http://mfile.akamai.com/12924/wmv/vod.ibsys.com/2006/0503/9152183.200k.asx
A friend of mine sent this to me. Busted! I really hope it is not happening nationwide. This is why I do my own work on my cars.

Nice. My wife wonders why I say these places are rip offs.

quick oil change told my wife she needed new brakes on the front and rear of her car 345.00 when I checked they looked brand new

This was Jiffy Lube. The best part was they went back 6 months later after the whole thing had blown over and they caught them doing it at the second investigation.

alan

Thats why when I don't do the work myself, I always take my car to a mechanic I trust with whom I have a personal relationship. He may not be the cheapest guy in town but he is honest. You get what you pay for.

Guess this shows why it's important to take the time to do your own oil changes. It also gives a guy a chance to take a gander underneath to check the CV boots, or any leaks that might lead to $ for future repairs.

They did a cross country expose a while back in Canada that also showed a fair number of repairs that were done to cars that didn't need to be worked on... the cause...a wire was left unattached on purpose to make it look like the car needed a repair.

As Robin pointed out... get to know your local mechanic it's worth it in the long run.

capt

I love those hidden camara reports......

Back in Sept. I replaced the ball joints on my Grand Marquis, brought it in to one of those "national tire service centers" for an alignnment. (If there was a fire, you wouldn't want to stone it) Reason being it was right across the street from work. They called me 3 hours later to say they couldn't do the alignment because the tie rods were frozen. They said I would have to pay $600 for new tie rod ends or the alignment could not be done. No thank you, and brought it to an "alignment only" shop. They had no trouble aligning it. I specifically asked them about the tie rod ends and they told me they were fine, and they were not frozen. (I know they actually did the alignment because it tracked fine afterwards)

I e-mailed their corporate consumer line and complained. The store manager called me that afternoon to apologize. He asked what he could do to make this right. I told him nothing, I will never step foot in your shop again, or any of your companies service centers. I told him I would tell everyone about his scam. They have lost hundreds and hundreds of dollars in business in the last 6 months because no one from work goes there anymore. Stupid stupid stupid.....try to scam someone for $600 and lose thousands from dozens of customers who will no longer go there because of my experience.

I did see a help wanted sign in the window about a week later for a service manager....I wonder if I had a hand in that??

Sure hope you did!

capt

I think the Jiffy Lubes in the video were all in collusion together, probably coordinated by the shifty-looking district manager. He probably got a piece of the action.

-

I'm not saying all fast lube type places are ripping people off but, I've heard of one here in my local area. One of thier favorite scam tactics is to show a dirty air filter (one that doesn't even fit the vehicle) to an unsuspecting woman customer in order for her to buy a new one.

Our Local "Tires Plus" franchise is more known as "tires and tie rod ends Plus" they do that point and quote when its not needed alot. Wish they'd do an expose' on them in Minn. too.

As sad as that is..im not at all surprised!

This happens way too much...there are a lot of honest people too...but at places like these, some of the work done is something you dont look for.

Oil, you can see if it looks fresh...front & rear difs, fuel filters, well most people are not going to see if that has been done...way too much work to verifi that!

Just not fair...you trust these people with you vehicle, and really with your life! I guess the dollar really has sunken to a new low...

I do side work and would NEVER rip my customers, friends off...to make a few extra $$$?

They trust me...and i always give them a lot more than they expect, besides, I dont want the bad karma!

The last place that safety inspected my car, the inspector punched a hole in my drivers side rack boot w/ an 8" long screwdriver!! I watched him do it, but it didn't register what he did right then!!

A month later, changing my own oil, I found it!

It's going to get real interesting when I go back for another safety inspection b/c I have his signed slip! When it's pointed out to me, I'm going to get right up in somebody's face and then send everything into Jefferson City, MO to the MSHP!!

My wife's new car has ONLY been to ONE place since we bought her car, THERE, for a safety inspection and I haven't crawled under it to see if the SOB did the same thing to it??

Not happy at all!!

pdq67

PS., I presented and had this adopted!! 10CSR 10-5.381 if anybody is interested.

Our Local "Tires Plus" franchise is more known as "tires and tie rod ends Plus" they do that point and quote when its not needed alot. Wish they'd do an expose' on them in Minn. too.

Same with the Tires Plus near me, Jim. My wife brought in her Ford X to see why it had a shimmy in the front end. The estimate....$2900.00! I couldn't freaking believe it. The vehicle did need new upper/lower ball joints, but I did them myself. They had written up every nearly possible front end part that could think of...and then, even threw "new wiper blades" in there :rolleyes:

Think about all the money they cost everybody from repairs on maintenance that was at least twice overdue. Its all about numbers now and if they can get away with it they will. Makes me sick.

Need to bring back lynching. At least Tar and Feathering.

The last ABC 20/20 undercover investigation I saw on this sort of thing showed the undercover TV crew getting ripped off at place after place. They would do things like suggest the fuel filter was clogged and needed replacing (even when it was brand new and was changed just 20 minutes earlier at another quick lube! :mad: )

I love those hidden camara reports......

