Meineke Reviews

After leaving Meineke, within 20 minutes of driving on the highway, three of the original Buick skylark hub caps fell off and were lost--an obvious sign of the mechanic not putting them on properly! I have complained to the owner of this franchise, Jeff, but he didn't seem to care about my complaint. I have made a complaint online to Meineke Canada, and have not heard anything from them either. I am a single father on Ontario disability and cannot afford new hub caps, which I greatly feel that Meineke is fully responsible for. So far, no one can help. Can you please help?

Believing what he said had some truth to it, I told him I could not afford the cost of repairs, and that I only had a few hundred dollars. I was then informed about payment plans offered by Meineke, which I was not interested in, but then I was told that I can pay as much cash as I could up front, and a month or so later, pay the cash difference. He kept pushing this means of payment, and that we should go ahead with servicing the car.

I told him about the repairs done months earlier, and that I wanted to contact the mechanic that did the work. I called back and said that I wanted to pick up my car, and declined the suggested repairs, thinking I would only need to pay the $82.50 for the inspection. He then informed that they had to take half my engine apart, while performing the inspection, and that if I decline the suggested work, I would have to pay up to $200 in labor to put my car back together, plus the inspection cost of $82.50, and that it would be more cost efficient to accept the repairs, and pay a few hundred dollars more to have the work done properly with a life time warranty.

I was shocked. I did not give consent for them to perform any additional services, other than the diagnostic test. When I dropped my car off, I agreed to have an inspection performed on my vehicle for $82.50, not for my engine to be taken apart and reassembled for $200 more. I was not given an invoice of service when I dropped my car off, which according to store policy states that a copy of the invoice is to be given to the customer when service is requested, and that any additional services or repairs more than $20, can not be performed without the expressed consent of the owner. I was not informed of this additional work, nor did I give consent for them to disassemble my vehicle, yet they went against their policy to perform unauthorized work. I was not allowed to pick my car up, without having to pay the cost of reassembly. I had my dad speak with them, thinking that they were trying to pressure me, a student, into paying high price for services.

The entire day passed, ultimately forcing us to accept the repairs at a lower price, in the belief that the work will be done to correct the problem, with a lifetime warranty. Once they agreed, repairs were performed. They were able to find a more serious problem. They now thought that the reason my car was leaking coolant was because the intake manifold gasket was damaged, causing the leak. I later found out that they could have identified this problem when they performed the diagnostic test. At that point, I just wanted my car out of their hands.

This store cheated me out of money by performing extra services without my consent, claiming faulty parts that needed repairs, charging me additional fees if I declined work, and putting me in an uncomfortable situation. I felt as if I were being held hostage, either decline the work and waste $200 just to get my car back, or pay an extra few hundred to get it serviced. I brought my car in for a simple inspection for $82.50, that was supposed to take 30 minutes, which ended up costing me hundreds of dollars of work. My issue is with them not allowing me to get my car back without paying the $200, which put me in a situation that would require me to pay more than the quoted cost, regardless of my decision to accept or decline repairs. I ended up paying $550 for repairs, days later to have my car problems persist.

I got into my vehicle, and my radio wasn't working. The inside light was not coming on, nor was my alarm working.They couldn't find out the problem at that time. It was New Year's Eve, they were closing. I was told to bring it back that Saturday. So once I pulled out the lot, and drove about 1/2 mile, I heard a pop noise under the hood. I kept driving. Then my car started slowing down going no more than 10 or 15 mph. So I said it's doing the same thing all over again. That was the reason why I took it there in the first place because someone told me I needed a new converter and a sensor.The converter was clogged, that's why the sensor was over heating.Yes, I explained it to Brian.

Saturday came and I was taking my car back, I smelled something burning. I pulled over and lifted my hood up, and the sensor was melting. Now I'm scared to drive it, so I had it towed to Meineke again. My husband called them a couple of hours later; he said don't worry about it. He had fixed the radio, alarm and light, it was a fuse. That following Tuesday we called back. He said we need to take it to the dealer, he can't do anything with it. So I responded, "Can I get a refund?" He said no. I asked why not.

He said because he did his job, he put on the converter and changed the sensors. And I remind you that he didn't use the gaskets as he said he didn't need them. All I wanted was my money back, as my car broke down again, down the street from his place. Can someone please help me? Yes, I called The Cooperative Office. They said they can't make him give me a refund.

On our way home, the battery discharge light came on again and we began losing power. We started losing interior lights, turn signals, the horn and the car barely had enough power to get us home. When we pulled into the driveway, the serpentine belt was visibly loose. I tried to start the car the next morning and it was dead. The car then needed to be towed to my local mechanic. He said the problem was the harmonic balancer, which he replaced at an additional cost of nearly $400. After his repair, the car ran fine again. My mechanic said it was highly unlikely that I even needed a new alternator, especially given the reliability of Toyotas.

In sum, not only did Meineke charge an outrageous price for an unnecessary repair, we barely were able to arrive home safely after their repair. We then had to have our local mechanic do the proper repair at additional cost to us. My research into the cost of new alternators shows that Meineke charged an outrageous mark-up. The average alternator price I found was between $160-$220 and I was charged $422 for the alternator alone.

