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| - This Meineke location took advantage of a sad situation, did not listen to what I described as the problem, failed to diagnose a serious issue, and didn't perform services as agreed. They charged be me over $1,500 despite their acknowledged failures, leaving me out of that money with a vehicle that can only be sold for junk.
After my father died suddenly on Christmas, I was left with his 1997 Ford Aerostar van that he'd let fall into disrepair. The vehicle did not feel safe to drive, as the engine died at stoplights, the check engine light was on, and the vehicle felt like it was lurching or lunging forward when I first started the car, but not after it had been going on the freeway.
I took the vehicle into this Meineke on Chandler Blvd, and Brandon, who worked at the front desk, listened to me describe the problems listed above. I said that I wanted to get the vehicle safe to drive for a few weeks.
Brandon apparently didn't like the word "lurching" that I used to describe the problem, because he said it was the engine "surging." He hadn't looked at the vehicle at all, but said a surging engine would cause that jerking motion I demonstrated feeling when I drove the car.
I paid ~$100 for a diagnostic service after having dropped the van off on either January 2 after the New Years' holiday, and was helpfully referred to a rental car place across the street at a discounted price so I'd have a vehicle in the meantime.
It took them a while to look at the car, but Brandon called me on the phone and said that to fix the problems, I'd need to pay about $1,500 to fix the intake manifold, change the spark plugs, and do some other work. That was a lot of money to spend on an old van, but it seemed like I could sell a generally working van on CL for about $1,000, so I agreed to do this. I needed a van to be able to transport items from my dad's house to Goodwill, etc., as this would be better for the job than a rental car, and I only needed it for a few weeks.
They didn't fix the van for several days, as I was told they had difficulty finding a new intake manifold for that vehicle, but I picked it up on Sunday after they said they'd given it a test drive and the issues described had been fixed.I drove the car about a mile back to the place where I was staying, and didn't immediately notice any changes, although the van's engine didn't feel like it was dying.
On Monday, however, I noticed right away that morning that the car was still lurching - but I needed to get where I was going to several appointments, so I left things alone and tried to gather more data. On Tuesday, the problem was still there, of course, so I called Brandon to report that things still hadn't been fixed. I still needed a vehicle all day for several days, as I had a jam-packed schedule trying to settle my dad's estate and get his house cleaned out.
Brandon said that old cars often would run the engine fast when first starting up, and that this engine surging was causing the lurching behavior. I told him my frustration that he kept saying "surging" - the problem was that the car was *lurching* and jerking. So he agreed that they'd look at the car on Saturday morning.
I brought the van in again in last Saturday, January 13, first thing in the morning, and the car still was obviously lurching. I had a mechanic do a test-drive with me so he, too, could feel what was happening with the vehicle. I was given an estimate of $0.00 to fix the problem, which was finally described accurately on the estimate form as "lurching."
Well, after having it all day, Brandon then called me back and said the issue was that the rear brakes were having trouble, but that he didn't know how much it would cost to fix the problem unless he took apart the brakes, which then would obligate him to repair the problem.
I said that the problem had not been fixed the first time, and that this should have been included in the $1,500 I paid. He said that "there are no guarantees in this industry" and that he was not going to fix the problem for no money. I said that I was willing to be flexible with him, but I needed to know how much things would cost ahead of time, as I was not willing to be out another $1000+ dollars for repairs. He refused to give even a ballpark estimate for repairs, which, again should have been done the first time. He acknowledged that they didn't catch the problem on the first inspection, but said that my repair goal was to fix only the major issues and get the car to the point where it was safe to drive.
Well, I disagree that there are no guarantees in this industry; if you agree to fix given problems for a certain amount of money, then you need to honor that agreement. Fixing the brakes is also a safety issue, so that argument doesn't fly either.
Shame on Chandler Blvd Meineke for not doing these repairs as promised and taking advantage of me in a bad situation! They need to make things right.
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