Back in Sept. I replaced the ball joints on my Grand Marquis, brought it in to one of those "national tire service centers" for an alignnment. (If there was a fire, you wouldn't want to stone it) Reason being it was right across the street from work. They called me 3 hours later to say they couldn't do the alignment because the tie rods were frozen. They said I would have to pay $600 for new tie rod ends or the alignment could not be done. No thank you, and brought it to an "alignment only" shop. They had no trouble aligning it. I specifically asked them about the tie rod ends and they told me they were fine, and they were not frozen. (I know they actually did the alignment because it tracked fine afterwards)

I e-mailed their corporate consumer line and complained. The store manager called me that afternoon to apologize. He asked what he could do to make this right. I told him nothing, I will never step foot in your shop again, or any of your companies service centers. I told him I would tell everyone about his scam. They have lost hundreds and hundreds of dollars in business in the last 6 months because no one from work goes there anymore. Stupid stupid stupid.....try to scam someone for $600 and lose thousands from dozens of customers who will no longer go there because of my experience.

I did see a help wanted sign in the window about a week later for a service manager....I wonder if I had a hand in that??


Did you see a copy of the before and after alignment specs??? Alignments pay 1.2 hours to do, a technician, who is paid by that. I would bet that the technician had trouble of somekind...why would he give up the "gravy". He would get paid .6 hours for an alignment check, but, trust me most of the work is sitting up the heads shaking down the front end, camber sweeps, etc. I know this because, well, I work for this company and have for 10 years and we have yet to rip anyone off. We do not make any commission. Of coarse, I can not speak for other stores......but I can tell you this...I would fire anyone who worked for me that pulled any of that Jiffy Lube crap or someone who tried to sell any part that was not needed.

At the shop I used to work at, I was told to try to "sell" brake jobs, wiper blades, etc. for any car that came in for an oil change.

My evaluation was often times different that what the customer was told :sad:

Did you see a copy of the before and after alignment specs???

Yes. The second place gave me the computer print out, I have it somewhere, but not in front of me, I do remember that it was out quite a bit after I did the ball joints. The Manager of the "first" place asked to see it when I complained to corporate. I walked across the street to show him the print out to prove that the work was actually done and the second place had no issues at all with the tie rod ends. He really wanted to do something for me, but I said no. #1, If they were capable of scamming me the first time, why would I ever go back even if it was free #2) I wanted to drive home the point that I wasn't complaining because I was "looking for something for nothing" I wanted them to know that I knew they were scamming me and wanted it brought to light without trying to scam them for something. When I told them not to do the work, I was there in 15 minutes. Before they would give me the keys, they tried to charge me a $29.99 "diagnosis" fee, needless to say, I didn't pay that fee.

The second place is about a mile from the first place, and are alignment specialists (all they do is alignments and suspension work) just laughed and told me they hear stories all the time about the "first" place.

It's too bad that one bad experience with one store has turned me off to the whole company. I just make sure that everyone hears my story and avoids those places. There are plenty of other honest places out there who are happy to take my money.

It happens everywhere and @ every level. Think about this angle. Here you are Joe Tech. Your mama and the Marine corp rasied you right and you refuse to steal. SO you work in some system It can be a Jiffy like chain or a top of the line Luxary car shop ....
Hint hint... So the system you in is pretty std. You make flat Rate money based on your Production. You managers job security and Compensation is based on the toal Hrs coming through the shop.
In this system thier are 10 line guys. Some of these guys will for example take a car that is under waranty and say OH look the rear main seal is leaking. (even though its bone dry) Cha Ching thieir's 8 flat rate hrs. Whoo let me get that seal form the parts dept and immediatly open the package and chuck the new seal in a mixture of solvent and oil. This way if they ask for the old one back.. No problem. Then I can spen the rest of the day doing gravy services Hooray for me. I already made 8 free hrs without lifting a wrench. My *** is covered cause the boss knows all the way up to the regional directors cause they are all compensated by Prodution numbers...

So back to Joe tech who is honest working his *** of trying to keep up. Beacause guess what his Production numbers have to look as good as the !@#$% thiefs. Hes' pissed cause he busts his *** and has nowhere to turn. Good newss is I still managed to pump the same hrs with my hands tools and brain and back without stealing. Guess the point is thier is allot of bad and a lot of good and some good guys I know were forsed into doing some things the didnt want to. Sorry for the rant.

Its why I left the buisness....

My wife bought a brand new Grand Cherokee Overland in 2004, and for the first oil change, I brought it to Jiffy Lube. The technician came into the waiting area (where there were several other folks waiting for their work to be done) and explained to me that it would be wise to get a transmission flush while the oil was being changed. I answered with "The car has 3,100 miles on it." He turned 3 shades of red and muttered something about making sure I kept an eye on it and went back to the shop. The other folks clearly knew he was trying to pork me.

It does not surprise me.

On a funny note. In the beginning of the vid they show them putting in the cameras. I laughed thinking to myself that they paid to put the cameras in and they were not installed.