Meineke Reviews

I called back before going to pick up my truck and was told that it was not done yet, and that it was still giving problems, and that they needed to send it off to the location in Arlington off of Green Oaks and Matlock, where it stayed for another week and a half. (Grrrrrrrrrrrrr) After that time, I called the location off Alta Mesa and then again was told it should be done by 12 pm & gave me the number to the location off Green Oaks. I called and spoke with the manager & was told my truck was nowhere near finished and in fact, the motor was still taken apart and being worked on.

After waiting another week, I was called to pick up my truck so I asked if I can have my used lifters & was told by "EDDIE" that I cannot have them because they had a core on them (WTFFF). In all my life I have never heard of a core on lifters, so I called Ford to confirm this & even they laughed. So I called "Eddie" & told him what I found out & asked him who was lying to me, and he stated that he just got off the phone with Auto Zone and found out the same, and that I can have them. Really?

Arrived to the location in Alta Mesa and at the same time, my truck arrived. So I proceeded to inspect my truck & first off I find my driver door, driver seat, center console covered in grease or dirty oil. I nearly lost it when I saw that. I then did a walk-around and saw my bull bar (upper and lower) scratched and greasy with shoe prints. I complained and then a tech tried to wipe the grease off with de-greaser. I told him to stop using de-greaser on my seats and get my truck detailed. So they told me that my complaints will be submitted to corporate about the grease and scratched bull bar.

I took my truck and found it still very sluggish and had a bad case of the hiccups. On top of that, had a bad oil leak. Could not do anything about it 'cause it was on a weekend and Meineke was closed. I called Meineke corporate on Monday and found out that not only Meineke and Maaco were sister companies, that my complaint was never submitted. NICE! Made my complaint and was told that I should be contacted by someone in a few days. So I then called the Meineke off Green Oaks and told them the problems the truck was still giving. "David", the less-than-educated manager told me to bring it back. So I did and after a day, I had a nice lady call me from Meineke named Leah ** who generally was concerned greatly about my situation. I found out that Meineke actually is franchise-owned and I'd have to wait for someone to call me again.

A day later the manager "David" calls me and tells me the oil leak was fixed and they are going to detail my truck. So then asked about my bull bar and he stated that it was not going to be fixed or replaced. I asked why and that piece of trash began talking over me and shouting on how that was not done at his shop, blah, blah, blah. So I then proceeded to avoid having a non-productive argument and terminate that convo.

With the no high school diploma-bearing manager, on the forth business day (Friday), I was called & told I can pick up my truck. I arrived to the Green Oaks location. I was greeted by the lady at the front desk. I asked her if she could give me a document stating my bull bar is not going to be replaced or fixed and she stated "sure" and added that my bull bar looked like it had been buffed. My eyes could not get larger and I said "Lady I just purchased it two weeks prior and did not have time to buff something that already was mirror-chromed." She stated "ohh no I was just saying." I then asked to have a test drive, she told the "manager" and he sarcastically began to shout at the technician "wash your hand, shoes, pants, shirt and body to go on a test drive." (So unprofessional.)

I inspected the inside of my truck and found a very poor detailed job, seat still stained and center console plastic stained. Upon the test drive, found the truck running good surprisingly. I asked to get a receipt or a copy and was told I could not have one, go figure! I take the truck home and find scuffs & new scratches all around my truck. One of the franchise owners, Adam ** never contacted me about the problem. I will never go back and will slander this place 'til I cease to exist!

I'm contemplating whether I should get a lawyer because there's clearly some foul play here! I take it to another mechanic who told earlier that mount shouldn't have failed like that and they should've inspected the other mounts and that strut 2 days prior when they did the work!!! I am totally flabbergasted by their greed and un-loyalness to their customers. They were trying to charge me another 720$ for the exact same work they just did 2 days earlier! My mechanic told me they overcharged me for that work and the new quote!!! I will NEVER spend another hard earned red cent at another Meineke and will discourage others as well!!! They are quite ridiculous charging double for parts even from the manufacturer!!! I don't understand how they are still in business while treating people the way they do!!!

Well guess what I still didn't pass the emission after he wrote on the invoice stating it was ready for emissions and would pass! I did not yet go back because I will not waste any more of my money or time there ever again! When the right side bearings went bad it didn't go bad immediately. It took a while but the left side went bad immediately after I picked it up. The bottom line is he is not trustworthy. Never go here, it's the Meineke in Crystal Lake IL on Pyott.

I tell them I need to call my dad while I am standing there (which always makes them mad). Of course my dad says BS and don't do anything. I ask them to give me a print out of what's needed so I can show him. I took my car to my dad. He cussed (a lot) and laughed a little. He said my car does not have sway bar links, it has some other part, and there was nothing wrong with either of them! Then tells me there is no stop leak anywhere and the anti freeze is perfect! He then noticed the filter they put on is old and used and there was NEW oil leaking all under my car. I will NEVER go to that place again!!!

I dropped my boyfriend off and two workers were acting sneaky watching him walk into the shop from the road. I instantly thought something funny was happening how they were looking to see if he was coming into the shop and how they were acting. Anyways they said they did nothing to the truck so we took it home. When were home we notice they had clearly done something to the truck... the exhaust pipe was gone.

So I called the shop to ask where it was, I was told my boyfriend said he'd be back Monday, which was a complete lie because when we picked the truck up he said he was taking it elsewhere to get repaired, since they seemed to have no clue what they were doing and we were not going to waste another day to have nothing done to the truck!!! So we had to drive back to pick up the exhaust pipe. Not sure why we were lied to about them not touching the truck when they removed the whole exhaust pipe... did they think we wouldn't notice?

So now we are stuck with a truck without an exhaust pipe for our road trip tomorrow. The whole reason we went to Meineke was because they assured us it would be fixed today!!! We would have been more safe driving with a crack in the pipe than no pipe at all. Now I read online you can get carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide poisoning from driving without an exhaust pipe. Looks like our road trip is going to have to be canceled thanks to you guys. Two very unhappy EX-customers.

For being the owner of the company and to give that level of customer service is appalling. Not once was my father in law yelling, or using profanity. He just wanted know why they were using such crappy parts? No one in my family or friends will ever being going to Meineke for any type of work again. Also, I should mention the last time they did work on my car they forgot to tighten the lug nuts. I swore I was never returning there, and only did because I knew this part was under warranty still. I have declined them replacing the part and they will never ever touch my car again.

I called him 2 days later and the manager told me the engine needed a new timing chain and gave me an estimate. He also told me they would need to order a kit to put the new timing chain on, I asked if he had ordered the kit already and he told me he still needed to "find" the kit he needed to order. I proceeded to call them periodically every couple of days just to get no actual update each time. It wasn't until two weeks after I left the car with them when I went up to the service shop that they could give me a concrete update. When I got there I saw my car in the parking lot and not in the shop. I asked the manager what the situation was and he told me he still hadn't order the kit for the timing chain yet. He asked me if I wanted him to order it at that time and I told him yes. He said it probably wouldn't get there for another 2-3 days.

A couple days later the manager finally calls me to show me what's wrong with the engine and to ask me if I want to go ahead with putting the new timing chain on. I told him yes, and the next day he called me after they test drove my car to ask me if I want them to fix the wheel bearing (a condition that I was aware of that I wanted to get fixed at a later time). I asked if it could be delayed but of course he said it couldn't. The next day I thought my car was ready to be picked up but the manager called me to say after another test drive they found an oil leak (that they somehow didn't find during the first test drive), so they would have to spend another day fixing that and delayed returning my car to me. On the day I was finally able to retrieve my car, which was a full three weeks after I originally left it with them, I got the final total from them which ended up being over $2100.

I literally drove my car from the Meineke's to the gas station to fill up the tank, drove it from the gas station to my house, and from my house to my grandmother's house down the street and then my car stopped AGAIN. I only drove it ~4 miles before it stopped, so the next day I go back up to service shop again to tell them what happened after they just finished "fixing" my car. They agreed to tow my car back to their service shop, but after they got my car they spent another THREE WEEKS with it before I was able to retrieve it again.

During that time they never called me at all to give me any updates or information. It wasn't until I called them that could finally tell me something. This time they said it was an electrical sensor and some wiring that was the problem. They did not charge me though, which was fortunate because I was not gonna pay a second time after they had my car for a grand total of SIX WEEKS. In the end, I know I won't be returning to that Meineke service shop anymore.

When I asked the mechanic about it, he came out with more wire ties and tried to push the wiring harness up out of the fender well and was bending one of the brake lines that was in the way. He said the only way to get it better was to order lines from the factory. I am a backyard mechanic and I have done a better job. So I talked to the manager again and told him all the guy did was doing was trying things together. All he had to say was "I'm sorry." I paid $900.00 for this job and all he could say was "I'm sorry." I have never been so angry. But I guess that's what you get from the Bridgeport, Ohio Meineke.

The guy at the desk almost had a heart attack when I suggested that. This is exactly what he said with a very confused and shocked face "whyyyyy??? It costs just $16!" I said "I just want to do it myself". He gets mad and his tone changes and goes "do you want to do your own tune up?" I was willing to get the tune up done, which I didn't think was necessary by the way, but his rude tone and throwing his hands up in the air and the mechanic telling me that I wouldn't save any money doing it myself got me to change my mind. I took the car and paid for the inspection. I changed my own light and saved $5. Even decided to buy another bulb for the other side. The people there are at least in their 50s but don't let that mislead your judgement. There's a lot of fishy business going on there.

He called back and told the mechanic that they WERE going to do the A/C after all, but when the mechanic immediately came into the office to speak with the manager I overheard him tell the manager that he had already drained the A/C, so apparently he had been told that I had wanted it done before then. I went to Meineke because they are a well-known name and previously I had a problem with another car and had gone to a small and unknown mechanic, which I paid after repairs had been made and who declared to have fixed the issue, but the issue was not fixed. I thought with a well-known name I would pay a little more, but at least my mechanical issues would get fixed. I was wrong.

I paid just under $500 to have NONE of my issues taken care of and they want to charge me another $2000 to do additional repairs which they said WOULD fix the problem. Also, my outside headlight lens on the driver's side was broken and it was not when I came in. I cannot prove that, but SHAME on whoever broke it and was not willing to just say so!! I am sure it was accidental and I would not have been angry if I had been told, but I am sure it was not disclosed due to not wanting to have to pay to replace it and/or to avoid getting into trouble with the boss.

The front manager was friendly and I enjoyed speaking with him while I was waiting. I walked in at 11:30 am without an appointment and was told there were 2 customers in front of me, but that they had a slot. By noon my car was taken into the shop area. I told the manager before agreeing to wait that I had to be home by 4:30 pm because I had an online class to attend for my graduate degree. He assured me I would be home in plenty of time. I did not leave there until 7 pm, when they closed the doors.

I was told that the diagnostic brought back ONE code, which was the Downstream Oxygen Sensor and that replacing it would fix the reason my check engine light was on. The part cost almost $230 and that my total bill would be about $320. Also, I was told by the manager, as long as there are no parts needing replaced, my A/C would be repaired, with the knowledge that the system was currently an R12 system and would need to be converted to take the new R13 coolant since that was a simple thing to do. I was told not to worry about the ABS light and that he was sure it did not indicate anything that would be a safety concern and it would not need to be looked into. He did say that it was not returning any codes.

I asked if the ABS light could be due to a blown fuse and he said it would not come on if it was just a fuse, but it could be a bad sensor. Less than an hour later I overheard him tell another customer that her ABS was sending a code and it was probably just a fuse. I guess since mine did not give a code, that must be why mine could not be a fuse causing the light to be on.

After it took 7 hours, with NO mention of additional codes being found, I was presented with a bill, which included an estimate on additional repairs needed, for a total cost of $2,406.80. In this estimate was an Intake Manifold Set, said to be a gasket kit. When I asked the manager why I would need this and why it had not been mentioned to me AT ALL in the 7 hours I had been there, he did not know and told me he would have to ask his mechanic. Also, one part was listed TWICE for the A/C with two DIFFERENT prices. The manager was entirely confused over the bill and estimate.

While the manager was speaking with the mechanic, I looked up A/C parts, specifically for my car, on my iPhone and was shocked at how much they wanted to charge for the parts and how much lower the price was on the parts in the very first result I found and I showed the results to the manager. A $115 part was only about $30, the one priced at two different prices was less than $20 and they wanted $60 on one price and $62.92 on the other, but obviously I would not have to pay for both of them.

When I pointed out it was listed twice, the manager seemed agitated with his mechanic for having put him in the position of having to explain all of this. I was told in the end that they cannot compete with online pricing and that their parts come with a LIFETIME guarantee. NO parts to my knowledge ever come with a lifetime guarantee. Additionally, he could not tell me what brand of parts he was going to provide. Obviously if he does not know the brand, he cannot state the length of their guarantee.

On the back of my invoice, under Additional Parts and Services (anything that is not a muffler or exhaust related) it states, "All other parts and services itemized on your receipt are warranted for 90 days from the original date of service." Also, the manager said he did not know anything about A/C repair (not his department of expertise) and could not explain what may be a fair cost or an actual need. I paid the near $500 and requested the old Oxygen Sensor, which they gave to me without issue, but politely declined the additional repairs.

When I started my car, the check engine light and the ABS light were still on and my A/C was blowing cooler, but not fully cooling. Meineke remove the R12 and replace it with R134a after installing a different port necessary to recharge the system. That port comes in a kit, which can be purchased at an auto parts store. This is what I paid the $29.95 for. My only reason for taking the car to have this done by a mechanic was to ensure the safe, legal removal and disposal of the R12. I do not know if they did this properly or not, but it may be worth investigating whether they do in fact possess and did use the proper recovery and disposal equipment.

I have the same kit used by Meineke to convert my system, which I had purchase before learning my system was an R12 system, but as I said, I could not personally do this conversion since I could not safely and legally evacuate the system of the R12 refrigerant. The A/C is actually cooling moderately, when it did not cool at all before. This is probably because the R12 was old and depleted. For now it is cooling well enough and I expect it will continue to, until I can affordably replace any parts which may be necessary in the future. However, I do not plan on having Meineke do the work because I could probably replace my entire system 3 times on my own for the cost they want to charge for the parts alone.

I was told I could buy my own parts and they would do the work, but I am not interested in doing this. It was at the time I had asked if I could buy the parts and have them do the labor that the manager asserted several times, "Yes, you could do that, but our parts come with a lifetime guarantee and you would not get that by purchasing your own parts". I already pointed out earlier what the warranty on the back of the receipt actually states.

I Picked up the van the next morning. ** said they took everything apart, dried everything out and I was good to go. BUT if I wanted a safe money give him $250.00 cash and he couldn't give me receipt otherwise he would have to charge me a lot more. I paid him! Drove to the job site opened the back door. The glass on the right hand side was cracked. When I closed the door it exploded... There was greasy hand prints all over the door and back windows where they had pushed it into the garage. I needed to keep the van on job site. Everything we needed was in it! Called safelite. They replaced the window $170.00.... Got into van. It would not start!!!

One of the electricians on the job checked it out coming to find out there was a short in the alarm system. It cost me $20.00 to have it fixed! Went back to see **... He said they couldn't do anything about the window but drop it off and they would check it out!!!!! REALLY **.... GOOD LUCK!!! I will never do any business with Meineke again!!!!!

I showed him the shocks that had been taken off and asked to speak to the owner. Every few months I would call or go in in person and ask to speak to the owner. I'd leave my contact information - no return call. Now in May of 2015, I finally get to speak to someone who takes my case to the owner. I have all the receipts from the work. They warranty the work for "life." Yesterday, I was told that I waited too long and didn't go back to Meineke (REALLY - like I'm going to trust them to do work they didn't do the first time) so they are not going to refund my money. That would be $657.89 - not chump change. Anyway, after reading this - you decide to use Meineke or not.

When I got back home, I checked with Toyota dealer (where I bought my car) and their information site (see **) and found that 0W-20 oil is NOT REQUIRED, and the lower priced 5W-20 oil is fine. I feel that I was unfairly charged a higher price package where a lower price service would have sufficed -- a classic example of bait and switch. I was lured me into the center with a lower price package and coerced to buy high price service with mis-information. Will never use Meineke again.

I decided to go out for evening entertainment after supper and after driving for another 200m or so, the dashboard warning light came on telling me to have the traction control and brake system need to be serviced. That is about CA$600 by Meineke's estimate. Definitely, I will never, ever go there so I will for sure know how much tomorrow. What is funny is I asked for a second opinion from my colleagues and they said anybody can do oil change. One even suggested I do it myself. That is what makes me wonder if they did it intentionally? (while being fully cognizant that things do fail by themselves - I myself am a computer technician know about failure probability, but then the way it is communicated makes me suspicious.) Keep away from these guys! A victim.

When we asked about it we were told that it should go off in a couple days, if not to call back. A week and a half later to our horror the car was overheating again and the check engine light was still on. We called Meineke and was rudely told the goal is to get the car running!! Yes that is the goal but also to have the issue fixed that we bought the car in for. Now we have a blown head gasket which is nearly 1500 or more or replace the motor!! I spoke with ** the operations manager who was zero help, and let us know the technicians didn't even check our vehicle for overheating!! Which is what we had the car towed to them for! Meineke is certainly responsible for the damage to the vehicle since they didn't fix it properly the first time!

On 02/10/2015, Meineke actually towed my vehicle to my home in a non-working condition, blaming it on the age of the engine; even though it ran just fine when I brought it in. I spoke to my brother, an L5 mechanic and learned that not making sure that the timing is correct can cause lots of damage to the engine. I called Meineke headquarters threatening further action if I wasn't reimbursed and given a vehicle to drive. I also told them how upset I was that I brought a perfect good running vehicle into their place of business and was given back something completely not working, saying that was just the way it is. They said it could take up to 48 hours to respond. I also spoke to an attorney and he said to start taking notes of all the interactions and excuses, and to wait it out and see what the final outcome is before proceeding further.

The next day, ** at Meineke called me and said he felt bad that I didn't have a vehicle, and was going to tow it back to their garage and repair it at their cost. But, he did ask me if I would pay $500 for labor. I couldn't believe he said this! If they actually believed the motor problems were not their fault, they would not have offered to pay for all the parts it would take to fix the engine. And I have yet to be offered a loaner vehicle to get to work and such.

As of 03/03/2015 and multiple calls, my vehicle is still not running, and ** insists that it was not any fault of theirs that the engine is not running. I was very vocal, stating that my vehicle, although an older vehicle, always started great and ran smooth. And I also expressed being very upset not having a vehicle for a month, having to rely on other people to get around. This has cost me to miss 4 straight weeks of study I attend in Dallas. Prior to bringing my vehicle in, I had not missed a week in 15 weeks straight. And I attend band practice every week as well, which has also been very damaging to our schedule. I also let it be known that due to having to get rides to and from work every day, I have been late to work for a month. Also, I have to leave work when the last person leaves so I will have a way to get home. This causes me to lose a lot of hours, resulting in a large loss of income this past month.

Meineke called me on 03/05/2015 and said my vehicle was running great and ready to be picked up. A co-worker gave me a ride to Meineke this morning (03/06/2015) to pick up my vehicle and take it to work. The engine was a lot rougher sounding and had a clicking sound under the hood I had not heard before. After work, I decided to take it to the car wash to have it cleaned. Unfortunately, I never made it. A couple of miles from work, the engine overheated and steam was coming from under the hood. I pulled into a gas station and called Meineke to come and tow my vehicle back and to have it looked at. I also called my co-worker to come take me home.

Later that day, Friday, Meineke called and said it was fixed and asked me to come pick it up. I told them since I have no transportation, it would be Monday morning before I would have a ride to their garage. This seemed to upset the employee, causing him to say he needs my truck out of their garage at this point, that it's taking up space in their garage. I explained that it wasn't my fault that it's still there and offered to walk more than 2 hours from my home to come get it. He said ** would come pick me up. A few hours later, nobody had shown up by then to pick me up. I was called on 03/07/2015 and was told they sent my vehicle to another shop since there was something not quite right with the way it was running. Said it should be ready by 03/09/2015.