I set up another appointment with Meineke today, and they looked at the brakes and sprayed some more fluid. Now, the noise has returned. Again, this noise only happens when coming to a slow stop. I don't believe anyone should go to Meineke to do brakes, and I won't return. I will do my best to find a solution that works for me, but I don't think it is worth my time to deal with these guys, as they clearly have a set of working procedures that they follow. No one should do their brakes there and that is why I am making a complaint. I wonder if their procedures are worst practices as opposed to best practices when it comes to brakes. Another thing, they offer lifetime pads, but this seems disingenuous as they probably put cheap pads on the cars when they do brake jobs.

I returned to the shop to be told I needed a $68 brake hose and a $68 caliper. Forward to 07/25/2009, I called Meineke to find they'd changed managers twice since June '08 and there was no record of me getting a caliper, even though I told the guy on the phone I was looking at it on the invoice as no charge for the caliper or labor. I had brakes again, but the slight scraping noise continued. My right front brake was intermittently grinding, and then releasing. I realized the scraping noise had always been coming from that side. I returned to the shop.

Forward to 07/25/2009, when the guy on the phone reports there is no record of this visit. Of course not. That day, everything was free of charge and I wasn't issued a receipt. I was told that it is normal on older cars to have bits of rust drop from above, and get stuck between the rotor and brake pad. The car was put on a lift, and silicone lubricant was sprayed between the rotor and pad. I test drove it slowly around the parking lot, came back to report that I could still hear a slight scraping noise, and was told that was all they could do for it. It was something I'd just have to deal with. Stuff happens with old cars.

On 07/25/2009, I went over to Advanced Auto Parts to talk to one of their ASAE certified mechanics where I was told no one in their right mind would spray lubricant on a brake pad, accompanied by much head shaking in disbelief. Side note: This is the same reaction I'd gotten from different mechanics over the year as I begged each one to fix my car right. They said they couldn't touch it because of the Meineke warranties. Per Meineke's instructions, I spent a year paying $5 to go through the auto wash with underside spray, attempting to dislodge whatever had gotten stuck between the rotor and pad whenever the scraping noise got too bad. I also continued to plead with mechanics to fix my car.

On 07/24/2009 in the middle of nowhere, 60 miles from home with no services, motel and phone, the right brake locked and would not release. There was a deep gouge on the edge of the rotor that was not there when I checked my tire pressure on the 23rd. That day, I'd bought $100 worth of tune-up parts, installed them, and had a car that ran like a top. My tire had turned brown from the dust coming off the rotor. A stranger pried the caliper away from the rotor, and I drove home at 20 mph. Leaving my location at 7pm, I arrived at 2am, stopping 15+ minutes every few miles to let the wheel cool off.

On 07/25/2009, I made a phone call to Meineke when I was told, "I'm from Regional filling in for the manager for a week. I don't know what you want from me, you drove the car for a year, it's old, and things go bad." I attempted to get him to understand this was a continuation of my original problem, and not a new one. I mentioned the silicone lubricant visit and the conversation turned defensive. "There's no record. You can't prove it. It's your word against theirs. Either bring the car down (25 miles) to be fixed, or wait until Monday and call corporate."

Not wanting to be without a car for an indefinite period of time, I went to the shop, 25 miles at 20 mph, to find I had no warranty because I'd ruined the rotor. He was willing to negotiate a price for the repairs. An argument ensued, but I was so tired I finally gave up my keys in frustration. Outside, another customer struck up a conversation. I was asked why I was there and I told her the truth. After a time, she went in for her keys and then left. The guy from Regional came out with my keys held at arm’s length. He told me to take them. He wasn't 'doing me any favors after I badmouthed their establishment to another customer. I replied that I'd only told the truth. I asked what favors he was going to do since I was going to be paying again for something that wasn't done right in the first place. He dropped my keys on the pavement, told me I was strange and pretended to call the police.

Since I was far away from home, I took it to a new Meineke (on N. Tryon in Charlotte, NC). They had me wait eight hours for a diagnosis. I couldn't come up with anything. Now, they've had it two days and still say they don't know the problem but they think the spark plugs were the wrong kind and have now screwed up the new part but they're not sure. So far I'm out $97 in lost wages, $230 on a coil pack, $10 spark plugs, $175 Meineke labor charge, $85 rental car during first fix, $56 rental car during second fix. My car still has not been repaired. It still has not been properly diagnosed.

I thought that this was part of the warrenty to just put the tail pipe back on - instead Meineke tells me that the tail pipe is not part of the muffler and will cost me $269.00. This is totally unacceptable - WHAT IS THE POINT OF THE FALSE advetisement of lifetime muffler - if you will pay more to get replacement service - this is not right. I spoke to a customer service person who advise me that I should have asked more questions - I thought they Meineke were the experts and suppose to tell me what is best for my car - This is no way to treat a customer. This appears to be opportunity for Meineke to take advantage of customers.

I left, and will find another place to do the work. I had wanted it done before my honeymoon, but it will have to wait now.