Midas Mufflers

When we finally got home, the car wouldn't start at all. I called a tow truck and took it to Midas because my girlfriend said it was a good mechanic place. She was wrong. Midas ran some tests on the car. They tested the starter, the alternator and they asked if I wanted an electronics test, so I said go ahead. They did NOT complete that test. All of the tests came back fine. One of the mechanics determined it was the battery in my key fob. I told him there was no way it could be that after I had described the events leading up to it. He assured me it was, and he started the car a few times to "prove" it. It started. I said alright and picked up the car. I got a couple miles down the road to return the alternator I had bought (because family was saying it was probably that.) I got back in the car and... it wouldn't start.

I called up Midas and the mechanic came down, showed me the slip that the two tests they had completed show everything was fine. He banged on the starter and the car started. So he determined it was the starter. I bought a starter from a shop and took it to them the next day. They replaced the starter to the tune of $272.50 labor. The starter itself from some shop cost $144.99 plus the core, which I returned after the starter was replaced. The car worked for about two weeks (I only drove it once, though, to Ann Arbor, which is about a 3.5 hour round trip).

I called up Midas and they said to bring it in again, so I had it towed to them again. They informed me they were having a crisis and a few of their employees and managers or something had just quit, so the district or regional manager was there. He did a cursory look and said the starter was bad and sometimes cheap parts from China just don't work out of the box, and not to worry because they would replace it for free. I brought the new starter to them the next day. That day, he told me I would have to pay to have it replaced. I was irritated at this point but he kept insisting he never said it would be free to replace it and then he yelled at me because I was being slightly snarky.

I took the "defective" starter back to the shop. They tested the starter and said it was perfectly fine. I took it back to Midas where the d. manager tested it again and said it was bad. I told him to test the new one, too, which he did. He said it was bad. The d. manager from Midas had used a battery charger to test both new starters. So we took both starters back to the store, he followed in his car, and we tested both starters. Both were just fine. He said ok. I returned the new starter and he took the old new one back and put it in. He FINALLY did some investigating instead of just assuming it was high ticket items and found it was simply a ground wire that was bad. It was possible I didn't need to replace the starter at all and could have saved several hundred dollars. At least he didn't charge me for the ground wire.

When I finally got my car back, I turned it on and found the radio no longer worked at all. The d. manager said they would take care of it. I went in and talked to the new manager of the store and he said they didn't have time to look at it today. I told him they weren't finished with my job, seeing as though they made my radio no longer work. He said, "That's not how it works, all these people had been waiting." But I again insisted that I was also waiting, and my car wasn't finished. He had the audacity to say then "how do I know the radio even worked before you brought it in?" I lost it and cursed at him, saying "are you ** kidding me?" He demanded I leave and I told him no, not until they fix the problem they caused.

Eventually he had some mechanic come out and look at some fuses, but found no issue. The manager said I could leave the car there overnight if I wanted and maybe they'd look at it in the morning. I said "fine". The next day, around 2 pm I stopped by to see how things were going. He was finally looking at the car and said he got the radio to work, but the display no longer worked. I again let him know it was working before I brought it to Midas. He said there was nothing he could do and he had called a Mitsubishi dealership and they told him there was no way that could have happened. Well, it obviously did. Anyway, I had the hood of my car open and I found that Midas had also broken the little clip that holds the rod that holds the hood open. The manager did the same spiel "how do I know the clip wasn't broken before you brought it in." The manager did offer to pay for THAT himself because it was about a dollar.

Later I also found the air intake clips were missing. Anyway, long story short, they screwed up several times on the diagnosis. Made me buy a starter and pay for installation. Found it may not have even been a starter issue because, oh, it was actually a ground wire. Midas broke my radio and refused to take responsibility and refused to fix it (it's still broken). They also broke the clip under the hood of my car and took the air intake clips. It was an absolute nightmare. I will NEVER go to Midas again and you probably shouldn't, either.

