Wow...I hope none of you use Jiffy Lube...check out this investigative reporting

[blue2blue]

These three investigations are far from the first time Jiffy Lube has been accused -- and "busted" for -- bogus and/or unnecessary repairs.

 

As others note, many chain service organizations, including other big, and certainly more respected names, have been implicated in unnecessary or bogus repairs as well. Some of the nationwide big brand chain tire stores have been investigated and busted by various regulatory agencies.

 

Of course, one can get screwed at a mom and pop joint, too, but those operations usually don't have the revolving door employee situation that many chains have.

[blue2blue]

I worked for Singer briefly back in the 70's and just about every store manager and district manger was incompetent and a crook. A lady needed a pair of brushes on the motor of her machine, a couple of bucks worth of parts and 15 minutes labor, if you dawdle. The manager told me to call her and tell her she needed a new armiture. I told him "No, you call her. I won't lie like that!". All store managers were supposed to be trained in how to fix machines. There was only one who could actually do it, the rest all faked it...so they sent me to all the shops to do it for them--then held up my check! At the time Singer owned Frieden Computers and Singer-Link and they STILL tried to cheat me, a college kid, out of a paycheck. The corp would back-date paychecks so if you got your check on the 14th it was dated the 7th so it wouldn't look like they were illegaly holding back an extra week, which of course they were to kite that extra money. This is what corporations do when they think they can get away with it....and what Republicans defend.

I remember the Singer scandal... vaguely. The only reason I got interested in them was because they bought the old KLH hi fi nameplate (and ruined it) and my first GF dragged me into their stores while she was researching a new sewing machine. (She ended up buying a beautiful old refurbed machine from a private shop. Back when they made 'em right. )

[Gus Lozada]

... at least it's not "that" type of lube ...

[Jeff da Weasel]

 

I had bad experiences early on in my driving career with a foreign car, so this is my solution.

 

 

Now you only drive Canadian cars?

[Lee Knight]

Now you only drive Canadian cars?

 

[A. Einstein]

What I do for my Karma

 

 

[Bookumdano2]

Not sure what Mr. Jiffy is saying, but at least I have his direct email now in case I ever go into one of their stores and have a gripe-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGUyawh3Wik&feature=related

 

Not to defend Jiffy Lube, but I just can't get into ANYTHING the new channels do since their only motivation is to sell ad time. Was there ever a part 3 followup to that investigation?

 

I haven't watched tv news shows for years. Anyone ever see this one where Paul and Ann argue over who's gonna read the first story? News shows are a joke-

 

[UstadKhanAli]

 

Now you only drive Canadian cars?

 

 

Hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

[Ernest Buckley]

I may have told this story before... I have a mechanic who I`ve been going to for around 20 years now... I work late at night sometimes... midnight shift basically and in the winter, I don`t want to think about the car not starting.

 

Anyway, I take the car to this guy, tell him "the car doesn`t feel right" and that "theres something wrong with it". He calls me up a couple of hours later, tells me he checked everything, theres no problem. I go there, refuse to believe him.

 

He says to me, "Listen, I could easily charge you $200 and tell you I did this and that but theres nothing wrong with the car. So you owe me nothing." That was almost 20 years ago, my family and I have been going to him for almost 20 years so... for every crook, I think there are some truly genuine mechanics out there doing the right thing.

[A. Einstein]

that sexy red jiffy lube sucking machine is a very interesting device,

 

I may take it home for free since they don't use it, have to make an oil change sunday morning.

[Jerry_L]

I caught Pep Boys once skipping a filter change, too. I popped the hood before I left their lot and recognized my own greasy fingerprints on the old filter I had installed myself. The manager offered me a free change next time, but I never returned to that shop. However, that was many years ago, and I have gotten satisfactory service from my local Pep Boys since. I don't usually mark my filter, but it's not a bad idea to do it sometimes.

[A. Einstein]

if I ever catch the postman changing the oil filter,

 

I will ring him more then twice.

