Pep Boys Consumer Reviews - Page 8

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- I'm glad that I found this website because I want to advise every one of you to never take your car to Pep Boys for service. Back in January, I needed to get my check engine light turned off in order to pass my emissions test and not have my license taken away from me. I decided to take my car to Pep Boys here in Chicago for the first time and ended up having to pay close to 1,000 just to get my check engine light turned off! It started out costing 250... then went to 500.00 and then when that didn't work they needed to do another 500.00 worth of parts and services.

It makes me so mad to know that these guys ripped me off but I had no choice but to get it fixed with them because I only had a few more days until my license was going to be suspended. I complained to them that it just didn't seem right to have to get all these new parts and spend so much money on the problem but they would not back down. By the time my car was finished I pretty much knew everyone's name there and it's not something that I am proud of knowing.

When I did try to complain or inquire about the parts and service they would kind of look down at me like I was incompetent. Pep Boys took advantage of me and I'm pretty sure that they won't mind taking advantage of you too. Please do not ever take your car to Pep Boys for your own good! Thanks.

GLASSBORO, NEW JERSEY -- Pep Boys is a bunch of con artist. My heat was acting up so I took it to them while my mechanic was out. I wait for an hour on what's the problem and they tell me 2000 to repair my heat along with other things that need to be done. Apparently my water pump, oil, and holes in my radiator and hoses. Well firstly I got a new timing belt kit with everything about two months ago, about a month ago got an oil change. I take it to my mechanic, it's a FRACTION of the price and of course my radiator and everything else is fine. Oh don't forget the 3 days to fix my car if it was at Pep Boys and they said labor would go up the longer it was there. Never go there!!!

MARIETTA, GEORGIA -- March/April 2009, I was out of town and my wife took our Nissan Quest to Pep Boys to have the windshield wipers fixed. They kept the van for the whole day. At night when she picked up the van they charged her $257 for replacing the wiper motor but to her surprise the wiper blades were still not moving. My wife can not speak very good English but she did try to tell them that the wipers are not working. Their response was very rude they told her they did the best they could and if she does not pay them $275 immediately, she will not be to get her van back. She paid the money. It was dark, so couldn't inspect the van at that time.

Next morning when she was about to drive, she found a little crack on the windshield which was very close to the place where the wiper motor is located. She took the van to another mechanic and he told her that the problem was not the windshield wiper motor but it was an electrical circuit, he fixed the problem in less than 30 minutes!

Lesson to learn: - Never ever take your vehicle to Pep Boys = Rip off Boys! They are the biggest thieves and liars. PS This review is about the Pep Boys on Cobb PKWY Marietta GA not the Pep Boys on Austell Rd (apologize for the typo).

DEDHAM, MASSACHUSETTS -- So I just had my vehicle repaired by Pep Boys out here in MA. They put on a muffler (per my request, the old one was rotted through in several spots) and also changed the oil per my request and repaired a transmission leak from previous work they had done but was out of warranty (I waited almost two years to say something). I didn't have any problems with the work that was done. I used to be the service manager there so I had their best technician work on the vehicle, the pricing is where the problem is. They charged me $20 to look at the car but really they were only looking at the muffler.

So I basically paid $20 for them to walk back three feet while the car was already in the air and for them to tell me I needed a muffler after I already told them. After this "vehicle inspection", I didn't even receive a copy of the mechanic's checklist that they fill out even though there are two copies and one is supposed to go to the customer.

The best part however is the shop supplies charge. Almost $30 for what amounts to 3 sheets of paper and a floor mat that was probably never even put in my car. My washer fluid was full but even if they filled that up, they charge less than 2 bucks for a full bottle. Beware of the Boys! They will try to nickel and dime you to make to their sales goals!

MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- I went in to repair/replace my brake rotors and pads as they were shuddering something awful. They confirmed that my rotors were warped and that the pads needed replacing. After driving over 50 years (this isn't my first rodeo!) I know about the bait and switch many of these service facilities use. No sales pressure here I picked the parts they quoted me the price and I authorized the repair. When I asked them how long it would take they said an hour to an hour and a half. 55 minutes later I got a text message from the Pep Boys computer telling me my car was ready.