They said they are having trouble finding the right part so I’ll have to wait. I told them to put my car back together and they said no! This is Sunday. I’m going to asked the police to help me get my car Monday repaired or not. This whole episode has taken a month and it’s still no end in sight. The supervisor lied to me. Told me about the repairs problem I was having around 2 hours after I called and left an extra phone number. The supervisor repeated what was said to him by the employee that I didn’t want that part of my car repaired which is ridiculous because the rear end is all I wanted and they gave me one windshield wiper and fixed the horn and tuneup. They did want they wanted.

I asked them to take the unwanted repair work off and do the job, they refused me so I got the regional manager. He did his research found out that the repairs that were made had already been done earlier this year so the firm was ripping me off. They said I couldn’t get the real repair job done for free but I could get a $100 dollars discount towards the repairs that I originally asked for. The repair work was $999. $1400 all total with tax. How can I be held responsible for knowing the exact part to fix, I told them what was going on. They said they’d fix it, they didn’t and I had the money for the repairs but they lied and deceived me. Did the repairs they wanted then told me I could get the right repair if I spent a total of $2400 to complete my repairs. They were sympathetic but no makeup repairs without extra money.

They knew exactly what was wrong with my car because I drove one of the mechanics to my home in my car and pointed my problem out specifically and was told by them I needed a rear end. He drove my car back to Midas that evening. Next day I realized they did everything but the one I asked for. One of the employees that works on cars drove the car back to Midas. There is no way in the world you could ignore my problem. I was told by other mechanic last year that I would need to take care of it soon. I thought that’s what I was doing. They fixed stuff that didn’t need to be fixed. There were no problems with anything but the rear end. The only thing that wasn’t fixed. I’m going to call the police and try and get some help getting my car back home repaired or not tomorrow.

In Midas they took out 3 fuse of my car that will make the A/C work so I will be force to go back to repair the car. I was suffering with hot air almost all summer because in MIDAS they tamper my car instead of fixing it. I have to say that Pep Boys' sale department where I went to go buy the fuse they help me a lot to get my A/C to work again. Thanks for nothing MIDAS.

I called Midas HQ and gave them a complaint. A couple hours later, someone claiming to be from HQ called me and invited me to "meet him somewhere" so he could deodorize my car. Unless their HQ is local to me, I have reason to doubt the caller was whom he claimed to be. Of course, I declined to meet him anywhere, especially since his voice was rather similar to the manager at the shop earlier. Please be advised that your car may end up reeking of smoke if you take it to Midas! If you dislike cigarette smoke, you may end up spending the day cleaning your upholstery and detailing your car as I did. Not fun and not cool!

I work full-time and I am a college student so I am on a budget. Sean then started telling me that if I did not get my rotors replaced that I could be driving down the freeway and not have brakes and kill someone. I asked how this was possible because I was getting new brakes and Sean became more combative and verbally abusive. I reminded him that the number gave me on my rotors were within the legal range to drive. He was being such a bully and calling me names that I began to cry. I just wanted my car back.

The brakes were replaced but when I went to give Sean my coupon to cover for the repairs Sean refused to accept my coupon and charge me full price. Sean was a bully and he scammed me. I went there simply because I had a coupon that I paid $90 for and it would cover the cost of my brakes which in the end Sean refuse to accept and charge me full price. At the very beginning of our conversations I told him I had a coupon so I had to stay within the range or what if you can get allow me to spend. If Sean was going to refuse my coupon he should have told me BEFORE the service was done on the brakes so I could have taken my business someplace else. A coupon cost me $90 plus $190 for my brakes so I ended up paying $280 for brakes that should have only cost me $90 I paid for the coupon. I would never take my car here again.

I told the service adviser that I was not going to put $1400.00 dollars in the vehicle and asked that he remove the muffler and I would make other arrangements to repair it. The service adviser asked me to wait a moment. When he returned he advised me that they had another solution to fix the muffler and that he would save me all kinds of money because this repair would cost only $350.00. He advised me that they were going to weld a sleeve on the pipe and the muffler. I was of the understanding that the other piece of the exhaust pipe was going to be replaced as well. The work was completed and I paid my bill.

