Andrew writes (to Jiffy Lube):

My wife and I purchased a home this spring with a nice garage. I could finally change the oil in my wife's car. She needed her oil changed badly and had gone to you before. Your team had tightened the nut to the oil pan too tight (pneumatic tools I'm sure), so I mentioned to her to have your shop change the oil and to please ask them to not over tighten the nut so I could release it for the next change.

My wife spoke to a member of your team and asked them to not over tighten the oil plug if possible. Not only did she get a horrible look from both the team member and the employee standing next to him, the oil plug head was completely rounded off smooth.

In order to remove the plug without damaging the oil pan, I had to hammer a wrench head 1/16th size too small onto the plug head to kind of form it into the wrench. I then had to use that same hammer to hit the other end of the wrench in order to loosen the plug. I now had a ruined plug and ruined wrench.

The new Pontiac G6 has a new size plug different than most cars. I found this out when I had to run up to the car parts store to buy a new plug. They didn't have any of the new plugs and I had to wait a week for a new one, thus rendering the car un-drivable.

Neither my wife, myself, friends, or family will ever use your services again.

We asked Andrew if he was certain the oil plug had been purposefully tampered with, and he says he's sure:

Yes, they filed it by over tightening it with a pneumatic drill. The drill's pressure was so high that the tool stripped the ridges off the bolt, thus making it almost impossible for me to remove without bringing it back into their shop.

You could say it was job security for them since they saw a potential customer about to leave and do it themselves.

He also included a picture of the ruined plug. Yikes. What do you guys think? Would someone do this on purpose?

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 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.

Jiffy Lube is now running an ad asking customers to give them a second chance.

In response to the hidden-camera reports Jiffy Lube fired eighteen people involved in the cheating, including a district manager and several store managers.

Jiffy Lube announced it will be starting a nationwide mystery shopper campaign to root out criminals working in their auto shops.

However, several customers wrote to the president of Jiffy Lube and asked for refunds. They say they haven't heard a thing back.

"It just shows that they don't really care about the customers," says an aggrieved customer in the video. — BEN POPKEN

Previously: Jiffy Lube Scam Revealed (Again)

Jessica S. wrote us about a recent experience she had with Wal-Mart's Automotive department. They just don't know how to do an oil-change, a day later, her engine blew up in a plume of smoke and gouting crude. Seems the crackerjack Wal-Mart technicians had forgotten to replace her oil cap.

Jessica naturally brought it in to get her oil cap replaced and her oil topped off. Despite the fact that they'd lost hers, Jessica had to buy a new cap at Auto Zone. They topped her off and she went on her way.

Except they didn't, and she didn't go along her way for long before her car grinded to a halt again. Jessica's email, after the jump.

I know you guys don't need any more reasons to bash Wal-mart, really, and I know my personal experience with them is not nearly as bad as others, but I thought I'd just send you a note telling you about how I found out that, while it's pretty cheap, an oil change at Wal-mart's just not worth it.

At the beginning of the summer, I was getting ready to make a road trip from Las Vegas, Nevada over to Los Angeles and back through Vegas up to Nebraska. I was due for an oil change, so on a Sunday I took my car in and had the service where they change the oil and cap off your other fluids, too. Monday (next day) evening, I noticed that smoke was coming out from under the hood of my car. I popped the hood and found out that they'd forgotten to replace the oil cap, and oil was ALL OVER under the hood. So, since the automotive department was closing in about 10 minutes, I called them up and told them what happened. They told me to come over, that they'd top off my oil and replace the cap. When I got there, they told me they didn't have my cap, and that they don't sell them. So they sent me to Auto Zone, where I bought a new one. I went back to Wal-mart, and while one worker was supposedly cleaning the oil out from under my hood (he didn't do too much) and topping of my ! oil, another guy took me through an hour-long process of giving me my requested refund for the oil change, along with a refund for an oil cap that they don't sell (which was very tricky for them). At this point, I was actually pretty impressed with the service and their willingness to stay open late and give me refunds.

Fast-forward about a week, when I'm driving through the mountains of Colorado and my car just wants to DIE. Any time I come to a stop, it nearly or completely dies. It jerks and jolts climbing hills, and requires pushing the gas pedal to the floor just to get to 55-60 mph some times. By the time we reach our destination, Boulder, it's died at about every intersection. The next morning we check the oil, and there is HARDLY A DROP. So we dump a bottle in there, and head to the nearest Wal-mart, so I can demand a free fluid check and top-off (for real this time). We found a very helpful young man who took the time to top it off and check the transmission fluid, which also HAD NOT BEEN TOPPED OFF.

Not that bad of a story, I know. It could have been much worse! And it shows that some Wal-mart automotive employees are genuinely helpful, whereas others pretend to be and then just...sit on their ass and don't do the work, I guess. But I guess I just figured out that next time I'm better off printing off instructions and doing it myself. And I should obviously check to see if a job I paid to get done actually got done. Duh.

One woman in Charlotte, North Carolina delivered her car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change, only to forget to hand them the keys. 40 minutes later, they told her her oil change was done.

