My letter to Just Brakes with no response.
Subject:
Just Brakes
1390 S. Parker RD.
Denver, CO
303-337-2380
To whom it may concern,
I have a story to tell you about my experience with Just Brakes at 1390 S. Parker Rd, Denver, CO. I had a brake job that really surprised me, especially in the brake lingo that I had to do some research on just to figure out what was being said to me. The worst part of it is that the amount that is advertised really changed to more than four times the amount. Not only that, the way the tech doing the job was talking to me was more than degrading. Anyway, here is my story... I went to get a brake job estimate on a Saturday last year around October - November some time, if you need dates I can get them for you off the invoices. Anyway, I requested the change of your special that is always advertised for $100 or so. The estimate was about $200. They said they would also look at it for any other additional damage if any to the system. I said fine but the person behind the counter said that my car would need ceramic brakes in the front and a different type for the rear. Hence the additional $100 added to the special pricing advertised. I have a 1996 Ford Mustang GT and it was in need for brake pads. I understood what needed to be done to the car and I never punished the car with hard braking and squealing of tires and etc. I knew I needed the pads and possibly machining of the discs. The surprise to me was from the guy behind the counter saying that that type of car needed ceramic pads in the front and is what is typically used and that would cost an additional charge. I said OK not knowing that it wasn't true. I came back later that day because they were busy and couldn't get me in until about 1 to 2 pm. So after the car was on the rack the tech came back and took me to the car and we went over the car. Aside the brake lingo he gave me, he needed to do more to it than he thought. Now at that time we were at about $200. Then he, the tech, tells me that they may have to change all the discs because they might be bad but an additional $200 for some work he needed to do and about $230 or so to change the discs. Now we are at somewhere around $650 for the whole job. Six times the amount advertised. The tech comes back about 10 min later and says there was no need to change the discs they can be saved just be machined. OK, now we are back to $400 change. I said OK do it, seeing the car broken down with all the brakes off and under pressure in making a decision right away. What would you say seeing that? I waited for about 2 to 3 hours for the tech to do the job and then test it. I was watching what the tech was doing and he was having trouble putting one of the brakes together and it seemed that he forced it together and just left it. I paid for the service and then took the car home. When I was driving home I had stopped at a stop sign and heard some squeaking of the brakes. I wasn't that concerned but I was just thinking that it was just dust and they just needed to be broken in. Well about two weeks passed and I took the car out of town on a project visit about 150 miles north of Denver and we were on our way back. All of a sudden the car sounds like it's rubbing on something and I started hearing a bouncing and skipping of one of the brakes still engaged after I stopped at a stop sign.
I took the car back to the same store and actually had to set up an appointment to come in on another day to even get it looked at because they were too busy. I was tying to get it in ASAP because after certain mileage repair is prorated and you never know what can happen or ruin more of the system. I took it back to the store and the same tech drives it and then says there is nothing wrong. The wheels still spin free and there is no bluing on the disc, which would tell him that the brake is or isn't sticking. That isn't necessarily true to a point. If the brake is sticking for a long time there will be some bluing but if it is intermediate there will be no sign of the bluing because it would be like if you were pumping the brakes. The spinning of the tires only tells you that the brake isn't applied and they are freely running... What does that really tell you? The brake system isn't even on because the car isn't on so how can you apply the brake or know it is sticking if the car is off? I have told the tech that one or more of the brakes stick after you stop fully and then go and one was engaged and rubbing. The tech just assumed that it was just the master cylinder that wasn't strong enough to open the brake and I need to get it checked. That was very interesting to me, because being a brake place wouldn't they be able to check the master cylinder? Also, to quote the guy behind the counter, Brakes will squeak at times. Maybe that is true but all the time? This is one of the reasons why I brought the car in to them in the first place. While this was happening my ABS light was coming on and off every so often. So, OK, I go to the Ford dealership to check the brake, which I thought was the one on the right front passenger side and the master cylinder, and nothing and they couldn't figure out why the ABS light was coming on and reprogrammed the computer. The ABS light didn't come on again for about a week or so and the rubbing was getting worse. I again took it to the Just Brakes store and I told them I took it to Ford and showed the invoice to them. The tech that worked on the car was there and took me through the same steps he took me the last time.By this time his attitude was worse in a degrading way like he was talking to a child and to that point I was getting a little angry because I wanted the problem fixed. He knew that his attitude was changing because he said look I'm not picking on you but... He also said that the ABS sensor was located in a different area that it wasn't the brakes. The first thing I thought was that if the brake is sticking and creating some type of flow problems, wouldn't that light turn on? At no time did the tech ever consider redoing the job and going through the brakes again to see what the problem was and why it was rubbing. I had already been there twice after the job and just because he didn't hear it himself or even consider driving with me to see if the sound repeated it never happened or paid attention to what I was saying.By this point, I was getting tired of coming to the store and spending 2 to 3 hours each time off my work time and loss of pay to get this fixed. I knew what I needed to do...
I finally went to someone that I should have taken it to at the very beginning, I took it to the Ford Dealership and had them look at the brakes. Their brake tech looked at it and drove with me to hear what I heard and he had another tech go with him and they found the problem. This is something your tech didn't even consider to hear the problem. The tech found out that there were brakes seizing on the passenger side and that the discs were not machined. If they were machined, the surface on each brake wouldn't show groves in them. That meant the machining was a poor job or it wasn't done at all. I had to spend another $350 for another full brake job. Guess what? The noise hasn't returned and there are no squeaks at stops or turns any more... Imagine that. Something that I wanted done the first time I returned to your store. It is unfortunate that one store makes you look very bad in my eyes and I was just looking for a fair shake on your store's part but never got it. I had to spend more money elsewhere because at your store's discretion my car was never fixed right. I wish you can make this right and if you decide not to there are other options that I can take and am looking into to get a fair shake in my case. If you need any form of proof of service, I have all the documents and can prove it. I'm just looking for the fair shake.
Aldo
DENVER, Colorado
U.S.A.
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