When I walked up to the counter they were printing out the service statement. I handed them the 15% off coupon (saved $31.50) that I printed at home before I made my online appointment. I also signed up for their Pep Boys rewards card and I now have a credit for $15.00 off my next purchase or service. Overall a very efficient and courteous experience.

COLLEGEVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA -- Went to have brake lights checked, said brake light wire was installed wrong wire was sitting on disc brakes became burnt and caused light to stay on. They additionally found over $1000 in repairs on my daughter newly purchased 2006 Jeep Liberty that we only drove $1400 miles since purchasing it. Went back to the dealer since some of this was dangerous and should have been noticed during inspection and before the sales of the car. The dealer which was a GMC Buick dealer was charging half of what Pep Boys was charging, not giving us a deal, that was their rate to repair the car.

I explained that the manager of auto repairs and owners son was going to come up with a deal for us to repair the car. So they did, we are paying a third of what Pep Boys was charging. They charge a shop fee, which is to use tools to repair your car. If they have to do three different repairs than the charge could be as high as $40 extra for this stupid charge. They won't tell you this and their repair hourly rate is $109 per hour plus tax and shop fee. They are a rip off go somewhere else, they will find more repairs to hike up the bill as they did with me as well.

You will pay for employees, retail business rent and whatever else, why would you? I'm a marketing manager I know what extra fee are and why corporate business filters fees and passes them off to the consumer.

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY -- All I needed was a simple oil change. I made an online appointment for 11:00am and arrived 5 minutes before. Waited 20 minutes in line while others tried to resolve their problems and finally spoke to somebody at 11:15. I was told at that point that it would take 90 min. to complete. I asked what do long and was told it was because of the tire rotation which takes an hour (bull).

This is part of the basic oil change package and online appointments are scheduled at 60min. intervals.... I thought this to be excessive. I decided to try it anyhow, but after an hour my car was still sitting in the lot and I gave up, got my key and left. Terrible management at this place and even worse customer rapport. They actually asked me if I wanted to reschedule. I'll never go back. Appointments are a total waste of time.

SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA -- I went to Pep Boys Simi Valley to have my P/S pressure hose (steering) remove and replace because of the leak. Aside from the cost of labor of $245.80 for removing and replacing the pressure hose, Pep Boys added what they call Pepguard Limited Extended Labor Warranty for an additional $36.47 making total labor cost of $282.27. They said that the additional $36.47 is a warranty in case the work done by the mechanic is not satisfactory, I can return the car without any labor cost.

I feel I am being rip off so I asked information from a Nissan dealer and got an information that they do not charge their customers additional labor warranty. I requested Pep Boys to return to me the amount of $36.47 which they did. However, the following day, I found out that the pressure hose is still leaking. I called Pep Boys and told them about the matter and inform me since I do not have a labor warranty anymore, I have to pay again the labor for repairing the job that their mechanic did not do his job well.

CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA -- Well I went in for an alignment, added an oil change. They started with the oil change. After 2 hours and still in the oil change I told them it was the slowest oil change I ever had. The manager overheard me, tell the asst. manager and offered to give me 10 percent off the bill. I thank him. Then after the alignment the asst manager gave me the bill and took off 2 dollars off 186 or 184. 10 percent is 18.60. I said, "You told me the total was 186." She said, "I took 10 dollars off the alignment." I guess if she did she added 8 dollars to something else. Well in case they don't know that's one and a half percent, not ten.

SANTEE, CALIFORNIA -- I arrived at the Santee, CA location for my appointment on Monday. Your representative looked at their computer and requested when I had made the appointment. I was then informed that the technician who does air conditioning won't be in until Saturday!

It was fairly obvious this was the first time the appointments were checked. If the appointment had been checked earlier, I could have been called. This is poor customer service. It would appear you need to update your website so that occurrences such as this would not be allowed. That is, if a technician is not available, do not let the appointment be scheduled.