Several months ago I took my 1997 Chevrolet Astro Van to Pep Boy's in Riverdale, Georgia, when I thought I may need new brakes. They looked at my van and informed me I needed new rear brake shoes. I told them to do the work and they did. Within 5 minutes after I got my van back, after Pep Boy's installed the new brake shoes, I knew something was not right.
My brakes were squeaking and there were "crunching" and "knocking" noises when I applied the brakes. I took the van back to Pep Boy's, and they had one of their "technicians" look at my brakes. They said everything looked good and my brake shoes were installed properly. During the next month I took my van back to the same Pep Boy's to be re-checked. I had noticed my van was shimmying when it reached a speed of about 67 miles per hour, and my van shook when the brakes were applied.
One of Pep Boy's "technicians" again checked my van's brakes, and again, they said everything looked okay. A few weeks later, I took the van back to this same Pep Boy's to be re-checked one more time. Again, their "technician" looked at my brakes, and one more time, they said my brakes looked okay. Two weeks ago, I took my van to the Chevrolet dealer where I bought the van and had them look at my brakes. The service advisor at the Chevrolet dealer called me an hour later. He told me his brake man had looked at my brakes, and that whoever had installed my rear brakes shoes had installed them in reverse. He explained to me that there is a forward brake shoe and a rearward brake shoe on each back wheel.
Pep Boy's had installed both rearward brake shoes where the forward brake shoes should be located, and Pep Boy's had installed both forward brake shoes where the rearward brake shoes should have been installed. Also, the Chevrolet dealer service advisor told me the brake shoes installed by Pep Boy's were of much poorer quality than GM brake shoes. Of course, I had the brake shoes installed by the Chevrolet dealer, as I am afraid to EVER let Pep Boy's work on a vehicle of mine again.
Now, this is almost coincidental. While I was writing THIS rip off report, my son who is a college student at an out of town college called me to say his air conditioner in his 1998 Chevrolet Cavalier is not putting out cold air. Guess who did supposedly put in a new compressor in that Cavalier last summer, less than 10 months ago. Yep. Pep Boy's of Riverdale, Georgia, installed that compressor. And I'm definitely afraid to let them even lift the hood of one of my vehicles again, as I have noticed there are 156 rip off reports on this web site, as of today, complaining about various Pep Boy's.
The people at the Riverdale Pep Boy's are nice enough. They just aren't too adept at working on cars and trucks. And their parts are of inferior quality. I think their "technicians" are just too young and too inexperienced. I am wondering how much training they have been provided.
Be warned! Don't let Pep Boy's work on your car or truck.
Sincerely
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