Meineke

I called and wrote the Meineke company. They said they could not do anything because each store is independently owned. This is a company that steals money out of the pockets of good honest hard-working people. I know I got a raw deal from the local Meineke store I went at 1321 Diamond Spring Road Va Beach, Va. Please avoid that store and all their stores because if something goes wrong like it did for me, the Meineke company will just back their local store and you will be at a loss. I lost $2804.05 because of Meineke shady practices.

Based on your advisor’s recommendation, we agreed to have the major tune-up completed and include an oil change and paid $1172. We received a text 2 weeks later stating that the vehicle was ready for pickup. We picked up the vehicle on Thursday and the check engine light came on; we parked it until Sunday when my husband drove it to the corner store and on the way back home the car stalled and never started again. On 2/27, we called back to your location and informed them of the problem, and they sent a tow truck to pick up the vehicle for further examination. The vehicle remained at your location for another week. Mr. ** told the service advisors that he works overnight and to contact his wife, Reshonda **, during the day since he is a day sleeper. No calls were received.

During this time, we had to rent a vehicle for 2 weeks while the vehicle was being serviced because we are a two-car household and Mr. ** needed transportation to and work from. Due to the nature of his work, he only gets paid for hours worked and Mr. ** has already missed 3 days of work. I called and spoke with Jose, who was quite rude and very unprofessional when speaking to me. He kept talking over me, stating that they had been calling and texting me to receive approval for the new recommended services to have the catalytic converters that needed to be replaced and the new total would be $2890. As I was trying to explain to Jose that we have not received any calls or texts on either phone. He begins to raise his voice. I could hear on the phone that we were on speaker phone and that the service employees in the background speaking of the car as he was telling me he was looking through the notes.

I repeated myself again stating that we have been speaking with Meineke Corporate customer service and awaiting a call from the owner to discuss this situation. After multiple calls to the Meineke Corporate customer service line, no return call from the owner was received. He then proceeds to give the phone to Junior, and I again attempted to explain the situation when he rudely and loudly interrupts me stating that I was telling a lie about the service initially requested and that I have not been calling and speaking with anyone there. I stated that I have clear notes of whom I spoke to when I called and what was discussed in addition to the repair notes provided during the first service. When I could clearly look at the paperwork and CARFAX where it shows the service received on 2/27.

Then Lawrence takes over the phone call and begins to very aggressively talk to me yelling at me that he has never spoken to me and I politely say, "You are correct, I have never spoken to you, I have only spoken to Jose 3 times." By this time, the level of unprofessionalism was more than what I could handle mentally so I woke my husband up to take over the call. Lawrence then begins the conversation with “no disrespect to your wife but...” Lawrence continues the conversation with my husband, Andre **, as I am listening via speakerphone. My husband explains the situation to Lawrence who responds that he will personally look at the vehicle on Monday when he returns because he had a family emergency on would be out for a few days, and he would call once he has looked at it.

That Monday, no call was received so my husband called on Tuesday and was informed that the vehicle was ready. We arrived at the location the next morning at 8 am, when my husband got off work and upon arrival was informed that the vehicle in fact was not ready and that upon final inspection there was a tear in one of the catalytic converters and that the vehicle would be ready by noon. The next morning no call was received so my husband called and was told that the part needed to be ordered and they would call when it was ready.

We finally got the call that the vehicle was ready, and my husband and the service advisor test-drove it through the parking lot, with no issues. Upon the ride home (13 minutes and 7 miles) on 3.24, the vehicle started to beep very loudly and the lights on the dash start to flicker “Oil pressure low stop engine and service tire system” (video and pictures were taken) and the vehicle sounds like a diesel truck, none of these sounds and lights were on when the vehicle was dropped off initially or the 2nd drop-off. We brought the vehicle back on 3.25 and were told that it would be ready in a few hours. As of 3.27, we have not received any calls or updates on the status of the vehicle.

3.29- I called and spoke with Junior at 11:20 am and he stated that they tested the oil pressure sensor, and it tested fine, but the oil pump is not pumping. He stated he will call me back once he reviews the notes further and that it was a line of customers in the lobby. 3.29- I called several times between 2 pm and 6 pm and left a voicemail. No callback was received. 3.30- Called and spoke with Junior at 12:17 pm, he stated he did receive the messages I had left the previous day, but no explanation on why a return call was not made. Junior stated that the exhaust and spark plugs were all okay. The oil pump and pressure were all okay. They performed another oil change (unauthorized) but the vehicle was still dropping oil pressure.

Junior stated that more testing needed to be done by the mechanic and the mechanic was the only one that could complete the work, however, he was the only worker there as he had 2 call-ins that day. Tomorrow he should be fully staffed so the mechanic will complete then. I asked how long the repairs would take to complete; he stated it would be 1 hour. I asked where on the list of repairs my vehicle was, and he stated first on the list and to call back around 11:30 am.

