I brought my Isuzu Rodeo into this location of Brakes Plus during the first week of January 2010 because I received a coupon in the mail and had heard the radio commercials.
Everything started off great. I was greeted by a nice guy named Kenny. I explained to him that I heard some squeaking and minor grinding when I slowed and asked him to check my brakes. I told him that I had just had one set replaced within the previous 6 months by Big-O but couldn't recall which set.
I left the car and went to the movies with my wife. About 2 hours later Kenny called and told me that I needed to replace front and back brakes and that my shocks where shot and needed to be replaced.
By this time I had already run home (prior to the movie) and checked my Big-O receipt to see which set had been replaced. It was the front brakes, in June 2009. So when he told me both needed to be replaced I again told him they had just been replaced within the past 6 months.
He said the pads were completely cracked and that he was authorized by his manager to do a core trade-in which would save me $20-30 if I wanted to just avoiding having to deal with Big-O and have Brakes Plus replace the brakes.
At this point I had no reason to distrust Kenny so I was completely livid with Big-O. I chose not to replace the front brakes because I wanted to take the car back to Big-O, slam my keys on the counter and yell WTF!! I did choose to have the back brakes replaced but passed on the shocks because it wasnt in the budget.
Brakes Plus finished with the car at nearly 5pm (I dropped it off at 10am) and I drove straight to Big-O. After a brief unpleasant exchange with the store manager they pulled my Rodeo into the shop immediately and with me standing right there pulled the wheels off and extracted the brake pads.
Nothing. The brake pads were in great shape. No cracks, no unusual wear. Nothing. I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide.
At that point I asked them to inspect my shocks. They were fine. Told me I probably had another 10-15K miles left on them.
Argg! Did I really even need back brakes? I have no idea. Either way, this is a customers greatest fear when their car needs work, being taken advantage of by the mechanic. The behavior is unethical and unprofessional. I'm still trying to decide whether I should contact the Better Business Bureau or not.
If you need brakes, take your car any place else but Brakes Plus.