As of 03/10/2015, I haven't heard anything for over 2 days. I am still relying on people to take me to and from work. Today marks 5 weeks since I dropped my vehicle off to have an antifreeze leak repaired and have yet to be offered a loaner vehicle. 03/11/2015 I called Meineke to check on my vehicle. ** said it was ready. He drove it for quite some time to make sure everything was fine, and he said he ran great. I had a co-worker take me there to pick it up this morning. Not only is the vehicle running a lot rougher that when I first took it there, but now the check engine light is on, preventing me from getting it inspected. This vehicle isn't anywhere close to running great.

03/12/2015 I called Meineke to inquire about check engine light and to get my truck inspected. ** said it was nothing they did to cause the light to come on, yet the light has never been on in the 8 years I have owned the vehicle. He suggested I take it to the dealership, which would be an out of pocket cost to me for something they should repair. He said this was out of their realm of expertise and there is nothing else they can do. They were getting no reading from the vehicles computer, like it was connecting to it at all. 03/13/2015 I took my truck to Auto Zone to see if they could pull the codes, showing why the check engine light is still on. They tried, but their machine could not get any reading from my computer at all. It never would connect, which is what Meineke told me.

03/14/2015 ** at Meineke called me this morning, asking if I could bring the vehicle to them for a couple of days, saying they might know how to correct the check engine light problem. I let him know that I needed it to at least drive to Dallas on Wednesday for my study group, so I would drop it off that Thursday morning. I'm still unsure why I was given the vehicle back in this condition to begin with since it is in nowhere near the condition I brought it in as. Even if the check engine light issue is fixed, the engine still runs very rough and there is a loud clicking noise under the hood that wasn't there when I brought it in. They claimed to have practically rebuilt the motor at this point, so it should sound and run at least as smooth or better than when I brought it in. This doesn't make any sense.

03/19/2015 I dropped the vehicle off at Meineke this morning. ** said he would need it for probably a couple of days to address the check engine light problem. He asked how it was running and I told him it was still very rough this morning and that I have only driven it once this week to get to my study class in Dallas, in fear of receiving a ticket for my inspection being outdated. I noticed this morning that it was leaking fluid underneath again. When I left the garage today, it was leaking, so I pointed it out to him as well. I am not expecting to see my vehicle for quite some time now.

It has now been 6 weeks since I first brought my vehicle to them, and I have never actually gotten it back in anywhere near the condition I brought it in. I also called an attorney today to have him look at all the notes I made every time something went wrong or when I was contacted by Meineke. He suggested I wait until I get my vehicle back before proceeding with any sort of lawsuit. He thought I should give Meineke the benefit of the doubt and see if they return my vehicle in a good working condition first, even if it has been close to two months since I dropped it off the first time.

03/26/2015 I picked up my vehicle from Meineke this morning. As soon as I left, I already heard a new sound that wasn't there before. A loud, almost siren sound. And, my turn signals don't work now. No blinking light inside the vehicle, and when I got to work, I checked and they weren't blinking on the outside either. I called ** at Meineke again and he sounded surprised. When I described the loud siren type sound, he said it was something to do with the speedometer and the sound was coming thru my speakers. But, when I turned the radio off, I could still hear the sound. Also, driving down the road, I rolled the windows down and the sound was clearly not coming from my speakers.

Why do I keep getting lied to? At this point, it's very insulting. What I don't understand, why is the vehicle not being checked over, making sure everything works before giving it back to me. Now I have to bring it back there to have that problem looked at, and inconvenience another co-worker to take me home again. Even if the turn signal problem is corrected, it still doesn't run anywhere near as good as when I first brought it in. I'm surprised they didn't offer to refund what I paid in the beginning so I could use that as a down payment on another vehicle. It would have saved both of us a lot of time, trouble and money, and I would have been perfectly fine with that. Once I receive my vehicle from them, I will not be taking it back. And it is basically worth nothing at this point in the condition they have given it back to me.

03/27/15 Meineke called me this morning. Said the blinker problem was a switch that was out under the steering column. I was told it would cost around $100 plus 2 hours labor. The blinkers worked perfectly fine before, so this is yet another thing they messed up and won't admit to and fix. I told ** to park my truck outside and leave the key in it and I will pick it up tonight. I have officially reached my limit with Meineke and this location.

At the time I didn't have my phone so I had nobody to call so I had to push my van towards my house. As I was going down the street a ex-mechanic named ** helped me out by giving me a jump start but the van wouldn't turn back on and ** stated the reason why it wouldn't turn on was that I have a starter problem because it was either placed wrong or it was defective and I also had a fuel injection problem so there nothing he could do. So I continued to push my van until I couldn't push it anymore then a man (unknown name) came out his house and I asked if i could borrow his phone. So I called my dad and I told him what happened. We left the van at the mans house because he offered the help. Again we took the van to get it repaired and surprisingly it works better than the first time we took it; for now of course.

So it went from a simple oil leak repair to all these random repairs that shouldn't have been there in the first place because the van passed smog. Everything was great and these "mechanics" decided to mess it up just to take more money out of us. Another thing my dad also took his car to get it repaired because his front bearing were damaged. The manager ** stated the left axle had a bolt that was broken so they replaced it. Then the mechanics decided to replace the right axle to be on the safe side with my dads approval.

When they fixed the axles my dad took the car home but as he was driving, the axles were making noises and my dad complained about the noise and ** said it was ok. But it was not ok because the mechanics told my dad not to drive it on the freeway a couple days later when my dad already drove it on the freeway, due to the fact his job is 20 minutes away on the freeway. Their careless behavior could have cause an accident and people would have been injured or killed.

They normally close at 6:00 p.m., but had to stay until about 6:45 to finish the repair. You better believe I'll not only be going back to them again, I'm telling everyone I know about how wonderful they were. Even the gal at the counter engaged me in a conversation, and made it clear it was no problem for them to stay later (they open at 7:00 a.m., but are there early). What a pleasant experience. I can't remember a car repair being so pleasant! Thank you for being human.

When I went to the Manager ** he was very unprofessional and refused to take responsibility for his employee’s actions. He told me the employee was coming down to speak to me about the incident but he arrived and never even looked at me. He did a test drive of my car because I told them that the air bag sensor light was also staying on since the damage to the column, but a scan of the system showed it was not related to the damage to the column. Then I was told that we were through take my car and leave and his last words to me is I hope you did not call corporate headquarters.

I have never been treated so poorly as today and if I could have stopped payment I would have, but the transaction had already cleared my account. (NOTE) I do not have a scanner to post a copy of the receipt. I am not the only person that has had problems with this store. Something needs to be done about this.

UPDATED ON 09/27/2015: I filed a complaint with my bank for the charges and they fought for my rights as a consumer and I am pleased to report that Meineke after 3 months refunded all of my money totaling 550.00. I took my car to another shop and they repaired the steering column lock that was broken for 250.00. I will never use Meineke again and I advise anybody considering it not to. None of their mechanics are ASE certified and it is clear that they are only after your money and not the best interest for your automobile. I am one of the lucky ones. I had just purchased my car 3 months before and the dealership provided an accurate record of service and vehicle condition proving my account of fraud and damage.

I then called the general manager and he was rude and claimed he was not there, so he does not know what happened therefore he cannot do anything to help. He was arrogant and dismissive and seemed like your stereotypical corrupt mechanic. After living in this country for 15 years, this is the absolute worst treatment I have gotten from an auto mechanic and I suggest that no one provide business to the Meineke brand. That is all we are to them, not people but floating dollar signs.

They left old parts under the hood!!!!! I brought my truck in to have the intake gaskets changed, and at that time I was told that I was missing the heat shields from the plug wires. This was at a different shop, of course. I pulled out the old plug wire and was shown the heat shield that was still attached to that one. I then went back to Meineke and spoke with Henry, the owner. He was very nice when he was taking my $550.00 on the 4th, but a week and a half later, when he was confronted with the issues of not only leaving the old plug wire in there, but not putting my heat shields back on the wires, he was straight up rude. I was calm and collected, polite, but he was rude. He accused me of lying and saying that he didn't believe that the plug wire I had in my hand was even from my truck. He refused to even apologize for the plug wire being left in a hazardous position under the hood of my truck!

I asked for either my old heat shields back, or new ones, and he laughed at me and said that I voided the warranty of something. I am not asking for warranty work, you took accessories off my vehicle, did not put them back, and threw them away, and now I am left having to buy new ones. Worst customer service EVER. Worse than Microsoft, and I had to make countless calls to them with an issue. At least they did not accuse me of lying. I will NEVER go there, and I will make it my mission to tell everyone who will listen why.

I still have unresolved vibrations that they said looked fine. But didn't the defective tire look fine when they balanced it? They replaced all my brake pads and rotors. Because they don't resurface them per the owner. I uploaded to yelp. Photos that showed my brakes were fine just 3k miles before their assessment. I went to Toyota after Meineke worked on my tires and they said it was unusual to replace all the pads and rotors the first time and that the rotors can be resurfaced at least once. The owner's a "nice" guy. But so aren't used car dealers?

After much debate, he agreed to replace the motor with a partially rebuilt used motor of a smaller size. We agreed to the compromise and finally we were notified in the middle of January that our vehicle was repaired. We were also presented with a bill for additional work replacing the motor in excess of $700 dollar. Mind you, this is for replacing a motor that they ruined and supposedly warrantied.

We refused to pay labor but compromised on the parts required to install the motor, which I believe was more than reasonable and not at all our obligation. Again, we picked up the vehicle and again it was not repaired. At this time, the gauges would not work and there was a water leak. After speaking to the manager again he told us that the gauge issue was a simple fix that would take about three hours when we dropped the vehicle off that morning at 9:00 am. At 5:00 pm when we went back to retrieve the vehicle that same day, the manager informed us that unfortunately the repair was beyond their level of expertise and that they had no one there that could make this repair.

I then attempted to contact the owner but to no avail. I proceeded to contact the Meineke Corporate office and they attempted to mediate on our behalf. To make a long story shorter, Corporate finally told me that they could not force a franchise to complete the repair and that in the wording of the warranty statement, it specified that the warranty work was at the store's discretion. In closing, the store choose to refund us the $200 spent on the parts used replacing the motor and refused any further repairs on this vehicle. PLEASE BEWARE of allowing this store to work on your vehicle and carefully examine any warranty statements. I am totally disappointed. I thought Meineke was more reputable than this.

At 10:30 pm I was picked up for a friend, after waiting almost for 4 hours in a cold weather NOBODY CAME!! TO MAKE IT WORSE they gave silly excuses: the first time they said that the truck they send got mechanical problems in the road and they will hire another truck (the driver never called to let me know that he had mechanical problems), the second car said that in 30 minutes will be in the place to tow my car. After an hour nobody showed up. I called 18773703753 to report it. Again they use another silly excuse: they said that the police stopped his car.

I had a police officer in front of me and I asked more information to verify it, and then suddenly they said that the police didn't stop them but the Office of Regulations. I asked them again "tell me more about it maybe the police officer could help us" but they refuse to keep talking (I believe something was not right there). Andy said that they will call me but until 10:30 pm nobody called.

At that time I was picked up for a friend and I had to leave the car. I was exposed to cold weather for 4 hours and I feel bad with pain in my legs for the cold. I want to make an official report and let you know if something happen to the car or my health situation it will be at your fault. I trusted in your company because I thought that you had good reputation. I changed my mind about it and I will place reviews to alert people about probable scams and fraud with "The Car Care Club" that I would call "The Big Scam Club"

There was 2 mechanics present, of which both gave 2 different stories as to what had happened and how much oil had ran out of my engine. I refused and called in reinforcement because I could see I was going to get mistreated. I called the owner and informed him of the situation and agreed to leave my Suburban with them and return later that day to go over it with him. He agreed then that my engine was ruined.

I gave proof of the age and mileage of my engine but the owner decided that it was suitable to replace mine with a used one with 30,000 more miles on it. I did not like the sound of it but was told by the owner that it was my best option at that time because of the year of my vehicle. The owner said they would do the work there in their shop. I did not know it was going to be many months later before my Suburban was returned to me. In the process, one of the mechanics working in that Meineke informed me that the transmission/transfer case was dropped while it was being moved, but the owner never acknowledged or disagreed this happened.

I kept a running log of my visits and calls to Meineke. The engine that was purchased to replace mine was no good and it took them over 3 months to figure this out. I checked in frequently on my vehicle and to my dismay, it wasn't getting fixed in a timely manner and the workers at Meineke seemed put out by me coming into and calling. Keep in mind that the owner did not make any contact with me through this process. After 3 months I called a complaint line for this company but after over a 20 minute hold, was informed that all they could do was call that Meineke and voice concern.

All this time I was also paying out of my own pocket to rent a vehicle to drive. I was told that the Meineke was finishing up my engine at that time. A month later I still did not have my Suburban back. Finally on November 3, 2014, almost 6 months to the date, a worker from Meineke called me to come get my car. I went to get it and the driver's window was down and wouldn't roll up, the vehicle smelled like an automobile wrecking yard, it had a solid coat of dust covering everything inside of it, and it didn't sound good. I asked the mechanic and he did not feel any of this was their problem.

So in a cold winter storm I had to drive my Suburban home without a driver's window and to my dismay, the transmission wasn't shifting and the engine sounded horrible. I called Meineke and they finally agreed to have their neighboring business, a transmission shop, look at it. That shop had it for 3 days and the mechanic's and owner there said that the transmission needed adjusted and that Meineke should not have messed with my transmission and my engine was not running on all cylinders. They also stated that NONE OF THEM had ever gone over and looked at my Suburban even though I was told they had.

I recorded every word of the conversations. I had a friend that is a certified GM mechanic look at my Suburban and he too said that my engine was not running on all cylinders. I notified the mechanic from Meineke of this and he texted from his personal cell about this. I informed him of the situation and NEVER heard another word from anyone from Meineke. I sent emails to their corporate and received a voice mail later from the mechanic that had texted me stating that he understood I was trying to reach them. That wasn't what I had said. I said it was time a certified mechanic took over and that Meineke needed to make it right with me because I was paying over $400 a month to rent a vehicle, and continue to do so to-date.

As of January 10, 2015 I still do not have my Suburban back in the condition it was in on May 5th 2014 when I took it in for a routine oil change. It leaves puddles everywhere it's parked and Meineke has made no effort to make it right. I installed a recording application on my cell a couple months into this because the mechanics would tell me one thing and my friends that were trying to help me something else. I have written affidavits from people about the condition of my Suburban before this happened. I have all the recordings, voice mails, & texts. I have pictures of the puddles my Suburban has left since it was returned to me. The rebuilt engine leaks more oil than my original engine did and I now have a leak somewhere around my transmission/transfer case. I went in with a small oil leak on the front of my block and now have a vehicle that leaves large puddles every where it's parked.

I am severely deflated in how this company treated a single mother and basically left her stranded without a car. I understand that my suburban was not brand new when THEY broke it, but would expect a reputable company to care more about their work and do more to make it right. I do not have a receipt for this as for no one from this Meineke ever offered one. I'm beside myself with how I was treated throughout this situation and overwhelmed with the rental payment. At this point in time I do not believe that Meineke is capable of fixing this engine and believe it's time a certified mechanic took over. It's time someone cared enough to make it right.

I am a disabled single mother taking care of two children, and at Christmas this could not have come at a worse time. I called Meineke headquarters who "investigated" and had a girl call me back who was highly unprofessional. She informed me they would not help me resolve the case or get my money back. I informed her of my current situation (being a single mother of two children, one who is 10 months old) and she answered by hanging up the phone on me! I tried to call back and the offices were closed for the day. Dealing with Meineke has been disastrous to me, my finances and my family. If this is a risk you wish to take, then Meineke is the car repair shop for you.

The tech took her back to show her the oil that was all over the engine. It was covered in oil - splattered up on the underside of the hood (right above the oil cap) and all over the manifold. She didn't think about it at the time, but the oil was fresh - definitely not oil that had been running through an engine for three months. The engine looked fairly clean except for the fresh oil. There was no dirt and grime that would have certainly accumulated and attached itself to the oil if there had been an oil leak happening for a period of time. Since it was fresh, the oil had to have already been changed at this point. Furthermore, the car was in the garage for about 10-15 minutes before the tech came to speak with her - sufficient time to change the oil, but too much time to not have already noticed the mess of oil that was all over.

The tech explained that the car was going to need about $500 worth of repairs. My wife immediately called me worried about the cost. I asked her to have them finish the oil change, but hold off on the repairs while I called my automotive friend at the car lot where we bought the car. My friend asked if we would bring the car by so he could look at it.

My wife drove the 15 miles from Meineke to the car lot. After looking at the car, he immediately told her that with as much oil as it was losing, that she would end up on the side of the road if she tried to take it home. He said that there is no way anyone could drive the car much more than a day without ending up on the side of the road. But that wasn't all he said. Because of the pattern of oil on the top of the car above the oil cap and all over the top of the manifold, our automotive friend said, "I'm 100% certain that the car was started with the oil cap off." He explained that if it was just the manifold leaking, there is no way the oil would seep "up" to the top of the manifold and to the hood of the car.

The next day, after he replaced the valve cover set, he explained that he didn't like to accuse people of shoddy work, but this looked very suspicious. The valve cover gasket was split in half in a way that does not happen from normal usage. It almost looked as if someone had taken a screwdriver and wedged it up against it. He suggested that a possible scenario was that a rookie technician mistakenly left the cap off, started the car, and, in an effort to cover his mistake, wedged a screwdriver into the valve cover gasket.

That last bit is quite speculative. But what is not speculative is that my car was working fine before I took it to Meineke, and it was not after I left. There is no way we could have been driving around with that bad of a leak, and for three months up to that point, no one has been under the hood of that car except for Meineke. Ironically, if the Meineke technician had come to my wife and told her, "I'm sorry. We made a mistake and we need to keep your car for a bit longer to fix it. Don't worry about the cost - we made the mistake, it's on us..." I would probably be a Meineke customer for life. But don't expect to see me at Meineke after this.

None of the work they said I needed did not need to be done but only brake pads.. The owner’s daughter also damaged my Dually fender which is going to cost $800 dollars to repair. The truck was taken to the shop that the owner’s daughter contacted... Well the owner of the Meineke shop will only pay 400.. for a 800 dollar job at a reputable shop.

About 30 minutes later, Harold showed me a small leak (displayed in some green colored dye) on the front of the condenser. About 25 minutes after that he walked to the front counter, and told me that my vehicle was ready. After I paid the $170.52, the mechanic drove my vehicle to the front of the shop. As I was about to drive away, Harold was standing at the Shop front door staring. I asked him, what’s the problem? Or does he have something to tell me? And he said “no, you're good to go”. I rolled up my windows and turned on my A/C. But it was still blowing hot air. I let the A/C run for about 5-6 minutes while I was driving back to work and it was still blowing hot air.

I immediately called the Auto Shop on my mobile phone. Harold answered, and I told him that my A/C was still blowing hot air. His response, “oh, the mechanic said that the fluid just ran out and the A/C would not charge”. My response was, “I am not expecting to get nothing for free, but why would you let me pay for work without informing me of the situation? And why didn't the mechanic inform me; while I was sitting in the lobby for nearly an hour, before I left the Shop?” Harold said, when I return Saturday September 13, 2014, and we will settle up.

