DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR TO THE MEINEKE IN KINGSTON! I took my car into the shop for a simple oil change, that was all I wanted, not fluid top offs, no checks, just an oil change. As soon as a left the parking lot, my engine started to smoke. I don´t know too much about cars and after stopping and checking it, I decided they must have spilled a bit of oil and it was just burning off. I was on my way to my brother´s wedding so I got on the highway. Very soon, my car began to over heat. I pulled off to the side, let the car cool and opened the hood. What I saw was that the radiator cap was not screwed on at all! Even I know that the radiator system is under pressure and must remain so in order to work properly. I called the shop and spoke to the owner and he said that the mechanic must have simply been checking my fluid levels. Well, anti freeze is either green or orange, and the container is opaque, so there is no reason to remove the cap to simply check the levels. Also, if he was just checking, he should have put the cap back on! Frustrated, upset, and stuck on the side of the NYS thruway, I hung up on the stupid idiot. I called AAA and was towed off the thruway to a nearby shop. They had to flush the system and add new coolant, which I had done only 6 months ago, and it should last for at least 3 years. I missed the wedding. When I called Meineke customer service, they informed me that the owner did not feel the need to refund me either the 20 bucks I spent on the oil change or the 100 dollars I had to spend at the other shop in order to be able to drive my car. Also, they cannot force him to refund me anything, as they are simply there as mediators. So it is like this, two young ladies walk into a car shop and get an oil change. The mechanic PURPOSELY takes off the radiator cap thinking that when something goes wrong we will run right back in and spend a bunch of money for no reason. DO NOT TRUST THEM WITH EVEN THE SMALLEST OF REPAIRS! THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR CAR, JUST YOUR WALLET.
more