I'd noticed that the brakes on my car were squealing and the brake pedal went almost to the floor when applied. I also noticed a horrible grinding noise that was only noticeable when I accelerated after being stopped. After searching the internet, I came across Just Brake's $99.88 special that includes "replace pads and shoes on all 4 wheels, machine rotors and drums, pack the bearings, inspect the balance of the brake system, and guaranteed for as long as you own your car." That's quoted directly from their advertisement. I called Kelly at Just Brakes to be sure that my car qualified for the special.
After inspecting my car, she came in to tell me there was a lot of play in the front left tire. She then took me into the shop to show me the movement of the tire. That explained the horrible grinding noise during acceleration. They had to get my permission to remove the tire because "the hub bearings may fall out if removed and then would absolutely have to be replaced."
I gave them permission to remove the tire, replace the hub bearings if they were corroded as she claimed they would be, and do the work that was included on the $99.88 special. She asked if I wanted my parts, and of course, I told her yes. I sat in the lobby area for THREE HOURS! I was under the assumption that they would be done soon when Kelly came in and said that they couldn't get the hub bearings off.in those three hours, they had only removed my tires and attempted to remove the hub bearings?!
In those three hours, I'd seen countless rats run across the floor, into the trash, and into the cabinet that the coffee pot sat on. On my trip to the restroom, I saw 2 trays of rat poison lying on the floor, which made me wonder about the little boy whose mother had sent him to restroom only minutes early. Hope he didn't see those and wonder what they tasted like.
After 30 more minutes, they still hadn't replaced any of the pads. Lucas, a mechanic, came in tell me that they didn't have a press to get the bearings off. The press was in another shop, but, of course, by 9:00pm that other shop was closed. Keep in mind, I'm a college student and this is my ONLY means of transportation. He offered to drive me back to campus, which I had no other choice but to comply or sleep in the lobby with the rats. On the way home, he confessed that they don't have the tools to do a lot of things in this particular shop. I'm thinking, "so why is the shop open???" I told him that I'd be there at 1:30 the next day with my mother to pick up the car.
About 8:00am the next day, I received a call from Lucas saying that the spindle, at least I think it was a spindle, was corroded and I would have the same amount of play in the tire if I didn't replace it. The cost was $75. That's $75 that I didn't have after all the other repairs they were charging for. My mother said she'd cover the $75 and I told Lucas not to call me again about more repairs because the answer was "NO!" My total bill came out to $425 and some change.
Kelly again asked me if I wanted my parts, and my answer, again, was yes. She had to go "find" them. She came back with a box with my old brake pads and the spindle wrapped in a rag. She showed me where the spindle was corroded, which was evident. I never thought of the hub bearings. Now I wonder, did they even replace them? Where they even corroded? Did I pay for parts that aren't on my car?
Today, I took my car to Brake Check to have a belt replaced. I told them that 3 weeks earlier I'd been to Just Brakes, and upon hearing this, he offered to check out the brake system, for free, of course. After taking off the wheels, he took me into the shop to explain how the brake system works. He let me watch him measure the rotor. He told me they needed to be machined and asked me to run my finger over them to see how bad they were. But wait! That was included in the $99.88 special from Just Brakes, wasn't it? It's clearly in the advertisement. So, Just brakes charged me $99.88 to replace pads, that's it. My car doesn't have shoes and they didn't machine the rotors and drums!
Basically, before you get work done by Just Brakes, get a second opinion and price quote.
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