Pep Boys is a large and widespread company so you would think that their pricing policies would be similar. I learned the hard way that this is not the case.
This particular Pep Boys in Hamden, CT charged me a flat rate of 3 hours worth of labor when in actuality my car was finished in 1 hour. Basically, I paid them $200 for services they never provided. I was never informed of this flat-rate policy and the employee stated that the hourly price for this particular mechanic was $89-$120 per hour and that my car would probably take 2-3 hours to complete.
So I was surprised when it was finished in one hour, but I was even more surprised when the price did not decrease even though I was quoted on 3 hours of labor. I questioned them and this is when I found out about the 3-hour flat-rate price.
I called other Pep Boys locations and they all have an hourly rate, none of them understood my question of, so if you work on my car for one hour, would you charge me for that one hour or would you charge me for 3 hours? They all stated that I would be charged for 1 hour since that is the amount of time they worked on it.
Oh and I dont usually like to play the sexist card but being a female who brought her car in alone, I feel like they were trying to get as much money out of me as possible. The first quote I was given was for $3343 and there was no way I was going to pay that. I just wanted to do what was necessary at this moment. I asked about just replacing the battery and the spark plugs for now, but the employee seemed to try and talk me out of that stating that, its not recommended because the spark plugs would just burn out again. Sensing that I was not going to get anywhere with him, I had him call my father. All of a sudden they were just replacing the battery, spark plugs, and wiring. Sometimes it is amazing at what having a male voice can get you.
I will never go back to this location, not even for a simple windshield wiper.
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