|
|
Post by Volktales on Oct 2, 2015 19:28:47 GMT -8
Ok, I heard something at work today that pi$$ed me off quite a bit... As most of you know, I work at an automotive repair shop in town that generally has a decent reputation... One thing that we do NOT do is sell tires. Obviously when we do an oil service on a vehicle, inspecting the tires as well as all other safety type issues is part of the job. If the tires are worn out, we tell the customer that they need to go to a tire shop and buy some new ones. We do not have any "relationships" with any tire shops, so the customers can go anywhere they choose. Recently two of our customers went to a well-known tire store in Nanaimo. This shop happens to be part of a large chain of stores... In both cases while buying new tires, this shop told both customers that their shocks and struts were completely worn out. One of the car owners was elderly, and the shop told her that her car was dangerous to operate in that condition due to the worn out parts and that it should be repaired immediately! In both cases the owners returned to our shop, in an concerned state that WE might have missed something when servicing their cars! As you might have guessed, the shocks and struts were completely fine and did NOT need to be replaced at all... Complete dishonesty on the part of the tire shop, that was looking to make SIGNIFICANT extra $$$, even after selling them a set of tires... It is idiots like that who give most shops a bad name. And do you really think we will recommend that tire shop to our customers anymore??? Fat chance...
|
|
|
|
Post by tony on Oct 3, 2015 10:20:56 GMT -8
Yeah that happened to my wife with her Honda , it was in for some small recall thing and they told her that her brakes were so bad that they , in good conscience shouldn't let her leave without fixing them , $700 or so later she was "safe" again!! Her brakes were in perfect shape functionally and visually and I had new pads at home that I was planning to put on when they actually needed servicing!!!!!!  |
|
|
|
Post by paolo on Oct 3, 2015 12:56:48 GMT -8
very common and could tell a few tales of dispicable rip offs with elderly, or ladies being told things need doing when they don't, combined with crazy prices....
|
|
|
|
Post by mitchy965 on Oct 3, 2015 16:41:36 GMT -8
had a senior sales adviser screaming for my ass once,all the usual threats of litigation and slander(possible tar and feathers).i had submitted my report to my customer with my findings on a prepurchase inspection on a used toyota minivan(off their lot) and he had shared it with her (the car lots adviser). she called myself and my shop a blatant ripoff and she could prove it!! my tech (a 30 year veteran) had called the front brake calipers and recommended resurface rotors and new pads.she calls me on the speaker phone with my customer beside her and calls me every name in the book because we are calling unnecessary repairs as her top rated dealership tech inspected the brakes and reported only 15% wear and are in perfect order!! i simply replied that her tech missed the issue with brakes and before i could tell her why... LIES!! she cries!! "i just knew you'd say that!!" she screams "so i took this van to another shop (another top rated dealer here in courtenay) and even thier tech say the brakes are perfect!!!(more names)! so now with the ball back in my court i invited both my customer and her to return with the van so we could have one more look before my firing squad showed up. arrive they did and off with the wheels "LOOK!!" she says "PERFECT!!" i look and say "NOT"!! and asked my tech to remove the calipers and grab my mirror to reveal the rusted inner rotor surface, never touched by the pad since the last brake job because the inner piston was seized and only the (easily viewed)outboard pad and rotor surface was used and perfect.the previous techs never removed the calipers and missed this. never did get an apology...
|
|
|
|
Post by mitchy965 on Oct 3, 2015 16:45:23 GMT -8
....but the look on her face was quite enough when i explained to my customer that only"ripoff" shops must be the only ones properly doing inspections and that the dealership flat rate guys dont get paid enough to do more than a quick visual inspection. HA!!
|
|
|
|
Post by CrazyBrit on Oct 4, 2015 20:33:56 GMT -8
We had a similar problem with our Matrix when my (then) pregnant wife took the car into a dealership for an oil change with our little boy in tow. They claimed that she required new pads rotors and calipers, to the tune of a little over $1000. The pads were allegedly down to metal, the rotors were rusted out and the calipers were corroded and required replacement. I was due back from a 3 month contract at sea a week later, so told her to wait until I got home. I was fairly confident that there were some "inaccuracies" in the report, because I had replaced the rotors and pads myself less than 12 months prior to the service (10,000 kms ish!). I purchased some new pads and removed the old ones, which were only part worn. There was some corrosion around the outer rim of the rotors, but then that is what I would expect on a daily driver with steel rotors. The braking surfaces were in good condition, with a nice shiny finish to the steel from the pads. The calipers are still on the car 3 years later and managed to safely stop my car under very heavy braking yesterday when a lady in a red BMW tried to cross an intersection a short distance ahead of me.
|
|
