On Saturday, 06/24/06,1200 hrs, I decided to get my
alignment checked. The original work was done a month or more ago at Total Auto Care in Ft. Pierce. I called ahead to ask if it was alright to bring my car in to have this checked out. My husband told me that he also needed an oil change. So we called ahead to see if they had his oil in stock since it's 5W-20 (not all shops have this in stock and sometimes they need to order it). We called and spoke with Roy. He told us that he would be able to get it by time we got there.
Once we arrived, my car went into the garage. While we waited briefly, my husband and I asked about the oil to make sure they were getting the right one. We asked for full synthetic Quaker State 5W-20. They said that they didn't have it there but would get it from their warehouse. All the oil on display in the showroom or at the counter was Quaker State. Unfortunetly, his "type" was all out.
Now, mind you, my husband usually either does his own oil changes or gets them done at an oil change center. Ironically, the last one he did was at Pennzoil right next door to this business. Literally in stone's throw. But since I had my car at Total Auto Care already, and he really wanted to try the Quaker State full synthetic, he figured we'd stick together today. Afterall, it can't be more than what he pays next door.
So after my car was looked at, his car was done a few moments after.
When we went to the counter, we were shocked when we were told that it would be $85 for the oil change!!! When I asked WHY, they said that they had to use Mobile One, which is a more "expensive" brand of oil.
We did NOT tell them that we would accept this brand, nor to tell them that it was ok to put it in the car. They said they didn't have any Quaker State synthetic (as they promised they had in their warehouse) and just decided to substitute on their own instead.
When I asked why the oil change was still so expensive, he said it was to pay his mechanic for doing the work and that it was their "overhead" we were paying for. Oil is expensive these days, he says, but that's the price you pay. So still in shock, I paid the $85 and we left to go grab a bite to eat, and to absorb what just happened.
After sitting down for lunch, my husband and I sat and stared at each other. What the he* just happened??? We both realized that we had been taken to the cleaners. If you've never been ripped off, it is an AWEFUL feeling. Especially when you were the last customers of the day and had no one to call because they all went home already.
So we sat there, took the receipt out and looked at it. The receipt we were given does not have a breakdown of parts or labor other than a "miscl synthetic oil change" total. We were also told that the box of Mobile One supposedly cost their shop $46 by itself at their WHOLESALER; when at Advance Auto Parts it costs no more than $36 for 5 quarts which includes RETAIL pricing, tax AND an oil filter. Even MY oil change, which was done at Tires Plus in Vero Beach less than a month ago, cost me $46 TOTAL for 5 quarts, a tire rotation, refill of fluids and FULL synthetic. I still have the receipt.
I was never so ashamed at ourselves for getting ripped off. My husband and I could not sleep all weekend due to this. I made it a point to call first thing Monday to get this resolved with the manager, hoping they'd see their mistake.
When I called back Monday morning at 0730 hrs, I spoke to Scott, an employee that was there on Saturday. Nice fella. He told me that he believed that they overcharged us also. He said he was thinking about it over the weekend after we left (possibly guilt?). He told me that he would talk to Roy (which is the one that bent us over so to speak) about it and asked me to call back in a little while.
At 0950 hrs, I called back and spoke with Roy. I asked him if he had talked to Scott about my problem with the price of the oil change. He told me that the price was "what it was" and that he "charges the same for deisel's". I told him that we did NOT own a deisel, truck, V6, V8 or anything like that and that the price we were given is the most expensive oil change that we had EVER had for a compact 2.0 liter car.
We also did not receive any additional service and the oil that was put in was NOT what was promised to us. He said that they didn't have any 5W-20 Quaker State Synthetic and just substituted instead. Again I told him that this was NOT what we wanted and no one told us PRIOR to making the decision to change the brand that went in the engine.
He said that he would not budge on the oil change and that it was his "standard oil price" on all vehicles. He said our oil cost him alot so he had to charge us alot and his guy's get paid $1000 a week, so he had to pay them for their time (even though it took them 10-15 minutes to change the oil and slap on a filter). He only offered to give us $10 off the next "service visit" but refused to refund us anything back.
Needless to say, I advised him that we would NOT be going back.
A copy of everything was also sent to the state of Florida.
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