PepBoys Does Everything For Less Because They’ll Rip You Off!
UPDATE: Hope, the Regional Manager mentioned previously in this story recently called to say that although they are not admitting to any wrong doing (actually breaking the car) and they do believe it was not PepBoys who broke it, they are going to fix it because they should have caught it earlier in the month when they changed the brake pads. This is wonderful news of course but I do want to point out the power of social media. I firmly believe if it had not been for our ability to reach hundreds of thousands of people our issue would probably not have been resolved. I hope companies will take note of this situation and remember how important customer service really is.
Being a modern woman today means that you can do anything. I am a strong, confident, independent woman with a good job that I work hard at. So why is it the only thing that makes me cringe with fear is hearing the words “mom, something is wrong with the car?” My nightmare began with the words, “Mom, my brakes aren’t working” but the terror really began with a trip to my local Pep Boys Service Station.
The first sign of brake trouble
My 1999 Mercury Mystique was the perfect hand me down car for my teenage son. In January 2010 I attempted to do as much preventative maintenance on it as I could before handing over the keys to my son. In November 2010 Jake was on his way to work when he called to say his brake pedal was going all the way to the floor and he pulled over afraid to drive it. We took the car to our local shop. The rear brake line snapped from old age. It cost less than $150.00 to fix. Then Jake complained in January 2012 of shaking when he applied his brake. I assumed it must need new brake pads. Figuring this was not going to be a big deal, I decided we would take it to Pep Boys where they do break jobs in their sleep.
My experience with Pep Boys
We checked the car in around 9:00 AM, January 2, 2012. Explained the brake history, explained the problem we where experiencing at the time and how we had the brake line on the rear of the car fixed just 2 months prior. Mike, the service manager, gave me the rundown of exactly what is included in a full brake inspection at Pep Boys, this included the following (taken directly from the Pep Boys paperwork I was given and also viewed on their web site):
“Our brake system evaluation examines your entire braking system to accurately determine exactly what problem you may have and what it will take to get you back on the road safely.” Includes
Removal of all 4 wheels
Inspection of all hydraulics, fluid, and hardware. Degree of friction is also noted.
Provide recap of evaluation with recommended solution. Free with system repair
Mike explained at noon that they completed a full evaluation of my brake system and my front pads and rotors needed to be replaced because of damage caused by rust and wear. He also explained that the vibrating or thumping could be caused by the calipers and pistons and that they may have to remove and replace those as well. He would know more once they removed them from the car and inspected them. The cost for all of this would be $679.00. I approved the work.
You must click on the Post Title (Pepboys Fails Customer Service) then click Page 2 below to read on.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
So sorry you had to go through all this Jackie! I am appalled that you got the same horrible service at corporate that you did at the local level. I will not be vising Pep Boys. I prefer to take my service to someone that will stand behind their work, not cover up what they did wrong.
I can’t believe they are putting you through this. I’m so sorry!
I was thinking the commercials I saw last night for Pepboys were awesome! And now not so much. I’ll never go to a Pepboys in my entire life. And when my boys are old enough to drive they won’t be going there either. What an evil evil company!
Shame on you Pep Boys, you’ve lost my business and I’ll make sure to tell my friends and family how poorly you have handled this.
Jackie -
Pepboys needs to pay for what they did to your car and for what could have happened to Jake. I hope you come at them wih everything you have. I will NEVER go to Pepboys & plan to share this with all of my friends on Facebook 300+ and my friends & family who aren’t on Facebook.
Best of luck & I’m here for whatever you need.
Lisa
I’ve done the same. You definitely have a lawsuit, and I’ll bet if your lawyer just contacts them and threatens a lawsuit, they’ll pony up. I just had them (the ones in Davie, FL) do my radiator. So far no probs. You may want to call one of the news channels and find out if they have a consumer protection bit on the show. A lot of times, the threat of bad publicity makes them think twice, too.
