Meineke Consumer Reviews - Page 3

CATONSVILLE, MARYLAND -- I went to Meineke Thursday at 5:45 and the sign said they close at 7, so I thought I had enough time to get an oil change. But the guy that's the manager told me otherwise. He said we are not doing oil changes, we about to close. I said to him 7 o'clock y'all close, he said well we are closing at 6:30. That's what the owner wants and we closing at 6:30. So I said well it's enough time. He told me to come tomorrow around this time and I will try to fit you in.

So I went back Saturday around 3:30, same guy was there and now he said they stop doing oil change a few hours ago. I was mad and left. I never heard of such thing. They closed at 6 and there was only 2 cars there with 4 men. Never again.

EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA -- I recently spent over $1500 at the El Cajon, Ca to have my air conditioner fixed and a wheel alignment to fix the shaking my car did when going down hills. Well the air does not work and the shakiness still exists. I took my car back to Meineke and was charged $147 to be told that my car needed braces, shocks, struts, also the Air Conditioner filter is dirty. He also said the car needs a tune up and oil change which he forgot he did a month and a half ago. He now wants $1489. I took the car home and was told he would take the $147. Off the bill when I return to have the work done. Stay away from this guy, his name is **. I would hate to see this happen to anyone else.

MOUNT PROSPECT, ILLINOIS -- I have a 2001 Honda Civic and it has about 140k miles on it. I needed my brakes done, struts replaced, oil change, and transmission fluid changed. When I arrived, they immediately came and asked me if I needed help, then proceeded to give me a form to fill out. They then told me it would take more than 30 minutes so I went to lunch. When I came back, my car was done and as I drove it off, everything sounded perfect. The brakes didn't squeak anymore and my car didn't sound like it was going to die. I'm very pleased with this place and will definitely be coming back!

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI -- I have spent about a year in dealing with Meineke's incompetence. I finally had my case arbitrated by the BBB of Kansas City and won. This vehicle was brought in originally for an oil change and possible leak. After two visits, the second one being a “comeback”, Meineke still failed to change the engine oil and filter. Meineke “allegedly” found numerous leaks in the power steering system, including the power steering pump, hoses and the rack and pinion. The “alleged” replaced rack and pinion leaked and had a torn boot among many other concerns.

Meineke utilizes a “shade-tree” mechanic approach to diagnose concerns in order to maximize customer repairs, resulting in fraudulent price-gouging of parts and labor. Meineke fabricates phantom parts and labor cost in order to justify their invoices. Meineke did offer to make repairs under warranty, but the facts are that this vehicle has been back to Meineke twice at a cost of over $3,260 and continues to leak even more each time returned. I had absolutely no confidence that Meineke's “mechanic” could perform repairs a third time.

This complaint was based on Meineke's (1) failure to perform basic diagnostic procedures and basic repairs (2) price-gouging of parts and labor (3) incompetence over safety and (4) their lack of principle and integrity towards the customer. Instead of going into details here, check out my videos on YouTube, just search for “Meineke rip-off” and leave a comment. Let's stand up against incompetence and being ripped-off. Thank you.

EL PASO, TEXAS -- The Meineke located at 1500 Redd Road in El Paso, Texas is the absolute worst place to take your car for service of any kind. Buyer beware!!! My wife took her Ford Focus into the shop to get the transmission fluid changed. She was told that the service would cost $95 over the phone. When she arrived to the shop and the price was changed to $75 per hour plus parts with an estimated amount of $130 for the service. I told her go ahead and get it done. After the service was done, the total amount to have the transmission fluid changed came to approximately $250.

I went in to speak to the owner about the high price. He charged $135 for labor, told my wife that only synthetic transmission fluid could be used (very expensive) in the 2005 Ford Focus which came to $87.48 and the filter that was replaced cost $33.88. When I asked him how the price jumped from $130 to around $250 he said that it was all explained to my wife and started to walk away. This owner is extremely unprofessional and you will never know what the final bill is until the service is completed and the invoice is printed.

