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Meineke Consumer Reviews - Page 2

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Damaged Car, Lied About It, Refused to Repair
By -

BROKEN ARROW, OKLAHOMA -- I took my Mercedes to Meineke's in Broken Arrow, OK for an oil & filter change. I asked if they had the filter and the synthetic oil needed. They said "yes." They said it would take 30 minutes. So, I waited there in the lobby. It turns out they did not have the filter and had to order it, but they did not tell me, just let me sit there waiting.

When the car was finally done, I drove it home and received a call stating that they had added 11 quarts when they should have added 8, and asked me to return. I immediately returned, they took out the overfill. However, the warning light kept coming on, so we took it back. Manager ** said that they had corrected the problem but they would take another look at it to be sure.

When we went to pick it up he stated that the light never came on and they could find nothing wrong with the car. He stated that if the light came on again let him know and he would take it to the Mercedes shop to get them to reset the sensor. The light kept coming on and we smelled burning rubber, perhaps synthetic oil burning. So my wife called ** who told her that after 150 miles the sensor would reset. If it did not, bring it back and he would take it to the Mercedes shop. After 150 miles we brought it back.

When I called and spoke to ** I reminded him of his promise to take it to the Mercedes shop. He stated "OK, just bring it in." I did that Friday, 12/11/11, a little after 8 am. ** was not there so I told the fellow at the desk that ** was taking this to the Mercedes shop and what for. I asked how long did he think it would take and he said probably all day but I could call back later and talk to **.

I called back around noon to see when it would be ready and was told that it was already ready. We picked it up about 5:20 pm. We asked ** about the burned rubber smell. He stated that was from a cracked valve cover gasket showing us oil on the manifold, the valves not being visible, and he stated it was not due to anything they had done. We thought that was odd because the valve cover gaskets had been replaced in 6/10/11.

We took the car home and the warning light was still coming on. So, today, 12/11/11, we took it back and ** admitted that he reset the light himself and stated that we could take it to the Mercedes dealer if we wanted to, that he never said anything about taking to the Mercedes shop. He said that was "final". When I asked for his boss's name and number he would only give me the Meineke customer service number. Customer Service refuses to do anything about it.

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Mount Prospect Meineke is Terrible
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MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS -- So I went in just to get a new muffler. My guy, ** from **'s Service, who is the best and cheapest honest mechanic around by the way, doesn't do mufflers. He says to go to Meineke or something. I go to this shop in Mt. Prospect. The mechanic shows me a very small hole in the converter or resonator, very small. I said to just do the muffler because it was a small hole. Later, the guy at the front desk, ** I think, tries to get me to buy a whole exhaust system. He comes to me with just the estimate for the whole system. I said to just do the muffler.

He tries to make me believe that the system will "explode" if they just install a new muffler. He says, "If we put on just the muffler, the pipe will explode from the greater pressure cause of the hole." I majored in physics for a while and I know for a fact that this is not true. In fact the small hole makes it less likely to bust a pipe due to the release of pressure. So I realized that this place was a con. I said to just install a new muffler. He says, "This place is not a chop shop. We don't do that here. The owner told me that we don't do that."

So they don't weld mufflers there. Instead they just lie to you and tell you that you will die from exhaust system explosion if you don't give them more money. They get the car off the rack. I drive off to Merlin in Elk Grove on Beisterfield: Great service, nice techs; we laughed at the exploding converter hypothesis. They put the car on their rack. The Meineke tech had already started cutting my pipes! The Meineke guys just let me drive off with half of my muffler cut off without a word!

The Merlin guys say that the cut is too far back for them to be able to weld a new muffler. So I call the Mt. Prospect Meineke and **, I think, says that they will install a new pipe for free, as they ought to. I go in the next morning at 7 am per agreement because I have an appointment with Merlin at 2 pm. **, I think, comes out and says that the owner is inside and that he wants to give me a great deal. I say, "I don't believe a word you say. You told me that my pipes would explode. I was a physics major. Just fix what you broke."

The car comes back out. Instead of a new pipe the techs just did a very bad weld job over the cut! So I say to the mechanic, "The owner's in there right? Go get the owner." He starts saying derogatory things to me! So I go in to the owner and tell him to fix the car the way that **, I think, had said on the phone. He says, "It's fixed. That's all I'm doing." So I yelled at him and called him a cheat and a liar. He called the cops! He thought that I would run away or something. I stayed and of course was not arrested. But obviously the police couldn't do anything about this lying, cheating, no-good, dirty, rotten, conman.

