My car was just off warranty. Needed brake work. Thought I would take advantage of Pep Boys $199 ""COMPLETE BRAKE JOB"" Special. Work was supposed to be done within 24 hours. 72 hours later, it still was not complete. Service manager stated parts not included in the SPECIAL were defective and had to be ordered. (Parts not included in the word COMPLETE.) Told him Pep Boys had my car all apart, I wanted the bottom line price was going to be. He said ""Pep Boys NEVER does that! "" (I am helpless at this point and they knew it.) I asked when my car would be finished. 6 HOURS, I was told. Car was NOT ready in 6 hours. Pep Boys mgr. claimed they had a 3 hour power outage and everything got delayed. I walked around to the parts counter. Asked the Parts Manager, ""You having a rough day?"" He said,""Not particularly."" I said, ""Do you have a large UPS so you were able to use your computers/phones during the blackout today?"" He asked, ""WHAT BLACKOUT???""
I was blistered. My car was ""finished"" in an hour. = $600!!! Brakes squeaked like hell. Took it back. Mechanics ""made adjustments."" Still squeaked. Took it back. Put it up on the rack. Service manager said ""That's as good as ANYBODY ANYWHERE can make it. "" I told him the car NEVER squeaked like that before! ""We are finished!!! Pep Boys manager said"" I took it to another repair shop. They did some grinding and tweaking. Squeaked less, but still UNACCEPTABLE. Took car to the dealer. They redid the entire job. $500... Their findings: Pep Boys used ""soft,"" cheap Korean brake rotors and Chinese brake pads. Also, the ""anti-squeak compound"" which is supposed to be used on EVERY brake pad WAS NOT USED at all. I carried a trunk full of worthless Pep Boys parts back to Pep Boys. Service manager refused to come to my car. Said if I was displeased with the work, I should have done more to let them know about it... Hard to believe, but it's EXACTLY what he said.
Pros: They spend lots of money advertising to lure in customers
Cons: Lousy workmaship. Arrogant mechanics. Apathetic managers.
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