aligned, and job done. He wouldn't steer me wrong. I've went to him when I could since late 90's. Everything seems fine, and if it wasn't, he would make it right, no problem.

 

[koda2000]

I'm curious to know how they did the alignment when supposedly the ball joints were bad? And, they couldn't tell from looking at them that they were new? Ridiculous...

Exactly. They told my daughter that they were going to note on her invoice that the ball joints needed to be replaced. I looked at the bill and it says nothing about ball joints. Of course not. If they said it in writing I could take them to court to prove to the world that they're liars.

The only reason that I took it to this shop was because my usual tire/alignment shop couldn't get me in and I didn't want to wait until next week. I've got 2 more alignments to get done w/in the next month or so. Guess where I wont be taking them?

It's like when they tell you they'll do a brake job for $99 and will give your vehicle a "free safety inspection". All of a sudden you need this and that and you're looking at a $800 bill for a bunch of stuff you don't need. If you don't know anything about vehicles you think I better get if done because my vehicle isn't safe... Bull ****!

 

[Josh P]

I've had shops do stuff like that to me. screw me once shame on you, screw me twice, shame on me.

 

[98 MERC]

I will add some stuff to this converation.First thing is yes they do indeed target women.They do target everyone tho but they do target women more then men.Its a fact.I also have ran into schedule problems before and went to another mechanic because mine was booked for like 3 weeks during spring break and i ended up having a terrible experience with the other mechanic i tried because mine had a waiting list.In the end i would of been better off waiting for my actual mechanic to get me in.Shops that will scam you for example are Midas and Tuffy or Goodyear service centers.You will never win with a chain store.I always go to MA and PA mechanics.


Now how do i know that some mechanics target women ??? I was in retail sales a few years back and i still am in sales now.

 

[koda2000]

I will add some stuff to this converation.First thing is yes they do indeed target women.They do target everyone tho but they do target women more then men.Its a fact.I also have ran into schedule problems before and went to another mechanic because mine was booked for like 3 weeks during spring break and i ended up having a terrible experience with the other mechanic i tried because mine had a waiting list.In the end i would of been better off waiting for my actual mechanic to get me in.Shops that will scam you for example are Midas and Tuffy or Goodyear service centers.You will never win with a chain store.I always go to MA and PA mechanics.

This shop is not part of a chain. It's a family owned/operated local business. They are one of the few local auto repair businesses who survived the recent recession. Other than my buddy, who owes a small auto repair shop, I have had nothing but bad experiences with dealers and shops. That's why I try to do my own repairs whenever possible. I don't mind a repair shop making a living, but it's their dishonest practices that I wont stand for. I guess this particular shop get's generally positive customer reviews because most people just don't realize they've been ripped off. The ones that catch them trying to sell unneeded repairs and who confront them (like me) are then told to get out and not come back. It's just the world we live in now I guess. Sucks really, you can't trust anyone.

 

[98 MERC]

This shop is not part of a chain. It's a family owned/operated local business. They are one of the few local auto repair businesses who survived the recent recession. Other than my buddy, who owes a small auto repair shop, I have had nothing but bad experiences with dealers and shops. That's why I try to do my own repairs whenever possible. I don't mind a repair shop making a living, but it's their dishonest practices that I wont stand for. I guess this particular shop get's generally positive customer reviews because most people just don't realize they've been ripped off. The ones that catch them trying to sell unneeded repairs and who confront them (like me) are then told to get out and not come back. It's just the world we live in now I guess. Sucks really, you can't trust anyone.

Indeed you cant trust people.Its so weird tho in my tourist town of Holland MI the local ford dealer is so awesome to me and honest.My personal MA and PA mechanic is also honest and good to me.Now the chain store mechanic's in this town are TERRIBLE but most are anyhow.I see you live in Georgia, I was always under the assumption that southern people are honest and good people over all.More so then in northern states.Honest reviews are almost always short and sweet and to the point.Its as easy to spot as a fake craigslist add.