When I arrived, Harold asked me how I was doing. I told him, that I was Blessed, but very disappointed about this whole customer service experience! I reiterated about Wednesday September 10, 2014. Furthermore, I told Harold that it was illegal and dishonest for him to withhold that vital information. That way I could have made an intelligent and informed decision. He said that the EVACUATE AND RECHARGE AC SYSTEM W/ FREON was a diagnostic. I told him that wasn't in our written legal original agreement or discussion. Furthermore, a diagnostic doesn't cost $170.52 at any Auto Shop or the Auto Dealerships. Therefore, I would have paid more than just $170.52 for services; that were supposed to be performed. More importantly, why would the mechanic waste his time pouring coolant into the condenser; with a so-called unfixable large hole in the system? Which is the same thing as pouring a $170.52; through a bucket with a hole at the bottom?

My time and money is too precious to throw away. God’s laws of physics shows any mechanic from a simple observation; if parts are damaged beyond repair or patching up? Harold then asked why I was so upset, when he said that he would accommodate me when I returned. (Note: I had the same professional attitude, from the previous visit). He was attempting to evade the potential legal issues at hand. However, my response to him was, “you withheld important information and changed your story. Furthermore, I've never had any Auto Shop; over the past 20 years, pull something underhanded and dishonest like this”. And to add injury to insult, Harold acted like nothing was wrong and everything was OK.

I don’t believe that his mechanic attempted to put any coolant in the Condenser all. The mechanic was standing around into garage, with his son and his friend. And I did not see any device, hooked up to my vehicle. Point blank Harold Dunham Jr, Owner tried to rip me off! And thought that I was too stupid; to see what kind of business scams they are running here. More importantly, I told him that he had a Legal obligation in agreement with Meineke’s Customer Service policies, the Better Business Bureau, and the Laws of the Land on business practices and regulations: to conduct himself accordingly.

Next, he asked me for my debit card and my last name. After I signed off on the Refund process, he handed me my receipt. As I was about to make a final statement, Harold Dunham Jr, Owner said, “I don't give a **!” I told him that I was going to report him, to the Meineke Corporation and the Better Business Bureau. Harold Dunham Jr, Owner said “You're not my customer anymore; GET THE ** OUT of my Store!!!" Right then, I should have called the Police and file a report for verbal assault. However, my very last reply, JESUS IS LORD AND GOD HEARS AND SEES EVERYTHING. For It Is Written in Matthew Chapter 12: 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

On Friday September 5 of that same week I stopped and got gas and check the oil - that is when I noticed only one of the 2 heater hoses were replaced. I calmly return to Meineke and spoke with **. ** said bring the truck in tomorrow and we will take care of it and make it right. On Saturday, September 6 Meineke had finished replacing the 3rd hose. They called me and told me they are only going to charge me $69. This brings the total bill for a simple replacement of 2 heater hoses and one upper radiator hose to $339, and required 2 trips.

Monday, September 8, 1st day out on the road for this service truck. Half an hour into the drive I notice my temperature gauge is higher than it's ever been before. I pull over and let the engine cool, then checked the water level in the radiator. It required approximately 1 1/3 gallons of antifreeze to bring it up to factory specifications. The old manager named ** was a straight up guy to whom my colleagues have had good service - that is why I went there in the 1st place. I did not know that management had been changed to this "**" fellow whom my colleagues and I have had no experience dealing with. If you are considering taking your vehicle to the Meineke located at 1702 SW. Roxbury St in Seattle, if ** is the manager I strongly recommend you go somewhere else. ** is a heavy set older guy wearing dumpy street clothes and sporting tattoos. If you do take your vehicle to ** make sure you read the invoice carefully, make sure what you ask to be done got done. ** manipulates the invoice knowing that most customers don't thoroughly examine it to cover his butt.

They gave me a price and then told me the warranty would be 3 years or 36,000 miles, which in the end he said 12,000 miles or one year, another bait and switch. The price he gave me was much lower than what I was ultimately charged. The resolution after contacting Meineke corporate office by ** was to give me a $300.00 credit against future labor. **, who manages the store said that I needed to replace my rocking pinion steering and so I told him the next time the car is in we would get that done. He told me the cost would be between $300.00 and $400.00 for the parts and that the labor would be covered.

The current situation is that I had begun noticing some issues with the transmission and he said the linkage needed to be adjusted so that was done. I told him that it still felt like it was dropping into gear instead of smoothly shifting. They looked at it again before I took a trip to San Diego and I was assured that it was in perfect shape and nothing to worry about. I continued to have concerns.

Last week when I went to back out of a parking space there was nothing. I couldn't back out and I couldn't go forward. I got ** on the Phone and he suggested trying it in different gears. I was able to get the vehicle moving and took it directly to his shop. He determined it was the transmission. He assured me that there would be no cost to get this repaired. There was a phone call regarding the bell housing and he said that a new would cost a few hundred dollars but that he told them to weld the current one so there would be no charge. I asked him if that was a good idea, he stated that the weld would make it even stronger than it was before.

So during this time I had to rent a car for 5 days ($272.00) which I told him somebody would need to pay for as it was related to the failure of the product he had put in my car. I was assured the car was ready and turned in my rental car to only get a call after doing that the car was not ready because the steering issue had not been corrected.

When I arrived I was presented with a $300.00 bill for the bell housing and a $600.00 bill for the steering a $70.00 bill for a front end alignment. The alignment by the way which he agreed to refund pulls to the right and there is now significant vibration in the front end when I drive at 60MPH or above. To say the least I was upset. ** had left and he was called on the phone and he initially refused to talk to me. I was between a rock and a hard place. Had already turned the rental car in, paid 40.00 for a cab ride and now couldn’t take the car unless I paid cash for the bill presented. I was told this because they were afraid that I would contest it with the Credit Card Company and stop payment.

** finally called back. He agreed to dispute the $300.00 bell housing bill and would give me cash for it since I had paid cash. He said it would be easier to do that than to adjust the bill by cancelling the transaction and just doing it for the other portion of the bill. So I said all right that I would come back and they could finish working on the steering. He also stated that he would just have the store dispute the charge for the bell housing and just not pay it as there's plenty of places that they could take their business.

When I showed up yesterday to finish all of this, I saw ** and suggested that we talk outside not in front of other customers as I did not want to have a negative impact on potential customers.. He declined and when I proceeded to ask for the money and resolution to the steering issue he told me “you’re getting nothing.” I asked about why the steering was worse than when I brought it in, he said “well you need a power steering pump.” I asked “well didn’t you check for that before you did this other work,” and he said no. That it was my fault because I didn’t get it fixed when the transmission was originally done.

Clearly this is not an isolated issue for me. Each time I have had to deal with ** is has been a disaster. I am looking for the following: Reimbursement for the Bell Housing bill of which they were charged $275.00 and I was charged $300.00. Reimbursement for the car rental $272.00. Reimbursement of $300.00 from the original agreement. Reimbursement of $70.00 for the front end alignment.

I am prepared to do what is necessary to resolve this matter based on the promises that were given to me by **. In closing, for fourteen years ** took care of me, never had an issue. Sent a lot of business your way. Since ** has been involved it has been a disaster. I would like to get this behind me and will take my business over to ** at one of your other locations in Phoenix.

I went to the shop that did the work and the Manager/Owner said he could do nothing for me since I had another mechanic touch the car and he had no control. I told him I would contact Corporate and he said good luck. Upon contacting Corporate they said that the shop was independently owned and they could not help me. I told them what the shop said and she said that was not true - so basically the shop lied to me and Corporate did not care. VERY disappointed. I am attaching a picture of the part that my mechanic took out that Meineke had put in less than 3 months prior and less than 3,500 miles used on this part.

The recent incident is worse and it resulted in me driving my car out of there with an oil leak which I didn't have when I drove in. They replaced parts as routine maintenance for the age of my car and didn't do it right. He then tried to say that I drove in with a leak and put that on the invoice and wanted me to pay again for the part they ruined, another part on top of that and labor, about 3 hrs. worth. I paid for the messed up work in order to have my car released to me. So, now I'm going to be out of pocket around $700 because I don't trust a word he says and have to go elsewhere. He verbally apologized for the inconvenience but wouldn't admit that he and his mechanic messed up and didn't put it on the invoice. If you have money to burn this would be the place.

Details: I had a 14-pass. van towed to this business on 7/16/14 after it would not start. Over the next 2 1/2 days, they replaced the water pump and radiator and installed a start/stop switch to bypass the ignition, saying the ignition wiring was bad. After I paid $3,123.30 for the repairs and loaded my tour group of kids into the van to start the trip back to Knoxville, TN on 7/18/14, we drove only 40 minutes when the serpentine belt flew off. I located a repair shop close by and was able to baby the van to that shop. They said the water pump froze up and failed because it had been installed improperly, the new radiator was too small for this vehicle, and that Meineke had outrageously overcharged for parts and service. They installed a new water pump - total charge of $607.93 and included a statement on the invoice advising that the required work was totally the fault of Meineke for their faulty work.

After I got my van of kids back safely to Knoxville, I contacted the Meineke manager and complained about his work and the price, saying I want to get the 2nd repair bill paid because it was caused by Meineke's shoddy work. After I send him a copy of the 2nd repair shop invoice and gave him the phone number of that shop, he insisted that I had to send the faulty water pump to him to inspect and that he didn't believe the information from the other mechanic. He said the warranty information on the back of the paid invoice required me to call him - I told him I certainly would not take the vehicle back to his shop even if I had some way of getting it there while I was finding some way to lodge/feed my van full of kids because of his shop's shoddy work.

I contacted Meineke Corporate "Customer Service" but the person there was completely unhelpful, advising that she is only a "mediator" with no say over what the local franchise does. As of 8/13/14, the shop manager is still insisting that I must send the water pump to him to examine to see if it was defective. I told him I would not do so since I am sure his examination would miraculously show that the water pump that caused the serpentine belt to jump off was perfect. I have filed a Better Business Bureau complaint against this business but don't expect to get any satisfaction there, either, based on a prior experience with them doing nothing.

I took my mother's vehicle into Econo Lube because we had used this location before for not passing smog only to find it had changed ownership to Meineke Car Care Center 100 W Chapman Ave Placentia, CA 92870. I was told that the car would need a tune up and it would pass smog NO PROBLEM. There are 3 areas on a smog check which of two were passing upon agreement to service. Once I picked up the car I was told the EGR valve was cleaned along with the tune-up. There was also fuel injector cleaner added in that is not normally done during a tune-up. I went to drive the car to warm it up for the smog check, it would not even run pass the signal getting out of the place.

I returned immediately to which they took the car in and spent a couple hours investigating. I was told that the coil was bad so I ordered one online and had it put in. The coil did not work properly and was affecting electrical in the car. The bottom plate was replaced by the old part and the electrical works most of the time. The vehicle was taken to the smog facility to retest and did not pass. I took the car on my own to another garage for a Catalytic converter and took it to the smog center to be retested. The area of the smog check that I took the car in for initially now passed, however the two areas of passing before the tune-up and additional parts were not passing. I went back again to the garage and was told it needed an O2 sensor. Once again back to get a smog check and it did not pass, but the two sections had now become a gross polluter. The total spent on this car was 705.00 way beyond what should be.

I spoke to the head guy ** one more time and he stated emphatically that they could have done nothing wrong except that they should have given me all the costs upfront to make a decision from instead of being pieced together costing more and more money.

The last trip in was stated that the head gasket may be bad and that the cylinder #3 was bad as well. Not being able to diagnose this problem to start and costing enough money that could have been a down payment on another car is just wrong. Get all your numbers upfront before agreement to any repairs. Hopefully my credit card dispute will ease some of the sting.

I had no ac in my van. It blew warm air so I walked in to Meineke service center in Turnersville N.J. to ask a question on pricing. Manager PETER ** came to the counter. I explained my situation and asked if there was a price he could tell me. I had a very important event to attend and would have a full van up to and including my 80+year old mother. He said, “just give me the keys we will check it out.” Surprised, “I said oh... I just wanted to ask about pricing. I don’t need an appointment?” Well, he replies, “I will hook it up to the machine, inspect it then let you know what is wrong with it. I can do it right now and don’t worry it’s free.” I then let him inspect it.

An hour or so went by. Manager Peter ** came back and said he inspected the ac unit, seals, pressure and so on and the good news was that it only needs coolant and I was in luck cuz there was a special no charge for the diagnostics and they usually charge a higher price but this is the price for today. He will put the coolant in some kind of sealant just in case there is any tiny leaks and some dye that would show if that were the case. Based on his description and diagnostic tests that I felt confident Meineke was a trusted car care center and authorized the work.

Manager Peter ** went back with my van again. I sat there as some time passes. Peter returns. Stating, “Yah that's what it was, your ac unit was 'really thirsty'." I paid believing in Peter and Meineke. I got in my van the ac was running. I put my hand to the van - it felt cool. I pulled out, drove about a minute down the road and it started getting warm then hot. I called Peter. He said, “Bring it back the next day. It’s probably nothing.” Having 5 young children that I care for I returned the following day around 11:00 a.m. I was once again greeted by Manager Peter **. He says, "I needed you here early in the morning.” I said I have 5 children I care for and this was the earliest could get there and he never said a time during our phone call not to mention the time I spent there the day before. Peter ** snapped, "Well I have 7 kids and I’m here at 5 a.m.,” took my keys and left.

Again I sat there for a number of hours with a 7 year old special needs child. Finally he came back and informed me that when the coolant was put in, it leaked out the same spot that it went in this type of thing happens all the time. I questioned him about the dye, he said there was no dye visible but assured me that he had repeated the process and this time it would be fine and not to worry about any fee because of my inconvenience. Once again I put my hand by the vent it wasn’t cool but it was cold. Peter stated that it was 32*C. I said it didn’t feel like that but Ok maybe I’m wrong. Once again trusting Meineke Car Care and its management Peter ** I pulled out and went one traffic light or two, parked the car and went into a store.

When I came out INCREDIBLY NO COLD AIR! I went back TO Meineke Car Care Center and as per all my visits Manager Peter ** greeted me. I told him the air wasn’t working and he said, “just drive it, you may have a block and the engine is overheating and the ac is doing its job and shutting down!” Terrified! OMG! Is it safe to drive? "Oh yes," he assured me, “it will clear itself and call me tomorrow.” I reminded him about the upcoming event and he assured me all would be fine.

The next day there was NO AIR. I called the center I was told to return. I again went back to Meineke. This time Peter was off even though Mr. ** clearly stated that he would be there the day before. After hours of sitting there the mechanic came out and said it was the rear ac seals (something like that) and would now cost me an additional $300.00. More to the point Peter never tested the Ac unit, pressure and that he had not properly inspected my vehicle. That he had no explanation as to why the manager did what he did or said what he said but had he properly checked he would have saw it was not just the coolant. I asked for a refund and I was denied he stated I would pay that anyway. I said I would not have authorized a $500.00 repair to begin with nor would I have put coolant in a defective unit. I was turned away and handed a business card that put me directly back to Manager Peter **!!!!!

Meineke car center Management robbed me! I believe the management did unnecessary repairs to my van and did so by deceiving me and now refuses to return my money. No one answers the 800# nor do they return calls........Just to let you know my important event we were all sweating!

I told my wife about it and she said it would be best to go back to the Meineke to have them check it. About 200 ft. before the Meineke there was a red light. I stopped and the car began to violently shake and the "tapping" sound quickly became a "loud knocking" sound. I pulled in and spoke to ** and told him what was going on. He went to pull her car into one of the bays and the car died out. He asked a few of the mechanics there to help him push the car into the bay so he could inspect it.

Once on the lift, he called my wife and I into the shop area and told us that they had installed a "defective" oil filter and that her engine was blown! My wife became extremely upset and began to take an asthma attack and I had to try my best to calm her down because she did not have her inhaler on her. ** told me to tell her that they will "do the right thing" and replace her engine free of charge. My wife and I insisted that at the very least, they must install a "rebuilt" engine with a warranty. He said he was not sure if he could do that.

Once we went back to our apartment, my wife called Meineke Corporate and told them what had happened and demanded that they install a "rebuilt" engine with a warranty. She spoke to a CSR by the name of Ellias. He said that her request was extremely reasonable and that he would contact the Woodbury Meineke and tell him to honor the request. Ellias called my wife back and told her they would install a "rebuilt" engine with a warranty.

About 2 weeks later, the Woodbury Meineke called us and said that her car was ready. Once there, we spoke to someone named ** and he said that he personally took care of everything and had ordered a "rebuilt" engine from a company called ITC. He said that if we had any problems whatsoever, to take her car back to Meineke and her would personally take care of it. About 5 days later, the "Check Engine" light came on again.

We took it back to Meineke and ** said that he would take a look at it. He called us up and said that there was just a simple "communication" problem between the catalytic converter and the engine and all he had to do was "reset the soft light" and everything would be fine. He asked if he could keep the car for a few days to test drive it to make sure that the "Check Engine" light would not come back on and that everything else was okay. My wife agreed and we picked her car up 3 days later.

Everything seemed fine with the car...at first. 3 weeks afterwards; on my wife's birthday no less; the "Check Engine" light went off again. We took it back to the Woodbury Meineke to find out that they now have a new owner, new management, and all new mechanics. No one that was working there now was there when we had taken the car for the initial oil change or when we brought the car back after the "rebuilt" engine was installed.

The new manager ** had no idea what we had gone through, but we explained everything to him. He said he would inspect the car to see what the problem was. He called my wife and told her that she would need a new catalytic converter. My wife and I were sure that the "rebuilt" engine had something to do with the catalytic converter going bad.

My wife called Meineke Corporate and asked to speak to Ellias. She was told that Ellias no longer works there and spoke to an extremely rude CSR that would not let my wife explain anything or get a word in edgewise. My wife told the CSR everything that had happened to her car and that she was sure that the "rebuilt" engine was the cause of the catalytic converter going bad. The CSR told my wife that her warranty was only on her engine and that there was no way that would have made the catalytic converter go bad.

My wife had became extremely frustrated with this CSR and told her that we would contact a lawyer. The CSR told my wife that if she did that, she would "erase all records of all of her phone calls and complaints!" The next day, ** the new manager of the Woodbury Meineke; called my wife. He said he wanted to try to find out any information he could about the "rebuilt" engine that was installed. He told my wife that it was not a "rebuilt" engine. He said that it was a "used engine from a junkyard"!!

My wife and I have gone through so much since the economy went down the drain. We both lost our jobs, we lost our home, and have gone through bankruptcy. I am back to work now, but my wife is still unemployed and needed her car to look for a job because I cannot afford everything. We are in an apartment now and are falling back further and further in debt. We don't know what to do now. We cannot afford a lawyer unless we can find a pro-bono lawyer or possibly a lawyer that would handle our case on a contingency basis and add all of their charges and fees to the total amount my wife and I are seeking.

We gave Meineke one shot to "do the right thing" and they did not and lied to us! The only way I can see them doing "the right thing" at this point in time would be to cut my wife a check for the entire amount that she has paid to Toyota. I have heard that the best we could hope for would be "Blue Book" value, but we will not be able to get a car as reliable as hers was with that value. Besides, none of this would have ever happened if they just recognized the defective oil filter BEFORE they put it on. Are there any lawyers that would be willing to take on this case as described earlier? Either by pro-bono or on a contingency basis? Someone... anyone?

I saw him exhibit this behavior more than once with other customers on the phone while waiting for hours for work on my car, then redo incompetent work. WHAT HAPPENED - ** has a female working in the shop who apparently should be sweeping floors and used as a go-for rather than work on anyone's car. After 4-1/2 hours to get tune-up and flush, left at 6:10 p.m. car jerked, and attempted to stall for the 8 mile drive home - they were closed so I couldn't turn around. Went back next day another mechanic spent over an hour correcting her mistakes (but apparently not all).

Two days later I find huge oil leak on my garage floor. Go back to find out that gasket had been pinched and broken so oil was leaking all over engine and ground. Lost 1/2 day of working waiting for this to be repaired. ** was to order hose that female broke and has played games - 1st he couldn't find part (I found it at dealer and gave him both name of dealer and phone number - cost $27.00). He said he didn't have TIME to order until later in day. Week goes by I call, what about hose, now ** tells me that wrong hose came in had to reorder, but that I was welcome to order, pay and pick up hose for them - something I offered in 1st round to get work done and move on. Told him no I wasn't going to do that because the manager had said he didn't want me to do that because he had to handle all sorts of paperwork.