As a single mom for many years, trying to get my son through high school and college, I have also dealt with similar irresponsible thieves. Your experience is noted and I will never visit a Pep Boys for anything.
Have you considered small claims court? Seems like you have enough expertise behind you…
I would look at this as a breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, (depending on what state you live in). Making things worse doesn’t seem to living up to that. I wonder what Pep Boys’ Warranty says…
I wonder what the real story is. I mean, they are going to ‘fix’ a car, give it back and then blame it on you when it doesn’t ‘work? Just doesn’t make sense…
I have to admit, the video thing is a new one on me… Means absolutely nothing, but probably scares a lot of people off…
I am so sorry you had to experience such a horrible time. I hate anything that has to do with cars and fixing them. I like to think everyone is honest and won’t take advantage of me knowing I know nothing about cars but….poor customer service is appaling. Great companies are backed by their quality of customer service.
This is BS! Take it to court! Easier said then done, but I guarantee the minute they get that letter from the lawyer, they will implant their heads in your ass! Problem is, I wouldn’t even WANT them to fix it!
I think that Pep Boys is the biggest scam of licensed mechanics! They should teach these guys working there to up be front and honest with what they work on! Clearly they are covering up a pretty easy job that went wrong. Doesn’t this company make enough money with jobs they get right? This story makes me not even to want to buy a simple part from them! Their loss!
WOW! That’s just awful. I definitely would have to say you’ll have to take them to small claims court. Thank God that her son was able to get home safely. Sounds like to me that the mechanic’ goofed.
I’m not really that surprised I suppose considering a friend of mine worked for them and was rear ended in their truck by another driver. That person went to court and said he backed up into her which wasn’t the case. Not only did the driver sue Pep Boys but they sued my friend. Pep boys did not stand behind their employee and they said they got him a joint lawyer which totally took him to the cleaners and they got off not paying 1 cent.
I WILL NEVER TAKE MY BUSINESS TO THEM EVER AGAIN!
First off, get written statements from your friend who looked at the car. It will be very important to get written documents. Then contact Better Business Bureau and open a claim with them. Since this is under 5k it would end up in small claims. You don’t need an attorney for that. Make sure you have proof of everything. If all else fails, contact your local media. Once they do a story about this, I am sure Pep boys will listen.
That is terrible. I will make sure to tell everyone I know and I have shared on FB. Shame on them!!
I just can’t believe how they lying to you! On so many levels!! FIRST he tries to deny that the calipers were even removed but after you called him out on it changed his story but said they didn’t unhook the hose. THEN says that well you had work done on this car back in November so that alone says it’s not their responsibilty? Um, hello….. you brought the car to them because you were having problems with the brakes. So, if this (the contaminated brake system) was caused by someone else why wouldn’t you have had any problems immediately after the other place did they work? My first question is why didn’t Pep boys notice that there was a foreign substance in the brake line causing you the problems you were having when you brought the car in to them when they did their “brake system evaluation” prior to doing any work? My second question is why wouldn’t they add any brake fluid to the car after they did all this work? I might be just a dumb girl but even I know that they would have to bleed the lines and have to top off the brake fluid. Just ridiculous that they would even try to deny doing that!!!
I am sorry to hear that you are going through this. I am glad that nobody got hurt driving that car! Thank you for sharing your story. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I have a coupon in hand for $10 off a wheel alignment that I had planned to use this month at the Larkin Ave. service store. Yeah…. that won’t be happening. I will take my car someplace else!
I will be spreading the word to avoid Pep Boys for any sort of repair. And just for good measure I will no longer be shopping at their stores.
This is despicable! My husband is a pepboys guy and so is the rest of the family, I will be informing them they are no longer shopping at that store. Their mistake not only has taken away your car,and time they are just lucky it didn’t take anyone’s life. Very disappointing pep boy you should be ashamed!!!