As for the Online reviews....Well read them carefully ! Companies can pay for positive online reviews.Positive content creation.Almost all companies do this.Its not illegal but very dishonest.Its so easy to spot a fake review.You will notice that the fake reviews ALWAYS mention who their REP was or personal they delt with or who they talked to.Honest reviews will almost never mention any names at all.A content creator will write a dam paragraph and mention 2 or 3 names.

 

[shucker1]

Also had a similar situation.

Sent my daughter, 19 at the time, to a local major chain tire dealer to have a sheet metal screw fixed in a tire under their "Road Hazard Warranty". I knew the tires were on the thin side and I knew it needed rear pads, the fronts were still good.

I too got the phone call from her about what they said it needed. Almost $1000.00 for 4 brakes and 4 tires.

What really set both her and I off was the comment from the service writer to the effect "Well your Dad must not care about you" if he said not to get this stuff done.

She was the one that actually told them off after the tire was fixed and she had gotten an estimate for all of the work needed.

Of course I had to drop by to and discuss the comment made with the service writer in person. "Oddly for some reason", I was told they did not need my business after he made a second comment to the effect that my daughter was lying about the comment he had made.

 

[koda2000]

@98 MERC - I'm originally a Connecticut Yankee that got transferred to GA over 25 years ago. I'd heard about "southern hospitality" and find that southerners typically act more friendly than northerners, but don't let that fool you. They'll cheat you and steal from you any chance they get. You can't trust them. When they pat you on the back they're just looking for a soft spot to stick the knife. You can say I'm just old and cynical, but it comes from my experiences. I don't know that this can all be blamed on where you live though. People all over seem to be more dishonest than they were years ago.

As far as the business reviews on-line, I agree you can't believe everything you read, but this shop has about 500 reviews so they all can't be paid for. I only read them after my experience to see what others were saying.

@shucker1 - You're experience sounds very similar to mine. It makes you want to punch someone in the mouth, and I'm not a violent person. I will NEVER go back to this shop again. I can straighten my daughter's steering wheel very easily, but I shouldn't have to. I'll see what happens tomorrow when I take it back.

 

[shucker1]

It makes you want to punch someone in the mouth, and I'm not a violent person.

Understand that.

Whats really fun is if we go to buy a new car, for some silly reason my wife does not believe in keeping a car more that 6 years.

I always let her wrangle with the salesmen.

What they don't know is that both her dad and her uncle were both drag racers and she spent most of her weekends growing up at the race track helping work on the cars.

We also both worked at the old Western Auto for several years after we got married, so she does know that you can't find radiator hoses for a VW Beetle!

I have seen her more than once "Rip a Hole" in a service adviser or a sales guy and she doesn't mind pulling out "The Bullshit Card" when they come up with some kind of off the wall crap.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm sorry to hear of these examples of shady shops. I've known of the problem for ages, but you don't hear many details of most stories, very sad.

My sister has an 07 Jeep that last year was having a bad vibration(really bad I come to find out(called a death wobble if you want to find it)). I didn't have time to personally work on here truck, and I referred her to my choice of alignment shop. I knew it was related to the steering or suspension. The shop didn't find anything serious... I then offered to have my best friend look at it, and he too didn't see anything obvious, but he took it to that same shop(one he introduced me too 25 years ago(same owner today)). They decided to change just the steering shock, which didn't fix it.

You might think that this shop I mention is the bad one, no, that's the good one which didn't really do much(they told me later that they would have rather replace the track bar and ball joints, even though they didn't appear to be bad). My sister then from friend's suggestions took it to a Firestone place that supposedly knew about those Jeeps. That's the bad shop, they quickly diagnosed the track bar as bad, and said it needed a steering shock. Bam, $900 later for those two parts, and an alignment.

I found out about the pricing and parts later, but she was pleased that the problem disappeared. The alignment and the shock should run near $100, and the track bar stock is maybe $150 tops. That's a hell of a racket the Firestone place is running, labor for the TB of $650 for maybe 20-30 minutes of work.

