Ok, to make a short story long....a while back I went to a local tire shop to get a set of tires for my car....
I won't tell you the name of the company but it was a nationwide company whose name rhymes with "wirephone".....
I was at work, on the road, when my boss called me on my coworkers cell phone. Apparently the manager of the tire shop called my workplace and told my boss that my car needed brakes, that the front disc brakes were 98% gone and the back drum brakes were 95% gone.....
I returned the call to the tire shop after the bosses call and told the manager to just replace the tires, that I would replace the brakes myself....
I got the car, took it to a friend of mine who owns his own mech shop (he doesn't get into tires).....but I figured I'd change the oil beings it was due and my friend agreed to work on the brakes....I trade him help for some projects in return for his help with my car....
....anyway, I drove my car onto the hoist, lifted it and took off the tires and the back wheel drums of the car....the pads were nowhere near the stated wear told to me by the manager, and the wear percentages were also listed on the receipt I received....
There was a meaty portion of the pads left, I would say at least three-quarters of the usable pads left, all the way around the car....now I know what my mechanic was thinking when he gave me a strange look when I told him the tire shop told me it needed brakes desperately...my car had app 25,000 miles on it at the time, not that mileage neccessarily dictates brake wear...
So I changed the oil, put the drums and wheels back on, and just sorta forgot about it....I was tempted to at least call the manager back and ask him what the hell is going on down there, I'm figuring they're trying to drum up some business making needless repairs....I thought about writing the corporate office and possibly filing a complaint with the BBB.....in all probability the mechanic on duty would have been deemed to be in erred judgement and be held as a scapegoat by his superiors....probably one of the times a nastygram was warranted but I chose not to...
I have passed this story on to close friends of mine and have made a firm vow to not do business with this shop again.....I'm not some little old lady they can fleece at will.....I do remember seeing a story on "Dateline" I believe it was, where they rigged a thoroughly inspected bait car with marked parts just to see what shops would run them through the wringer in needless repairs and marked parts that were billed for but not replaced....I'm just wondering now what they gouged me for on the last car I took down there....
Just curious to know what you would have done....maybe thoughts as to the projected outcomes.....
I won't tell you the name of the company but it was a nationwide company whose name rhymes with "wirephone".....
I was at work, on the road, when my boss called me on my coworkers cell phone. Apparently the manager of the tire shop called my workplace and told my boss that my car needed brakes, that the front disc brakes were 98% gone and the back drum brakes were 95% gone.....
I returned the call to the tire shop after the bosses call and told the manager to just replace the tires, that I would replace the brakes myself....
I got the car, took it to a friend of mine who owns his own mech shop (he doesn't get into tires).....but I figured I'd change the oil beings it was due and my friend agreed to work on the brakes....I trade him help for some projects in return for his help with my car....
....anyway, I drove my car onto the hoist, lifted it and took off the tires and the back wheel drums of the car....the pads were nowhere near the stated wear told to me by the manager, and the wear percentages were also listed on the receipt I received....
There was a meaty portion of the pads left, I would say at least three-quarters of the usable pads left, all the way around the car....now I know what my mechanic was thinking when he gave me a strange look when I told him the tire shop told me it needed brakes desperately...my car had app 25,000 miles on it at the time, not that mileage neccessarily dictates brake wear...
So I changed the oil, put the drums and wheels back on, and just sorta forgot about it....I was tempted to at least call the manager back and ask him what the hell is going on down there, I'm figuring they're trying to drum up some business making needless repairs....I thought about writing the corporate office and possibly filing a complaint with the BBB.....in all probability the mechanic on duty would have been deemed to be in erred judgement and be held as a scapegoat by his superiors....probably one of the times a nastygram was warranted but I chose not to...
I have passed this story on to close friends of mine and have made a firm vow to not do business with this shop again.....I'm not some little old lady they can fleece at will.....I do remember seeing a story on "Dateline" I believe it was, where they rigged a thoroughly inspected bait car with marked parts just to see what shops would run them through the wringer in needless repairs and marked parts that were billed for but not replaced....I'm just wondering now what they gouged me for on the last car I took down there....
Just curious to know what you would have done....maybe thoughts as to the projected outcomes.....