Here's an interesting question: Knowing that they lied twice, how do I know that they didn't make that little hole in the converter? You can't trust people who lie multiple times! So now I have to file some kind of complaint. What a complete waste of hours of my time! And I still don't know if my muffler will fit on the shoddy weld that they made. Now I might have to sue. What a pain! Never go to this place. Tell your friends not to go to this place. Let's run this guy out of business and out of town. We don't need such conmen doing their 'business' here.

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Meineke - Total Rip Off
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CINICINNATI, OHIO -- First... why do we go to such brand names to repair our car? I think it's because we expect honest, skilled workers will be put to work on our cars. Also, we feel, they don't do try to exploit us. Well... well... those were my assumptions, until visit to MEINEKE last week changed those perceptions.

My Experience:

I took my 98 Honda Civic to replace my front brakes at Meineke EastGate in Gleneste Withamswille Road, near Meijer Eastgate. They replaced my front brake pads. The agreement was to put with Ceramic Brake pads. They also said rotors must be turned. I agreed to both of these. Please note that I dropped the car on a Saturday morning at 9.30 am. They said it will be a 45 min jobs once the parts arrived.

Parts to 2 hr. to arrive. But when opening the box, it was not a compatible brake pad. They ordered again. It came again after 2 hr. Again the same story. By this time it was nearly 1 pm in afternoon. Then the service manager did some work looking at my old brake pads & ordered again. Luckily, this time the correct brake pad again. The mechanic fixed the new brake pads & went for test drive. I heard from squeaking sound from my front brakes & I informed the Manager. He said it is quite normal and will go off in a day of driving.

So on Sunday, I plan to go to Indiana about 130 miles from Cincinnati & drove all the way to Indiana with my windows rolled up & music pumping out of my stereo. I took a wrong exit at Indiana & I rolled down the windows to ask a Police officer the directions. Then the dreadful journey starts. I could hear major squeaking sound from my brakes & got really tensed. I parked the car at a parking lot & took a cab to finish off for what I came for.

Then it being a Sunday no car repair shops were open & there was no help around. So I decided to drive my car back very slowly with hazard sign blinking all the way back from Indiana to Cincinnati at 30mph. It was an indeed a real tension drive back. I reached safe & sound at around midnight. The very next Monday morning, I took the car to Meineke East Gate. This time another mechanic looked the car for 30 minutes & told the squeaking sound was from driver side front wheel & is due to a mistake in fixing dust shield by the previous mechanic.

So all fine now. But by Friday evening, same sound appears on Passenger side. So I took the car on Saturday morning to same Meineke at 7:30 am since their website said the open time as 7:30 am. But on reaching the shop, I found that they open only at 8:00 am. So I waited there & the manager with a new mechanic came at 8:05 am.

That guy removed my brake & observed that the first mechanic has not turned the rotor correctly & hence the sound. So he turned the rotor again & put things back in. But still the sound was there. He then said to his manager that he needs more time & the sound may be from wheel bearing also. Then I grew suspicious on these guys & asked them to put things back. I asked Meineke Manager, whether are you a part of Mieneke chain. He said that he is not. Very strange as he had Mieneke Signboard sitting over his shop roof. So I left the Mieneke after a little argument with Manager when I asked for a refund of my money since it's a shoddy work.

I went to Meineke Beechmont. The guys over there examined the car & made verdict that car needs new rotor & new brake pads. Also I noticed a near empty shop floor with no cars. So again I grew suspicious & asked them to put things back as it is. I then drove straight to Midas Beechmont & asked them to check brakes. The mechanic over there listened to the sound & said he will fix the issue in 10 minutes & I will only need to pay labor for that. I agreed to that.

He lifted my car up, removed wheels & found that dust shield was deliberately bend so that it will touch the rotor & make sound. It was a plot by the first Meineke so that I will keep coming back to them. He made the dust shield correct & put things back on. He also did not charge me anything. I was really impressed my MIDAS Beechmont. So that's my story. Can someone ensure that these two Mieneke employs certified technicians? On my three visits to Meineke, I never found a mechanic twice. I feel these guys are employing guys from street with no certifications.

