Had a very bad experience with Pep Boys service. Usually, I try to avoid such chain auto service cen

10th of Jun, 2010 by User352101

Had a very bad experience with Pep Boys service. Usually, I try to avoid such chain auto service centers but, this time I took it to them thinking that they will do a better job at doing full diagnosis and will be able to tell me all the problems with the car (before fixing). I went to them and reported 3 observations whcih need to be addressed: 1)'Service Engine Soon' appeared and I just drove about 10miles with that 2) Brakes or not working properly at highway speeds and 'Brakes' sign is visible 3) There is some shaking of the vehicle sometimes at high speeds. Then the technician listed all this in the initial filing report and said taht he will do a diagnosis test and will let me know about any issues. After waiting for about an hour he showed me a report listing the issues and what it costs to fix them. Basically he suggested Brake Service, Rotor replacement, Shock/Struts replacement. As the bill was about 1200, I asked him if I can postpone any of the recommended listed jobs. But, he suggested that all of them need to be done. I said ok and signed the work authorization from. I came back next day to pick up the car. After paying the amount due, I was surprised to find that the 'Service Engine Soon' is still on. I immediately asked the attendant about it. He checked and said that they did not do any diagnosis/fix for that. I was shocked !!! Main reason that I got the car for service was for that and now they are saying that they did not even look into that. I asked them for the initial report or work authorization form and they said that they could not find it 'mysteriously'. I tried to argue with him asking for those forms to clarify whats reported and whats authorized. Then the Manager turned rude said that he will aks me to leave the shop if I try to argue in front of other customers. With that attitude, I did not feel right in continuing my argument. But, I suspected that something could still be wrong considering 'Service Engine Soon' is still coming up. I immediatley took it to a local mechanica (directly opposite this shop) who showed me that the oil level in the car was dangerously low which could have seriously damaged the engine (may be it did alreday) if I drive like that any further. Learnt form the mechanic (and also by looking at my auto manual - which I should have done in the first place) that 'Service Engine Soon' is not related to Brakes/Rotor/Shocks that Pep Boys replaced.

If the people at Pep Boys had showed me what need to be done to fix the 'Service Engine Soon' light, I would not have authorized any of the other services (brakes, rotor, shocks/struts) that they did in the pretext of fixing 'Service Engine Soon'. I think this is a real scam !!! I need to see if I can do something about this (other than advising other customers).

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