Another woman from Calamuth Falls, Oregon had her transmission fluid changed by Jiffy Lube. A few months later, another mechanic noted her transmission fluid was black, and told her it had never actually been changed.

The report goes on to show that Jiffy Lube employees nationwide are pushed to do a minimum of $60 worth of repairs a car, or lose their job. Air filters, fuel filters and tire rotations are the things Jiffy Lube likes to charge for the most, then never actually bother doing.

According to Louis Scaffoni, president of Jiffy Lube, they're taking measures to prevent fraud, like an independent team of auditors and mystery shoppers. Hey! When we finally get that "Mystery Shopper" t-shirt printed, it might very well be the only way for you to guarantee yourself a fair shake at Jiffy Lube.

Debriefing: Jiffy Lube Investigation Video [NBC]

Debriefing: Jiffy Lube Investigation Text [NBC] (Thanks, Ben!)

5 out of 9 places they had their car serviced at scammed them. When confronted, the mechanics say they don't know why they did it and refer NBC to their district manager. When NBC finds the DM, he denies his identity and says he's just a customer. Jiffy Lube corporate confirms in an email that the man was in fact the DM and said they are taking steps to make sure it never happens again.

Moral of the story: learn how to change your own oil.

The first comes from J.N. who found that her simple oil change by Jiffy Lube resulted in a busted, dented, leaky oil pan. Jiffy Lube says the car was fine when she left; J.N. didn't hit anything with her car since. She thinks they busted it, but we'll suggest another possibility: that problem was pre-existing, but Jiffy Lube never bothered to actually change or check your oil. It ain't like they don't got the history of charging for work they didn't do.

The second email comes from Joshua K. Jiffy Lube not only attempted to hard sell him on numerous extraneous "repairs" (like a slightly off-white air filter with a twig stuck in it) but then proceeded to bust his CD player.

Both emails after the jump:

A few days ago, my "Check Engine" light came on. I realized I was way overdue for an oil change, so I hopped over to the local Jiffy Lube (which I've used several times in the last year and a half or so) while running errands. I had them change the oil and was told that I would need to see a dealer/mechanic about the sensor thing.

Today, I took it into a shop that gets great word of mouth. They told me that my throttle sensor was failing (which makes sense; starting and idling/trying to roll slowly in traffic have been really odd lately), but they also asked me something strange.

"Have you hit anything lately? Rolled over a curb, hit a median?"

Um, no. Why?

Apparently my oil pan is bent and the tube used to change oil doesn't seal anymore. I've got a leak. The combined cost to fix (includes another oil change, too) is just over $400. I called Jiffy Lube and of course they say my car was fine when I left them.

I know for a fact that I haven't hit anything lately. You remember stuff like that. Sure, I've been parking on the street lately... but I doubt vandals could have done this sort of damage.

Ultimately... because it's nothing I can prove, and because I'm just a clueless chick with a car, I get to clean up the mess.

Needless to say, Jiffy Lube has definitely lost a regular customer.

From Josua K.

My wife's car was in need of an inspection and an oil change. Normally, I would have taken the car to the local Saturn Dealership that has always provided excellent service. However, my wife had a coupon for the local Jiffy Lube on oil changes. I normally wouldn't go there but as our financial situation is very tight right now, a $7.00 discount would make things a little easier.

It was a mistake from the beginning. Right from the beginning, they tried to tell me the car's odometer was wrong, indicating it had to have been at least 100,000 miles higher than it was. The first sales pitch came with offering higher grade oil. I always get the mid-grade oil for the car and accepted this "pitch". But things got worse. They tried to next sell me replacement wipers, wipers that work perfectly and were replaced within the last year. I declined the offer and tried to send a clear message I wasn't looking for anything extra.

After getting through the sales pitches, I went and waited for an hour in the waiting room trying not to listen to CNN News. A mechanic comes in with the car's air filter. The air filter had a dry leave and a twig in it and was a very light grey. I expected as much as the filter was replaced only four months before. They try to sell me on a replacement air filter. I tell them again, I'm not interested. Another fifteen minutes pass and I get the car back.

Now, my previous experience is that anytime you take a car in for service, they always shut it off anyway. So in advance, I turned off the car radio. After I finally have regained control of the vehicle, I leave. Instead of turning the CD player back on, I decide instead to listen to the radio. It was only that evening that my wife discovers that the CD player is refusing to read any CDs.

It was working a minute prior to the inspection/oil change and the next time it is used, the CD player is dead, refusing to read any CDs. We are going to be taking the car in Thursday to the Saturn Dealership to get the car fixed but it is likely going to cost us money we don't have. What I would really like to know, is what recourse do I have regarding the CD player?

None, we'd guess. You can't prove it... and, without taking Jiffy Lube's history into account, it could well be a coincidence. Our readers might beg to differ, though.

In response to the undercover report, Jiffy Lube fired mechanics, installed video cameras in their repair shops so you can watch the work and shut down for a few days for retraining.

"Lesson one: Do what you say at the rate you said you would."

"Jiffy Lube Reacts To Hidden Camera Report" [NBC4] (Thanks to Ben!)