Fun at Jiffy Lube

[Blackout2017]

I traded in my 2010 XLT for a 2017 Sport, so I swing by Jiffy Lube for an oil change. I've been a customer for years so I'm in their database. The tech asks to scan the VIN in the door, and I say that I'm an old customer with a new vehicle, and I switched the plates off the old truck and put them on this one. She scans the VIN and asks if I'm "Bob Smith" while showing me her tablet. I say no, that must be the old owner, and then I repeat what I had already said: old customer, new vehicle, same plate. She enters the plate number instead, my correct info comes up, and we continue. She asks for the mileage, and I say 31,x...

I say I'm here for an oil change, full synthetic oil please. She says, "So just a regular oil change?" I say, no, full synthetic oil please. She gets a laminated menu card with all of their oil change options and at the top I see two full synthetic oils, one about $20 more expensive. I ask her what the difference is and she says "I don't know." Cool, I'll take the cheaper one then, thanks.

Another tech does the actual work, then she comes back to get my credit card. I ask her what services have been performed, and she says "An oil change." I ask what other services, what fluids were checked, etc. She said, "Well, your oil, obviously, and your wiper fluid, and like that." Apparently she had never heard of transmission, brake, power steering, or differential/transfer case fluids.

It's been a long day, it's hot, and I want to get home. I pay, she brings me a receipt, I go home. I check the receipt. Even after I told her at least twice I was driving a new vehicle, even after she had scanned the VIN, even after telling her that I wasn't some guy with an address 2,000 miles from her shop, she put the old vehicle info (including the wrong VIN) on the receipt. She had also added an extra hundred-thousand miles to the odometer reading. A Jiffy Lube receipt shows the vehicle service history, so I can see the last several oil changes for the wrong vehicle, and the mileage magically goes down from 167,x.. in April to 131,x.. now.

Wrong vehicle, wrong mileage, wrong history, no idea what the difference is between two oils, no idea what service was provided, and I got to see the personal information for the previous owner.

I go back and explain to the nice young lady what the situation was. She calls over... someone. Manager? Senior tech? Dude who happened to be walking by at the moment? No idea, and he didn't say. She tells him that I'm not happy because the receipt doesn't show all of the fluids that were checked. I blink, twice, say "Uh, no" and then I relate the actual situation. He proceeds attempting to fix the receipt and update my info in their database. No dice. No matter what he changes, it changes back. He tries entering a new service visit for a free service (tire check); goose egg. The computer won't print a new receipt with the correct information. He picks up the phone and calls... someone. Explains. Listens. Tries whatever they tell him. Zilch. Bupkis. Nada.

He says, "Sorry, these are old computers. It may take a couple of days for the information to reset." Asks me to come back in two days and he'll print me a new receipt with everything perfect.

So... I got my oil changed.

 

[peterk9]

Checking the power steering fluid would have been fun.

Peter

 

[Blackout2017]

Checking the power steering fluid would have been fun.

Peter

Oh, come on now. I'm having a bit of fun at the expense of some poor kid who was clearly on her first day at work. She could have told me she checked the blinker fluid and I would have been impressed.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

At the end of the day, I do not think you can escape this (Unless you use a MUCH higher end and more expensive service than Jiffy Lube.) And since you have no idea what is actually being done, it is probably worse than it appears.

Pretty good reason to change your own oil. Good luck.

 

[Explorer75]

Can´t find a better reason to change the oil myself. It´s just too much time and energy consuming, trying to explain stuff to dumb people or worse, trying to get things explained by them. Sorry to say this but at the end of the day you don´t know which oil they put.

 

[Blackout2017]

Okay fine, but if I do it myself, who's going to leave that nice big greasy handprint on on my front quarter panel?

 

[Mr. Alligator]

Okay fine, but if I do it myself, who's going to leave that nice big greasy handprint on on my front quarter panel?

You can do that yourself!

You got this.

Good luck.

 

[Explorer75]

Okay fine, but if I do it myself, who's going to leave that nice big greasy handprint on on my front quarter panel?

 

[94Eddie]

What you just stated is why it is so important to find a good, local, independent repair shop to utilize when needed.