[sailorman]

 

I may have told this story before... I have a mechanic who I`ve been going to for around 20 years now... I work late at night sometimes... midnight shift basically and in the winter, I don`t want to think about the car not starting. Anyway, I take the car to this guy, tell him "the car doesn`t feel right" and that "theres something wrong with it". He calls me up a couple of hours later, tells me he checked everything, theres no problem. I go there, refuse to believe him. He says to me, "Listen, I could easily charge you $200 and tell you I did this and that but theres nothing wrong with the car. So you owe me nothing." That was almost 20 years ago, my family and I have been going to him for almost 20 years so... for every crook, I think there are some truly genuine mechanics out there doing the right thing.

 

 

You're right, they're definitely out there, you just have to find them. I've had 2. First one, I dropped off my car and told him to just go ahead and put a rebuilt carb on it, I'd fooled with it and couldn't find the problem. He calls me an hour later and says the car is done. I asked what the hell he'd done. Found an air leak that I missed. Charged me $20 bucks, when I'd TOLD him to do a job worth several hundred. Unfortunately, he moved. My current shop does excellent service, answer any questions I have, and always give me options for the repair. I've been taking all my cars to him for years now. Also have an excellent body shop; painted my black RX7 and it looked better than it did when new. Made a believer out of me and he's done work on 3 of my vehicles since.

 

Thing is, there is more than enough legitimate work out there, I don't get it why some folks think they have to be dishonest to make a living.

[rasputin1963]

 

that sexy red jiffy lube sucking machine is a very interesting device, I may take it home for free since they don't use it, have to make an oil change sunday morning.

 

 

Boy, you straight-up nazzdeh.

[Alndln2]

I worked in a gas station/Auto repair shop as a cashier for alnost 2 years a long time ago. What struck me funny was the American flag flying in front instead of the Jolly Roger.

[techristian]

 

Now you only drive Canadian cars?

 

 

All "North American" cars since 1986

 

It was an 1968 Austin Mini. It was my first car and I bought it from my mother. The dealer did the work on it. They charged 3X what it would cost for "North American" cars. One time they routed the emergency brake tightly around the exhaust pipe. This car required special care like removing the front grill to change the oil filter. (I got a Chiltons book early on)

 

Dan

[karlw]

 

I would think that it's safer to bring a car to a dealer when the car is under warranty, because if they cause a problem, they have to fix it. Say you buy a new car with a 3+ year warranty. If you brought the car in for oil changes and they didn't actually change the oil and filter then the engine developed a problem due to oil sludge, they'd have to overhaul the engine at their expense. It's when the warranty expires, then you need to watch out.

 

 

What dealers will do is to charge the manufacturer for the warranty work and either not do it, or not do it right. My dad bought a Chevy Blazer back in the '80s and there was something wrong with the engine. He's pretty good mechanically, but since it was under warranty, he took it back to the dealer. He went to check on it a few days later, and they looked it up in the computer. He saw that they had already racked up some time, with the associated costs to Chevrolet. But my dad noticed that his Blazer hadn't moved from where he parked it when he brought it in... That dealership has long gone out of business. Most likely, the crooks that ran it are running a different dealership now.

 

I'm grateful to have found a good independent shop - two brothers, one of which I went to high school with. It helps that I'm mechanically inclined, so I usually give them some ideas of where to look when I take the car in for a problem. I also have an OBDII reader, so I come in prepared with code info. But whenever I take my car in there, I always feel like they do the right thing, even if it means something cheap. So when it's not something cheap, at least I feel that they are being honest and treating me fairly.

[lsits]

There's a reason that auto mechanics rank just above politicians in terms of trustworthiness. Auto mechanics do on a small scale what politicians do on a much larger scale. If you don't watch them every second, they'll rob you blind.

[Jeff da Weasel]

If we're willing to extend this conversation of "service providers who rip people off based on their lack of knowledge of what's being fixed", I hereby make a motion to include computer repair people. However, I'm going to tell you a happy story instead of a complaint.

