Posted on 07/19/2007 3:30:58 PM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
Imagine going to get your car repaired, paying for it, and then finding out the work was never even done. With the help of insiders, NBC4 uncovered an apparent scheme at stores that are part of a nationwide chain with 30 million customers a year.
NBC4 shelled out a lot of cash at repair shops across town. But were the repairs paid for really done?
"Does this happen to customers a lot?" NBC4's Joel Grover asked a former employee of America's biggest Lube and tune chain, Jiffy Lube. "Every day," the insider replied.
To conduct the investigation, NBC4 wired two test cars with hidden cameras in places mechanics wouldn't find. Then, NBC4 drove one of the cars to an Encino Jiffy Lube, to get an oil change.
A service advisor named Leo recommends repairs, like changing the fuel filter. "Fuel filter, every 48 months or 60,000 miles," Leo tells an NBC4 undercover producer.
NBC4 pays $240 and asks the technician what they did. "Oil change, air filter, fuel filter," the technician tells the undercover producer.
But they didn't change the fuel filter. NBC4 knows that, because before taking the car in, they lowered the gas tank, and marked the fuel filter with a big "four." After leaving that Encino Jiffy Lube, NBC4 checked the fuel filter, and the original one with the "four" was still on the car.
(Excerpt) Read more at knbc.com ...
I hear Jiffy Lube Corporation, to their credit, has investigated the fraud...but this ought to be a warning to ALL mechanics out there: don't get caught lying.
Ooh there’s a surprise Jiffy Lube, the company that’s never seen an air filter that didn’t need to be replaced, ripping people off.
The bread and butter of these quick oil change places is getting you to let them do unnecessary work, which they probably never did half the time anyway. Never ever take your car to any of them, develop a relationship with a real mechanic, their list prices are higher but in the long run they’ll cost you less.
This was egregious fraud on their part...I won’t use them again.
“There are so many tricky garages you can find them in the Yellow Pages under ‘tricky garages’.” - Archie Bunker.
I always check to make sure the work was done, and ask for the old parts where applicable. I don’t trust anyone nowadays, it seems.
The Jiffy Lube I have used has a big window so that you can see what work is being done. Admittedly, watching them put a fuel filter on is a little difficult.
I have used them and found them to ok. They never pushed a air filter on me and they honored a coupon that expired a month ago.
You find cheats everywhere....
I wonder. If you had to lower the tank, you were probably going after the intank filter, which rarely clogs. I wonder if the techs changed the inline filter.
Even if it is a place I trust I still check.
You’ll only get ripped off like this if you are lazy and don’t watch them. I highly oubt this is chain wide, but there are sleazy operators everywhere, in every kind of business. Be proactive, and do your homework, and you’ll never be a victim.
Fawn, pinging you only as a followup to our earlier conversation for further explanation of what I meant, k? :)
Don’t try this at Planned Parenthood.
Yep, stand there and watch there every move, even if you don't get the unnecessary extra's they profit handsomely from. The oil change isn't how they make money, it's called a loss leader.
"What you mean sir"?
Those are screw in valve stems on my Hurricanes.
"Well, we'll just take that off your bill".
Yes, your air filter is dirty. Ever checked the level of your oil? Noticed that your hands are dirty? It’s dirty because it’s doing it’s job. Now tell the bozo to put the air filter back and get done with the oil change.
People get ripped off because they don’t think. Don’t leave yourself open to the opportunity to get ripped off.
All this being said, JiffyLube and everyone else has been caught with this type of investigation almost every year when KNBC does them. They’ll typically hit up 35-40 stations, and invariably, one will not do the work they were paid to do.
My absolute number one favorite on camera explanation (and the last time KNBC did a live, on the air, confrontation with a mechanic) “I thought that my partner had already changed the fuel filter because the bolts were cleaned off as if they had just been removed and put back.” Right, that was them marking the fuel filter so that they’d know if you did it. (Or fuel pump - thats the other one they love to nail mechanics with.)
Anyway, buyer beware, and JiffyLube, come off it, you get stung by this every year, you end up paying for however many shops KNBC went to to get their ‘repairs’ done at, it always ends up a PR nightmare, come on, tell managers that if this ever happens again, at any shop, the manager as well as the mechanic involved will be immediately fired, and you’ll go after both in court for fraud and theft charges. That’ll be the only way to stop it from happening again.
People who take their cars to quick-lube places like Jiffy Lube deserve to get ripped off. Their employees are nothing more than post-high school slackers who’s knowledge of cars came from reading a Chilton’s manual. Take your car to a regular auto repair shop instead.
People don't realize, when changing the oil, after removing the drain plug, one should let it drain for as long as possible, I am taking about 20 minutes or longer.
Ever watch someone from Jiffy? They drain the oil, and within seconds screw the drain plug back in, leaving almost another 1/4 of a quart of dirty oil still in the engine, that would have slowly drained out if they'd left the drain plug out.
If you like your engine, leave the drain plug off for at least 20 minutes and let it drain out.
Every time I’ve ever gone to one of those places they always showed up with their list of problems that absolutely had to be fixed now, and always the air filter was on the list, plus other thing generally to the tune (if I’d let them do the work) of over $100. They stink. Maybe they straightened out in the mean time, but given this report it doesn’t sound like it.
Mark the inside of your tires with chalk before having them rotated: “LF, RF, LR, RR”
Then after they tell you the work is done, call them liars and let the fun begin!!!
As far as pricing - a lot of real mechanics will do a lube/oil/filter for 15 to 20 bucks. The jiffy lube places charge extra for 30 pt. inspection stuff like checking fluids, tire pressure - ALL things that any man or woman could do themselves. They make it seem like you’re getting some great amount of work done. Mostly they’re adding some air to your tires and washer fluid for an extra 20$. Doing it yourself is more fun anyway.
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