The death wobble came back six months later, and I got my eyes on it, plus I asked what the mileage and history was. The real problem was it had 185k miles, and nothing in the suspension had been replaced that my sister knew of(bought at 50k or so). I knew the old parts were the big issue, so i had to suggest replacing the most critical or obvious. I did the four BJ's, hell of a job using the rent a press on the non perpendicular spindles. One tie rod end had a torn boot, so I did that and the matching opposite side. Those didn't fix it, nor did the other two TRE's(it has four). The vibration was so bad the next day she said the steering wheel had tons of play in it. The four TREs were all bad then, ruined that fast.

Long story short, I decided to myself buy other parts to be sure to get the suspension back in shape. I've got new hubs, new TRE's(4 Moogs this time(the first were Raybestos(better pricing))), new shock, four new CA's, new pitman arm, aftermarket LCA bolt kit, and an aftermarket track bar. I'm betting that the track bar bushings were the first issue, but all the high mileage parts add too much slop that it quickly kills the track bar bushings now.

Good shops should consider the mileage of a vehicle, and the parts previously replaced, and then recommend a plan. I think they look more at the owner and consider what related parts might make them the most money.

 

[koda2000]

I'm sorry to hear of these examples of shady shops. I've known of the problem for ages, but you don't hear many details of most stories, very sad.

My sister has an 07 Jeep that last year was having a bad vibration(really bad I come to find out(called a death wobble if you want to find it)). I didn't have time to personally work on here truck, and I referred her to my choice of alignment shop. I knew it was related to the steering or suspension. The shop didn't find anything serious... I then offered to have my best friend look at it, and he too didn't see anything obvious, but he took it to that same shop(one he introduced me too 25 years ago(same owner today)). They decided to change just the steering shock, which didn't fix it.

You might think that this shop I mention is the bad one, no, that's the good one which didn't really do much(they told me later that they would have rather replace the track bar and ball joints, even though they didn't appear to be bad). My sister then from friend's suggestions took it to a Firestone place that supposedly knew about those Jeeps. That's the bad shop, they quickly diagnosed the track bar as bad, and said it needed a steering shock. Bam, $900 later for those two parts, and an alignment.

I found out about the pricing and parts later, but she was pleased that the problem disappeared. The alignment and the shock should run near $100, and the track bar stock is maybe $150 tops. That's a hell of a racket the Firestone place is running, labor for the TB of $650 for maybe 20-30 minutes of work.

The death wobble came back six months later, and I got my eyes on it, plus I asked what the mileage and history was. The real problem was it had 185k miles, and nothing in the suspension had been replaced that my sister knew of(bought at 50k or so). I knew the old parts were the big issue, so i had to suggest replacing the most critical or obvious. I did the four BJ's, hell of a job using the rent a press on the non perpendicular spindles. One tie rod end had a torn boot, so I did that and the matching opposite side. Those didn't fix it, nor did the other two TRE's(it has four). The vibration was so bad the next day she said the steering wheel had tons of play in it. The four TREs were all bad then, ruined that fast.

Long story short, I decided to myself buy other parts to be sure to get the suspension back in shape. I've got new hubs, new TRE's(4 Moogs this time(the first were Raybestos(better pricing))), new shock, four new CA's, new pitman arm, aftermarket LCA bolt kit, and an aftermarket track bar. I'm betting that the track bar bushings were the first issue, but all the high mileage parts add too much slop that it quickly kills the track bar bushings now.

Good shops should consider the mileage of a vehicle, and the parts previously replaced, and then recommend a plan. I think they look more at the owner and consider what related parts might make them the most money.

So after all the parts you personally replaced, did the death wobble go away? I assume it did. Personally I hate Jeeps (worst vehicle we ever owned was an '89 Wangler). I guess the morel is that with many worn front suspension and steering parts the problem was magnified.

