I was in the hospital on nov. 27 when my wife told me that the brakes were making a noise. I asked my brother to go with her to the last place that had repaired the brakes. They told him it would be a couple of days before they could get to it so he takes my wife to the Just Brakes on Hwy 92 in Woodstock, Ga. They did a four wheel friction replacment, turned the rear rotors, rebuilt the calipers on the rear and sent her on her way. The bill was $250.00, which was okay with me. I was discharged from the hospital on Dec. 3 and on the way home my wife said the car was not running right, it felt sluggish, when we parked in the driveway and got out of the car I smelled the hot brakes and surmised that the front caliper (s) were sticking. The nest morning we went back to the Just Brakes location and after a teardown and inspection we were told that the front calipers needed to be rebuilt and that the new pads were shot and the rotors were gone too. Now here I am with a catheter and foley bag walking around the car with the manager trying to get an explanation of why they thought the rear calipers needed replacing but the front ones didn't when the car was there before. His explanation was that the new pads on the front had caused the calipoers to bind up. Anyway after replacing the pads under their warranty he told me that I would have to pay for the new rotors, my postion was that they caused the problem and were responsible for the repair. I was in so much discomfort that I really did not have any business being there and just wanted to get the car repaired and get home. The rotors cost $98.00 each and when I questioned the high cost (vs. $23.00 at a local parts house) was told that those were made in China and they only use American made parts. So I acquiested and let them finish the repairs. Two weeks later I was driving the car when the same thing happened again with the front calipers sticking and causing the brakes to overheat. My wife returned to the Just Brakes shop and she was told that there was nothing wrong with the brake system and that I must have been riding the brkes with my left foot as I was driving. I learned to drive in a stick shift car an only use my left foot for the clutch pedal. Over the Holidays it happened several more times and we learned that if we jammed on the braked it would cause the calipers to release and we could continue on.
On Feb. 18 we took the car back in and they told us that the reason for the problem were the flexible hoses going to the calipers and they needed to be replaced. The cost was $32.00 per hose and $50.00 labor total about $117.00. We got there at about 11:30 am as the parts were delivered I would go out to see how the work was progressing, the hoses were the last thing to be delivered and the technician (LM) was having a hard time getting them installed. The hoses are side specific and the brackets that hold the metal hose-flex hose connection have different type holes for the left and right. LM's solution was to grind away part of the driver's side bracket to get the hose to fit (he must be from the old school of, if it don't fit force it) when I saw the sparks flying I knew that that is not part of a hose replacement (two wrenches) and went out to investigate. I was told that they had the wrong hoses and that he was just trying to make them fit. After expressing my view that modifying the bracket was not a smart thing LM and the manager Mark told me that they were not really needed anyway and I told them that if they weren't that Ford would not have put them there in the first place. Then they ordered more hoses and when they got there magically the first ones somehow fit. After all this when they went to road test the car it would not start, the battery was dead, the hood, trunk, doors had been left open and the battery drained down after 6 hours. They tried to charge the battery with a small 10 amp (home style) charger and it wouldn't do it LM begrugdingly brought his truck in to jump it off and was unable to get it started. Luckily I had my truck there and took my batery out and put it in the car and got it started. Now I don't blame them for the battery (6.5 years old) but their attitude was that it is time to go and now it's my fault the car is stuck in their bay. All I can say at this time is that I do not think that the problem is fixed on my brakes and that Just Brakes Woodstock, Ga. Is in need of a good dose of ethics and just repair people's vehicles.
Jim Barron
Acworth Georgia
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