 

[donalds]

My wallet is like the great depression it stays shut if I can easily learn to do it myself

 

[JAPeterson]

And that is why I have changed my own oil and checked the fluids myself for the last 35 years. Except for when I have bought a new vehicle and the first oil change was on them.

The last time one of my vehicles saw a quick lube shop they cross threaded the oil filter on and cinched it on so tight that it took me a couple of hours to get it off after ripping the whole filter housing off.

As for the help, what do you expect for someone who is making minimum wage? All they know is how to undo the drain plug and put the oil in and perhaps hit a couple of grease fittings if the vehicle has them. You are lucky that they didn't drain the transmission and put 6 more quarts into the oil pan.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

And that is why I have changed my own oil and checked the fluids myself for the last 35 years. Except for when I have bought a new vehicle and the first oil change was on them.

The last time one of my vehicles saw a quick lube shop they cross threaded the oil filter on and cinched it on so tight that it took me a couple of hours to get it off after ripping the whole filter housing off.

As for the help, what do you expect for someone who is making minimum wage? All they know is how to undo the drain plug and put the oil in and perhaps hit a couple of grease fittings if the vehicle has them. You are lucky that they didn't drain the transmission and put 6 more quarts into the oil pan.

^^^^That.

 

[94Eddie]

And that is why I have changed my own oil and checked the fluids myself for the last 35 years. Except for when I have bought a new vehicle and the first oil change was on them.

The last time one of my vehicles saw a quick lube shop they cross threaded the oil filter on and cinched it on so tight that it took me a couple of hours to get it off after ripping the whole filter housing off.

As for the help, what do you expect for someone who is making minimum wage? All they know is how to undo the drain plug and put the oil in and perhaps hit a couple of grease fittings if the vehicle has them. You are lucky that they didn't drain the transmission and put 6 more quarts into the oil pan.

In my younger days when I lived in apartment complexes, I used quick lube places because working on vehicles in the parking lots was prohibited. Especially changing fluids that could spill and mess up the asphalt. I always took my own oil filter and stood in the service bay watching everything they did. I would ask to see the old filter to make sure the gasket was on it and made sure they lubed the seal on the new filter. I observed which fill nozzle they used or containers to make sure the right viscosity oil was used. I also made sure they did nothing but change the oil. No air filter check etc. to keep their opportunities to screw something up to a minimum. I never had an issue with these places due to me sticking my nose into their business.

 

[jason46]

I don’t do as much mechanical stuff as I use to but still change my oil and do brakes. Brake quotes are insane. I also did the PTU fluid after the local shop said they couldn’t.

 

[94Eddie]

I don’t do as much mechanical stuff as I use to but still change my oil and do brakes. Brake quotes are insane. I also did the PTU fluid after the local shop said they couldn’t.

The older I get the less I like to crawl under the vehicle. I dread doing anything under the 2007 Mustang because it is slammed to the ground. I have to run it up on stacks of scrap wood to get my floor jack under it. It won't make it up the ramps I have either because the aproach angle is too steep. I take it to a local mechanic I have used for a long while to have the oil changed because of the PITA it is to get under the front half of it. I buy the oil and filter and he just charges labor for doing it. It is worth every penny to have him do it on a lift. This also gives me a chance to get under it to have a good look around to spot any problems that might be developing.

 

[jason46]

The older I get the less I like to crawl under the vehicle. I dread doing anything under the 2007 Mustang because it is slammed to the ground. I have to run it up on stacks of scrap wood to get my floor jack under it. It won't make it up the ramps I have either because the aproach angle is too steep. I take it to a local mechanic I have used for a long while to have the oil changed because of the PITA it is to get under the front half of it. I buy the oil and filter and he just charges labor for doing it. It is worth every penny to have him do it on a lift. This also gives me a chance to get under it to have a good look around to spot any problems that might be developing.

We just have the Explorer now but recently had an Acura that I used ramps for oil changes, quick and easy.

 

[94Eddie]

We just have the Explorer now but recently had an Acura that I used ramps for oil changes, quick and easy.