3.31- I called on 3/31 and spoke with Jose. Jose stated that they completed another oil change, which was unauthorized and could not state why so many oil changes had been performed. They completed a short test drive, and no noise was heard. Jose said that the short test drive is only a couple of miles to 1960 and Aldine Westfield and back to the service center. Jose stated that another longer test drive would be completed (Service center to Imperial Valley and 1960 and back) and that should happen today the mechanic will call when he returns from the test drive.

4.3- I called at 10:12 am and spoke with Jose and he stated that Eric, the mechanic, did not have time to call me back Saturday and that he was off today, Monday, and only works Tuesday through Saturday. From the mechanic’s notes, the motor needs to be repaired and it would be the same amount of labor as previously. I asked to speak with the mechanic and Jose stated that he was busy doing another customer’s oil change and that I should come into the service center to speak with him in person. As of today, your service center has been repairing our vehicle for over 30 days with no actual resolution, only faulty diagnoses, unnecessary repairs, inadequate work performed, missed time off work, a 2-week rental, and a lot of frustration, dissatisfaction and not repairing my vehicle in a timely manner.

In sum, I was told by the manager that by law he does not have to provide the invoice for parts and that he was not going to give a copy to me/adjuster. He also told me that he was still going to charge me for the parts ordered because he could not return the parts even after I told him to stop the work before speaking with my insurance company. I would advise anyone to not deal with this company, due to not being able to produce a copy of the invoice for parts, charges keep changing, they have now sent me 4 different estimates of the invoice since my adjuster had gone to due my insurance adjustment.

After sitting in the waiting area for over two hours I was told to come to the garage. I was informed that two bolts from the transmission needed to be mounted to keep the transmission in place. No worries, I thought, assuming that they were still looking out for my best interest as a customer. They also told me that they figured out why I wasn't able to keep coolant due to a clip not being placed where it originally should have been. Still assuming that they were doing me a favor. I said, "Fix it, no worries." I went to sit back in the lobby area and proceeded to watch movies on my phone to pass the time.

About an hour later, Another guy comes and tells me that he has bad news. Now I'm told that I now need to Remove and Replace CV Axle Assembly for 479.99, Remove and Replace the Catalytic Converter for 1,655.18, Flush Coolant System for 183.98, Synthetic Blend Oil Change for 89.42, Remove and Replace all Brake Pads for 1,250.39 totaling 3,712.45. I'm shocked and panicked because I didn't have 3,713.45. I need a car to get to work, and to get my kids to school. They presented me with an option to apply for KarCare reassuring me that I could get approved for the majority of the financing. I applied and was approved for the majority of financing with roughly 800.00 out of pocket costs. Assuming that they were still doing me a favor I sat for several more hours until they were done at about 6:30pm.

My car was ready to drive and the heat was working! However the front desk machine who also approved me for Karcare informed me that I still needed a Radiator Hose. It was a Friday. They told me that they didn't have the part and to come back on the following day at 12 noon. I came back at approximately 12:00 noon with my 4 year old in a cold car because the heat was no longer working. I got there and they told me that the wrong part was sent and they were about to call me, so I asked what I was supposed to do about the car overheating in the meantime. I was instructed to get some green coolant and shown where to put it until the part came.

As instructed I got the green coolant. Meineke was closed on Sunday. Monday they didn't call and Monday was also the day that my car completely stopped working. I was stranded with my kids in the car in the middle of a construction zone during morning rush hour traffic. I got a tow back to the house. The following morning I called Meineke because they still hadn't called me about the Radiator House and this was day 4. At that point I was livid because at that moment I realized I had gotten played for a fool.

Cars rarely need a catalytic Converter replacement unless the converter is stolen, misfiring, bad odor from the exhaust or sluggish engine performance. And all brake pads rarely need to be replaced at the same time. In addition to charging me for services that could have been postponed, they even tried to sell me an oil change (which should have been a red flag) without checking the oil because I had just had an oil change at Jiffy Lube the previous day. And it's been several days now and they still haven't called me about the radiator hose. A business that is concerned about their customers would never do this but they already got me for over 3,000 grand so the joke's on me, right?

I called on March 7th 2023 to inform them about my vehicle and they told me to go on the website to schedule a tow and the first 5 miles would be free. My gut instinct told me not to bring anything back to them because they seem like the type to do even more damage so I followed my gut instinct and got it towed to the one on Union in Memphis TN which is where I originally wanted to go. It seems that they push Karcare on a lot of victims. Also, I am sure that they installed aftermarket parts and still charged me the full price. I will definitely get a second opinion and add this to the lawsuit as well. I am by no means a carologist. Meineke picked the right one to play with on the wrong day. Never take my distressed moments as a sign of weakness because It will only cost you more in the long run!

This car is total crap and they have no idea what they're talking about down there. Total junky place. I'll never go there for anything again. Not to mention he put the oil in the top of the motor. Why would you do that?! Everything he said was a lie. Figured because we're girls we'd just bring it in for everything he said it needed?! I don't think so buddy. Nice try loser. Get a diff job you can actually do right. This was the Nampa location. Older fat dude with dark hair.