Two weeks later I call and talk to ** - no he doesn't have hose again claiming doesn't know where to get it. I told him I already gave him name of dealer and phone number. He now states it was his understanding from ** that I was going to order and pay and pick it up. At that point I told him no, that is not what was discussed and I no longer had patience for his incompetence. At that point he said conversation was over and hung up.

I am going to file complaint with Better Business Bureau as well as post VERY NEGATIVE REVIEWS OF YOUR MANAGER, YOUR DEFECTIVE WORKMANSHIP, YOUR INEFFECTIVE SHOP IN GILBERT. You have wasted my time, money and most likely caused damage to my engine (I am also considering filing a lawsuit against Meineke) which I will seek replacement of a new engine since your shop's quality of workmanship is defective and suspect. Unlike a professional business that wants to rectify legitimate complaints and speak with customer - your manager, ** lies and denies - doesn't accept responsibility for his work or lack of it. Wouldn't trust them to take out the garbage. Apparently he is more interested in ONE TIME SERVICE and NOT REPEAT CUSTOMERS which is he was a competent manager know is needed if the business is to survive and grow.

HE HAS VERY LITTLE BUSINESS COMING THROUGH THE DOOR THAT I SAW WHILE SPENDING HOURS WAITING. Must be why he thinks it is better to agitate a customer even further having performed incompetent work over a $27.00 hose which could have been taken care of in 3-5 days (time for dealer to get part). He said dealer would deliver part to him. Ooops, did I say he said he had contact with dealer (add sarcasm). He is competent because instead of mechanics working on new car repairs, they had to REDO the incompetent work performed on my car. Time is money. He neither appreciates customers or repeat business, nor knows how to manage efficiently and effectively his mechanics, therefore making money for the shop. Again he is not qualified for the position he holds. No ethics, not competent.

I went to pick up my car and went across the street to Old Time Pottery, went to turn off my car and noticed that my ABS light was on, then my battery light came on. So I went right back across the street to Meineke, by the time I got there the engine light came on. So , they look at it again and say my alternator is bad, but don't know why the engine light came on. They tell tell me to go to AutoZone and have it scanned there because my car isn't communicating with their scanner but that the alternator needs to be replaced. So I go to AutoZone and go to turn the car on so it can be scanned and the car turns on for about 3 seconds then makes a clicking sound and turns off. It did this about ten times. Had to call my husband to pick me up, then I called Bill to tell him this, he hung up on me.

This is when I called the Meineke customer service. I try to turn the car on again to see if it will start and it stayed on with me pushing on the gas pedal (the guy at Auto Zone can attest to this) so I go back to Meineke with my husband following me to make sure I make it there. So, when I get there they look at the car again and scan the car (it works this time) and nothing is coming up, the engine and ABS lights are off but the battery light is still on. So I figured, okay I will just have someone look to see what's going on with the car at home.

When I drive off the Meineke parking lot and get to the light at county line, my car starts to overheat so I call Bill and he says to just bring it back so he can take a look at it so it stayed there yet another night. This morning I get a call from David telling me that he personally looked at my car and doesn't feel like anything foul was done to it and that him and his guys are honest people and would do anything to tamper with anyone's car and that the issues I'm having could happen to anyone. At this point Meineke has my car and it is. I was informed by David that my car is not drivable at this point until the alternator is replaced to see what else is going on with car. According to David I am being offered a great deal to have the alternator replaced at $356 ($219 for a remanufactured alternator, a new one at AutoZone was $119).

The only things that the car had prior to taking it to Meineke was SRS light being on, which has been on since 2006 when I got it (no one can tell me why it's on....including Meineke), the A/C not working and the inside heater blowing hot and cold air on and off and I turn it on on cold days. Nothing has ever leaked, the ABS light, the battery light, the overheating has NEVER happened!!! No problems with the car running what so ever!!!... And I find it to be too much of a coincidence that it all started within an hour of picking up my car. I don't know if it's because I'm Hispanic and a female to boot that they think they can screw me over. While I was in there two other guys where in there concerning issues they had with services performed by Meineke.

They replaced the water pump and they suggested two hoses. This cost another $378. The car two days later started leaking coolant from near the hose. It turned out the plastic on the radiator was cracked right at the hose connection. The radiator was replaced 18 months ago and was fine. The plastic doesn't corrode, it cracks when forced! The hose was not the same as the factory and had to bend over the battery. Art refused to replace the radiator as it was not his fault. He said it must have overheated - it did not. He charged for a new rad and labor. This cost $368. This same shop also charged $249 to replace the rocker cover gasket as that was the source of the oil leak.

When I returned and said the oil leak was not better, they said it was the oil filter gasket. This was replaced. They also said the head gasket was leaking oil and this would be another $1023. So they diagnosed the cooling problem wrong and the oil leak problem wrong but wanted to keep charging for more items. Finding an oil leak is very easy and you add dye to the oil and it shows up a day or two later. But there is no money in that. Stay as far away from this location as possible.

I asked for corporate number and he started giving me crap that even if you make an appt., that doesn't mean you will be taken in on time. "Like a doctor's office, do you get called in at your scheduled appt time?" If it were 20 or 30min, fine but at least an hour and a half later, before my car will be taken in is ridiculous. As I was leaving, he ridiculed me about calling corporate, not once but twice said "have a nice day" as if he were trying to goat me. I assume to impress his friend whom was waiting for her oil change to be finished. I could not believe it! Wasn't my first visit but definitely my last!

We went back to dealer and told them and they ran a print off showing the battery was bad and to go back to Meineke with info. Went back to Meineke and this time they tested it right away and said it was bad. The man at Meineke said there was nothing he could do as they no longer handled AC Delco batteries. After calling him a liar and a cheat, he said he wasn't and to prove he was an honest person, he said he knew he sold it to us but still wouldn't do anything as he didn't have Delco batteries. The original battery costs $114.99, but with all their add ons, it cost him $147.53. The buyer of this battery is in the mid 80's and he got ripped off. We called around and found Delco dealers but they couldn't help us as we didn't buy from them and it's the dealer that warranties it, not Delco. They wanted to sell us a new one.

We shopped around and found a good buy for a new battery at Costco. We told him the problem as they don't sell Delco but he called Meineke Corp Office and talked to a lady and she said that if the customer had problems, he should call himself. We have been calling for two days and nobody answers and after about 10 rings, you get an answering machine saying leave name and number, someone would call us. That was two days ago. We did and nothing (no calls back). We still keep calling.

I called, Art answered. I told him I was canceling because of rude customer service. He started yelling over me saying he's not rude. I said, "Talking over me and yelling is also rude." He hung up on me as I was talking and trying to get his full name. He would not give me his full name. After he hung up on me, I called right back and once again talked over everything I was saying so I could not get a word in. Kept repeating myself with the question of what is your full name, he hung up on me again. So this will be posted on Twitter, Facebook, Yelp and the BBB. Thanks.

I park my car facing out everywhere I go so it gives me the opportunity to look at my car. I check my car over everyday no matter where I am. He told me that he had to speak to the owner and would get back to me the next day. As the day went on I didn't hear from Chris, eventually I called him around 1:45p because I felt like he would not call me as he stated he would. He stated that his boss, Jerry Morton, told him there is nothing they can do because how do they know that I didn't cause the damage when I left the property. I told him I went next door to the car wash, which is the next building over and that's when I noticed the damage. I came back over within 4 minutes of me leaving Meineke parking lot. He told me he was sorry that he checked over everything in the shop and there no burgundy paint on anything in the shop. He again stated there is no way that the damage occurred in the shop. I stated my car isn't burgundy but Rondo Red; furthermore my car is not a piece of crap car, it's a 2006 Acura TL that I take excellent care of. And I know for a fact that scratch was not there when I dropped my car off because I parked it face out and looked at it as I walked toward their building.

I let him know I will never come back to Meineke and that I am a Store Manager of a very large optical company. I will tell all my family, friends, coworkers, and customers about this incident. I also stated that I would file a complaint and bring a lawsuit if I have to. I also called the owner of Meineke Car Care, Jerry Morton on 08/06/13. I left a message for him to return my call and to this day he has not done so. I have wrote a review on what happened to my vehicle to the BBB and now Consumer Affairs. They are accepting zero accountability for the damage to my vehicle and I will not stop until this is satisfied to my liking. SN: I park my car in my garage every day and night to prevent birds droppings from causing to damage my paint. My car is my pride and joy. I have a 05' GMC Envoy XL that I've had since 07' and it's in excellent condition. It's also parked in my garage when I am not driving it.

On 07/13/13 I took my truck in for replacement of a "lifetime warranty" muffler installed by this shop less than a year ago, which had gotten progressively noisier in the past few months. Because it would be awhile before they could get it in the shop, I left it and was to be called once in the shop and examined and hopefully, the requested work done. Received a call from CSR (Garrett?) who informed me that the muffler was not covered by warranty because the damage was done by an engine backfire, to which I responded - as the only driver - that there had never been a backfire. Then I was told it had to have been a "silent backfire," which I've never heard of. In addition, the mechanic(s) had done a "23-point courtesy inspection" (always done to find more work and $$$ for the shop) and found several needed items: 1) Serpentine belt needed replacement (which I already knew and had purchased a non-OEM belt to install myself); 2) Oil / filter need changing (which I knew and usually do myself); and 3) Fuel-injection system badly needed cleaning.

The background noise was loud and the CSR sped through the above telecon, so I could hardly hear and have time to digest... but I agreed to have the work done even though I could do most of it myself, but felt the charges would not be significant since the truck was already in the shop. Little did I know, but subsequently learned or confirmed (all prices before tax): 1) Cost of the muffler work totaled $251.48 L/M @ Meineke vs. $75.00 L/M for a first-time install of lifetime warranty at an "exhaust-system" only shop; 2) There is no such thing as a "silent backfire" per local muffler shop and Dodge dealer's shop, and a backfire is always very noisy... just as I thought; 3) Cost of after-market serpentine belt was $111.90 vs. one I already had at $42.99 from local chain-auto store vs. $65.00 for OEM belt at local Dodge dealership; 4) Unrequested "23-point courtesy check" cost $7.00 but is always free at private shops and dealerships; 5) Labor cost by the "shade-tree" mechanics is $95.00/hr. vs. $90.00/hr. for professionally trained at local Dodge dealership.

Had I known of the Meineke's corruptness I would have chosen different avenues for any auto work: 1) Made a first-time purchase of a "lifetime warranty" muffler from one of several "exhaust-system" only shops at $75.00 L/M vs. $251.48 L/M at Meineke; 2) Installed the serpentine belt myself at $42.99 M vs. $159.40 M at Meineke; 3) Had the local Dodge dealership install a Dodge/Mopar OEM serpentine belt at $110.00 L/M vs. $159.40 L/M at Meineke; 4) Gotten a free "23-point courtesy" inspection at the Dodge dealership vs. $7.00 at Meineke; 5) Had the oil / filter changed at the local Dodge dealership at $34.00 L/M vs. $28.95 at Meineke; 6) Avoided the $29.99 "shop supplies"; and 7 ) Avoided any "imaginary fuel injection system" clean-out at $79.95 at Meineke, where the air-filter cover over the carburetor had not been touched, thus no fuel-system work performed.

Bottom Line: Having all the work done via 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7 above would have cost $219.00 at a local muffler shop and Dodge dealership vs. $543.27 (2.5x) at Meineke, for a savings of $324.27 (Note: all prices before tax). Conclusion: Avoid all Meineke Car Care Center shops and save yourself lots of money, not to mention avoiding all the anguish. In subsequently asking around re: Meineke's reputation, I have yet to find a satisfied customer.

Unfortunately, the truck was not ready when he said it would be. As we're waiting to get on the road on standby, he kept it one more night without even notifying us! We were upset, but we were just happy the truck was almost ready! Mind you, we are waiting for our truck. We sold our refrigerator, washer, stove; all of our furniture is in that truck, and sleeping on a ton of blankets over some hardwood floors. :/ So we get the truck the next day, pack up the blankets and head to the gas station to fill it up and it won't take gas. So my husband has that taken care of and we decided to leave the next day. We packed up our blankets for the second time and the truck is on the expressway and loses power, just like what it was doing before we took it Mario at Meineke! I'm so upset... It's Sunday, so we have to wait until the morning to call corporate, and another day without his very ill father that we will never get back. :( I've been looking over the receipt and it doesn't even show that he did the work he promised to do... I'm hoping that I'm wrong about this guy. He better hope because I will be going to the news next!

I left with my daughter, who had followed me there, for lunch and returned at approx. 1:00. My car didn't look like it had been moved. I went in and was advised that they hadn't gotten to my vehicle. I asked if since they hadn't honored my appointment time, if I could now get the $19.95 basic oil change and was told no. I asked for my keys and left the premises. While driving back to work, I was extremely frustrated as my vehicle needed an oil change so I turned around and went back into Meineke. I asked him how long it would take to get my oil changed and he advised me that he didn't want to service my vehicle. I have to assume that since I voiced my opinion regarding his policies that he refused to service my vehicle. How childish is this?

Now the second inspection station has to involve the state police because Meineke's rejection is called into question and the police will have to rule on the matter. By the way, the Meineke manager ran a credit check on me without asking, which I am told, is illegal. He told me my credit was good for $2,500 and they could finance the cost of repairs. I was given a schedule of financing costs by the manager. This was based on my giving my name and telephone number. I am a woman and 68 years old.

I kindly asked him to explain to me why the bill was so high. He stated that they did a diagnostic test, $89. (She did not request that, she asked them to check her battery.) He also said that it needed a new battery and had bad cable corrosion, and that it had an issue with the fuel injection. I questioned him as to why that was all so necessary when the issue was obvious. They never took the time to ask her what the symptoms were. We hung up and he turned on her, yelled at her for putting me on the phone. I had been polite the entire time I questioned their actions. He proceeded to yell at her three other times during the course of an hour while waiting. Other customers looked on. Needless to say, she was quite embarrassed by his belligerent words. You could not be more unprofessional in any service related business. We will never go back there again and continue to tell this story to others. Do yourself a favor and never ever go to this Meineke. A battery at Wal-Mart (if it even needs one) across the street is half the cost with the same warranty and they won't charge extra to clean the cables.

As soon as my husband drove it off the lot, the car had the same problems, if not worse. We took the car back to them and they explained we needed to pump the air out of the clutch (keep in mind, the car wasn't running; this was not air in the clutch as we have had our clutch replaced before). The service manager explained he would look it over but it was "just the air in the clutch." Five days later, they called and told us it was the master cylinder, and it needed to be replaced. Fine. Add another $300 to the repairs, just get our car working! On the 6th day, my husband went to pick up our car and it was worse than it was when we took it to them originally. He refused to pay for the car until it was fixed.

Long story short, our car broke down within 2 hours of having our car back and we had to tow it to a transmission shop. We were told because the clutch was put in wrong, it is possible our transmission will need to be replaced! My suggestion to anyone that needs their vehicle worked on, please google Meineke and read the review prior to taking your car there. Also, we have requested to speak with the owner or General Manager on several occasions. They refuse to allow us to speak with either of them. Why?

Please consumers, be careful and do your research prior to taking your car to any Meineke. When I searched for the phone number to Meineke's Corporate office, I had the misfortune of reading the bad reviews. Of course, this was after we took our car there.

Ten months went by and the muffler just fell off from under the car while I was driving and the muffler took a lot of superficial damage. My dad called them the next day and they said to take it in the day after in the morning. I took it in only for them to tell me that the manager was the only one who can validate the warranty and he wasn't there due to his "busy schedule.” Apparently, he was moving between 3 shops or something. So there was no point in me leaving it there if nothing could be done about it. The only technician that was there (or at least from what I could see) couldn't even speak a lick of English and the girl behind the desk talked to him in Spanish for me. They said they would call me when the manager came in and they never did.

I called them back the same day and they told me he only came in to drop off paperwork and then left. Neither of the two girls at the desk even called me or even told him about my car. So I called the other location at DeZavala looking for him and he said he would meet me the next day at 10 am. Next day came around and not only is he not there, but he is apparently at home "conducting business from there" according to what the girl behind the front desk said. She was "doing business" with him over the phone and told him about my car, apparently. She told me he was going to come in later in the day, but she said, "I don’t know what time he is going to come in." (Gee, sounds like one hell of a responsible manager). So she would call me "again" to let me know when he arrives. Needless to say, that never happened. Ever since then, they haven't made an effort to contact me about the warranty.

I'm also wondering how such a terrible weld got past the manager to begin with. It looks as if someone was shooting at it and missed the target location over and over again. There is also a good-sized gap in the weld and it looks like they stopped halfway on the weld in one of the areas. College is going on right now, so I don't have the luxury of making a huge situation about this at the store, but I am definitely going to make sure I can inform as many people as I can about this place. I will also provide some images as well. I will try to make complaints to as many places as I can in order to give this shop the reputation that it deserves.

I was met by a man, who appeared to have his butt welded to his chair. He asked me what I needed although I didn't get the feeling that he really cared. I told him, "I need my pads replaced and rotors turned. I would do it myself but I can't get to my tools" which is a guy code for "I know how this works, I know what I need so don't waste my time by playing with me." He said, I can do that for $199.99 (so much for that 10% off coupon for any service over $200 that I downloaded). I pointed to the price board, where the basic service was listed at $129 and asked where he got the $200 figure from. He said, "It's our pricing." I said, "That answer isn't very informative. Please indulge me, your posted pricing suggests otherwise."

Still sitting in his chair, "It's for ceramic pads and my labor." I told him I was anxious to see what his labor looked like since he couldn't even stand up to talk to a customer. I told him I didn't want ceramic pads. He said, "That's what requires the vehicle." I asked him if he was telling me that OEM for my car was ceramic pads (more guy code) and that he could not put semi metallics on it. He said again, "That's what requires the vehicle." I asked him if he was aware that I knew he was lying to me. He stood his ground, so I thanked him and left. It was apparently a slow day that day, not a single other vehicle in the shop (is it any wonder?), but I didn't feel like contributing more than my share to his day's receipts to make up for it. Never again!

After an hour and a half, my car finally entered the bay to have oil change. Their excuse is that they did not have the proper oil filter for my car. Not only is that total **, but they say it with a muggy, unconcerned tone. They must do this very often. Then they have the audacity to try and upsell me with everything they can, including stating that I need a new trimming belt. This is stated to me as I walked in without even looking at my car. These are just money hungry **. No wonder confidence is so low in America!

Depending on a person's driving habits, it is common knowledge in the industry that pads with as little as 4/32 of an inch could last up to a year. Yet, I have seen this shop tell customers they need to replace their pads. Regarding replacing rotors, I have seen them recommend replacing rotors that in my opinion don't need to be replaced. I suggest if you're ever sold a rotor, make sure you ask for the old part and let the mechanic know you plan to take the rotor to a safety inspector to be sure they are necessary. Typically, rotors aren't necessary to replace just because your pads need to be replaced. I believe that because the shop isn't making as much money doing honest brake jobs, they are selling parts that aren't necessary.

I have also witnessed the owner and manager do what I believe to be illegal safety inspections. They give safety certificates to people without looking at the car and put the cash in their pockets rather than putting the money through the shop. They have been putting unsafe cars that don't meet minimum safety requirements on the road to drive next to you or your children.

In my opinion, because the store owner is so limited in his mechanical knowledge, many repairs go misdiagnosed costing the customer more money or worse, jeopardizing their safety and those on the road with them. I have personally witnessed mistakes such as leaving steering couplers loose, which is a mistake that could kill someone, happen. If you need an inexpensive exhaust repair, I would completely recommend them. But any exhaust part that needs to be replaced should be compared to another shop like your local tire store, etc. No doubt there will be no savings for the customer going through Meineke. It's also important to note that they increase the cost of any part they buy for the customer by as much as 300%.

