Jiffy Lube charged Carlo for an oil change. They even warned his car suffered from a transmission fluid leak and an excessive oil leak. Only one problem: They hadn’t looked at the car.
When I came back, they told me that my car was ready and even pointed out that my car had a transmission fluid leak and excessive oil leak. They even said that they replaced my filters and window wipers. I agreed to the charges and paid for it. After five minutes, the cashier comes back and tells me that my car hasn’t been serviced, yet.
Carlo’s car was a chameleon. They thought the car was green, even though Carlo told them it was “bluish-green.” Well, that explains everything. Carlo had been a Jiffy Lube customer for six years. Now, he will service his car elsewhere.
Carlo’s email, after the jump…
I went to a local Jiffy Lube today to get my oil changed. They told me it would take about 2 hours. Since it was next to the mall, I decided to shop around and come back. When I came back, they told me that my car was ready and even pointed out that my car had a transmission fluid leak and excessive oil leak. They even said that they replaced my filters and window wipers. I agreed to the charges and paid for it. After five minutes, the cashier comes back and tells me that my car hasn’t been serviced, yet.“No offense to you, but this really looks sketchy. You already told me that my car had a transmission leak and oil leak, yet your mechanics still haven’t checked it. Please give me a refund. I’ll take my business somewhere else,” I said to the cashier.
While walking out, one of the mechanics told me that they had a hard time looking for my car because I had said it was blue and to them it looked more like green. I originally told them that the car looks bluish-green. They did not even had the face to apologize to me for the “bogus” charges that they were going to give me without inspecting my car. The sad fact is that I’ve been a customer their since 6 years ago. I took the same car without any problems.
I just want consumers to be aware of this practice and that Jiffy Lube should be investigated for some shady practices.
This Jiffy Lube is located in the Westfield Brandon Shopping Center next to Sears in Brandon, FL.
Real slick, Jiffy Lube. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
(Photo: aka Kath)
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Yeah, I had a manual transmission. Sure didn’t stop them from coming in and telling me I needed my transmission fluid replaced…
I’m pretty sure that all jiffy lubes are privately owned, meaning that one might be really unreputable and another might be perfectly fine. Correct me if I’m wrong.
I’ve taken my car to the same JL several times. One time when I walked in I asked for the automatic transmission fluid exchange and filter replacement.
I was talked out of it after I described the problem. I was told that it sounded like the tranny might need to be rebuilt, they would not be able to guarantee that these services would solve the problem, and that I should have the dealer look at it. They could have taken me for $100-$200 (can’t remember the exact amount).
At the time, I was impressed by this honesty. Now, thanks to Consumerist, my faith in humanity is shot.
I wonder if the T-Tech was a prop and the only thing that stopped them was the possibility that a ‘real’ mechanic might soon get a look at my ‘new’ transmission fluid.
All along I thought I was keeping an eye on these guys. I don’t sit in the lovely picnic area or shop nearby. I’m standing in the shop window or the bay door standing 3 ft from my front bumper with my arms crossed while they are working.
They all huddle around the hood nearly shoulder to shoulder passing parts to each other so quickly that I could just as easily be watching a game of shells.
Maybe I have been…
I have worked for Jiffy Lube for 2 years. I am a Customer Service Advisor and there are some things people should know. First there is a huge difference between a franchise and a corporate Jiffy Lube, I work for a corporate Jiffy Lube and we have so many rules and regulation on what to say to a customer. We will actually get fired for telling a customer they need this changed and that replaced. We actually give them the service recomended by the dealer and what milage it is recomended for, we then let them know the price and ask them if they think it is needed. Every thing we show them is entirely up the customer. the second thing is that franchises have no rules the people that own them get to make up their store rules all they are, are mistakes with a Jiffy Lube logos. I feel that all Jiffy Lubes should be made into corporate stores. I think that by doing this all these complaints would stop. My store has never lost a customer, we do every car on an average of 12 minutes, we also make sure everything is done properly and before the vehicle leaves the store we do a quality inspection. sure sometimes we forget to put the little stickers in the windows or missed some crumbs on the floor when we vaccummed but hey we must fast and thorough and I guarantee that not all Jiffy Lubes are the same, so dont just stop going Jiffy Lube find one around you that can do things the right way, the fast way, the JIFFY LUBE way!!!
It doesn’t just go for Jiffy Lube, almost all car maintenance/repair shops will try to “add-on” an additional service. It’s business. The best thing to do is try to understand how your car works and know what to look out for. I had to learn the hard way after getting ripped off at Big O Tires. They recommended I replace my brake discs and pads on my 94 civic (I was 16 at the time) which I did reluctantly at about $1300. 6 months down the line when I had to repair a flat they recommended I replaced them again. I took it to a family friend at Brake Masters to have them check it out and they said they still looked new. Needless to say I never went back.