SO sad this happened to you! Hope you’ll pursue legal action. But I have to say, I’m not surprised. We’ve dealt with PepBoys in Indiana and received the WORST service ever – very rude and didn’t do what they said. And we’ve dealt with them in Tennessee and found the same problems. We will NEVER go to PepBoys again.
We go to a local place here that was another shop but converted to a Pepboys. We have never had any issues with them here but i will only go to that exact location. I did have a friend years ago that Pepboys left a rag on her engine when she had an oil change and her car caught on fire from the oil soaked rag and it totaled her car. They did pay for it.
OMG! That is AWFUL!! I would totally get a lawyer, you could win no question. How long did you wait for the car? If the tape is only a coupe minutes long, that shows they are hiding something because it takes a lot longer than that just to take the tire off the car to get to the brakes. So thankful that my husband does works on our vehicles and we don’t have to worry about things like that. SORRY!
Jackie and Jake,
So sorry you had to go through all of this. It’s the biggest bummer when you can’t trust people with your car!!!! Most of us are constantly in search of a good mechanic/someone you can trust——-apparently Pep Boys isn’t it. Thank you for taking the time, to hold them responsible!!! It’s important
Have you tried contacting your local new channel. We have different reporters that showcase problems such as yours and try to get them fixed. I would give it a shot.
Wow, this is not the first time I have had a friend experience rotten and dishonest service at this Matteson location with manager Mike. Perhaps Mike recalls a certain black Nissan brake job and the car had to be sent to the dealer after the damaging services performed by his techs. Hmmmmm, dont’ the managers make a commission?????? Hear my words, I will NEVER go to Pep Boys!
I am so happy they are finally stepping up (albeit shirking responsibility) and doing the right thing!
I don’t have pep boys near but have horrible things about them before in the past but this is just down right awful I hope you get everything taken care of asap!
I was linked to this page though She Scribes. I just had to read your ordeal with them and frankly, it literally upset my stomach and left me dumbfounded but NOT one bit surprised. I’ve NEVER stepped into a Pep Boys Auto Repair Center with my car, and here’s why. My dad took his truck to Pep Boys to have a simple tire repair, years ago. He, and my mom that had gone along with him, waited for it and yeah it was quickly done and they were sent off on there way. About 3 blocks away is the freeway entrance. The freeway on ramp curves around and as my dad was driving onto the freeway, he noticed the truck jerked. He immediately pulled over, took a look at the tire he had just had repaired at Pep Boys and there it was, the obvious problem. They had repaired the tire just fine BUT had only put ONE bolt back in place when they mounted the tire back on. My parents WALKED back to tell them and yeah they hauled it back and fixed it. My parents were scared and furious when they told us, all 5 daughters, about it. Nothing could be done about it then, legally, as no one got hurt and they did fix their mistake but NOT a mistake that is taken too lightly at heart. Too many what ifs went through my head then too. I’m so glad your son wasn’t hurt either. It’s outright disgusting that they have not accepted responsibility for any of it.
This is why I have no patience for mechanics. I have been screwed in the past by a mechanic who told me $1500 to fix my husbands car. Paid the $1500 and picked up the car when it was supposedly ready. 2 weeks later the car was at the junk yard and we were out buying a new car.
Thanks for the update. I hate that you had to go through all of this to get some resolution!
There’s not a PepBoys in my area and this is the first I’ve heard of them doing terribly, so I won’t pass judgment on the company. However, I am soooo blessed to have a mechanic for a husband. He doesn’t rip me off and he won’t make me feel inferior for not knowing about vehicles. There’s a couple of them in town that my husband won’t set foot in, knowing of their bad service and poor customer service. I know an auto store is bad when even he won’t go there!
I swear by small business…I would never take my car to a place like this but this just confirms that! My son uses Pep Boys (why, I don’t know)…but I will send him this link so he can finally trust my advice to use a local, small business shop that HAS to stand by their work, or they’ll go out of business. Not to mention, they treat you a LOT better. Done deal for me!
(I’m sharing this on Facebook and Twitter, too!)
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