My car's A/C had gone out, followed by the Check Engine light coming on and pronounced vibration in the engine when idling. Wanting something done quickly, I took it to the Pep Boys on Powers here in Orlando on Sunday Aug. 25, dropping it off early in the morning and fully expecting it to take more than one day. Once I explained the problem, they told me they'd do the complete engine check and the A/C check, then call me back and let me know what the results were.
I got a call back later that day telling me what needed to be done — upgrade the A/C system to a new federal standard, replace some hoses, and a full engine tune-up. This seemed to jive with what I knew was wrong with the car, so I told them to go ahead. I asked if it would be done that day, and the man on the phone said he would try. I never heard from them again that day, so I assumed it would be ready the next day, Monday Aug. 26.
Around noon Monday they called back and said the air compressor needed to be replaced as well. I was now looking at about $1000.00 worth of work on a car that is 18 years old and that I only paid about $4000.00 for to begin with, but, wanting the car driveable and figuring this should be all I'd need done from now on, I agreed. I was told the car would be ready around 2:00 or 3:00 that afternoon.
3:00 rolled past and no contact from the shop. I finally called them at 5:30 and was told the car was ready. Went down, payed $1070 and change, and drove off.
Ten minutes later my engine light came back on, and the engine STILL had the vibration.
I took the car back around 7:00 and told Ravi, the assistant service manager, what was going on. I was naturally a little upset, seeing as how I had spent two days and over $1000 and still had the same problems as before. He said maybe it was the A/C. No, the A/C now works and I still have the problem. He next suggested the plugs might be bad.
No, you replaced all the plugs in the full tune-up you told me I needed. He said he had no one there to work on it right then, even though the service department didn't close for another two hours. I left the car and said I wanted the problem solved and did not expect to be charged any further for any work, to which he somewhat brusquely agreed. The whole time I got the feeling that somehow it was ME who was incoveniencing HIM instead of the other way around.
It's now Monday Aug. 27, and I called about 90 minutes ago to get an update. I was on hold for ten minutes before being told I'd be called right back. Since then I've heard nothing. I fully expect the engine problem to be some minor issue that they "overlooked" the first time around while they were trying to find expensive services to charge me with that apparently did nothing to correct the problem I brought the car in for in the first place.
And while I was waiting for my ride last night, I spoke to three other people outside, all of whom had similar horror stories to mine. One man said the only reason he comes back to this store is because he bought his tires here and he gets balance and rotation free, and even that takes way too long. Another woman has been waiting three days to get a belt replaced. THREE DAYS FOR A BELT! Ridiculous.
Richard
Orlando, Florida
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