A short time later I had occasion to look at the work that was done. For $350.00 dollars a six inch piece of pipe was welded onto my exhaust pipe and onto the muffler. This was what I had asked for. No other work was done on the exhaust system. When I returned to complain about the cost of the repair, I was told that I had approved it. They were right I did but I was of the understanding that I was getting value for the repair. I trusted the service adviser's opinion and was wrong to do so.

Whatever they did, didn't fix the problem. We would have to bring the car back in to have the plug overly tightened to lessen the dripping. Essentially, they used an oversized plug or something. They eventually told me the dripping was coming from somewhere other than the plug - that IS NOT TRUE. Just had an oil change at Firestone. Pan was all wet within a day of the oil change. Went back to Firestone and they said the plug was leaking and that it looked like someone had already altered the pan threads. They tried putting on a larger washer, but the leak is still there. I am having the pan replaced - $379. This is all because Midas in Wakefield cross-threaded the plug/inserted in at a crooked angle and caused a leak. They could have easily offered to replace the pan due to their mistake.

Then I notice the plastic is cracked around the port. So more frustrated I explain to them on the phone. They tell me bring it back in and it’s not serious. My car is old and I said that it is a big deal. It’s my car it’s a BMW and whether old or not still same price for the parts. They told me bring it in to look at. I will but I’m not near the area now, this is ridiculous that these people can break something on your car and not even care.

2. On Dec 28 my car dies and unable to start. I call AMA to come and boost the car thinking wasn't a battery issue. The batter new as I bought it on Dec 14. 2 days before bring the car to Midas to find and solve the problem. I spoke to Store Manager on ** on Saturday and told that, "My car wasn't starting and I needed the car tow to your shop to fix it". He gave me the towing company they used and told me to call them and they will 75 dollars of the towing. I called the towing company and it cost 110 just for hooking up the vehicle and another 60-70 dollars to have the car towed to the shop.

Jan 2/18. So I called back the shop to be told that they can't do anything until Tuesday (Jan 2). I left a voicemail for someone to call on Tuesday morning. I didn't get any call, I called the and spoke to ** @ 9:45am and asked him to have someone to come and tow my car to the shop to repair it. Since I paid 940 dollars for this issue to be fixed. And they did an inspection and diagnosis of the car and replace the star plug. So as far as I know I paid Midas to find and fix the problem. They finally towed my car at 6:30 pm, after speaking to ** again @ 1:30pm.

So from 1:30 - 6:30pm for the 5hrs nothing was done to my car. ** says he had to talk to the person that did the write up as he didn't indicate starter issue. I told him, "It's not my problem if he didn't indicate that, you did an inspection and engine diagnosis you should have caught it then." And I told him that, "I bought a new battery which you checked off on your inspection checklist," and he said it wasn't a battery issue. Are you saying this is all because you need to confirm what another person wrote down 3 weeks ago? Seriously.

Jan 3/18. I called ** @ 11:30am to ask him if my car has been fixed. He said he's overwhelmed and understaffed and hasn't gotten to my car. He still hasn't spoke to the person that wrote up my order. Because he needs to see "if it was a warranty issue or if a new issue that you will have to pay". I said, "This has nothing to deal with me or warranty. I paid you guys 940 dollars to solve the problem of starting and acceleration. So as far as I'm concerned only 1 issue was resolved. And why I am suffering because of someone didn't write down starter issue. When I recall it and your mechanic did inspection and engine diagnosis." ** said he was going to drop everything and focus on my car and have it resolved today and to "expect a call back before we close". I didn't receive any call or update. NOTHING.