After I began to speak out about the extensive misconduct of the mechanics and manager and owner of the shop, the work environment became hostile and I was eventually ousted on bad terms. I felt I had to report them to the local state trooper and hopefully they will never be able to do a safety inspection again. Also, be aware that the Better Business Bureau gives them a D minus rating as of August 2012 on a scale of A to F. I wonder if corporate gets paid for bogus inspections or all the work is done under the table?

Luckily, I was not on one of those roads when it happened. I drove my kids down here for their summer break right after I looked for the part the mechanic told me about. If the steering had locked up on one of those roads, all 4 of us would have been killed. Yeah, I'm mad and this was also the time they refused to honor my lifetime warranty on my pads because of my driving habits. I called their corporate office to complain but they could care less.

I got there today and no part, he forgot to order it. When I first arrived, he was on the phone. Then 40 minutes later, I saw the part being delivered. Nobody had spoken to me yet. Then, he fixed the car and that's when he spoke to me telling me it would be after 2 hrs. He was not professional at all, the service was terrible and he was on his phone a lot. I want somebody to tell him that this not the way to treat your customers. It is unacceptable. I want somebody to call me and let know what kind of warning you're going to give. They don't do a good job in the first place, then they act like it's your fault or something. Thank you to whoever is going to receive this.

I called back to this location, 303-797-0938, and spoke to **. I told him that I had just done the replacement in my condition and with simple two step instructions from online. I asked the hourly shop rate, he told me it is $95/hour. I then asked the cost of parts, he said his price is at least $100 and that his shop's markup price is 300%. Wow. I told him I thought it was unethical and he said that he was in business and had insurance and overhead, so that is the price that any shop would charge. I find that hard to believe since I just fixed it for her with a wrench and 20 minutes of my time, and that is the going rate today? I wanted to share my experience. Please look around and find a certified shop. I can't imagine that everyone marks up their parts prices by 300%. I would highly discourage anyone from using this shop. I think that Meinekes are independently owned, so maybe this is just a dishonest and unethical one. I have no other experience with other ones, but due to this experience, I will never go to one nor ever refer anyone.

We will never go back there until that guy is out or if there is another one close by that is what I wanted to also not to be able to go to. I never had a problem when the other manager was there. He was very nice. So I would appreciate something from your company or the only place I will go is to another place down the street that treats us nice. Customers are not supposed to be treated like crap or be yelled at for any reasons. It is disgusting and I can't believe I haven't heard back from anyone from Meineke. This not a very good business sense.

First he asked me for my credit card before they could order the parts and I agreed. Then I waited more than a week while my steering became more difficult. I called them and then they finally ordered the parts. They installed the new struts and the wheel hub and Mike told me that my car could steer a bit rough until "the struts break in". Struts do not break in, I later found out. The car continued to drive very badly and I was terrified, so I called them and drove the car back in. Mike took it for a drive. I have no idea what he did or didn't do, but once again I was told to let the struts break in. Within that week, the car became so difficult to steer that I was afraid I was going to have an accident.

While out driving and on that particular day, knowing that I would not get any help from Meineke, I drove it into another mechanic who had serviced my car in the past. He diagnosed the problem immediately as being my rack and pinion steering mechanism and told me that I was in serious danger if I drove my car back home, that the rack and pinion was about to snap. They drove me home, fixed my car and it was fine. Meineke has refused to refund my money and has told numerous lies regarding the case. Even though I had my credit card company reverse the charges, they put them back on after Meineke lied profusely. I have gone through my local Consumer Affairs, Meineke corporate and Better Business with no satisfaction. I also filed a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission but that was months ago and I have not had a reply. I believe that they did other repairs to get over a thousand dollars worth of repair money out of me, so that I'd have to come back later for the rack and pinion, which put my life in danger and didn't solve the original problem of severe steering incapacity in the first place.

I made a complaint at the Meineke Corporate Offices, and they dismissed me by saying they weren't there when I purchased the muffler. So they don't know what deal I made. There was no deal! I went in to buy a Meineke muffler. This company doesn't care about their customers nor their brand name. Please boycott them and tell everyone.

During the process of removing and replacing the plug (according to my mechanic who provided me a ride to Glendale to pick up my car), the mechanic(s) in Glendale had utilized an inappropriate instrument to prop up the hood. The instrument ended up almost poking all the way through my hood. The hood is now left damaged with buckling in a large area surrounding where the instrument almost entirely punctured through the hood.

I have spent the better part of a year trying to get the right help about this matter, but haven't been able to. The climate/weather will eventually cause rust to eat through the hood; therefore, I want the hood to be replaced, not repaired, since there is no guarantee that any repair will permanently take care of the problem. I hope someone can help me. Thank you in advance.

About four weeks ago, my parents titled us a 2000 Dodge Grand Caravan minivan they hardly ever drove because my car was old and becoming too expensive to maintain and purchasing something else was not in the budget for us. First off, those reading need to know that though my dad is not a mechanic, he is very good with cars, can do most anything car-related himself and takes meticulous care of his vehicles inside and out. Before titling it to us, my dad put new tires on the van, rotated them, and fixed a couple of other minor issues. Needless to say, the van was in excellent shape when we received it from him. The only thing he forgot to do was change the oil and when we got the van, he told me it was due for an oil change pretty much right away. So I scheduled one with Meineke in Franklin, which is where I've gotten my oil changed since we moved here three years ago.

On the appointment day, my wife and I both happened to be off work, so we dropped off the van for the oil change and left to run some errands in our other vehicle. We had just pulled out of Meineke from dropping the van off when we realized we had forgotten my son's stroller in the back of the van, so we turned right back around to go get it. They already had the van jacked up, but lowered it so my wife could get the stroller. I did not hear the conversation between her and the mechanic as I had to remain in our other vehicle with my son. But when she got back to me, she told me the mechanic had told her there were several problems with the back brakes, including a serious brake fluid leak, which I found odd knowing my dad's meticulousness in taking care of his vehicles—he never would have let us drive that van if the back brakes were as bad as the Meineke guy said. There is also no possible way, in my opinion or my dad's, that they could have deteriorated that quickly between the time we got the van and the oil change appointment day (a duration of about three weeks). Finally, there were no indications of any trouble with the brakes at all: no grinding, squeaking or crunching and the brake fluid light did not come on.

A couple of hours later, **, who I believe is the manager at that location, contacted me to say my oil change was done and to detail the supposed problems with the rear brakes. He then quoted me a price of just over $400 for the brake repairs he thought were necessary. I told him I would be by to get the van in an hour or so and that I needed to make a couple of phone calls before I came by. He then proceeded to tell me he did not think the van was safely drivable with the rear brakes in that condition. I immediately called my dad and he told me he'd had the rear tires and brake drums off about a week before giving the van to us and had checked the rotors, pads, calipers, etc., and that everything looked fine. He told me to forgo the repairs, that the van was fine as long as none of the indicator lights were on and the brakes weren't making any noise. He said to drive the van the next time we came to his place so he could look at it. I did not have the repairs done and still have not. And there are still no indications that there are any impending problems with the rear brakes.

Though I cannot prove anything, I believe the people at Meineke Franklin were trying to take advantage of me and get me to pay money for a repair I did not need. I am not particularly knowledgeable when it comes to car maintenance/repair and I made the mistake of telling them that once, so they might have thought they could capitalize on my ignorance. My question is if they honestly claim these problems with my rear brakes exist, why did they ignore obvious facts to the contrary (no brake fluid warning light on, no noise from the brakes, etc.)? I wouldn't trust Meineke for anything more than a basic oil change.

At this time, I was at the location for two hours and was quoted that it would take 45 minutes max to do the job. The manager of the company saw how upset I was and said he'd go himself to get the new part for the car to replace the broken part they just installed. He stated 15 minutes and came back 40 minutes later. He brings the box and they opened it. He, the manager of the shop, bought the wrong part. So now, I'm sitting there three way hours with two of them being late for work, on a 45 minute job, paying $305 on a $124 job. I am fuming so I called my job and my mother because now they can't find the correct part for my car which is still up in the air without any brakes by the way.

My mother leaves work and comes to where I am to give me her car and find out what is going on. Before she reaches, they tell me they found a new/ correct part and it's on its way to the shop. I asked about compensation for my time and frustration and the manager stated to me, "It's not about the money really." I was so pissed at that comment because I am three hours late for work where I make the money to pay two times that was quoted to fix the brakes. He starts talking about the car and I just walk off. My mother comes and goes to him and he starts to get rude with her. Mind you, three hours in and I still haven't received as much as an apology. The shop owner first told my mother I have an older car and the parts are hard to find. I drive a 2003 Toyota Camry. Then he said it was due to the weather. It was drizzling but not hard that we needed an umbrella to be outside. Then he said it was the fault of the person who packed the part in the box. He refused to take any responsibility or even to say, "I'm sorry this has happened to you."

So the part finally arrives and they put it on the car. I have now been at the shop for four hours. The shop owner takes the car for a test drive and it comes back smoking on the wheel where the brake and rotor was repaired. I asked him why is it smoking and he says, "I pressed hard on the brake to make sure it was working." He proceeded to back the car into a parking space, turn it off, leave the key in the engine and walk away. On his way back into the shop, he says, "There is your car." By this time, a few waiting customers caught wind of the story and came outside. One customer's husband was a mechanic and she called him to see if the wheel was really supposed to smoke. He confirmed that if they replaced the rotor then yes because they should have oiled it. So why wasn't the wheel smoking the first time they claimed to have fixed the part?

My mother goes to the shop owner and again asked him for some form of compensation because I was there from 12:30 pm and this was now after 5 pm. I was now 3+ hours late for work. He told my mother in front of all the customers and I quote "Please leave and never come back. We did our job and we are not giving any of the money back," and he walks into the back of the shop. I proceed to leave and google the number to their corporate office. I called them the next day, as they were closed that day, and made a formal complaint. They took all my info and I told them this exact story. They apologized and said they would call the shop and call me back. The next day, they called me back and said they spoke with the shop owner Juan and he said unfortunately he will not be refunding any of my money. The lady on the phone said, "I'm sorry. Have a nice day."

I have since called her back and left her a VM stating that shouldn't the cooperate office (which she was at) intervene? Isn't it their responsibility to do something? They can give me some of my money back. I have yet to receive a response from her. I have made everyone within ears reach know never to do business with Meineke again, corporate or otherwise. I will continue to file complaints against them until they understand customer service. In the beginning, I was willing to pay the $305 for the one hour job. Had it been done right the first time, I would have had no problem because my brakes were that bad. But four hours later and what my mother and had to go through, $75 an hour isn't worth it for me. By the way, I am a female.

When I received my bill, my total bill is $53.94. They made me purchase an oil filter, even though it should have been included in the price of the oil change for an additional $16.99. They didn't even tell me about the oil filter fee until after it was installed. They also charged me a $3.00 oil disposal fee, even though NYS mandates that auto shops accept used oil for recycling at no charge. I would like to further point out that another customer had a coupon in his hand, which the store clerk gladly accepted from him.

On January 17, 2009 at 8am, I took my car to Meineke Car Care Center, #1440 (15510 E Mill Plain Blvd Vancouver, WA) for my 90, 000- mile service. I was told when I dropped my car off that they would need to keep it for the majority of the day, to which I told them would be fine. I left my phone and cell phone numbers with them, so that they could call me when they were ready for me to pick it up.

Just before 5pm, I asked my husband to take me over to the shop, as I had not heard from anyone and was getting concerned. When we arrived, as I was walking towards the shop entrance, the mechanic came walking toward me and said that he had tried to call me. I asked him what number he had tried calling me at, because I had not received any calls from them. The mechanic then said, "We have an issue." I asked him if it was an issue that I did or something that they did. He told me that he's not sure.

We continued walking into the shop where my car was at with the hood opened. The mechanic told me that he has been there for 5 years and has never had anything like this happen. He proceeded to tell me that he had performed the service and that everything had checked out great. He said that he took my car for a test drive after the service (Remember this; it will be important later in my story.) and upon returning to the shop, he left the car running for a minute and then all of a sudden, he heard this loud bang. So he ran over to my car to see what was going on. He said he turned my car off and looked around to see if he could figure out what happened. He then showed me what seems to be metal shavings in an oil content in the engine compartment.

I told the mechanic that I have never had any problems with my car. I kept outstanding records of all of the services I had done on my car and followed my owner's manual from the first day I bought my car (brand-new) and that it was running just fine when I dropped it off. He then said, "Yeah, I know. It ran well while I drove it too."

He then told me that he cannot allow me to take my car because of them not knowing what was wrong with it. He said with the next day being a Sunday and Monday being a holiday, he wouldn't probably get a whole lot done on it until Tuesday morning. I inquire about a rental car, and he said that sometimes they do offer one but that I would need to talk to the owner and manager of the shop.

I would like to point out that while we were there and the mechanic was talking about the car, he was smoking and swearing inside the bay area. He did not came across professional at all. It seemed like this was the "norm" for them.

When I left the shop, I was sick to my stomach. Upon arriving home, I got online and do a search for Meineke Car Care Center and a ton of complaints came up, which made me feel even worse. There was one story very similar to mine, except the guy had just taken his car in for a new thermostat and water pump, and they broke his timing belt as well. $8,000 later for the repairs (which I don't know who paid), but the guy did say not to take your car to any Meineke Car Care Centers. This is just one of the many complaints/stories on the internet.

Tuesday afternoon came, and I have not heard from anybody. When my husband got home from work, I sent him down to Meineke to see if they know anything on my car yet. He spoke to the manager who told him that he has been trying to get in touch with the mechanic all day and has not been able to do so. At that point, they still don't know what was wrong with my car.

My husband called me and told me what the manager has said to him. I told my husband to go back into the shop and asked for the owner's name and number. My husband called me back with the general manager's number. I called him and left a message and asked for him to call me. Wednesday morning came around, and I still have not received a call from the GM or the shop. I call the GM again around 9am and left another message, stating that if I don't hear from somebody by 11am, I am going to seek legal counsel. At 10:30am, the manager of the shop called me and said they know what happened to my car.

He proceeded to tell me that the timing belt broke and my engine is ruined. He then told me that I should have replaced the timing belt at 60, 000 miles. I told him no and that it is supposed to be replaced at 100, 000 miles according to my owner's manual. He said that he called Mitsubishi in Milwaukee and spoke to a Scott in service (which I later found out upon taking my car there that there is nobody by the name of Scott who works there and they had no record of Meineke calling them).

He told me that he has gone ahead and gotten a quote for me on a new engine as well as a used engine. He said that the used one has around 60, 000 miles on it but that he can't be exactly sure how good of an engine it is because of not knowing how hard it was ran. He said that a new engine will be approximately $10, 000 and the used one would be $3, 000. By this time, I was in tears; and all I can think of was how I was going to pay for this. I told him that I need to make some calls and that I would let him know what I would be doing as soon as I can.

I placed a call to the owner at Louie Lube on Mill Plain, as he has done some work for me in the past on my car. (Louie Lube actually did my 60, 000-mile service, and the owner remembered the owner's manual as well stating to change the timing belt at 100, 000 miles.) I explained to him what happened and asked his opinion as to what I should do. He suggested that I have it towed to another shop over off Fourth Plain to have it looked at.

I called that shop and spoke to the owner. He said that he could look at my car but could not guarantee if he could pin-point what they had done over at Meineke. This was critical for me because Meineke was refusing to admit fault. I then called Mitsubishi in Milwaukee and spoke to Jerry whom I had spoken with earlier when I called to ask about the replacement of the timing belt. (Jerry also confirmed that for the year and model of my car, the timing belt would need to be changed at 100, 000 miles.) Jerry told me that if I can have my car towed to Mitsubishi, he would be able to see what Meineke had done and that he could make a precise analysis for me to give to my insurance company.

I called my insurance company to get a tow truck to meet me at Meineke. I called Meineke to let them know that I was going to have my car towed to Mitsubishi and that I would see them shortly. When I arrived at Meineke, I went inside to gather my owner's manual and a discount card that I had purchased for $69.99 from a marketing company that was selling them on behalf of Meineke. The card allowed you so many oil changes for free, discount on labor, and many other services at a discount. The owner's manual and an estimate on a used engine were given to me, but the discount card was not given back to me (not that I was ever planning on coming back to Meineke anyway).

I also wondered if they were going to charge me for the service they had done, as I was not going to say anything. Ryan (the manager) didn't say a word, and I thought that he must know that since they messed up my car it would be hard for them to charge me for the 90, 000-mile service. I then proceeded to the shop area and saw that my car was up in the air. The tow truck driver arrived and told me that my insurance company had authorized the first $75 but that I would be responsible for the other $75. The total charge to tow my car from Vancouver to Milwaukee was $150.

Once my car was on the ground, the tow truck driver looked in my engine compartment and asked the mechanic where my engine was. The mechanic points to a work bench where there were yellow plastic bags. They had dismantled a majority of my engine without my consent verbally or written, and then they put it in bags. I now believe that this was done in an effort to conceal what they had done to damage my car. The tow truck driver places the bags that contained my engine in the trunk of my car. Before I left, the mechanic came over to me and asked if I would call him as soon as I hear from Mitsubishi on what they found with my car because he was just so baffled on what could have happened.

My car arrived at Mitsubishi at around 4:40pm later that day. Jerry (from Mitsubishi) called me and said he cannot believe the condition of my car with the engine literally in bags in the trunk. He said that he was going to take pictures of how the car came in. He said that due to it being so late, he probably wouldn't get a whole lot done until the next day.

At 11:15am the next day, Jerry called and said that he was 100% convinced that Meineke was responsible for the damage. According to him, he said that the timing belt would have easily gone until at least 100, 000 miles and maybe even more. It was obvious that they had done stuff to cover up their tracks. That is why so much of the engine was torn apart.

I had a report as well as a statement from Mitsubishi that confirms their findings. Jerry informed me that all of the fluids, spark plugs, etc. (basically everything that had been on my car when I took it to Meineke and the service they had done) had been removed. This would explain why they did not charge me for the service to begin with. They even drained all of the fluids, etc. from my car! Meineke did not tell me this when I was there to retrieve my car. Jerry said that I have an excellent case, and if he was me, he would get an attorney.

I contacted my insurance company to see if my policy even covered anything like this. They said it would but that I would be responsible for the deductible and some other expenses that pertained to the service that was originally done but then undone. My insurance company covered me for a rental care for one month and then I was on my own to find other transportation. I had made 3 car payments for a car that I didn't have. I was without my car for more than 2 months. It was a very stressful situation and was a huge inconvenience. I missed some work during that time as well due to having no transportation.

Mitsubishi took pictures when my car was brought in as well as the damage that they uncovered while going through the car. I have had no contact with Meineke since I had my car towed. Mitsubishi discovered that while having my car in the shop at Meineke, a mechanic dropped a washer into a cylinder causing the timing belt to break.

I decided to sue Meineke for all of the costs associated with my car as well as rental reimbursement, missed work, etc. On July 14, 2009, Meineke failed to appear in court. So the judge awarded me the entire amount of the claim on default ($3, 873.33). The judge let me know that Meineke has 30 days to either pay me or to challenge the decision by the judge.

On day 30, I got a notice that Meineke was challenging the decision. So it's back to court once again. On September 9, 2009, I was back in court. This time, the owner of Meineke as well as the mechanic who worked on my car appeared to dispute the charges. Because the judge has a few cases in front of us, he asked us to step outside of the court room to try and settle this and see if we can come to some resolution and we both agree. I had brought my mechanic from Mitsubishi along with me, so the four of us step out of the court room to discuss things.