The shop is extremely clean, but there are absolutely no customers there, so the shop is empty as well. What else are his employees going to do but clean the shop? I cannot tell you how frustrated I am at this owner named **. He takes advantage of customers that do not know any better and has absolutely no remorse about it.

SOUTHAMPTON NY -- I brought my nineties Honda to Meineke in Southampton for a rear brake service estimate. I figured I probably needed drums too so I was willing to pay up to $200. Their estimate was for $304, which breaks down as follows: Labor $95, drums $118 (2 x $59), shoes $50 and $41 for a hardware kit. (Total Parts $209). Even allowing for a decent markup, the parts prices sounded high to me so I decided not to have the work done before getting a parts quote from my local CarQuest. CarQuest's quote was drums $41.14 (2 x $20.57), shoes $18 and $12.75 for a hardware kit (Total $71.89).

In the course of doing some online research I learned that CarQuest has a national contract with Meineke, so given that there's almost nothing but CarQuests out here on the east end of LI, I think it's safe to assume that's who Meineke called for their quote, and even if Meineke's discount is only 10% that works out to a 323% markup (209 / (71.89 *. 90) = 3.23)! CAVEAT EMPTOR!

SURPRISE, AZ -- My driver side window motor burned out. I bought the part online and tried to do the job myself, got 90% through and needed help finishing it. I called Meineke in Surprise, AZ on Reems & Bell. They quoted me a price of 100.00. I took the vehicle down there, with the part and they told me the cost would be 189.00. I walked out, went down the road to S&S Tires where they fixed the window for me and charged me 40.00 bucks. Meineke does not honor their word and their prices are inflated. When I confronted the manager on why they would not honor their quoted price, I was told the computer would not let him!

VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON -- My check engine light was on so I took my car to Meineke for the simple fact that they were close to my house. They later called me that day to let me know my spark plug and wires were bad. I asked them how much it would run me... They told me $367 for parts and labor. They explained to me that my car a 1999 Ford Taurus required platinum spark plugs and that is why they cost so much, and also because the back spark plugs were hard to get to.

I am a single woman who knows nothing about cars, so I told them to go ahead and do the work. Well 2 1/2 months later my check engine light came on again so I took it to a different mechanic (who by the way is a very HONEST and reasonably prices guy Rick's Matertech) and he informed me that I NEEDED SPARK PLUG WIRES!! OUTRAGEOUS!! Meineke Is a rip off outfit, and CANNOT be trusted...

HAGERSTOWN, MARYLAND -- I went to a Meineke Car Care Center in Hagerstown, Maryland to get the brakes flushed. I paid for it then they told me the brakes were put in wrong and other things they needed to do. I was flabbergasted, after a four days wait to find they had finally finished.

The van was driven to an MVA inspection station only to find from the inspector that the two back brake cables weren't even hooked up, yet they had my daughter-in-law drive it, with her children in it! I had paid them $476.00 for the job. I paid by Amex Blue Card. Amex is now going to check it out. Hopefully, it'll work out for all concerned. I will not however, go there again. This is not to put a stigma on ALL Meineke Car Care Centers. The one I refer to is on Northern Ave. in Hagerstown, MD.

MCHENRY, ILLINOIS -- I took my car here because it was overheating. **, the owner, called me to give an estimate and broke it all down, parts, labor, etc. The total was around $750. $350 of that was for a new fan. Curious about why it was so expensive, I googled the part. Real cost? $150. That's right friends. ** is such a hustler he sees nothing wrong with a 200% mark up. I called back to say I would be taking the car somewhere else. ** told me "Good luck" and hung up on me.

I went to pick up the car, and ** was condescending, rude, and told me nowhere else would I get such a "great price" as he was offering me. So I drove down the street. Merlin's diagnosed the same problem that ** had. Price? $190, out the door. ** is a nasty swindler, beware!!!