Pep Boys Consumer Reviews - Page 5

LAKEWOOD, COLORADO -- Bought power steering fluid, put it in the trunk and drove home 50 miles away. Opened the trunk and there's chemical dribbling from the cap. Open the bottle and the foil had been opened. Who in the hell has a clear conscience after they knowingly stock an opened or returned item obviously used? Now I open caps all the time before purchasing because of frauds like this.

LAS VEGAD, NEVADA -- They did a fantastic job on my car, no problems, just quality work. I would recommend them to anyone!

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA -- Aldo ** could not have been more helpful! And, over a silly issue I was having a problem with--the license plate holder on my car, of all things that a busy manager has time to deal with, but Aldo came out, looked at my car & solved my problem. I will definitely return to this Pep Boys location in the future. Nice & friendly. :)

NORTH WALES, PENNSYLVANIA -- I went to another auto body store where I was ripped off. I then went to the Pep Boys in North Wales Pa and glad I did. The 2nd service manager gave me a good price which was great. They were helpful, honest, and easy to work with. They fixed the problem and gave me a fair price. Thank you for your help!

ORANGE, CALIFORNIA -- Pep Boys store in Orange California refused to honor online sale price for a set of tires. Salesmen and manager both told me the price was "(too) low." The online invoice was $425, the store raised the price to $1100. I explained the situation to Pep Boys Customer Service and they advised me the store had the final say in the transaction and no contract was formed, even though Pep Boys confirmed my online order. Bait and switch tactics should not be practiced by reputable businesses. Stay Away!

MORENO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA -- Two years ago I took my 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan in to have the serpentine belt replaced since it was original to the vehicle that now had 119,00 miles on it. The service was relatively quick and the van seemed to have new power and life. Two days later, the belt started squeaking again. I called the service department and the man there told me that it does that for a while when it's new and to not worry. I am not a mechanical person. Over the next 2 years my wife and I drive the van a total of 8,200 miles since I drive a company car.

Fast forward to last night, my wife is driving the van home from work at night and the van suddenly loses power to the steering, but can still accelerate. My wife attempts to pull over, nearly wrecking the van due to no power steering and then the van starts overheating. Upon inspection, the serpentine belt had just come loose. We called Pep Boys since the belt had a 3 year warranty and they came and towed the vehicle to their store nearby. Tow service was quick by the way. :D

Inspection revealed that the serpentine belt had come loose, causing loss of power steering, water pump power was lost and caused the radiator to overheat and crack, thermostat was now damaged as well. After replacing the radiator and reattaching the new belt, the system was pressure tested and revealed that no other components were damaged that may have led to the belt coming off. Interesting... I commented to the service manager that it was not a labor warranty issue as the belt would have come off in a matter of days if not immediately if something was not tightened. Since there was no other problems with the van, then it had to be a belt problem.

To make a long story short, the belt failure falls under warranty and resulted in the damage to the radiator. The service manager does not want to cover it under warranty for unknown reasons. He says that the part was put on 2 years ago, I told him that it had a 3 year warranty. He was then evasive and did not talk to me anymore. I have contacted corporate office and haven't heard back from them yet, I have also contact the Bureau of Automotive Repair and filed a complaint with them.

WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS -- I have sent a letter to the Pep Boys CEO Lawrence N. Stevenson and posted in their website (www.pepboys.com) the following information, the manager from their local store (Waukegan IL) called and he said he could not do anything and I should contact their corporate office which I did. I was told that they will forward that information to their regional manager BUT HAVE NOT HEARD FROM THEM ever since.

My vehicle was overheating and I took it to the Pep Boys in Waukegan IL on 02/11/2006. I was told to replace the THERMOSTAT which I did (see invoice ** for $100.75). I went out of town next day and I came back on 02/16/2006 (the vehicle was not driven in that time) I found the same problem: the vehicle was overheating while in heavy traffic.

I took it back to Pep Boys Waukegan IL on 02/16/2006 and they told me that on 02/11/2006 the mechanic recommended to change the cooling fan relay and thermostat but the service advisor on 02/11/2006 did not say anything about the cooling fan relay. But anyway, as I was told to change the cooling fan relay I agreed and told me to bring the vehicle back next day as they did not have the parts available but I paid for the parts in advance (see invoice ** $68.48).

On 02/17/2006 after waiting for 5 hours someone told me that the POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE had to be replaced and they won'€™t be able to do it that day so I had to bring the vehicle next day (they had to order the POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE from the dodge dealer). But I had to pay for the installation of the relay (see invoice ** $25.29).