My mechanic from Mitsubishi proceeded to tell the owner of Meineke exactly what happened to my car. Neither the owner nor the mechanic from Meineke disagreed with what the mechanic from Mitsubishi was saying. The owner then proceeded to tell me that he doesn't know how this was going to get resolved because he has no money. We then went back into the court room.

When it was our turn, my mechanic and I spoke first as to the details of the case. Then the judge listened to what the owner and mechanic from Meineke had to say. The owner from Meineke said that he had just learned of the issue with my car a few days ago. His mechanic then said he did do a test drive, yet it was discovered that my odometer never changed from the time it was originally dropped off to Meineke to when I had it towed to Mitsubishi. There was no way my car was driven after the washer was dropped into the cylinder, as the timing belt broke immediately, causing my bar to be un-driveable. The owner announced that he filed bankruptcy, so he didn't know how I wouldl get my money.

The judge reviewed the amount that I was asking for and started deleting some of the amounts such as time lost from work, etc. In the end, I won again and was awarded $2,719.

The judgment was to be paid in 30 days. I never saw my money, so I decided to do a Writ of Garnishment. Again, that was ignored. I contacted several collection agencies in an attempt to get my money again; nothing. Not knowing what to do next, I called the corporate office which I had originally done when I first got the news of my car. Wouldn't you know that they would have nothing on file of me originally calling?

The person I spoke to said that they would not be able to help me and that I should have called them first when the problem originally surfaced. I said that I had but was told that because these stores are franchised, I had to deal with the store directly. I then found the rep who is the Franchise Development Specialist for the NW. At first, he seemed concerned and very apologetic for the runaround that I had been through. But he came back with an email stating simply "Joni, it is out of my hands. Sorry."

Bottom line, don't take your car to Meineke Car Care Center if you don't want your car to be returned to you in pieces with an "I don't give a damn about you" attitude.

The motor is shot. It would take at least $4500.00 to get it running again. My car is only worth about $3000. I contacted the owner and he stated that they did not do anything and didn't offer anything. He actually told me to let him know what happens to my car. Now, I was told buy some people that he does like to rip his customers off. I'm at a lost of what to do now. I need a car ASAP!

At first, I thought to myself that this individual received a better service than I had. The clerk never explained any service options to me. About 45 minutes later, the clerk called the individual to the desk and proceeded to do the check-out process. I did not say a word, but felt as if I have just been discriminated against because of my race. Needless to say, the individual who entered the service station after me was a white female.

I am appalled that this type of behavior is still happening in the 21st century, and individuals like this clerk is still getting away with action. My money is as green and as good as the white female's money. I also noticed that the customer waiting area has a security camera and monitor. I am not sure if the security camera has a recording ability, which I hope it does, because it could be used as a training material for improving their customer service skills. Apparently, the clerk is very prejudice and should be trained on how to service all individuals no matter what his/her race.

So after they were done, I looked at the work they did. They spray painted the old water pump and charged for a new water pump! The primer paint was still wet! I said some thing to them and three techs ganged up on me, trying to intimidate me. Not only that, they did not replace the air filter! I went back on Monday and got the money back. They admitted in writing what they did and would replace the housing for free!

It's been two weeks and no call back. I really do not want them to work on the truck. They cannot be trusted! I know this is not what Meineke stands for. The truck has been going to Meineke for years. I called corporate, still no call. Please help!

In November 2011, we had the oil changed in our 1997 Buick at this same Vancouver store. Last night, my husband checked the oil in the Buick and found it to be low and very black, which confused him because the oil had been changed by Meineke less than 3,000 miles earlier.

So, we brought both cars in today and asked them to take a look at the Buick and see if something might be wrong. Not only did they not top off the oil like we've been used to at Les Schwab, Jiffy Lube or Oil Can Henry's in the past. Tom, the man at the desk, became very defensive and quite rude to me. To prove his point that the oil always looks dark when it's ready for a change, he took some oil from our Freestyle, which was just shy of 6,000 miles between oil changes, and compared it to the Buick which was about 2,500 miles since oil change. The difference was significant. The Buick's oil was black and the Freestyle just brownish.

Tom's only offer was to do an engine flush for $50 and another oil change (not free). I was surprised at how rudely he was treating me when I had not accused them of anything but was certainly concerned at to why it might be so black so soon. He did not change his demeanor when I expressed my discomfort at how rudely he was treating me.

I don't know if it's just Tom, or that Tom had a bad day, or if this is typical for this store but I will never use Meineke again in the future and will make sure to let others know about their poor customer care.

The manager made a lot of excuses blaming me for the failure. He said the main fold was warped and I refused replacement where he pointed to said imaginary deviation was opposite end where the pipe attached. It did not leak. He also promised an authorized approved factory repair. When I left Meineke that night some time after 11 pm, within a short time, smoke filled the car and the pipe fell in the road. Next morning, I attempted to call Meineke on my cell phone. No fewer than five times in four hours and no answer. When I used the neighbor's home phone, instant pick up. I was told the repairs were valid. They used Jiffy weld. I asked to speak to the owner or how I may speak to him because the manager's answers were getting more and more bizarre.

I was told it was he and only he I could speak to. Meineke home office has never returned my many calls or e mails. The CT BBB of whom they are a member has been unable to get a reply from either the franchise or home office. Attorney General of St. of CT has received an explanatory statement from the snow ever present owner so full of lies and falsehoods, it boggles common sense. Here it is over a year after that fateful morning and my car still sits in the garage with nearly $2,000 of damage estimated by a licensed facility near the Meineke in question of also whom I have absolutely no affiliation.

The next morning, I took the car in for service and my husband came by to explain exactly what service was needed and an hour and a half was the factory dealer time to change out, two bolts and one weld. The service writer and mechanic stated that, "with the converter change the O2 sensor(s) would need to be changed too." My husband said, "Ok, I know the one on the converter is about $69.00," and the service writer said, "Right" and agreed. The service writer called my husband with a, "complete total" and said "the o2 sensors and labor included, tax and all". My husband agreed after checking that one o2 sensor is $120.00 and the other is $64.00, adding $75.00 for labor making $259.00 total. Dealer should be making money at these retail prices. We picked up car and of course tax was added again. No problem, we paid the $25.00 extra and received a blanket and a quote for changing a $50 water pump for $250.00. A good deal considering the work involved.

I took the car the a few days later for inspection with Marta and the inspector said the car had not been driven enough to set a code. I drove a tank of gas out and went back only to fail inspection $9.00 more and $12.00 more for another drive out tag. I took the car back and the service writer said he only changed one O2 sensor and the failed code could be a bad spark plug (a 2003 Toyota Corolla does not use spark plugs). I left ASAP. My husband will confront when he returns to town.

Although they never removed the tires to balance, check air or rotate, I am very confident that you can not check if tires are balanced visually? When I requested a refund for the upgrade, he hung up on me. I called again and he advised me he was a business owner and was too busy to waste his time with me. I too am a business owner and was disgusted by Frank Perez and his behavior.

They brought me into the shop, showed it to me under the car and said it was dangerous. We discussed the cost and he said that the job would be $1200, but he would see if he could make it lower. I asked about allowing me to get discount parts online as I had done before with this shop for previous work. He said "no problem, we will get you parts that are as inexpensive as online". I instructed him that I would check this and he could service the vehicle only if he used parts at a price equal to that online. When I got this bill, the parts total was higher than expected. I had to take the car (and pay) but I called back in 2 days. I called 4 times the first week, but he would not return my calls. I had printouts of parts from online stores at the price I expected. I dropped by the store unannounced, twice in the next two weeks, but he was not there. I complained to the person there and he just said it was the other guy, you have to talk to him. They did not honor our agreement to use discount parts.

Is it legal to bait and switch and represent yourself as Meineke, then bill and operate as a different company within the same building and not have to fulfill Meineke warranties?

I took it back to Meineke and was informed that there is a leak. They said that the deposits, from the earlier visit, clogged the radiator. The tech who did it told me that he thought the flush they had done was good enough but it was apparent that it wasn't. I was given an estimate sheet for a new radiator and thermostat, all totaling $676.97. I am being asked to pay for replacement parts that I didn't damage. If they were damaged, they would have found it in my first visit. I wasn't even told that they had a problem flushing the radiator enough. If I had known, I could have easily gone and get more flushes done vice having to pay for another radiator. Now, I am not feeling safe driving long distances. I was advised to just take this case to The Better Business Bureau, but wanted to at least make you all aware of this first. I am not trying to scam anyone. I feel I was not treated honestly with this issue

I visited Meineke in June to have my air conditioner recharged. I dealt with the manager, Tyler, at the Poway Meineke and the day after I have my air conditioner recharged, my air compressor went out that has just been replaced 8 months prior. I spoke with Tyler immediately and he informed me that the compressor was broken and that it needed to be replaced for the AC to work. But that it would not damage my vehicle to drive it with the compressor out.

I had a warranty on the compressor at the time and Tyler was dealing with that mechanic to have a compressor sent to the Poway location so it could be replaced. He said he would pay for the compressor on the company credit card if he had to and I would have to pay $90 for labor because he felt the repairs caused the malfunction. After 2 weeks, I called Tyler and he told me that the warranty had expired during the process and I would now have to pay for a compressor. I told him I did not think I should have to pay for repairs when they caused the damage and he referred me to corporate.

I called corporate and never received a call back so I went back to Meineke weeks later to find out Tyler no longer worked there. Caleb and his team inspected my car and said that it would not do any harm to drive it with the compressor out but they could not offer the repair to me unless I paid full price. I continued to drive with no AC for about 2 months and my car would not turn on. My new mechanic told me that the belts and radiator caused the heads to blow in my engine because the compressor was not working. I had addressed this issue with the local Meineke for 3 months and no resolution. It is now costing me $1,500 to replace my engine and compressor.

I visited Meineke today and spoke with Marcus to get a printout of the services I received and asked for corporate's number. Kelly in corporate was not helpful and said she would forward a message. I have left 2 messages prior and never received a call back. I need someone to take this issue seriously as I am a single mother, a full time student, and a nanny and I need my vehicle. The money I am spending on my vehicle is the money I have to live. $1,500 may not be a lot to some, but it is a fortune to me.

The series of events at Meineke has affected me financially and has left me without a vehicle for more than a week. I really need a reply and I am asking for a full refund for the repairs I have had to get done because of this issue. I expect a refund for my invoice at the minimum.

A local shop that specializes in starters detailed the installation problems and showed me where the loose starter damaged the flywheel. I requested a refund just for the total labor only. George refused and offered a small percentage. I then called the national customer service group for Meineke/Macco/Driven Brands who could only echo the partial/unacceptable refund offer. Drive on by.

Then came the bill, brought by someone other than Sam. My pre-quoted cost was $12. My bill was $44.72 including $3.59 for the bulb. That would have been fine. But then I paid $26.70 for labor. While I had been waiting for all this, I happened to notice a few Meineke signs posted: “before you leave here if you're not satisfied, please speak with the manager first, as I may get a satisfaction survey call.” Another sign was posted: "No surprises on your bill. Nothing will be added without your approval."

Well I did speak with Sam. His response was: "No, I didn't say that. I said we can replace the bulb for you." Having been in the auto repair business myself before, I know there are a lot of shady people. If this was the case, he should have said "we can replace the bulb and will take .30 hrs. labor and the cost of the bulb is $3.59". Is that not correct? Does that not count as a surprise on my bill? First off, I do most of my minor repairs on my own. I would never have spent $30 to replace a bulb. Matter of fact, I had a spare bulb in my glove box.

Finally, Sam's resolve was: "Fine, we'll take the bulb out and fail your auto inspection." Is that good business? Would he really go through the man hours to pull the vehicle back in the garage and take the bulb out. That's childish! Over the past 3 years, I work for the largest cell phone provider in customer service. And we are ranked #1 by JD Powers over all business. I think I know good and fair customer service. It may seem petty that I take my valuable time to write this over $30. But it's the facts of this situation that count.

I asked them to just give me the diagnosis for the original EVAP code (which I had already paid for) and they said that they were unable to find a leak during the smoke test, but it "could be" the leak detection pump. Since it was Saturday at 2pm, they couldn't provide me with any further information until Tuesday. I received no paperwork providing any information about the smoke test and never heard back from Meineke, which is completely unprofessional. So two weeks later, here I was with no clearer idea of what was wrong with my vehicle - how is that a diagnosis? I called the manager, EJ, a few days later saying that at this point, I just wanted a refund for the diagnosis because two weeks after I paid the diagnostic fee, I still had no written or verbal diagnosis as to what was going on with the car. All I have is an invoice stating, "Engine Diag. Check Codes. And up to one hour of diag. to find no start/check engine".

The manager said that he could refund me over the phone, but that I would have to come in to the store for a credit card refund. And this is the reason that I am going straight to the Better Business Bureau - I came to the store like he asked, at which point he proceeded to argue with me for twenty minutes about how he felt that they diagnosed me so I didn't deserve a refund. I disagreed since I had no idea what was wrong with the car, which is what I thought was the entire point of a diagnostic, and he said that it was my fault that the car still had an issue since I did not want to move forward with the repairs. I told him that I didnt know which repairs he was referring to or even how much they would cost because I never received any additional information. He then informed me that he had a family emergency that's why he could not get back to me last week. Is there a reason that he couldn't have had someone else contact me to relay the information? I believe he dropped the ball and was trying to cover himself by blaming it on an "emergency". The manager flat out refused to refund me and then tried to bully me into having the work done there saying that the best he could offer me was a percentage off the final repair.

If he believes he had no wrongdoing, as he claimed after I came in to speak with him in person, then why would he offer me a discount? What a scam! He said that if the repair didn't fix the problem, then he would refund the diagnostic fee, which told me that he had no clue what will actually fix my car. I asked why he even told me to come into the store, again wasting my time, and he said that I called when he had four customers in the store so he couldn't talk to me. This is also unprofessional, as I don't know why he wouldn't call me back instead of bringing me in the store under the guise of offering me a refund. AutoZone read my EVAP code for free and gave me the exact same amount of information as Meineke did. I think that this location should be reprimanded for failing to follow up with customers, failing to provide a service that was paid for, and providing customers with false information (saying they will refund me when they won't).

During the weekend, I was driving up a mountain on my way home. Then, the front end started to shake and a thumping noise came from the driver side front wheel. Before I could get the car pulled over, the entire wheel rim came off our car. I almost got into a car wreck, not to mention that the tire could have hit another car. The car traveled about 60 feet roughly before I was able to safely get it stopped.

We had it towed to a local shop because Meineke was closed at that time and it was closed until the following Tuesday. Two men (one being the owner) went to the place where our car was and put on the same destroyed rim and tire. They only replaced the rotor and they did not even bother to see if anything else was wrong on the vehicle. They did not apologize and they did not even call us to tell us that they were done fixing the car. Unfortunately, the car is still not drivable and we had another mechanic look at it. Not only is it still unsafe to drive, but Meineke wants us to bring the car to them so they can look at it.

We have been in touch with a lawyer and have heeded his advice. We expect to have our car repaired (all the damage caused by faulty brake job), the price of towing, and our rental car expenses refunded to us. We have given this shop a chance to rectify the situation but to no avail. Apparently, our lives and the lives of others do not matter to your company. We want our mechanic here to fix all of the problems caused by your company's negligence. We have both missed two and a half days of work and will not take another minute off work to fix your mess without ample compensation.

The next February I decided to move up to Washington as the company I was working for had plenty of work for me. I lived there until May 2011, so I registered my truck in Washington from 2008 to 2010. Upon returning to California, I needed to register my truck, so I went to have a smog check run. To my surprise the smog station and a smog referee told me that the catalytic converter was not the right part. So, I called the Meineke in Washington and talked to Zane. I told him the story, and he told me who the manufacturer was who sold them the part. I called Maremont and talked to a representative who told me the part was for a 1994 and older vehicle. So, I was sold a completely different part.

I called Zane back and he said the only thing he could do is replace the part at his store in Vancouver. I cannot drive 700 miles to do this. So he had me go to a local Meineke, get a quote, and fax it to him. He then told me to call Meineke customer service, which I did on August 5th. I finally heard back from them nine days later. I faxed my receipt and quote to Joseph, who was the customer service rep. He told me he would make some calls and call me back later that day. Nine more days he called me, and left me a message telling me they put the right part for the state I was in, not the state my vehicle was registered in, and Zane was not going to incur any cost in replacing the part with the right one.

On April 26, 2011, I had my wheels aligned, tires balanced, and oil & oil filter changed at the 3421 West Millbrook location (Invoice 9205). Apparently, they used and charged me for a Napa 21356 filter when they were supposed to have used a Napa 21396.

On Monday, August 8th, my wife was driving our car and the filter fell off completely--running the engine out of oil and destroying the engine. I went to Meineke on the morning of the 9th to discuss it with them. The assistant manager requested that I bring the vehicle and the filter to the shop. I had the vehicle towed there and brought the filter as soon as possible (about 2.5 hours later and within 24 hours of when the incident occurred). The assistant manager determined that the wrong oil filter would be able to work on the vehicle, but it should not have stayed on as long as it did. It was not an acceptable answer. I provided them with a detailed account of what had happened by email, as well as all the necessary pictures and documentation. I am told on Thursday, August 11, that everything had been submitted to their insurance.

On the afternoon of Friday, August 12, I spoke with their insurance company and found out that Meineke is denying that they even carried the part that they used on my vehicle at the time they serviced it. This is not true and I have the evidence that they are not being honest about this. But based on what they are telling their insurance company, the insurance denies the claim.

I have been as patient and reasonable as possible about this situation and they have had the opportunity to do the right thing. But now, I am in a situation where I have to hire a lawyer to resolve this. I have never had to hire a lawyer and I have never sued anyone. But due to Meineke's negligence and dishonesty, my car is completely useless and we are stuck with a massive bill just to get it repaired (about $9,500 and will be well over $10,000 by the time the rental and legal fees are factored in).

This entire situation has consumed numerous hours of my time and caused an incredible amount of unnecessary stress. I am certainly not looking forward to the additional headaches that I am going to face before I am able to resolve it. But I absolutely refuse to let them get away with this without pursuing this as far as necessary and without letting as many people as possible know. I hope others read this before ever considering using Meineke again.

So, I decided to go up to this Meineke and explain to them the issue. Todd, then, told me, "We don't have those. We don't accept them. They are only for franchise owners." It didn't make sense to me. Then, he rudely stated, "I am the manager and I don't sell it. I don't know what to tell you!" He added that he didn't know where they even came from but I saw that he had one in his hand exactly like what I have. These should not be sold to people if they are no good from Meineke. I am not sure if I would get an oil change there because of the way I was treated. But I am sending this because I don't think it is fair that these are being sold under false pretense from Meineke representatives!

Sincerely,

Crystal **

I brought in my warranty paperwork that clearly states on the back that the struts are warranted for as long as I own my car. They said the struts were only good for 90 days, because they had made a notation on the front of my document to that effect. When I questioned the owner John, he said he would give me half off of the struts. I was not satisfied with that. And I told him that is not what the warranty indicated. He became aggravated and said he would give me the struts for free. Upon looking at my bill, he charged me for the struts. Needing my car, I paid the cost of the repair and went on my way.

I then called Meineke corporate customer service. They told me I was not warranted, because they wrote on the front of my bill "warranty = 90 days". I find this very confusing and misleading. Why would they provide a document that clearly states the struts would be replaced for as long as I own my car on one side of the paper, and on the other side limit the warranty? When I asked the customer service drone to allow me to talk to her manager or supervisor, she refused and said that nobody could help me. Meineke is a rip off. They are like professional con artists. The tactics are terrible. I will never use Meineke again. Plus, my car still has the same problem in the front suspension.

Meineke utilizes a "shade-tree" mechanic approach to diagnose concerns in order to maximize customer repairs, resulting in fraudulent price-gouging of parts and labor. Meineke fabricates phantom parts and labor cost in order to justify their invoices. Meineke did offer to make repairs under warranty, but the facts are that this vehicle has been back to Meineke twice at a cost of over $3,260 and continues to leak even more each time returned. I had absolutely no confidence that Meineke's "mechanic" could perform repairs a third time.