Hence my complaint is for:

1) Quality of work by Meineke.
2) Lack of trust & integrity in business transactions by Meineke.
3) Unskilled technicians working on my car.
4) Creating mental sufferings because of poor workmanship.
5) Trying to cheat.
6) I want complete refund of the Brake work.

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Damage to Vehicle, Improper Service, Dishonest
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

Fraud, deception and liars as well. Requested Pennzoil 10w30, received lesser quality bulk oil. Oil was 1 quart low when finished. Mechanic spilled oil across 5 feet under the hood, left to right and front right to firewall. Mechanic wore keys on a front belt loop damaging paint to the metal. Mechanic and manager lied. Said they would replace the oil with Pennzoil but they did not. Meineke #2510, 9140 Telge Houston TX 77095. 281-858-3000.

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They Gip You
By -

HAMPTON, VIRGINIA -- Those guys messed up my oil pan and wanted me to have it replaced for 250.00. Just for a simple 19.99 oil change.

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Avoid a potential/probable rip off
By -

GREENWOOD, INDIANA -- I bought a very low mileage 2003 Ford Taurus from a local dealer a couple of weeks ago. After driving it for a few days, I noticed a chirping sound coming from under the hood, sometimes louder than other times. I researched this on the internet, and found the culprit to be most likely the cam synchronizer. A couple of days later, the check engine light came on. I went to Autozone to have them read the code. It was P1131, and the guy told me that may be a tune up would take care of it. So, I called around and made an appointment at Meineke.

After dropping it off and waiting a few hours on Saturday, I called them back. He told me that he needed me to come back to the shop to talk about my car. When I got there, he told me that the cam BEARINGS were going out, that it would cost about 2500 to fix because he'd have to take the top off of the engine, that he wouldn't touch it, and that I should take it back to the dealer, since I'd only had it one week. (There is a lemon law, he stated.) After letting it sit all weekend, I drove my husband's van to work. He took it to the service department at the dealer that morning.

Later that afternoon, they called me and told me that there was a service bulletin on the cam synchronizer assembly, and that they would split the cost of the repair with me. I authorized the work, and picked up my car the next day. My total cost: $148.30. It's been running perfectly ever since. I should have known better. The lady that was paying when I dropped my car off at Meineke had just been hit with a bill over $2000. I hope that she has better luck than most and doesn't have to take it back.

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Steer Clear of Them
By -

READING, PENNSYLVANIA -- We made an appt. to have our car inspected at the business. Also, we had received a quote from them to fix another issue in the car. The total to have the car inspected and fixed was around $500. Within two days the issue that was supposed to be fixed started to act up again. I went back and talked to them about it and they agreed to take it in and look at it since it was under warranty. Before I had a chance to go in, the car overheated and died on the highway. We had the car towed to Meineke since we had an appt. there in a few days.

Until we had the car inspected there have never been any major issues with the car. It ran great and was very reliable. Once the car was towed there we waited for them to look at it. The came back and told us the heads blew. To make a very long story short. They misquoted us on numerous occasions, gave us the run around on the progress on our cars. Kept insisting that our car had additional problems to it that need to be fix and once we got the car back some of the features we had before no longer worked. They told us that they never worked -- We had a "new" engine replaced in the car.

The total amount of money was over $3000! We are having issues with the new engine and it's still under warranty. When we called and asked about it they told us the warranty doesn't cover damages to the engine, just if the engine fails/dies in those 60 days. They won't honor the warranty that they have given us. They said it's free to look at but if any repairs need to be done it would cost us! Why if it's under warranty? They also would not fully honor a coupon we had, they gave us some lame excuse. The work was over $2500 and the coupon was for $50! They only honored $30 of it!

I have tried to contact headquarters but they referred my complaints back the shop we were having issues with. This shop needs to be reprimanded and/or shut down for their lack of business ethics. I have already contacted the BBB and am consulting a lawyer to seek legal advice on this matter. Any other suggestions would be great.

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No Response from Meineke Customer Service
By -

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- Contact Us. "At Meineke Car Care Centers we know that our customers are our most important asset! Our goal is to keep every customer happy and satisfied, and we want to hear from you! If you would like to tell us about your visit to a Meineke Car Care Center, please fill out the form below." BEEN THERE, DONE THAT AND STILL NO RESPONSE FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE REGARDING MY MESSAGE, see message below.