 

Dave is a guy in my neighborhood who runs a business that does both network installation/maintenance and computer servicing. The first time I needed his services was a really bad situation. It was 2009, and my sister had passed away suddenly, as some of you here probably recall. I had prepared a big presentation for her memorial service, with photos that her friends had sent, and tons of music I'd prepared for the occasion. At the same time (bad timing being what it is), I was just about to launch a huge new web site for my largest client. Wouldn't you know that the day before both events were set to transpire, my laptop's motherboard completely fried, and I was left with a seemingly inert hunk of aluminum that was formerly a nice computer.

 

After confirming with Dave that the computer was toast, I went out and bought a new one. Worse things have happened to better people, and I had to keep working regardless. However, my much bigger concern was the data that had been on that drive. While I had bits and pieces backed up, the current crucial stuff I was working on was only on that local HD.

 

I'd heard horror stories of companies that do "data recovery", and had been told of the thousands of dollars people spent to get their precious 1's and 0's back. I asked Dave if he could take a look at my old HD and see what could be saved, but I also told him that I simply couldn't afford a big bill to have it be taken care of. He told me he'd check it out later that day, and I left my new computer there with the dead one.

 

About 5:00PM, the phone rang, and he told me to come over (his shop was literally across the street from my home). I got there and he said, "Here you go," and gave me my new computer. I was confused and said, "Am I going to be able to get any of my my data back? What's it going to cost?"

 

He replied that not only was almost everything recoverable, but that it was already done. At first I felt myself getting mad; I'd told him specifically that I needed an estimate first. Then he went to his register, punched some keys, and gave me the bill.

 

$40. He'd run some data integrity checks, then transferred the entire contents of the old drive to my new one, for about the cost of a decent sushi lunch. That data was both valuable and priceless to me, and it cost $40 to get back. I was astounded.

 

I can't tell you how many customers I've referred to him since then, and I'd never think of going anywhere else for my own computer service needs. So, that's the type of person you want working on your computer, or on your car for that matter. Maybe they're rare, but they are out there.

[silver hilton]

My Jiffy Lube story:

 

When my daughter was learning to drive, one of the things I did was take her with me to get an oil change. Went to the neighborhood Jiffy Lube. The kid opened the hood, looked at the oil cap, came around and said something to the effect of, "Your oil cap says SAE 5-30, that means you need synthetic oil." I told him, "no, SAE means Society of Automotive Engineers, and you can put standard oil in, you lying little cheat." I haven't been back to that Jiffy Lube since.

[Anderton]

My story: No water in the house, and with well pump fairly old, called well company to check it out. They said the pump was toast, would cost $1600 + $1 per foot for piping, plus service call and labor...thousands of dollars. Ouch.

 

I thought I could probably get the pump for less and have them install it, so I checked the control box to find out the ratings on the pump, and saw a button the box that said "push to reset." I pushed it, and water flowed.

 

A couple hours later, the water went out again. I pushed the reset button, the water came back.

 

Called the company and said "Dude, it's the control box, not the pump." A new control box cost $140...

[UstadKhanAli]

I don't remember the full story in detail, but it went something like this.

 

I had a transmission replaced in a car. The guy said that I could order all the parts including a $75 part that I may or may not need. "If we do not use it, I will simply buy it back from you," he assured me. Fine.

 

The transmission was replaced. He gave me the part. I drove off, then saw that I was charged for it, so I parked my car in the street and returned. "May I have a refund for this part, as you had mentioned?"

 

"No."

 

"You said that if I didn't need it, you would buy it back."

 

"I lied." He glared at me, arms folded, unmoving.

 

"Very funny. May I have a refund?"

 

He said, "Give me that". I handed the item to him. He then threw the item across the yard, narrowly missing me, and then said, "F**K YOU BITCH!!! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ME? I WILL NOT GIVE YOU A REFUND. NOW GET OFF MY PROPERTY!!!!"

 

I was momentarily rattled but said nothing, looking at him for several seconds while he huffed and puffed from his outburst, eyes bugging out and red, glaring at me. I then walked over to the counter, took his phone, gave it a hard yank, ripping it from its wiring, scattering papers from his counter, and then heaved it as hard as I could against a hard brick wall, smashing it in several pieces.

