Last week the piston froze up in the brake caliper on the left front wheel on my wife's car. It caused the wheel to lock up. She took it to a Meineke Auto Repair Center. The guy that owns the place called me and said that all of the brake components needed to be replaced. New oem calipers, pads, rotors, and backing plates for a total of $668.00. I authorized the repair under the condition that all of the parts were new with a lifetime warranty. He said yes. I told him to go ahead and fix the car. The next day he calls and says the parts place sent him the wrong calipers and this would delay the repair for another day while he waited to get the right parts. I said no problem as we have 3 cars and this would not present a problem. The next day the guy calls and says that the car is ready. I am at work, so my wife picks up the car and pays the bill. After he receives payment he tells my wife the new calipers would not fit the car, so they used the cradles off of the old ones and mixed them with some of the parts off the new calipers to repair the brakes. She drives the car home and waits for me to get home from work. When I come home I go look at the car. It has new pads and rotors, but the old calipers that were on the car. I called the guy up and ask him what they did. He said the rotors and pads are new but the calipers would not fit the car. They used parts off of the old calipers and new calipers to build ones that would work. Now, I drove the car and there is a rubbing noise coming from both wheels. I called the owner and told him the wheels are rubbing. I also told him that I am [censored] because all of the parts were supposed to be new, not jerry rigged together. He apologized and said to bring the car back. He will get all brand new oem parts and fix it to my standards with no additional cost to me. This should have been done to begin with. It is what I paid to have done. I called the credit card company and stopped payment and had the money credited back to my account. He doesn't know this yet. I say screw him. He lied and did not fix the car properly to begin with. I am sure as [censored] not giving him a second chance. What would you guys do in this situation?
My brake dilemma!
- Thread starter gwdriver
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I think you should give him one more chance to do the job right before going to extremes. If it's not done right the second time, then look into your options. You are creating nothing but MORE problems by initiating a stop payment on work your wife SIGNED for as completed. Your wife should have left the car there when she heard what they had done and not driven off with the vehicle.
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I would pay as I agreed to when the service I agreed to matched the pre-negotiated position. What your wife should have done is stop the transaction immediately until you were called and talked to about it.
This is not an uncommon occurrence. You set something up ..different person pays the bill ..you're dissatisfied. In my long history of experience with rectifying such "messes" attempted ...repeatedly ..to get my wife to figure out when something was "unright" ..but mostly to no avail ..with an even longer history of undue costs incurred upon the way.
This is not an uncommon occurrence. You set something up ..different person pays the bill ..you're dissatisfied. In my long history of experience with rectifying such "messes" attempted ...repeatedly ..to get my wife to figure out when something was "unright" ..but mostly to no avail ..with an even longer history of undue costs incurred upon the way.
This is a tough one. On one hand, it sounds like he didn't do what he charged you for, but on the other hand he is willing to make it right.
What I would have done is not to stop payment, but rather, have him fix the vehicle correctly and ask for a 10 or 20% discount for your inconvenience.
In the future, I would not use Meineke or Midas. Way too many horror stories with these brake and muffler shops. Mysteriously, they always find enough wrong with one's brakes to justify a $400+ charge. I hate to say it, but the wife bringing it in instead of you probably helped to result in excess charges. My mother and sister both brought their cars into a Midas and Meineke for a simple new pad job. Lo and behold, each of their bills were over 400 bucks respectively. My parents now take their cars to a local mechanic who is trustworthy and actually tries to SAVE them money.
At this point, since you canceled payment, I wouldn't bring the car back. He might try to pursue small claims court and you'd have to settle it there. Canceling payment now poisons the whole transaction and represents a complete breakdown in trust between you and the shop. I wouldn't want them touching my car at this point.
I know how frustrating this can be. Finding a good mechanic is very difficult nowadays. You have to go through many to get to the good one. I would try and go with a smaller local shop next time.
Just my opinion based upon what you wrote.
What I would have done is not to stop payment, but rather, have him fix the vehicle correctly and ask for a 10 or 20% discount for your inconvenience.
In the future, I would not use Meineke or Midas. Way too many horror stories with these brake and muffler shops. Mysteriously, they always find enough wrong with one's brakes to justify a $400+ charge. I hate to say it, but the wife bringing it in instead of you probably helped to result in excess charges. My mother and sister both brought their cars into a Midas and Meineke for a simple new pad job. Lo and behold, each of their bills were over 400 bucks respectively. My parents now take their cars to a local mechanic who is trustworthy and actually tries to SAVE them money.
At this point, since you canceled payment, I wouldn't bring the car back. He might try to pursue small claims court and you'd have to settle it there. Canceling payment now poisons the whole transaction and represents a complete breakdown in trust between you and the shop. I wouldn't want them touching my car at this point.
I know how frustrating this can be. Finding a good mechanic is very difficult nowadays. You have to go through many to get to the good one. I would try and go with a smaller local shop next time.
Just my opinion based upon what you wrote.
What to do at this point, I'm not sure. I probably would have given them a second chance to repair it the way it was supposed to be. I mean, everyone makes mistakes, right? Heck, even I made one mistake last year, and I might even make another one this year!!