I do a good bit underneath on the SUVs we have because there is decent clearance when they are on ramps. Bigger jobs I farm out because I just don't have the time to deal with them. We have some grandkids now and I would rather spend time with family than wrenching on a longer term repair. I am finding my priorities changing a lot as I get older.

 

[peterk9]

Okay fine, but if I do it myself, who's going to leave that nice big greasy handprint on on my front quarter panel?

I always have the dealer do it. They perform the multi-point checks, top up any fluids at no charge, check the tires and do a free alignment check all while I'm helping myself to free coffee. Also get to check out the showroom and talk with my salesman and GM and have no old oil/filter to dispose of.

Peter

 

[jon clarke]

I always have the dealer do it. They perform the multi-point checks, top up any fluids at no charge, check the tires and do a free alignment check all while I'm helping myself to free coffee. Also get to check out the showroom and talk with my salesman and GM and have no old oil/filter to dispose of.

Peter

When we bought new vehicles it included free oil changes for life. @ 20,000 miles they would check the differential, come show it to me as needing changed because color wasn't new. I finally just told them, when hits 100,000 miles come talk to me. The dealership sold, and the new owner reniged on the deal. Have never been back. Selling unnecessary work aggravates me. I wrenched my way through college and know my way around a car. Still working on the kids cars @ 67. ....

 

[toad350]

I traded in my 2010 XLT for a 2017 Sport, so I swing by Jiffy Lube for an oil change. I've been a customer for years so I'm in their database. The tech asks to scan the VIN in the door, and I say that I'm an old customer with a new vehicle, and I switched the plates off the old truck and put them on this one. She scans the VIN and asks if I'm "Bob Smith" while showing me her tablet. I say no, that must be the old owner, and then I repeat what I had already said: old customer, new vehicle, same plate. She enters the plate number instead, my correct info comes up, and we continue. She asks for the mileage, and I say 31,x...

I say I'm here for an oil change, full synthetic oil please. She says, "So just a regular oil change?" I say, no, full synthetic oil please. She gets a laminated menu card with all of their oil change options and at the top I see two full synthetic oils, one about $20 more expensive. I ask her what the difference is and she says "I don't know." Cool, I'll take the cheaper one then, thanks.

Another tech does the actual work, then she comes back to get my credit card. I ask her what services have been performed, and she says "An oil change." I ask what other services, what fluids were checked, etc. She said, "Well, your oil, obviously, and your wiper fluid, and like that." Apparently she had never heard of transmission, brake, power steering, or differential/transfer case fluids.

It's been a long day, it's hot, and I want to get home. I pay, she brings me a receipt, I go home. I check the receipt. Even after I told her at least twice I was driving a new vehicle, even after she had scanned the VIN, even after telling her that I wasn't some guy with an address 2,000 miles from her shop, she put the old vehicle info (including the wrong VIN) on the receipt. She had also added an extra hundred-thousand miles to the odometer reading. A Jiffy Lube receipt shows the vehicle service history, so I can see the last several oil changes for the wrong vehicle, and the mileage magically goes down from 167,x.. in April to 131,x.. now.

Wrong vehicle, wrong mileage, wrong history, no idea what the difference is between two oils, no idea what service was provided, and I got to see the personal information for the previous owner.

I go back and explain to the nice young lady what the situation was. She calls over... someone. Manager? Senior tech? Dude who happened to be walking by at the moment? No idea, and he didn't say. She tells him that I'm not happy because the receipt doesn't show all of the fluids that were checked. I blink, twice, say "Uh, no" and then I relate the actual situation. He proceeds attempting to fix the receipt and update my info in their database. No dice. No matter what he changes, it changes back. He tries entering a new service visit for a free service (tire check); goose egg. The computer won't print a new receipt with the correct information. He picks up the phone and calls... someone. Explains. Listens. Tries whatever they tell him. Zilch. Bupkis. Nada.

He says, "Sorry, these are old computers. It may take a couple of days for the information to reset." Asks me to come back in two days and he'll print me a new receipt with everything perfect.

So... I got my oil changed.

And they want $15+ to work those jobs and give that level of service.