I've rarely been satisfied with the work done at shops/dealerships, with the exception of my mechanic friend. With 32k on the vehicle, my daughter's '02 PT Cruiser (another non-stellar vehicle) started running on 3 cylinders. I replace the spark plugs and wires to no avail, so I knew the the problem was either valve or FI related. I took it into the Chrysler dealership and explained to the service manager that I'd replaced the spark plugs and wires and that it did not solve the problem. What does he do? He installs new spark plugs and wires, then calls me to tell me that that wasn't the problem. I reminded him that I'd already told him that and that there was no way I was going to pay for their ridiculously overpriced OE parts. He still insisted that the plugs and wires I'd installed were defective (based on what I don't know). I told him to reinstall my parts and to do a compression test. He did and found a valve was hung open. Chrysler eventually agreed to pay for the repair, even though the car was out of warranty.

 

[traveler]

Its not just women that the shops will prey upon. For some reason they look for seniors as well. My dad was an auto dealer for over 30 years before he retired. He still buys and sells the occasional pick up truck. He is 85. More than once a shop has told him his truck needed new parts that he knew it did not need. Shocks, brake pads, etc. one place wanted to charge him 1,000 to replace the spark plugs in a 2010 Ford F-150. I know they've got funky plugs but a grand?
Fortunately he is a smart, and experienced man with a sharp mind and he tells them no thank you and drives off. Adding the place to his list of "never go there again". If he lived in the same state as me, I'd do the work for him but alas we live 1200 miles apart.

 

[koda2000]

Its not just women that the shops will prey upon. For some reason they look for seniors as well. My dad was an auto dealer for over 30 years before he retired. He still buys and sells the occasional pick up truck. He is 85. More than once a shop has told him his truck needed new parts that he knew it did not need. Shocks, brake pads, etc. one place wanted to charge him 1,000 to replace the spark plugs in a 2010 Ford F-150. I know they've got funky plugs but a grand?
Fortunately he is a smart, and experienced man with a sharp mind and he tells them no thank you and drives off. Adding the place to his list of "never go there again". If he lived in the same state as me, I'd do the work for him but alas we live 1200 miles apart.

I'm almost 70, but I've been told I don't look it. I'm 6'2" 250 and I've been told I intimidate people (I figure so much the better if I do). I've been working on cars since I was 13 and when I semi-retired I worked in auto parts stores for about 7 years, which gave me a pretty good education into newer vehicles, so it's not easy to bull **** me. If I make it to 85, which is highly doubtful, things might be different.

 

[98 MERC]

I'm almost 70, but I've been told I don't look it. I'm 6'2" 250 and I've been told I intimidate people (I figure so much the better if I do). I've been working on cars since I was 13 and when I semi-retired I worked in auto parts stores for about 7 years, which gave me a pretty good education into newer vehicles, so it's not easy to bull **** me. If I make it to 85, which is highly doubtful, things might be different.

Wow i didn't know your age.I am 30 , I am surprised by the age difference in this old SUV platform.Is it just me or is this site starting to get more busy the last 2 years ? It seems like it kinda went dormant for a bit.Maybe the next generation is buying them now ? I know they are dirt cheap now that they are kinda at the end of life status.I kinda think when the torque monster headers died off back a few years ago, that's when interest in this platform went away.But now it has come back with force.

 

[LoquetusofBorg]

I am truly sorry to here of your problems Koda. He has no respect for anyone but his bottom line,(wallet), I know this does not sound like much but if they don't make this right file a complaint with the BBB or the proper authorities that will listen and take it all down to paper. That action will haunt him and stick in his craw for years to come. Believe it or not seniors, woman and more and more men check for complaints against shops like that to check for honesty and the type of business this is. I know it sounds like nothing but if everyone that he screwed over did this he would no longer be busy and be forced to change , quit or move on. On a more vicious side, file the complain not only on his business but his name, so that it will follow him.
Loquetus