Seriously tho, now that you've done the chargeback to your CC, taking it back to them is out of the question. But you're gonna have trouble with that because they actually did replace some of the parts with new parts, right? So you're gonna owe them for what they DID replace. That could get messy...
Good luck to you~
Seriously tho, now that you've done the chargeback to your CC, taking it back to them is out of the question. But you're gonna have trouble with that because they actually did replace some of the parts with new parts, right? So you're gonna owe them for what they DID replace. That could get messy...
Good luck to you~
Originally Posted By: hate2work
But you're gonna have trouble with that because they actually did replace some of the parts with new parts, right? So you're gonna owe them for what they DID replace. That could get messy...
+1, This will get real messy when the guy finds out about the credit card issue. I would've threatened him with disputing the charge first, see what he said about that, and then brought the car down in person and watch the technician like a hawk until it was done and never go back again.
But you're gonna have trouble with that because they actually did replace some of the parts with new parts, right? So you're gonna owe them for what they DID replace. That could get messy...
+1, This will get real messy when the guy finds out about the credit card issue. I would've threatened him with disputing the charge first, see what he said about that, and then brought the car down in person and watch the technician like a hawk until it was done and never go back again.
You have only stopped it for a 30 or 60 day period while the bank looks into the charges. Its not like a stopped check. If the bank decides he is entitled to the money you will be charged and now you have a [censored] off mechanic to deal with.
At this point given what has transpired I would see what happens with the charges. Clearly you owe the guy something, but maybe not the entire charge.
Not sure I would go back to this guy since he will be [censored] at you for stopping the charge and you are [censored] at him for doing a poor job.
Bring it to another trusted local mechanic and have him look at the calipers and see what the deal is. I would then subtract the charges from the local mechanic from your bill and offer that to the first place. Have the local mechanic document everything and save what parts he does not reuse.
At this point given what has transpired I would see what happens with the charges. Clearly you owe the guy something, but maybe not the entire charge.
Not sure I would go back to this guy since he will be [censored] at you for stopping the charge and you are [censored] at him for doing a poor job.
Bring it to another trusted local mechanic and have him look at the calipers and see what the deal is. I would then subtract the charges from the local mechanic from your bill and offer that to the first place. Have the local mechanic document everything and save what parts he does not reuse.
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First I wouldn't construct a "fight to the death" scenario out of our imaginations.
Go to the guy at first opportunity. State that you were real angry that he qualified the repair with your wife and didn't pre-authorize it before he collected the BIG MONEY that was negotiated under different conditions. Ask him to fix it and you'll release the disputed amount from the credit card dispute.
Don't make it any more hostile than it needs to be.
Go to the guy at first opportunity. State that you were real angry that he qualified the repair with your wife and didn't pre-authorize it before he collected the BIG MONEY that was negotiated under different conditions. Ask him to fix it and you'll release the disputed amount from the credit card dispute.
Don't make it any more hostile than it needs to be.
Another reason to do your own brakes. They aren't that hard. Or expensive. Two $30 rotors, a set of $50 pads, maybe 2 $70 (or cheaper, 2 calipers for my car cost $70 together). Take a Saturday afternoon and knock it out in 3 hours, less if you're experienced.
I heard it explained that for liability and warranty reasons many shops will refuse to touch a car for brakes unless they replace everything even if it just needs pads right then. So I'm surprised the calipers weren't new out of the box.
I heard it explained that for liability and warranty reasons many shops will refuse to touch a car for brakes unless they replace everything even if it just needs pads right then. So I'm surprised the calipers weren't new out of the box.
Thanks for all the opinions. The guy called me up and apologized. Wants me to bring the car back in. Will redo the brakes again with all new oem parts. More money may be involved but he will eat the difference and even refund me a portion of the original charges for my inconvenience. So, I guess I will give them a second chance to make it right. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.
Originally Posted By: gwdriver
Thanks for all the opinions. The guy called me up and apologized. Wants me to bring the car back in. Will redo the brakes again with all new oem parts. More money may be involved but he will eat the difference and even refund me a portion of the original charges for my inconvenience. So, I guess I will give them a second chance to make it right. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.
Glad it turned out okay for you! Good to hear.
Thanks for all the opinions. The guy called me up and apologized. Wants me to bring the car back in. Will redo the brakes again with all new oem parts. More money may be involved but he will eat the difference and even refund me a portion of the original charges for my inconvenience. So, I guess I will give them a second chance to make it right. I'll keep you posted on the outcome.
Glad it turned out okay for you! Good to hear.
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The 2.5th time around it will be a charm. Meineke doesn't have the Midas touch! ;-)
Good to hear! Let us know the ultimate outcome!
If the guy wanted to be a jerk, could he call the police and try and have you charged with 'Theft of Services' ?
I hope not, because you should have let them attemped to fix all the problems before you called your CC company and stopped payment.
I hope not, because you should have let them attemped to fix all the problems before you called your CC company and stopped payment.
LT4 Vette- Wrong! I checked with two lawyers first. My bill states all parts installed were new oem parts. The only new parts were the rotors and pads. The backing plates and calipers were the original ones that were on the car. ON the bill it states new calipers and new backing plates installed. I could have sued him. The repair on this thing will be done Thurs. I'll post the results.
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