 

Instead of getting pissed, for the first time, the guy laughed. I went to pick up the part he had heaved at me and began to leave.

 

"You think I care? Take it. You're still out $75!!!" he laughed, calling out after me.

 

I had a very vert large rusty lock and a chain that looked very old that was in the back yard, left over from the previous tenant. The key was nowhere to be seen, but the lock was in the open position. The next morning, I woke up extremely early, drove to the garage that had wronged me, locked the gate with the large rusty lock and chain, and hung a large sign on the gate that said CLOSED - OUT OF BUSINESS. I then returned the item somewhere else for a full refund.

[karlw]

 

I don't remember the full story in detail, but it went something like this. I had a transmission replaced in a car. The guy said that I could order all the parts including a $75 part that I may or may not need. "If we do not use it, I will simply buy it back from you," he assured me. Fine. The transmission was replaced. He gave me the part. I drove off, then saw that I was charged for it, so I parked my car in the street and returned. "May I have a refund for this part, as you had mentioned?" "No." "You said that if I didn't need it, you would buy it back." "I lied." He glared at me, arms folded, unmoving. "Very funny. May I have a refund?" He said, "Give me that". I handed the item to him. He then threw the item across the yard, narrowly missing me, and then said, "F**K YOU BITCH!!! DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ME? I WILL NOT GIVE YOU A REFUND. NOW GET OFF MY PROPERTY!!!!" I was momentarily rattled but said nothing, looking at him for several seconds while he huffed and puffed from his outburst, eyes bugging out and red, glaring at me. I then walked over to the counter, took his phone, gave it a hard yank, ripping it from its wiring, scattering papers from his counter, and then heaved it as hard as I could against a hard brick wall, smashing it in several pieces. Instead of getting pissed, for the first time, the guy laughed. I went to pick up the part he had heaved at me and began to leave. "You think I care? Take it. You're still out $75!!!" he laughed, calling out after me. I had a very vert large rusty lock and a chain that looked very old that was in the back yard, left over from the previous tenant. The key was nowhere to be seen, but the lock was in the open position. The next morning, I woke up extremely early, drove to the garage that had wronged me, locked the gate with the large rusty lock and chain, and hung a large sign on the gate that said CLOSED - OUT OF BUSINESS. I then returned the item somewhere else for a full refund.

 

 

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[sventvkg]

This is sad and indicative of our society. I was just in LA and found the business people I had to deal with getting ready to move a buddy from there to TN to be questionable at best. Seems to be worse in big city type areas from my experience. It's difficult to be trusting these days. Just makes us a more jaded, guarded and a society that is worse for it.

[UstadKhanAli]

 

This is sad and indicative of our society. I was just in LA and found the business people I had to deal with getting ready to move a buddy from there to TN to be questionable at best. Seems to be worse in big city type areas from my experience. It's difficult to be trusting these days. Just makes us a more jaded, guarded and a society that is worse for it.

 

 

I kinda grew up here, so I can't compare so much to other cities in the U.S. I'm generally treated nicely here and elsewhere.

 

But a few things about this made me snap. Obviously, the guy was a king-sized asshole who was blatantly trying to rip me off. But even more than that, it was his "I can play around with you and there's not a damn thing you can do about it because you're *nothing*" sort of feeling that I got from him. I didn't want to leave with this sickening feeling. It would be something that would gnaw at me for years, and I seemed to intuitively grasp this.

 

By the way, the guy was an Israeli guy who, from the looks of things, still identified strongly with his country, given all the Hebrew stuff, Israeli flags, and photos of Israel in his garage. I don't know that this would be what someone would call a stereotypically "Los Angeles" sort of attitude at a garage or anywhere else for that matter. At any rate, maybe he got a message: "{censored} with someone and you get your phone smashed, lose customers, and lose money." But probably, it was just a big game to him, something he could tell his buddies.