I am writing to express concern and disappointment with Meineke on 7290 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN. On Friday, July 17th, I had my oil and power steering fluid changed at Meineke, went home and parked my car in the garage. On Saturday evening, July 18th, I noticed a small leak in my garage, so I left a message at Meineke first thing Monday morning to advise of “a” leak and that I'd be in around 5 PM to have looked at.

On Monday, July 18th @ 5 PM, I arrived at Meineke as planned. What we discovered was a pinhole size leak coming from the “lower radiator hose of my 1998 Honda CRV” and had been driving around in this condition. Initially, I was quoted $275.00 for parts and labor to repair. Oddly enough, I was advised Meineke could fix immediately. As I declined, the price dropped drastically down to $160-ish by cutting out the unnecessary flush. I still declined, and Meineke sent me on my way, not even offering to fill up my leaking radiator.

Instead, I went to the nearest AutoZone to find this “lower radiator hose.” To my surprise, “lower radiator hose was not in stock for a 1998 Honda CRV.” I ordered Monday evening and it is expected to arrive by Wednesday. Meanwhile, I'm still driving in my 1998 Honda CRV with a pinhole size leak. To make matters worse, I contacted another Meineke store and asked for a quote to repair. The quote was “significantly less” and the part would require “special order.” I was also advised that “there are too many makes and models to carry every hose.”

My questions is, how is it possible for Meineke on Washington St. to have a lower radiator hose available to repair my 1998 Honda CRV at 5 PM on a Monday afternoon when the problem was just diagnosed? I've been a loyal customer of Meineke for years and have had very few issues with them in the past; however, I'd appreciate it very much, if someone from Meineke would be able to respond.

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A\C Performance Check is NOT "FREE"
By -

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- As per the advertisement of free A/C performance check, I took my (2002 model) car to one of the centers as my car's A/C was blowing hot air. After initial checkup they said, they need to apply dye to check if there is any leak in AC system. After some time they told me there is a leak which cannot be fixed and I need to get my Compressor replaced. They provided an estimation of $1000 (Compressor cost, labor charge, etc). I asked if R134a with leak seal mechanism will work and their answer was no. That day without any profit I had to pay $133.99.

When I asked about the same they said at least with this amount the leak was identified. I said that's what the purpose of this FREE A/C Checkup should have been. I was totally disappointed. I obviously had to give a thought before spending such a huge amount. Also, their diagnosis did not appear realistic to me. I went for diagnosis to a different car care center, and they identified no leak and it was only the cost of 3 cans of Freon (R134a) and nominal labor charge. My car's A/C is working fine now.

I wanted to bring this into notice of common innocent people to be cautious while opting for such free services. What could have been done within $50 could not be done in $133 and a $1000 was estimated on top of that. Please be aware!

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Brought Car in to Investigate Squeaking Noise in Steering.
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

FAIRFIELD, CALIFORNIA -- As an MEINEKE EX-CUSTOMER we experienced the following at your facility on Holiday Lane. On previous services like oil changes and other minor problems we had satisfactory service, except for following: My wife is the primary driver of this car and noticed a squeaking noise in the steering. I was at home so they told her the brakes had to be checked. Then I received a call from the manager who said the car needed new Brakes (It had only 24,979 miles) and also: Said technician found Power Steering Fluid and Brake Fluid dirty and needed change. I trusted the Mgr. and gave the OK. We were charged $387.87.

When I checked by previous invoices I Found that Meineke changed the Power steering Flush on 6/5/13 at 22,524 miles. I'm now thinking we really didn't need brakes. We no longer can trust Meineke and will take our cars another car care facility. The Chevy charges more but at least we can depend on the work. OH YES! The Impala still has the squeaking noise and is getting worse. I'm taking it to Chevy tomorrow. In conclusion I can't say that all your Managers are untrustworthy. There are 2 technicians that we like and trust, they are ** and **. Thank you.

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Meineke Rating:
Star Star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.9 out of 5, based on 19 ratings and
41 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Meineke
440 S Church St Suite 700
Charlotte, NC 28202
1-800-447-3070 (ph)
www.meineke.com
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