I believe that Tire Plus Overcharges for it's Parts and for adding extra parts that are not required to pad the invoices to it's customers. I have recently had two repairs done to the same car at the same Tires Plus Shop that have led me to believe that anyone dealing with them is going to get a very raw and overpriced surprise. What follows is one of them:
I was traveling out of state when my wife's car decided not to start one morning when she desired to travel to my daughters home. Upon recieving her cell phone call that morning, she described the symptoms as being "The battery appears to be dead, as the starter won't engage or even make any sounds". I asked her to turn on the lights an see how bright they were, in which she responded "Very bright". That told me that something was wrong with the starting system. A bad starter or wiring to the starter or a bad ignition starter switch. Being an Electrical Engineer with a Masters Degree in Electronic design and a Physics Major in mechanics, I felt resonably confident that my diagnostics were correct. I told her to get it towed to Tires Plus for repair using AAA.
This was on a Sunday morning, in which parts cannot be obtained from any dealer as they are mostly all closed. Parts had to come from local parts stores, such as Pep boys, Etc.
When she picked the vehicle up from Tires Plus, she was presented with a bill of $241.97. Later that evening, I found out the amount and started to ask some serious questions. What did they do that cost that much? She said the bill has a new Ignition Switch at $65.82, a new Lock Cylinder at $88.56 and Labor at $63.00. I asked her to go back and get the parts from them on Monday. I also priced the parts myself (Pep Boys Lock Cylinder at $24.99 - a difference of $63.66, Auto Zone Ignition Switch at $32.49 - a difference of $33.85) Just in parts only a difference of $99.36.
Now the neat part, She was denied the bad parts on Monday, as they said they threw them away. Mind you that the garbage truck doesn't come until later in the day. (They threw them out on Sunday).
Later, after I got home (about two weeks later), I asked Tires plus why both the Ignition Cylinder and the switch both had to be replaced.
I knew the the lock was only a physical device that has a long metal rod on it that pushes on the starter swtich. If the mechanical part was broken (Lock Cyclinder), most likely the switch was still good. If the Starter switch was bad, then the Ignition Cylinder did not have to be replaced. The chances of both being bad are extremely remote (like winning the lottery).
The answer was "We change both as a matter of Business practice".
What he really meant was Business Ripp off.
Now the bad part. Now my wife's car needs two keys, one to open the doors and the other to start the car.
I think only one part was defective and that they over charged labor as well because they put in two parts.
I think this bill should be around $32.49 for a Starter Switch and $40.00 Labor (for 1/2 hour). That total is $72.49, not $241.97.
If a repair organization tries to repair your vehicle, I believe that organization becomes your agent and should act in your behalf. He should be responsibe to get you the best value for your money, In this case, Tires Plus has become an Anti-Agent.
0 comments