This complaint was based on Meineke's (1) failure to perform basic diagnostic procedures and basic repairs (2) price-gouging of parts and labor (3) incompetence over safety and (4) their lack of principle and integrity towards the customer. Instead of going into details here, check out my videos on YouTube, just search for "meineke rip-off" and leave a comment. Let's stand up against incompetence and being ripped-off. Thank you.

The manager told me they could not find the problem with the idol of 2000 rpm's. Nor could they fix the problem. sense that time i have called the corp phone number. some one from corp did call me back. this was on friday the 5th. i was told by the lady that called that she needed to call the manager at the shop and she would get back to me shortly. well now it is the weekend and my car is not fixed nor do i have anyway to get around town but by bus. In other words because my car is not running i can not drive it.

I did not leave that shop until 3:30 pm. I was in tears and the manager did not care about the problem. I drove straight to the Toyota house; they provided me a rented car and checked everything out, and finally found that the rotors had been bent and needed to be replaced, costing $424. I notified Meineke's manager and he argued with me on refunding my money and refused to call the Toyota dealer for an explanation of the problem, and refused to let us talk to the owner. Finally, they requested we bring my car up so they could fix it right. My car was torn apart at Toyota; and at this point, I did not trust them and was afraid they would tear more up at my expense. He made me bring all the messed up parts to him and refunded the $188 amount, only after checking the rotors at their shop and said their machine must had messed them up. They did not offer an apology; rather, a refund for the rotors, and was mad for giving the refund.

I was told that the entire job would cost $780, and that it was a "good deal". I left the store overwhelmed. I did not pay that cost because I knew I was being overcharged. After finding a local mechanic, I was told that the only thing that needed to be replaced was the bands on my hose and the actual hose. The job would only cost $180. Meineke took advantage of my business and overcharged me for the wrong service. Improper consultation was done and I will no longer give them my business.

I wasted $60 initially when I paid for the Freon. Luckily, I did not resort to letting them do the entire compressor job. However, as a customer, the consequence that resulted was a lack of peace of mind. They are not to be trusted. My trust and my peace of mind as a loyal customer to Meineke have been completely tarnished. I no longer will affiliate with Meineke from this day forward.

Three months later my brakes are squeaking again. San Bernardino Meineke was closed for business. My son took the car to the Meineke in Riverside. The manager, Joseph, indicated that squeaking was the "hub". I paid $400 for that. Out of trust I had the job done. The squeaking continued. My son took the car back and was told that brake pads were "cheap". Authorization from the manager was needed to replace the brakes.

I spoke with the manager, Joseph, on May 26, 2011 who indicated to me that the brakes were cheap and unless I pay more money for dealer's brakes, they would continue to squeak for months. This does not happen at other shops. I would like the brakes replaced at no charge and the squeaking to "stop". I want the mechanic to do whatever it takes to stop it. I should not have to have squeaky brakes because I chose Meineke. I called the corporate office to resolve the issue. I was told that the brake pads are "inferior products". I will need to pay additional money to have the noise stopped.

Resolution sought: I would like to have my brakes replaced with ones that do not make noise when stopping. In addition, I want future customers to be notified of the potential of the squeaking brakes, prior to purchasing the brake services. There should be a "notification warning". Date problem started: 3/1/2011. Date of transaction: 1/8/2011. Amount in Dispute: $741. Product issues: Front and back brakes and HUB assembly.

I must look stupid, but I'm not. I blew it off and tried to drive home, but it was so bad I didn't know if I would make it home. So I dropped it back off, but they were now closed. After two more days of them telling me they couldn't find anything wrong, all of a sudden they found that the engine was misfiring but couldn't figure out why.

They said they were calling around looking for help, then finally they called me to say that I needed new coils - five of them. The estimate was for $481 I had to say okay because they suggested I don't drive it - it wouldn't be safe because of hesitation if I needed to pull out in front of someone. So they knew it was hesitating. I had no way of paying for this. I had just paid them $250 and that was hard. I had to get my mother-in-law to agree to pay for it. Now, they've had my car for 5 1/2 days. They called to say it was done and I was so happy to have my car back. John said he had to put three guys in it and that all is okay now, he test drove it himself.

No sooner did I pull out onto the road then it I realized it was still doing the exact same thing as why I brought it back for the first time. Which is something that it wasn't doing at all when I originally brought it in to get the engine light on checked. Anyway, I absolutely needed my car for the next day work and appointments, but I called John and told him how upset I was and he said to just bring it on back and they'll look at it and they won't charge me. And not to mention, If it is still having the exact same problem, what did I pay $482 for? I am at my wits' end and simply don't have the time or the money. I will be bringing it back tonight and wait to see what they have to say now. I certainly am not happy at having to pay $482.00 for nothing!

I asked to speak to the owner or the manager of the shop. He went and looked at the damage in my Jeep. After a few minutes, he said that they were not responsible for the damage. He also told me that I was trying to scam them and ordered me to get off their property. When my Jeep came in there, it did not have a scratch on it. I took the Jeep to 2 body shops for estimates after this happened. They both said it is about $800 in damages. What can I do to get them to take the responsibility for the damage they caused?

I thought that something was fishy when the car sat in their shop for an hour and 15 minutes while several other customers came and went. I suspect that they tried to cover up stripping the oil pan threads that would have been caused by cross threading the plug after draining the oil. Honesty would have been a preferable policy than deception and letting someone else take the blame when the oil is changed the next time.

I immediately returned there until 11PM that night, I was assured 100% correct repairs. On my way home, I got about 6 miles, the car caught fire. The Middletown Police helped to extinguish the fire to show that they attempted to epoxy the damaged smashed parts. The glue had caught fire! Next morning, I contacted MasterCard to put a stop on payment of the charges, I contacted Meineke and the manager said that it was the appropriate repairs and refused to let me speak to the owner!

I attempted to contact the home offices of Meinike, who told me that my stopping of the MasterCard payment was enough and refused to get involved. I sent copies of estimates for repair to the damage on the engine alone to Meineke and Connecticut DMV. These came to just over $1,600 and there is about another $300-$500 in cleaning costs to remove the black cement all over the inside and exterior of the said car. With this damage to the engine, the car is presently inoperable. I had the car shipped to my home in North Carolina at an additional $1,000 expense to myself.

I'm sorry but with today's technology, this very expensive part by part method of repair should not be happening. This car has never had a problem before. That's one car. I also brought my girlfriend's car in to have EGR valve replaced, which was found to be bad on code machine by the mechanic at my work, who works on cars to big rigs at a very large beverage company.

To get to the point, after being installed at Meineke, it also came back with the engine light on. I took it back and they said some dirt or something was in the line, and they cleaned it out. Needless to say, that didn't work, and I refuse to return to this very incompetent place for further repairs. I'm out $2,000.

When I picked up the car, I questioned whether or not they had done the oil change. They had not. A mechanic in the shop quickly changed the oil while I waited. My car was at the shop all day. I picked up the car just before closing, and did not make it home before the car overheated and shut down. I waited on the side of the road for a few minutes, and I drove the car the rest of the way home. I live less than 2 miles from the shop. I called the shop when I arrived home informing Pete ** that the car was not right-- it overheated before I got home. I was told to bring it back, which I did the following business day. I could not drive the car during this time due to the danger of it overheating. My car has been back to their shop five times as of Saturday 20th December 2010. They do something to the car to get me away from their premises, only to have it overheat again. This week the car was towed to them twice, yes, in the same week.

They also towed it to the shop after I called the corporate office. The next to the last visit, I was told that the radiator and heater hose were bad; I had them both replaced-- another $662. Mind you, this was after the manager told me he had replaced my hoses. He also told me he replaced the thermostat. I don't believe the original thermostat was bad as it had been replaced the previous summer. Omar **, the assistant manager told me this heater hose was on the opposite side of the car, so it was not replaced. I picked up the car at closing: I made it less than a mile from the shop before it ran hot again. I called their corporate office the next day and I explained my situation. By this time, I'm out of $1800 for repairs and $200 for towing.

My car is now sitting in my driveway--I can't drive it. I believe Meineke damaged my engine, and they will not make good on it. All I want is my car running like it should. It actually ran better before I took it to them, a mistake I won't repeat. When I spoke to the corporate office, I was told the owner would call me, he hasn't. I get no further than the manager Pete **. At this point, I want Meineke to tow my car to Coulter Cadillac, and repaired correctly. I want a rental car while my car is being evaluated and repaired. I want my money returned and for Meineke to pay for the necessary repairs to my car.

At 1pm Reginold promised to make the car 100%. I told him he either had to get a welder certified in welding cast iron or replace the manifold. I waited in the unheated garage until 10 pm that night. He assured it a perfect professional repair. As I drove to my daughter's house some 7 miles away the car caught fire. A police officer assisted in putting out the flames, small but very smokey. Meineke had used an epoxy risen to fix the broken manifold and it was this glue that caught fire. I abandoned the car in a parking lot and walked the rest of the way home. Next morning a local garage towed the car from the parking lot, cleaned off all the burned glue, made a temporary welded repair and gave me an estimate for a proper job when parts are available from a special order. The Meineke people, either the franchise or home office will do anything to make good the beaten damages fully documented by Ct. DMV. I have made a formal complaint to the Connecticut department of Motor Vehicles and I’m now seeking legal counsel in this matter. Anyone out there if out of town on vacation, do not go to a Meineke muffler. It is a corporation who has no concept of doing the right thing.

They first said my car had been there and they didn't know what I was talking about. Then, I started showing receipts and their story started changing. I had a man named Kevin **, who openly admitted he was drunk. I told them to call the police. They had taken off my front tires, messed with some rod and now trying to blame the other company, but is also telling me that the car is now not safe. I believe they did something to its case. I called the police and accused them of ripping people off. I paid in April 2010 for brand new rotors, brake pads and shoes. Then in May 2010, I paid for the complete rear. Now, they are telling me they won't honor the warranty and that it's normal for putting less than 20,000 miles on the car for them to go bad when I have 3 other mechanics saying that it was not necessary true.

All I know now is that I have a car with supposedly a warranty to cover what I paid for, but they aren't honoring it. The owner expressed he will have my ** if I contact the BBB on them. I am disabled and for a man to threaten a disabled woman is really bad, especially when he is the owner. So now, I have a car that can't be driven because it's deemed unsafe. Thanks to Meineke.

This IT person is a witness to what happened. The older person looked like the owner/manager of Meineke. He from the start started sermonizing me about his shop that it’s not a low down cheap lube place, that people come to change oil but not other mechanical stuff. He asked me where I get my mechanical issues fixed. I informed him about my medical condition. I told him that due to being incapacitated, my wife or son must have taken the car somewhere when it had problems. As far as I am concerned, I take it (when I was working full time) to someplace very near my office as it helps me in reaching my workplace on foot or be dropped off by the mechanic.

Anyway this person continued to ramble about how he is being used as an oil change outlet. He brought my car in and then came back and tossed my keys. He then told me to get out as I had lied to him. I was shocked and hurt. I did not understand his diatribe. I asked him politely what the problem was. He then said that the ball joints had been repaired recently and I wasn't straight with him by not informing about it! Last time I checked, in Canada we don't have any "lube/auto mechanic police" force. I informed him that due to my medical issues, I don't have much knowledge where my car had been and even if it had been, what’s that got to do with an oil change?

It’s an old car and things break down which have to be fixed. It’s at this point he said I don't want to do business with you people. At that point, I realized maybe it’s my name (I am Muslim) or something that put him off. I am hurt and feel as I have been punched in the stomach. His attitude and smirk has given me mental and physical anguish/pain. I thought of taking my young teenage son with me so he could learn about cars /workshops. I just thank God that he wasn't with me to see his father humiliated like that. I expect to follow this and also expect you guys at Consumer Affairs to take up my case. Thank you.

Once I informed him I wasn't, he still continued to shoo me out of the business. After being greeted with a smile and then asked to leave, I had no choice but to let people know about my experience. Whether corporate-owned or not, I will not be going to any of their locations or recommending them.

I was put off at the high estimate given to get heat completely fixed, but with winter right around the corner, I gave them the green light to make the necessary repairs. After a couple of days, I got a call that the car's ready. I went to pick up the car and the manager told me everything's working perfectly. After writing a check for more than $3000, I went to start my car and drove out onto York Road. The car immediately began shaking violently like the wheels were about to fall off and I pulled off onto a side street as fast as I could, half scared out of my mind. A second later, their mechanic, who must have watched me pull out and saw the violent shaking, pulled up in his car behind me yelling out his window, "Don't move! Don't move!".

He got out of his vehicle and came over to my car with a huge wrench in his hand. They forgot to tighten the bolts on the wheels. Unbelievable! This, even after the mechanic drove the car out of the bay and parked it out front for me. After I settled down, I asked the mechanic to take a test drive with me to make sure the wheels actually stay attached to the vehicle and to check out the heating system. We came back in to the shop 10-12 minutes later... no heat whatsoever. I told the mechanic that I can hardly believe it would take over 12 minutes to feel any heat whatsoever coming out of the vent. The manager said to leave the car and he'll have to look into it further. What else could I do? I already paid the total bill for the repairs.

Meineke called me a day or two later, telling me another motor related to the heater now needed to be replaced. As you'll recall, he said previously that everything was working perfectly the last time I came for the car. The next day I got a call that the car is ready again. Extremely wary of the whole Meineke experience by this point, I went in to pick up the car. I was told again that everything's working perfectly. I checked that heat was coming out of the vent this time after paying the bill and quietly left, probably at this point never to return again. A few weeks later, I had the occasion to use the air conditioning on a hot day, and after a few minutes, my wife complained that heat was coming out on the passenger side.

Not having time to check it out myself, I just turned the air off and we dealt with the hot drive. The next day I checked it out and sure enough, turning on the air conditioning now dispenses cool air on the driver side and heat on the passenger side! I try the heater again-- heat on the driver side and room temp air on the passenger side. I called Meineke again, explaining that I'm dropping the car off that evening after hours and will drop by in the morning to give them the keys. At the time of drop-off, my Jeep is the only car on their lot. Two days pass... no call. I passed by the Meineke Car Care Center where I dropped it and my car was sitting in the exact same spot I parked it in.

I finally called and one of the mechanics, Dean, answered. He told me the manager was off so I'll have to call back the next day. I conveyed my angst regarding the whole distasteful service experience to Dean and asked that he pass along to the manager that I want the heater fixed and I am not expecting to incur any further costs to get this work completed. In the middle of my tirade to Dean, I asked him how he would have felt if he took his car to a shop and had a similar experience. He was in agreement that my experience was unacceptable. That settled me down slightly as I was thinking that at least they realized it was a completely unacceptable experience for the customer (me), and I figured they would quickly resolve the matter to my satisfaction. Stupid me.

The next morning, the manager finally called me back. He explained that now another new part is needed to make the heater work properly! I conveyed my extreme distaste with the entire experience and indicated that I expect Meineke to get the heater in my vehicle working at no further cost to me (at this point, I have handed almost $3500 over to Meineke for the heat and a couple other unrelated repairs). I probably talked to the manager for over 30 mins while he steadfastly maintained that he will not make any further repairs to the heater without another payment from me to cover yet another part directly related to normal heater operation in my car.

During the conversation the manager revealed that he personally tested everything related to the heater when I picked up the car and that everything was working. I inquired as to whether they guarantee their work. He told me yes, and I countered with the fact that the guarantee should then kick in because the heater is malfunctioning a mere month later and I'm sure probably was from the day of pick-up but I didn't think of checking the passenger side air flow when I drove the car home. He indicated that since he found yet another part that needed to be replaced, he wouldn't honor that.

At one point in the conversation, this guy had the gall to tell me my car needed so much work and that I made "a bad buy" as if that ridiculous and insulting statement somehow relieves him of the responsibility to deliver courteous, honest and upright customer service and satisfaction. I overlooked the senseless insult and continued trying to support my position. In my final attempt to reach a resolution, I asked the manager to answer me this one final question - Does he believe I received satisfactory customer service through this experience at his shop? His answer... "Absolutely". Scary!

After a week or two, my brakes started squeaking. I drove the car for a few more weeks thinking that the squeak would work itself out and go away. After a couple more weeks of the squeaking, it really got annoying. I called the Meineke shop and told them about the noise. They said to bring it in and we will fix it. After a few more weeks, I finally had a free afternoon where I could get my car in for service.

I called the Meineke shop the morning of September 29th and asked if I could get my car in for the brake adjustment at 4 or 4:15. The owner Lenny ** told me that he could get me in. When I got there, I was told that they were booked and they couldn't get me in. I thought it was no big deal, since it was on the way home. So I made appointment for Friday, October 1st at 4:15, to get my brakes adjusted, my tires rotated and an oil change.

I arrived at Meineke Car Care Center #1804 at approximately 4:15. At that time, Meineke performed the service that was discussed. Before I left Meineke, I noticed that I did not have a new oil change mileage sticker. I told Lenny Lahm and he put a new sticker on my windshield. I left the Meineke shop at approximately 5:45 and drove 43.9 miles to my home in St. Charles, MO. I pulled my car into the garage, where it stayed the rest of the night. The next morning I had an office training exercise for my part time job at 8 am I started my car and it sounded like a diesel engine. I backed the car out of the garage and turned the car off. I popped the hood and proceeded to check the oil. I pulled the dip stick out and it was bone dry. I looked under my car and in my garage to see if I had an oil leak. I did not see any oil on the ground. I saw my neighbor pull into his driveway and I called him over. I showed him the dry dip stick and told him that I just had an oil change yesterday afternoon. He could not believe it.

I drove my wife's car up to Napa Auto Parts and they weren't open yet. So I drove a little farther down the road to Wal-Mart and bought two quarts of Pennzoil 10W/30 oil. I bought the oil back and put both quarts in my car. I started the car and let it run for 20 to 30 seconds and checked the dipstick again. Still, there wasn't any oil showing up on the dip stick. At this time I was thinking, "No way." So I took my wife's car and drove up to the now open Napa Auto Parts and bought 3 more quarts of Pennzoil 10w30 oil. I brought the oil home and put two more quarts into my car. Finally, the oil appeared on the dip stick to the level it should have been. The problem was that my engine had a significant ticking noise that was not there before the so called oil change.

I called the Meineke Car Care Center #1804 and told Lisa ** my story. I was not happy, but remained calm. I could not believe that I drove 43 miles without any oil in my engine. Later, I talked to the owner, Lenny *** and he suggested that I bring the car in and run a mild detergent through the engine to clean it out and then add the Synthetic blend oil that he originally was supposed to put in my engine. I eventually told him I would come in Monday afternoon and called Monday morning to confirm.

I arrived at the Meineke Car Care Center #1804 around 4:15. Lenny *** drove my car from the front of the store to the side of the building where the garage access was located. They proceeded to work on my car as I watched for the majority of the time. After the engine flush and oil change was performed, my car was pulled around to the front of the building. I was given the keys and Lenny **8 was talking to me in the front of the building. At that time, I noticed that I did not have a new oil change mileage sticker in my window again. I told Lenny *** and he said Oh, you want another sticker? How many miles did you drive? I told him at least a couple hundred miles.

My round trip to work and back is 130 miles. He brought a sticker out and asked if we decided that the oil change interval we talked about was 7,000 or 7,500 miles. I said 7,500 miles. I had 155,988 miles on my odometer. I told him if he wanted to round it up to 156,000 miles to make the math easier, it would be fine with me. It was only a 12 mile difference. He said Okay, wrote something on the sticker and applied it to the windshield.

We stood outside my car, which was running as we talked. He told me that ticking noise that we were hearing may come and go. He also said he drove the car and it seemed to have power. I was there the whole time and the car never left the premises. Lenny *** only drove my car from the front of the building to the side of the building. I saw him drive the car at that time and he never drove faster than idle speed.

