On Wednesday August 29 at 10:30 am I took my car to a Midas location In Upper Darby At 7501 West Chester Pike for a oil change and a transmission fluid change. Both of these actions were preventative measures as the mileage on my oil change had not yet expired and there was no indication that there was any problems with my transmission. They took my car into the shop and began working on it.
I heard nothing from them until they came out to tell me that during the transmission fluid change they blew out my gasket. At this point the, initial thought from the store manager, Jason Haigh, was that I needed to pay for this repair myself. I advised Jason that this was unacceptable, I drove my car in just fine, I should be able to drive it out the same way. Shortly there after he then changed the story to, We will take care of this, I will need to get in touch with the store owner to work this out.
After speaking with the store owner Jason had advised that they would speak to their insurance company and have someone come out to look at the vehicle. After this they offered me a ride home and said they would contact me back within the next 24-48 hours with an update about my vehicle.
About 2-3 hours after I arrived home, I received a call from Herb who I can only assume is the store owner. He stated, "Well we talked to Aamco and the work will cost $1200. Now we can just change the gasket for $600 but their could be bushing in there that needs to be fixed or replaced and you can have that fixed for $600. That would be your best bet to ensure the proper operation of your transmission." Shortly after this was explained I asked If I could call him back.
Finding out that Midas was holding me responsible for half the damages they made to my vehicle it was clear that this needed to go beyond the scope of what Herb, the store owner was willing to do for me. It was at this point that I called several mechanics, a few Pep Boys locations, and the Midas Corporate office and received the same answer from everyone, "If the car was working fine before they worked on it and something broke after or while they were working on it then its their responsibility to fix it. No matter what the cost."
In speaking to Yassie in the Midas Corporate office, she sincerely apologized and said that she wanted to forward this information up the chain of command. She provided me with an ID number, for our conversation and assured me that I would receive a phone call within 24 to 48 hours with more information about a resolution to the issue.
Now after I got this information from all these other sources I called Herb and explained the details of what I had found and he still refused to pay for the complete job of fixing my transmission saying that they would only pay for the gasket and not any damage that may have happened inside my transmission due to the negligence of his workers blowing out the gasket. He chose to argue that the gasket could have been old or worn and that no one could confirm that this was their fault.
After I spoke again to the same group of mechanics they said, No one should have the gasket replaced without doing a full check of the transmission seals and replacing or fixing the internal bushing of the transmission to keep anymore problems from happening. Furthermore, no work should have been done without checking the seals on the transmission to ensure that this wouldnt be an issue. If they had done so and noticed the seals were old or worn they should have made this known to the customer prior to starting the work.
I have been a long time customer of Midas and I've referred more than a few friends and family to Midas. I am shocked that they don't want to stand behind their work or at least acknowledge that when a mistake is made they need to own up to it and fix it without trying to place the blame and responsibility on the shoulders of the customer who needed them and is putting their life as well as the lives of their families and passengers in their hands by trusting them to work on your vehicle.
Please, I need your help. The way It seems now, they are trying not to pay for the complete work that needs to be done. They will do the very bare minimum to fix the problem they created and that I would be on my own after that. I don't have hundreds or thousands of dollars just sitting around to fix a problem that someone else created. I am currently feeling pressured to make a decision on this matter by Herb before hearing a response from the Corporate office. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated in the matter, not only for myself but for anyone else who chooses to put their trust in a business that refuses to take responsibility for their action and do whats right for their customers.
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