As it turns out it went dead again. This time i called the fleet service company which promptly arranged a jump and then suggested i take it in for a new battery. They listed a number of businesses but the closest one to me was Tireworks. I drove over there and was told by the manager that it would be about two hours before he could get to my car, soI said I would be back in about an hour.

I bring the vehicle back in, which they promptly drive into a bin, and thenI take a seat in their waiting area. I then proceed to sit there for the next two hours waiting for my battery to be changed. Now i suppose i should have had a clue that things weren't totally right when shortly after I arrived a woman was loudly and emotionally complaining about the service she had received and the charges she was facing for her repairs. I shrugged it off thinking that they couldn't't possible screw me over on a battery change; boy wasI wrong!

After about an hour of waitingI strolled over to the window of the auto shop where, to my surprise, i saw my car with its hood up and the old battery still in it. evidently the only thing they had managed to do was put a protective cover on the car seat! I thought they must be very busy so i just wandered back to the wait area and watched more TV.

After an hour and a half,during which time i had to call my wife to get her to pick up my son from school, late, I walked back to the window. My car was still there, still untouched and with plenty of mechanics seemingly standing around. I spoke with the manager (Mr. Gonzalez) and asked him what was taking so long. He informed me that the fleet management company was very slow to respond and they hadn't approved the charges.

I knew that was ridiculous; they had approved a battery replacement whenI initially called, I asked him why he didn't notify me of the problem in the last hour and a half so that I could address it with them? He then told me, for the first time, that they had also noticed my tires were bad and had requested approval for four new tires and an alignment.

I was furious! I didn't have time for this andIdidn't believe the tires were bad since they were rotated at the vehicles 60,000 mile checkup and were good then and nowI had 60,230 miles on them and they are to the point of being dangerous?!? I told him I was done, he could push the car out of the bay and I would have triple A change the battery.

He insisted that he couldn't do that, the car was too dangerous and the policy with fleet vehicles was to hold them until they were repaired completely, thatI just didn't understand how the management company worked. But that I shouldn't't worry, the authorization should come in at any minute and they would be happy to drive me home.

At this point i resolved that there was no way they were going to touch that car, I was being held hostage, pure and simple. They felt if they could outwait me I would surely let them put on four new tires (that i didn't need) and a costly realignment. I said no, I wanted my car pushed out and I wanted to be done with them. At that point I was informed that he couldn't let me take MY car without the approval of the fleet manager. I called his bluff and told him I would call our fleet manager and have him tell Tireworks that i was leaving with the car. He was summoned into his office, while i sat in the car and called the fleet office. I explained to the service technician at our fleet office and told him the scam these guys were trying to pull. He informed me that he would call Tireworks and let them know that the only thing they were to touch was the battery.

Well just at that moment Mr. Gonzalez walks out explaining that he just received approval for the tires and his guys were ready to get on it. I told him no, that i would get tires if and when I needed but never from his store and that one of our service technicians was calling to cancel the tire order. He wasn't happy. The call came through at that moment which he promptly took in the back office. When he came out he said it would just be a few minutes for my battery to be changed.

He couldn't understand why I was so upset, after being there two and a half hours, and that i just don't realize that they have to keep the car if they consider it unsafe to drive. Needless to say I exploded and informed him that if at any time he had bothered asking me or even informing me that the tires were an issue i might have been willing to discuss it, but he simply tried to get them sold and on the car without me ever knowing.

That is evidently what they do. They bully and hold people in the shop until they wear them down and get them to agree to unnecessary repairs, Our State's Attorney General found that out in an investigation a couple of years back but evidently didn't do enough to stop their deceptive practices. If you read reviews this same scenario plays out at all oftheir stores time and time again. But not this time!

Yeah, they charged me $220 for a battery that with installation shouldn't have been more than $130, but they didn't get for the extra $1000+++ they were going for. After a few more choice words with Mr. Gonzalez he finally had my car pulled up and he instructed me to "just get out". That was music to my ears. I did happilly get out sir, and will never come back with my vehicle or any of my company's vehicles. In factI have already started the process to have you removed as a vendor to our fleet program and believe me whenI say this; I will be recounting this story with everyone and posting it everywhere so that others won't make the mistakethat Inearly did!