On 02/18/2006 when I went there someone else informed me that I had to take the vehicle to a Dodge Dealer to reprogram the POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE as they cannot fix that there. This made me wonder that why I was told the previous evening to bring back the vehicle to Pep Boys. I took the car to a Dodge dealer and after the diagnostic they informed me that there was no problem with the POWERTRAIN CONTROL MODULE but the only possible cause for vehicle overheating was a cable between relay and PCM. That cable had been replaced and there was no problem with car overheating anymore.

MONROEVILLE/WILKINS TWP, PENNSYLVANIA -- My daughter recently took her car to a local Pep Boys store to have new tires put on her car. She was quoted a good price for the tires and the sales clerk she spoke with was knowledgeable on the product, friendly and very helpful. At this point she was pleased and decided to purchase the tires from the store. What happened next is typical garbage that you hear about but hope it never happens to you.

She was contacted by the store to say that her serpentine belt was cracked and needed to be replaced at a cost of $200.00! She thought something may have been wrong with the belt so she agreed to let them change it. But for a cost of $200.00 really? That is ridiculous. There is no way that belt and the labor to install it would have cost $200.00 at any other reputable garage. She was then told that her bushings needed to be replaced as well but it was decided that the work could wait until later. She was once again contacted stating that she needed a some type of a cam kit (?) on her car.

At this point she was extremely upset and I could not understand a word she was saying. This “kit” also resulted in a charge of a few hundred dollars. Her total is now in the $900.00 range. I have heard stories of Pep Boys overcharging customers and making repairs that do not necessarily need to be done and now we have had the unpleasant experience ourselves.

It's a shame as I too am due for 4 new tires on my car and was considering taking it to the same location she has. After what has transpired today, I will never take my car or refer anyone to any of your stores for any type of service. I won't even enter one of your stores to purchase an air freshener. I truly feel that they saw a young women coming into the store alone and she was taken advantage of.

PISCATAWAY, NEW JERSEY -- I am disappointed in the service I got at that store. That store from my experience is all show but no substance to making a customer happy with the work done. For the past few times I have gone there there is always a lapse in performance on the help in the garage to get their tasks done and lack of management to make sure it never happens again.

Today when I picked up my car I asked them everything was done and the counter person said yes. I go to my car to find out they never bothered to top the fluids where they missed checking the washer fluid and the other fluids which were low too, but they remembered to charge me for everything else that needed fixing the car that cost me today $600. The last time I was there for an oil change they forgot the reminder in the windshield. The time before that I had a similar experience with fluids not topped off. It seems they don't care about the customer and I experienced the rudeness from one of the employees today with what I am about to tell you.

As soon as I noticed they did not top the fluids today I drove my car to the bay in the garage where my car was. A man who works for them was driving a customer's truck drove behind my car. He yelled out the window of the truck and said "You can't park there and block the bay." I said, "You didn't top my fluids and I am first before you get to this other customer." I was pissed too that I spent 4 hours for my car and I am not going to be told to move aside. He told me to move anyway. I said no. Another employee in the garage who I address the issue before the man in the truck yelled at me - told him that I come first. I still pissed.

If they like hiring people who don't dot their I's and cross their t's that is your choice. My choice will be to go somewhere else to get the full service I paid for and not to keep checking your employees work out in the garage. My wife keeps telling me not to go there because she had similar experiences in the car being tied up all day and to the next and I tell her the price you can't beat and I like going there. I guess I should say, I get what I pay for.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- I called Pep Boys Store on E Washington St in Indy 317-353-0020 at 5:30pm Friday Dec. 2, 2011 after a lengthy wait and several transfers a male voice answered. "What can I do for you?" he said. I replied, "Well my car won't start. It turns over but doesn't fire. I need a tow and would like to get it fixed.” His reply, "I can't set that up. Call 1-800 Pep Boys. They'll set you up but call me back after that or I won't be able to get to it. They don't give me all the info I need so make sure you call me back if you want it fixed." I said OK and hung up.

I should have not even called the number because I got this feeling that was not positive about how professional this guy was on the phone. But silly me I call and explain to the dispatch woman the behavior she explains to me that the man could have done it but she would help. She then took all the pertinent information; make, year, and color of the van then she told me it would be 100 minutes or an hour and a half – as if I was just some stupid person and that be then towing would be here to pick me up and she would call back in 106 minutes to make sure the request was completed.

Then 106 minutes later I received a call from an automated service to confirm service had been completed. Service had not been completed as stated so a live person took over the call and "forced" me to go over all the info again to verify the order it was all verified but the process was ridiculous and when I stated to her that it was ridiculous and how incompetent this process was and that I should cancel she said, "OK and you have a better day." as if I was having a bad day.

I told her I wasn't having a bad day that the next two days would be bad days because based on her attitude and inability to relate properly to the problem that I would go ahead and cancel the request and that I'll find a mechanic to fix my van tomorrow.