Careful folks. And buyer beware. Charlie, the manager at the Riverhead Midas, is a bit of a hot headed and arrogant ""son-of-a-you-know-what."" He's got a bad temper that's going to get him in trouble one day. In fact, Charlie is a lawsuit just waiting to happen. I actually called the police when I was there. I didn't want to, but I needed a written report / record of what had occurred. Allow me to explain.
I went into Midas with a coupon (i.e., a free oil change with the purchase of a NYS inspection). I even called ahead to make sure the coupon was valid. Charlie even asked me what kind of vehicle I had. When he said come on in, I did.
When they were finished working on my car, I went to pay my bill -- but instead of a free oil change, Charlie took $10.00 off the cost of the oil change instead. When I asked why, he stated that a free oil change wouldn't apply for a new vehicle. After arguing with him for awhile, I told him the coupon said nothing about that. The coupon didn't state any restrictions. And it certainly didn't say anything about new cars not being applicable. By the way, I have a 2010 vehicle with under 10,000 miles (not really a new car anyway). He then said that I didn't present my coupon up front. I said the coupon doesn't say ""present before ordering (I actually don't like using ""present before ordering"" coupons; sometimes you get less of what you'd ordinarily get). Now folks, I can certainly afford an oil change. I live out on the East End and money is not an issue for me. But I refused to pay for this oil change out of principle. So when I saw we were going nowhere, I asked Charlie for the Riverhead Police phone number. He said to call 911. ""That's ridiculous,"" I said. ""I'm not going to call 911."" This was not an emergency. Ultimately I called my wife and asked her to Google the phone number for the Riverhead Police.
To make a long story short, a police officer arrived, I showed him my coupon, and I explained the situation. When all was said and done, the officer asked me to wait outside and he spoke to Charlie. After going back and forth a few times, the officer eventually came out and said Charlie was waiving the entire bill. I was surprised by that. Charlie had been so adamant about charging me for both an inspection and oil change. Now he wanted nothing? I then told the officer I wanted to pay Midas for the inspection. I wasn't looking for a free service. I was just looking to pay what I owed. But the officer said Charlie wouldn't take it. I shook my head in exasperation, thanked the officer for his help, and apologized for having to bring him out on such a ""trivial"" matter. But I also told him I needed to get my things from the waiting room and retrieve my valet key from the front desk. But when I tried to get these items, Charlie came running out from behind the counter and started shoving me towards the door. He actually started yelling that I was trespassing (!) and literally pushed me towards the door. He did this in front of the police officer. Now folks, pushing someone is technically a form of assault, but I'm not a vengeful guy. I didn't want to make matters worse. If Charlie had hit me, that'd be a different story. So I ignored Charlie instead, walked passed him, and got my things from the waiting room.
One day, Charlie is going to meet a customer with an equally unreasonable temper, and that person is either going to punch Charlie's lights out -- or someone who Charlie injures in a fight will file a lawsuit. I think it's just a matter of time.
In the meantime, if you're looking for an automotive repair facility, you may want to steer away from this Midas shop and find another place to go. For obvious reasons, I do NOT recommend them.
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