Ball Joints 3/9/09 -Tires Plus Blaine While in for an oil change, Tires Plus in Blaine told me the ball joints on my 2002 Explorer needed replacing. They showed me a sheet on which theyd written the specs/condition of the ball joints. They gave me the estimate, $879.38. I declined. I was given a copy of the estimate to replace the ball joints, however, I was not given a copy of the specs.
10/9/09 North Country Ford While having another repair done at my local Ford dealer, North Country Ford, I asked them to check the ball joints. They said they were fine, and tight.
Brakes 10/22/09 - Tires Plus Blaine I went in to have my coolant flushed and brakes checked at Tires Plus in Blaine, as Ford had told me they thought the brake pads may be getting thin. The salesman came back after the inspection of the brakes, and showed me the specs that the pads were shot, front and rear, and that the rotors were also shot front and rear. They were not good enough to even resurface. I needed to replace those too. The estimate was for $744.56. I was suspicious about the rotors, since they were only about a year old, and since I had just been told my ball joints were fine. I declined, and told them to put it all back together, that I was going to take it to Ford. The salesman was not happy about that.
As I was paying for the radiator flush, I asked for a copy of the estimate for brake repair. I noticed that the specs shown to me were not included. I asked that I be given a copy of that as well. The salesman hesitated, then made a copy for me.
10/27/09 North Country Ford I went in to North Country Ford 5 days later to have the brakes looked at. They said the rears were fine (pads and rotors), and that the front pads were getting thin, and probably should be replaced. They told me the rotors were good, and would just need to be resurfaced. (I did choose to replace the rotors anyway, with new Ford ones, as the aftermarket rotors Id purchased from Tires Plus previously, did not perform as well as the factory ones had)
I showed them the estimate I had gotten from Tires Plus, and asked them if they could write down the specs of the front and rear rotors, which they did. It was vastly different from the Tires Plus one.
10/28/09 I spoke with Tires Plus Blaine Store Coach Jeff Rabenort. He denied that I was given wrong information and estimates, and said Ford didnt want to tell me the ball joints were bad because theyd have to warranty them. I told him my truck had 139,000 miles on it, and the warranty was long up. He wasnt apologetic at all, and continued to argue with me. I asked for the owners info, and he wouldnt give it to me. Jeff told me the owner didnt want to hear from me, and Id just have to deal with him. I did call another store and they forwarded my message to the owner, Tony Seaton, but he never returned my calls.
Conclusion: If I had not had Ford look at the ball joints, and the brakes, after being told by Tires Plus that they needed replacing, I would have been overcharged for replacing parts that didnt need replacing, to the tune of about $1,600. I believe that Tires Plus in Blaine has been intentionally dishonest with me, maybe they think they can get get away with this because Im a woman. They did this twice to me just this year. I suppose its possible they made a mistake on the ball joints (I am not able to get a copy of those specs -they told me they couldnt find it in the files when I asked for them 10/28/09), but the specs on the rotors dont lie.
I have filed a complaint with The BBB, but surprise, they aren't members. Beware!
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