Midas Consumer Reviews - Page 8

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE -- I called to schedule brake repair and an oil change, specifying I needed synthetic oil. Dropped my car off, specifying again that I needed synthetic oil. I called the next day to see when I could pick it up, and they stated it would be ready next morning and was getting the oil changed now. I said "Synthetic oil, right?" and they answered "Yes, synthetic oil." I went to pick my car up the next morning and noticed on the printout that they did NOT put in synthetic oil. When I asked why, they said it wasn't specified. I reminded them of the three separate times it was stated, so they changed out the oil.

After waiting, as I drove away, my car shook violently and I had to pull over. I wound up bringing it back to them and they had to replace a few things they stated was completely unrelated to the other work they did (kind of hard to believe). A few days later I noticed they ran my card twice for a diagnostic test. Though I had both Midas sales numbers, they claim they could not see the error on their end and refused to credit the amount, insisting it was my bank. My bank has the time-stamps from when they ran the card twice and put the amount back on my card.

Midas is still insistent that it was my bank error, not theirs. The brake-pads were not put on properly on one side, and I will have to take it to another mechanic to fix it as I do not trust this location at all. Do yourself a favor: if you do like Midas, go to a different location.

I went to Midas because my car was having starting issues. Before I dropped it off I asked if they accepted my warranty. When it was finally time to pick it up, the owner complained and complained at what a hassle it was to deal with my warranty company. I felt a half of inch big. What a jerk.

So I went back again and asked if he would rather me not come here for service and he said YES, it is not profitable for him. It was too big of a problem to call my warranty company. Did he get paid? Of course, and by the end of the day! I will never go back and everyone will know there is no customer service at this Midas!

ITASCA, ILLINOIS -- With repeated visits for the Oil change/TIRE ROTATION at the Johnstown N.Y. - Midas store. NOT once was I informed of ANY problems with my car tires (or the car alignment). Johnstown's store close(very quickly). I continued with Midas, because at that I WAS a loyal customer. I chose to visit Midas Scotia, NY. It was (NYS inspection) time. I was told I needed NEW tires (inspection FAILED). I was CHARGED $84.49 for 1 PRIMEWELL tire (a low quality tire)... "CRAZY" ~~ totally a RIP-OFF! (small tire 175/70/13).

I paid LESS for my Dodge Dakota 16's tires (MAVIS tires)... I checked on this Primewell TIRE @ Firestone in Scotia N.Y. It list for $41.99. I wrote a letter to Mr. Katz (Albany's Midas vice President) regarding the price difference. Mr. Katz feels quote "The tire pricing does not at all resemble an "apples to apples comparison". This is a "PRICE GOUGING COMPANY" ~ the IRONIC thing is Midas Service Pledge is - We will always do right by you & car - help keep you safe on the road!! Midas company was NOT helpful @ ALL... they took my $92.85 & didn't even blink.

CLIFTON PARK, NEW YORK -- This is my 3rd muffler in 5 yrs. The manager (would not tell me his name - says a lot about the company) told me mufflers only last 2 yrs. so he is stupid or lying. This is the 3rd time they want me to pay 150.00 labor to change a muffler with a mfg defect. He also said I needed new tail pipes but when I told him I wanted the est he tore it up and said that was not for me. He printed me a new one that said they weren't needed. This is the Midas at 1689 route 9 Clifton park NY.

Cheating the customers is always the way they do business. They usually advertise a very low price for oil change to get you in the shop, then they will tell you that something is wrong with your car and give you a quote to fix it. They give you a pretty reasonable labor price to give you a wrong impression that they are fair, but the thing you won't know immediately is that their price for parts is usually triple the market price. They claim that they don't make money from the parts! By the time you find out the truth, it's too late because you have already signed on the quote to authorize the repairs. If you question them about the price, the answer would be "You signed it!"

EDMONTON -- I'm a university student and I do a teaching practicum every Friday. So on a Wednesday night I noticed my one rear tire was only at 40KPA, compared to the 180KPA it should be at. In a wild panic I called the closest Midas to get my car in to get this fixed in time to go to my practicum, of course just dreading they would say they're fully booked, but they fit it in right away. The guy who talked to me was friendly, fast and polite. He also explained to me what could have caused it, and why, and how much each normal kind of repair would cost, just so I wouldn't starve the rest of the week.

Turned out it was a ripped bead, and when I asked what that meant, he took ten minutes to fully explain it to me, so I now know what's happening to my car. (NO other place has ever taken the time to fully answer my question.) They gave me 20% off the price, because I was a student, and I didn't even ask for that. It took them 10 minutes to find the problem, and 10 or 15 more to fix, and I was out there. (They also did a quick check on my other tires.)

ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA -- I went to Midas last year, and they did a wonderful job on my car. The place was clean, friendly, and Kevin fully explained to me what was wrong with the vehicle. I didn't think they can do a better job, until just recently when my car broke down. I didn't have any of the insurance warranty info in my car, and I remembered I went to Midas and he might have it.

I called him, he called me back within 5 minutes with all that info. If it wasn't for him I would have been stranded out there much longer. Kevin went far and beyond, and continuously does so. This place is the only place I will go to as long as he is there.

LAWRENCE, KANSAS -- This week I took our 2000 Oldsmobile Alero to Midas because of a squeaking noise that occured when turning. They were polite and correctly diagnosed the problem. They told me I needed to replace both front struts at $430.06 each ($860.12), $217.42 labor, $29.97 for shop materials. They also said it should be aligned after replacing the strut (an additional $79.95).

If you are not appalled by this estimate you should be. I went to the local auto parts store and paid $178 for the quick strut assembly (I could have bought it online for $138 plus $11 postage). I am not a mechanic but have a set of sockets. It took me less that 20 minutes to take the tire off and remove the 5 bolts holding the strut in place: replace with the new quick strut and put the tire back on. The way I figure they make 250% on parts and over $600 per hour for labor. If that sound reasonable to you then by all means take your car to them.

My tire started to make a noise so I took it to Midas. Midas told me it was a wheel bearing. They took about two hours to tell me and told me it would be over 300 dollars to fix. My dad told me not to do anything without him being there. Thank god he told me that because the wheel bearing only cost about 22 dollars and is very easy to fix. I then looked at the paper they gave me for estimates. They were charging 140.99 for the part and 176 for the labor. Don't trust the Midas Touch.

BLOOMINGDALE, ILLINOIS -- Do you have a Midas coupon? It's probably worthless if you do. No matter what it says, Midas is smarter than you and they'll prove it on your final invoice. Say you need brake service, typically a $210 service to get new pads and the rotors turned (smoothed out). The $210 is an industry standard and - for example - my invoice said the brake pad service cost $124.95 (parts and rotor turning not included), but then they slip in their own sneaky little line that says "Savings - $25 Off". Guess what, the total STILL adds up to $210. Did you catch the trick, the dishonest little scam? Try to figure it out before reading on, because I missed it at first...

Well, their sneaky coupon bars you from using ANY advertised coupon (only "one per visit," per the fine print)! This means you get the same competitive price as say, the OEM dealership, but Midas reels you in with coupons that will never, ever work. How's that for savvy and yet entirely unethical business? Ugh. Note: Watch out for the bogus "Shop Costs" they slip in. It's for that $12.83 roll of paper towel they used.