Jan 4/18. I called to find out if my car is fixed and if I can fix it. The lady tells me that there is nothing anyone can do since ** is the Manager. I asked can I speak to the Owner, General Manager, District Manager or Someone in Head Office. She avoided to give me any phone or email of anyone. She said there's nothing she can do and no one else that can help me. I said, "Are you serious that in a company of your size there is no one that can resolve this issue? You have shop full of mechanics, there is no one that fix the problem and give me my car. You are affect me as I have to pay for cabs and bus tickets for the now an entire week. Who is going to reimburse me for all these added cost?" She said there is nothing she can do. "** is off today and he didn't leave me any instructions," and there is no that can help me. She said she will call me back if she gets any information but for now "you have to wait until ** is back tomorrow".

So because ** is away nothing happens or functions at the shop? Because ** is away I can't have my car to perform my job and therefore affect my income? No response. I called the customer relations line @ 2pm and spoke to lady. I explained everything again and again I was met with the same response. "There is nothing I can do but refer the matter to Store Manager - **." I said, "Are you serious, there's no district or regional manager or general manager I can talk to resolve this issue." Her response was no. So what is the point of having a customer relations office to help deal with customer complaints or problems if all they do is refer you back to the exact Store manager who can't be help you in the first place.

I am so frustrated with Midas, i have been without a car for now over 1 week. I have been given the runaround, people are avoiding my calls and not returning my voicemails. I the customer has to call and find out the status of my car or follow-up, which is poor customer service. The mechanic who did my car forgot the timing belt and I am sure did my car so fast. Probably why they didn't catch the start problem even after putting in new star plugs. And completing an inspection and engine diagnosis.

I have paid for cabs, bus tickets which I bet Midas is not going to refund me that money. My work requires me to be mobile which is affecting me and giving me stress. And the classic is because Store manager ** is off. NOTHING CAN BE DONE. What type of business model or business continuity plan does this company have? Honest. After this experience my trust with Midas is over, and I have been a faith customer for 7 years. That is now over, I want my car and be done.

They told me to bring it back in and they would call when they had the parts. They never called. I called Midas national complaint line twice and talked to a woman who took my concerns down. Both times she told me I would get a call in 24 hours. Never got a single call from Midas ever. Took it to Nissan and they charged me $400.00 to take out everything Midas did and fix the car properly. Midas lied, wasted my time, the manager was rude, and they never even fixed the car but charged me twice as much as what the dealer charged to fix it. Worst company I've ever dealt with. Do yourself a favor and go anywhere else.

I drove home, 10 miles, slowly pumping the brake which slowed the car and stopped it. When I got home I called and told her about the pedal and she suggested bringing it back in even though she told me not to drive it, and they would see if they could raise the pedal. I said no, I would not come near them again. This experience filled me with extreme fear and gave me a severe panic attack. I took the car to a local independent repair shop who fixed the brakes for $560.00. What Midas charged was not only high, but charged for parts not needed.

Then the manager took me under the car. Showed me the hole in the muffler and in the front of the car a honey comb part that was rusty, he said I needed that too. The initial Total for the muffler, honey comb part, inspection and emissions was 527$. They told me to bring the car in on Saturday morning for the repairs. I took the car in Friday night and left the keys in the lock box. My car did not get on the rack until 3pm Saturday. They called me on the phone and told me that I needed additional repairs for inspection. New back brake pads and rotors. The total jumped from 527$ to 880$. I said that was too much for me and to hold off on it and that I would come back next week but he said my car would not pass inspection without it. So I told them to go ahead with the new brakes and rotors.

My car was supposed to be finished at 6 pm and they were not finished until close to 7 pm and before I could take it home they showed me a HOLE in the pipe close to the honeycomb part that they replaced, said I needed a new rubber washer near my tire and told me that lug nut was stripped so they sent me home without it. The additional repairs would cost 125$. I went home with a hole in my pipe not repaired, a missing lug nut and a missing washer. It was closing time and I will not go back for the additional 125$ repairs. I paid them a total of 880$.