I realized that was a lie right off the bat, but I didn't say anything. I don't think he noticed I stayed around the whole time my car was being serviced. As I drove my car home, I noticed that the new oil change mileage sticker had 166,000 miles written on it. That was 10,000 miles in the future, not the intended 7,500 miles. Again, I was disappointed.

I called a service technician at St. Charles Nissan at lunchtime on October 5th and told him what had happened. He said there is no telling what the ticking noise could be unless they opened up the engine and looked inside. He said it would take 5 to 6 hours of labor just to open the engine up for a look. After that, he said they would be able to assess the damage. But, until then he couldn't give me an estimate on a repair that he didn't know what was exactly wrong. I asked him, what would a new engine cost? He told me $8,200 installed plus any incidentals.

I believe my engine has internal damage that may not be noticeable in the coming months. I have taken extremely good care of this car and have spent a lot of money on it over the years. I am planning to give this car to my son, who turns 16 next April. I truly believe that I was going to get another 100,000 to 150,000 miles out of this car. So here I am, stuck with an engine that is probably fried on the inside and there is no telling what damage the negligence of Meineke Car Care Center #1804 has caused.

I would like to pursue that Meineke replace my engine with a new engine at their expense. I would also like a Nissan Dealer to perform the installation. I will need a rental car while my engine is being replaced, so I can get to work. I also wish not to talk to any person at the Meineke Car Center 1804.

And then Mike again replied in a ridiculous manner, “Let him finish the phone call.” We have to wait for about more than 20 minutes to talk to that guy who was handling the customers and he was just talking on phone. The owner went back to his cabin at the back and started eating. He insulted us. He discriminated me for not being white. This is not the way how service centers should behave with their customer if he is not white. It was really a very bad and worst experience and I will never go back to this Meineke Center for car repair. Even I will never recommend any of my friends to go to Meineke for car repair. We are not getting our work done free. We are paying for it.

Number one mistake: As far as I know if they brake something, aren't they responsible? Well, as far as I know if they would've called me and told me, “Hey, you know your rim lug nut is loose or weak and might brake if we try to take it off,” then I would've said that it was ok for them to proceed and then it would've been my fault. But the only call I got from them was to let me know that they had broke it and that I had to pay for the parts and labor to get it fixed (which was going to cost me $80.00)—if I wanted to get it fixed.

Ok, so I come in to get my van and explain that I have to go get my daughter at school. So they tell me that I can take the van like that and bring it back later if I want them to fix it but that they don’t have the parts there. If I wanted, I could go and buy them from the Chrysler dealer. So I go and pick my daughter up from school and then run to the dealer and get the parts (out of my pocket). So I buy the parts and go back to the shop and they tell me I have the parts. Again, I ask them that since that was something they did, they should be responsible for getting it fixed.

Again, they say no. Now I'm not sure if they were treating me like this just because they saw me by myself with my two girls, but whatever the reason is I'm still very upset by the situation. So about three days later, I start to hear an awful sound whenever I'd hit the brakes. But according to Meineke they had checked my brakes as a "courtesy inspection." Obviously, that wasn’t the case. So I took my car to a different shop and they showed how bad my brakes were and couldn't believe Meineke didn’t say anything. Well, I know why: because they never even checked them.

Not only that, but this morning as I was driving my daughter to school, my dashboard began to alert me that it was overheating! Why? Because it had no coolant. so I pop open the hood to find that the coolant container was completely empty. Therefore, that sure tells me that Meineke never checked my brakes and never topped off the fluids! I'm very disappointed. I expected so much more from a place like Meineke. Just if you’re wondering, my van is under the 100,000 miles and I'm the type of person that likes to get their vehicle serviced every 3,000 miles. I wasn't going to say anything about the first incident but then when I noticed they had never checked my brakes I began to heat up and then his morning when I noticed my fluids hadn’t been topped off. Well, that did it. I've been calling the customer service number but no one answers.

On Monday, my boyfriend, daughter and myself went there to get the car and Booker told us that the J B Welds didn't hold and the oil shot out of the car, and that I need an Intake Manifold. So I tried to locate one so I called Spurlock auto and he told me he had one for $65 and he could put it on for around $425 not including the part.

I had to get a friend of mine to take the car to them and once we were there they told me at Spurlock that I need the Cam tower that the oil sending unit had been broke off in the tower and that's going to cost up in the thousand. So I went back to Meinke to see what they were going to do about it and he the manager said he didn't feel they were responsible for that if it broke.

They can't fix everyone car that come in there with old parts especially with that being a older model car. So I told him this is not the last of it. So I took it to this guy's house that got a garage in the back of his house and he looked at it and said that the car was messed up and I would need a cam tower for the car in order for it to be fixed correctly.

Later that day, we came home and the guy Booker was at the house next door to me and asked have we found the part for the car and I said no and he said, "I'll tell you what, if you get the the part for the car I will fix it away from Meinke." He is letting me know that he know he messed the car up and want to save his job but I feel they should be responsible for what happened to this car that was at no fault to us. We just had it up there for a oil change on August 9, 2010 and there was no oil leak that they told me about then. But when the light came on and I know we just had an oil change. We had it checked out at Meinke.

The point is that this is a dishonest business. There are specific criteria for the caliper needing to be replaced. Also, there was no wheel removal 'inspection’. When I did it myself, spare caliper on-hand, the piston went back into the caliper without difficulty and the 'brake job' I did for myself is fine. The point is that this is a dishonest business.

When we returned, the car was outside the bay and I was told that the key was in the lock position and could not be started. I too attempted to start the car but could not. At this time, I approached the person who identified himself as the new owner. His name was Mark. I explained to him that I had told the manager of the problem and the consequences if the car was put into the lock position. I was assured that this would not happen by the manager and would like to know how we were going to resolve the situation. I was told by Mark that he would have his mechanic look at it and try to fix it. But I would have to leave it overnight. This was done. When I returned the following day, I was informed that it was an electronic problem and would need the electronic part of the ignition. I went to the local auto zone and purchased the part and returned it to them. Due to them working on the car in between other cars, I had to leave it overnight again.

When I returned the next day, I was told that the electronic was not the problem and I would need a new ignition cylinder. Fortunately, the auto store took the part I brought back and I then went to an auto dealer and bought a cylinder taking it back and gave it to them. Once again, having to leave the car overnight again. Upon my return the next day, I was told that they did not know how to remove the cylinder. After two more days, I was told that the only way they could fix it was to replace the whole ignition system. I then asked to take out the ignition system so that I could get them exactly what they needed. I was told they would. I also contacted a locksmith and asked him to come and look at the car. He did and told me that whomever worked on the car had no clue what they were doing and had taken a hammer and screwdriver to it in an attempt to remove it. To shorten this story, the locksmith was able to fix the car.

During this time, Mark had become less and less helpful and more argumentative. He stated that he would take no blame for my situation due to the car having a pre-existing problem even after admitting they had been made aware of it. I would have to bear all the financial cost myself. In the end, a simple oil change cost me over $300.00. I am unemployed and could not afford to spend this money on this. My question to you, is the store responsible for at least some of this cost?

It’s cost me a thousand bucks with the hotel bill to get my timing belt replaced. Don't go here unless you have the time and money to waste. I mean, this was simple, a valve cover gasket is not rocket science and they could not take the time and concentration to fix it. Three days delay and hotel expense added to my vacation. One day of personal labor to fix what should have been a simple repair itself.

Really, after a couple of weeks? I never heard of such a thing, especially since my car was in no more moisture than any other car in the city of Tulsa! He put the car up and told me that they (the manager and crew had been almost completely replaced since the first visit) had used the cheapest rotors. They were only "one-use" rotors and that was why the rust had developed. He offered to put the top of the line rotors in for the price difference between the two and half the labor. Woe! This should have never ever happened in the first place, especially after a few weeks! Well, I had it done because the rusty ones looked pretty bad on my 2005 car, but I will never use them again!

So I called and talked to the manager and told him what my husband had found and he sent someone to my house to look at the car. So he gets under there and takes out nearly 4 quarts of oil out of my car so that it would be were it should be but the oil he took out had gas in it. So this guy says that someone is going to get in trouble for this. When he gets back and that the manager will call me back in a little while but he didn't. So next morning, I called him and he says that they didn't do anything wrong to my car. But the oil stick has in bold letters "do not overfill".

So I had a mechanic to come to my house and check my car over and he says that my car is ruined. I called the store manager back and he still says that he is not responsible for the severe damage to my 2003 Jeep Liberty limited edition. But there was nothing wrong with this vehicle when it went there only wanted an oil change. Is there any way that I can get him to pay for the damage that his store caused as I don't have money for such a large expense.

When I called at 1pm, they said it was just going in. At 1:30pm they called and said both tips where out of stock and I told them it was only 1 tip because just the 1 side. I called back at 3pm to see what was taking so long to put on 1 tail pipe, they didn't know. They called at 4pm and told me to come get my truck. When I got there they gave me a bill for a new muffler 2 pips, 2 hangers, 2 tips and labor, for a total of $400. When I told them that's not what I came in for, I came in for a new tail pipe and 1 new tip, they took off the price of the muffler, which is not a Flowmaster but a cheep one, and still charged me $310 to get my truck back even though I didn't ask for or authorized a new exhaust or down graded muffler. On top of that, Bill, the mechanic, said yes I did say I only want a tail pipe and tip when I dropped it off. He didn't work on it or write it up. Sorry.

I drove 30 miles to my son's house in Reno, NV and when I left his house I heard a terrible crunch. My youngest son was in the car with me. We had carpooled to dinner at his older brother's house. He got out and found that part of my bumper seemed to have pulled loose under the car so he pushed it back in place. The noise seemed to stop and after dropping him off, I continued home. The noise started again when I crossed into the exit lane off of the freeway near my apartment. I drove the short way to the apartment. When I got out, I found that the entire plastic protection piece over my left front tire had popped loose, caught under my tire, and had torn my front bumper loose and taken off some paint. I had to cut the large, long plastic piece off with heavy-duty scissors, so that I could park my car and continue to drive it.

I went back to Meineke on 06/17/10 at approximately 12:30 p.m. I told the man at the front desk what had happened and said that I thought perhaps the tech had damaged the plastic piece when he rotated my tires. He said my tires had not been rotated and that he was the tech that had done the oil change. I asked why he had not rotated my tires when that is the service I had paid for. He said that they only rotated tires if they needed it and my tires did not need it. He said that they would never have touched that plastic part even if they had rotated my tires.

On 06/22/10 I received an automated call from Meineke asking me to complete a two-question survey regarding my experience. My response was “extremely dissatisfied with the service” and I was then given the number to the Carson City Car Care Center #1262 where I could talk to someone about my experience. That number connected me with the assistant manager who listened to me. Then, the assistant manager informed me that Meineke did not have to do the items listed in the advertisement or the memo on my invoice if the tech deemed that the service was not necessary. He stated that the tech had the right to determine if the tires needed rotated or not. He then told me that there were clips that held the piece I was talking about on my car in place and that he had a similar car, so he knew what I was referring to.

I asked Mr. Assistant Manager if my car would have been raised on a stand to change the oil to which he said, "Yes." I asked him if my car would have been placed on the stand if the tires had been rotated to which he said, "Yes." I asked him what a 29-point courtesy inspection included and he said that would include brakes, fluids, oils, and things like that. I then asked him why, if my car was already falling apart, I was not informed upon this inspection that I had a problem that needed to be checked out. Mr. Assistant Manager replied that Meineke was not a body shop and the part in question was something a body shop would need to take care of. Therefore, Meineke had no responsibility to tell me there was a problem given that there was a chance. The tech doing the inspection even saw the issue. He then said that I could not prove anything and that was the end of it.

I took my car to my insurance company where I was told I needed an estimate. The preliminary estimate to repair the damage is $857.52. I had requested a service that I felt was in my best interest to insure the safety of my car. Within hours of seeing Meineke, my car fell apart. I cannot even begin to understand how the tech could have lubed the chassis, checked my tires to determine that they did not need rotated, balance checked my tires, and done a 29 point courtesy inspection without ever seeing that I had a problem. However, according to the assistant manager, the work is only done if it is listed on my invoice with a No Charge next to it. With that in mind, the only things listed on my invoice are the Supreme Oil Service at $19.50, the filter at $7.98, the Hazard Disposal/Haz Mat at $4.98, and the 5 quarts of oil at $12.50. Apparently, I got a Basic Oil Change, which according to this advertisement should cost $19.95 and would include the filter and oil. But I paid for a Supreme Oil Change and did not get the service I paid for.

I showed up at 4pm that day and he still had not got the part in and it would take them a while to get it in. So he called me at 558pm which they close at 6pm to tell me there is something wrong with my fuse box and I could come down and take a look at it if I wanted to. I showed up and he showed me my fuse box. I was melted and it was not that way before because I looked when I had to recharge my battery. He said that it was from my amplifier in my vehicle. I asked him to prove it to me with a multi meter that my amp was still pulling current through my battery but he said he didn't have a multi meter in the shop. So he told me they would run further diagnosis on it to find the real problem at no charge, so I agreed.

He did not call me back when he said he would. So I would have to call him. He said I needed a new fuse box and that he would try to track one down for me and he would call me back. So I waited that next day until 558pm and I called him and asked if he found the part. He asked me if I found one? So by this time, I am very upset because I have been out of a car for quite some time. So I called a tow company and had them tow it to Parker Toyota. They confirmed that it was not the amplifier and it was because someone hooked up the alternator incorrect. Parker Toyota even gave me proof that it was because of Meineke hooking up an alternator. I wasn't able to drive my vehicle to get to work and had to find rides. Couldn't get my son to school or daycare. A large Parker Toyota bill. My warranty company had to pay for terrible work to supposedly ase certified technicians.

He just verbally quoted $600.00 without giving me any details. Additionally, he instead asked me to leave, since according to him; I was asking him too many questions about the error codes' details and when I told him that I need to know what was going on, he says that I can fix it myself and he (Bhupat **) caught my shirt and verbally abused me in his local Gujarati language.

At that point, I had to tell him that if he does not let go of my shirt, I have no option but to call the authorities. My strong recommendation to any future Meineke customers is please do not visit his car care center. I do not wish any of the Meineke customers to experience this bad treatment, that I endured. Please stay clear of this center. It was an extremely bad experience. I never had this kind of experience at any car care center. Moreover it was an emotional and physical trauma for myself and my wife, who was also with me at that time.

I don't understand why it cost that much for wires, plugs and a $24.00 fuel system cleaner. The plugs were $12.98 each and the Auto Zone wires that were charged to me for $175.00 each (Auto Zone sells no wires over $49.99, unless they are performance grade). This is why I'm complaining about having to wait almost 6 hours.

I called the location again on Fri (4/9). Again, I was told the parts did not ship with other items and would be by the following Friday (4/16). I told Cindy to cancel the order at no fault of mine. Cindy explained I would not get the deposit money back. This is unfair and not agreed on. If they would have told me originally it would take 15 days to get parts in, I would have ordered myself. I was promised 3 days originally. I think I am owed the $300 due to no fault of myself. It only takes 5 days to ship from California.

I was not happy and told them I drove the car in, they have made it, so I can't drive the car out I am not paying the fee. After some words with the manager, he waived the fee and said I better be there in the morning. My husband and I went at 11am on Saturday, April 10, 2010 to pick up our car, the tow truck driver had an emergency and was running late. When we arrived, we were again informed that the car was unsafe to drive and if we tried driving it out they would call the police on us. After more words were exchanged, I demanded my keys and said I would push it off their lot before they decided to charge me for storage for the late tow.

After getting my car home, by pushing it with our second vehicle, the mechanic came and picked it up. He has since fixed the problems they found, at a more reasonable cost, and since has found damage to my car. There was motor oil in my brake lines. My master cylinder went out right after he replaced my brakes. How does motor oil get in the brake line, without someone putting it there? I believe they purposely sabotaged my car because they lost a 930 dollar job. They are criminals as far as I'm concerned and have to be held responsible for the damage they caused and the cost of the extra repairs. How can a place of business do something like that? They could have caused my family bodily injury if the master cylinder would have gone out after it was returned to me by my mechanic. Any business that does this kind of thing should have their license revoked! I now have to pay for the replacement of my master cylinder and any other parts damaged by their reckless conduct.

Two days after we got the car back, we took it to a Brakemasters on December 19, 2009 because the check engine light was coming on. They documented it was one of the repairs that Meineke had done that was still leaking and they had damaged the fly wheel cover. The Meineke on Oracle arranged to have it towed back to the Broadway location for repairs. The manager at the Oracle location made arrangements to get us a rental. We picked up the car on Monday, December 21, 2009. The Broadway location told us that the seal they had replaced was defective. Two days later, we still had leaks. This time we refused to have the Broadway location work on the car. It was towed to the Oracle location and they supposedly corrected the work that the Broadway location did and completed repairs that the Broadway location should have done but did not do.

We picked up our car from the Oracle location on December 30, 2009. The manager documented in our paperwork that we were leaving with the same leak that brought us to Meineke in the first place. During this time, I spoke with Margaret at their main office regarding our rental and she indicated that she was told they did not put the car back together correctly. Meineke's corporate office did pay for a rental, but we disputed the charge on our credit card for the work that they did and it was removed. We also reported them to the Better Business Bureau but Meineke's only response was that it was covered under warranty and we should bring it back.

In the 3 months since our time at Meineke, we have had to have every single repair done by Meineke corrected at another shop and another shop diagnosed the water leak that brought us to Meineke in the first place. They indicated Meineke did not put the car together properly and they did not clean the areas they did work on. At this point, we paid for repairs that we cannot even prove the car needed and Meineke did not repair the leak we came in with. They also damaged our car during the process to the point that we are will have to replace our car.

Since we had our money credited back to our charge card and Meineke paid for a rental, I am not sure there is much more that can be done for us but we hope to prevent other people from going through the same experience. We have also heard complaints basically about all Meineke locations for the same reasons we experienced:

3. You don't know if you really need the work they are claiming and they do not diagnose the actual problem accurately.

Before we went to Meineke our only problem was a water leak. After going to Meineke we have had many, many other problems to the point that we don't know how much damage there is and we are being forced to sell a car that was perfectly fine before going to Meineke. If you wish to discuss this further you can call me at ** or my husband Patrick at **.

But now, my car is violently shaking and barely wants to shift gears.

I have two kids and this is my only vehicle. I can't have it in the shop for a few weeks. Anyway, I called them and they told me to bring my car back in and they would look at it to see what the problem is. But I'm sure they will just blame it on me. If they do not fix what they have done to my vehicle, I will be taking them to court, and the lady I bought the vehicle from will testify saying that the vehicle never leaked when she owned it. Never go to Meineke, I had a simple oil change and now my car that I've only owned for 2 weeks is a piece of junk.

Well, it after a week it came in because it was ordered by mail, but the wait was for nothing because it was a bad part. So they ordered another used one but two weeks went by and the part never came to the shop. The guy said order a new part because the used ones have to be found in junks yards but new ones are from the company so it should come to the show faster.

Well, when the day came ,I was told the belt was fixed but by the belt popping it messed up the head so the car wasn't working at all. So I needed to replace the head. The guy said the part should come within 3 days but it would take a full day to put it in and then some time to test it again.

So when the day came I was told the car was ready! I noticed that the check engine light was on so I asked why this was.They said it was nothing just that the car may take a few turns of the key to get it started but it was nothing to worry about. It ran fine for about 3 weeks but it makes a scratchy noise every time I would hit the brakes. Then one day, on the highway, it made a sound that sounded like a loud fan and it started shaking and smoking.Then it leaked oil all over and I had to get it towed. So now it doesn't start.

I went back there and told them what happened they acted shaken and said try adding oil and to bring it back if that doesn't work. I never did. I am going to take it somewhere else.