Tune-Up Plus Unprofessional, Bias, Rude, Disrespectful, Inexperienced Norfolk Virginia

On November 8, 2013 I walked into Tune-up Plus and spoke with Eric, who was manning the front desk, and advised him that my car was making a clicking noise while driving and possibly in need of a coolant flush.  He stated to me that he would have to have his mechanic drive it around in order to detect exactly what the noise was and also that if I were in need of a flush that it would cost $139-$200.  Shortly after Peter (who is the mechanic that worked on my vehicle) started working on my car Eric pulled me to the side and stated that I was in need of a flush because the previous mechanic used the wrong coolant and that my car takes purple coolant vs. bluish, which created a nasty build up.  Now I was informed of this at around 8:40am and although my vehicle was the second one to be worked on, for some reason Peter wasn’t finished until 12:38pm.  Now throughout my 4 ½ hr wait, not only was the manager Eric rude to me, but he was also very nasty to a black gentleman who waited for 2 ½ hrs while his was pulled in the back, but had not been touched since.  After seeing 3 different white men, and a white couple in after us, but leave before us the black gentleman retrieved his keys and left without being serviced.  Now typically I’m not one to take notice in a matter such as this, but Elvis (mechanic who also works at Tune-up) brought to my attention the discrimination that takes place at that establishment.  Elvis was off on this particular day, so he sat with me for 3 ½ hrs while he waited for his daughter.  During this time Elvis shared a lot with me, and one of the topics was about how racist Tune-up Plus was, and how they catered to their white employees, making sure that they received majority of the work but due to some of the mechanics who worked there being inexperienced he was the one who would have to correct their work whenever unsatisfied customers came back.  Now once that was said, I not only started to take notice to the obvious unprofessionalism, but also to the unfairness that was taking place.  Not only was Mr. Toxey to busy dealing with his own personal life, and his stolen Yukon being found, to help me or answer any of my questions, but after 3hrs of waiting Elvis himself started to question the delay and went and spoke with Peter to see what was going on.  Long story short my vehicle was eventually finished around 12:40pm and that’s when Peter had advised me that I wasn’t getting any heat and would need a new water pump.  Now since I had just recently had my water pump replaced 3 weeks prior, I told him that couldn’t be the case, and that’s when he recommended a new thermostat.  I advised Eric that I had already been there way longer than expected, and that I would have to come back on another day, and Eric stated that would be fine.

On November 11, 2013 I called Tune-up Plus located on Little Creek Rd, and spoke with Eric in order to get a quote on how much it would cost to replace the thermostat if I were to provide my own, when I received the worse customer service ever at that point.  Eric had advised me that I could bring in mind own thermostat but that I would have to pay for another flush.  At this point I started to question why I would have to pay another $212 for a service I just received 3 days prior.  He was so rude and condescending that I was in disbelief.  For one, Eric never answered my question, and 2) decided to inform me that it wasn’t his fault that the previous mechanic before coming to Tune-up didn’t know what he was doing, that it wasn’t his fault that the wrong coolant was used, and lastly he stated “I didn’t tell you to buy a BMW.”  I was absolutely done dealing with his rudeness and requested contact information for the General or District Manager, however instead he gave me a customer service number to call which I did immediately and left a voice message.

On November 12, 2013, due to not receiving a response back I decided to go to the Tune-Up website to email my unsatisfied experience.  About an hour later I received a phone call from a guy who stated that he was the General Manager at the Military Hwy location and told me to come in after work so that Elmer (another mechanic) could look at my car.  After arriving at the Tune-up around 5:00pm, Elmer who seemed to be pleasant in the beginning advised me that Eric had informed him of the build up in my car due to the wrong coolant being used.  I then showed Elmer the empty “BMW Recommended” coolant bottle located in my trunk so that he could see exactly what was used prior, and even he agreed that coolant was “very good coolant for BMW.”  Elmer did apologize for the misinformation regarding the coolant, but did come to the conclusion that I would need the thermostat replaced because one hose was getting hotter than the other.  I found it so amazing that it took Peter (previous mechanic) 4 ½ hrs to determine what Elmer was able to glance at and figure out in 5mins.  Now at this point Elmer had given me the impression that he was going to fix the situation, but in reality he contributed in making it worse.  Elmer told me that he would work with me and not charge me to do another coolant flush, but would have to charge $299 to install the thermostat.  I at this point told Elmer that I would actually provide my own thermostat, and he said it would take 2 ½ hrs of labor so the cost would be $212.  I then agreed to come back Friday to get this done, however that was before I spoke with J&M Tires (who charged $100), and Big Al’s (charged $170) and realized the Tune-Up plus doesn’t only have horrible customer service, inaccurate information, and inexperienced mechanics, but they were also trying to overcharge me. UNBELIEVEABLE!

On November 18, 2013 I spoke with Elmer to inform him that my car was smoking due to a pen hole found in the expansion tank.  Now I would have never known this on my own so after work another mechanic and I went to the Tune-up Plus on Military Hwy so that Elmer could take another look.  My mechanic showed Elmer exactly what the issue was.  He showed him the how the coolant was splattered all over everything under the hood and how there was a pen hole in the tank that caused it.  Between the two of them the conclusion was that the pen hole came from the car not being bled properly and the wrong coolant being used by Peter.  Elmer agreed to either repair the tank or if necessary to replace it when I came back to get my thermostat done.  This is when my mechanic asked Elmer how much it would cost to repair the thermostat, and Elmer gave him a completely different quote than what I was given a week prior.  Elmer had stated that it would be around $200 which would include parts (meaning thermostat) and 1 ½ of labor.  Wow, not only was that completely different from what he told me it would cost, but it was a lot cheaper.  I literally had a hard time sleeping because of this entire situation and how it was handled just kept playing through my mind.  I thought about how Eric talked to me in a manner as if my business meant nothing.  I thought about what Elvis said about how he was mistreated as an employee, and how maybe that had something to do with why there were at least 6 mechanics at the Military Hwy location and none of them were black. Lastly, I wondered if the price difference given to me was due to my mechanic being white.  At this point I was fed up, I waited 4 ½ hrs for a job that Elmer seemed to be able to do in 1 ½ hrs.  The job that I was overcharged for was done incorrectly, the expansion tank was damaged, and the coolant flush I spent $212 on was not only unnecessary but also squirted all over my car.  I mean it was just ridiculous.

On November 19, 2013 my mechanic and I decided to go back to the Tune-Up Plus on Little Creek Rd. so that I could discuss exactly when the expansion tank repair could be done since I had already decided not to have them replace my thermostat.  As, I got out the car, my mechanic popped the hood, and Peter and Elmer starting walking towards my vehicle.  I began to ask Elmer about my tank, when Peter cut me off to say how he remembered working on my car and that the problem was I didn’t have any heat, so he wasn’t sure why I even got a coolant flush.  At this point I was frustrated, because Elmer was the same one that told me that he was advised that I needed the flush due to the wrong coolant and build up.  So yet another lie, and as I was confronting Elmer about the conflict in the 2 opinions, Peter starts getting loud with me as if I had did or said something wrong.  My mechanic at this time, had then asked Peter why would he perform a coolant flush that was unnecessary, instead of letting me know that wasn’t the issue with my car, however instead of answering the question Peter rudely walked off.  I then advised Elmer that I would not need him to do my thermostat just due to him trying to overcharge me, and giving me a totally different price than he gave my mechanic.  Elmer of course didn’t even address the price difference, instead he said he would fix the expansion tank on Friday, but that I would have to drop it off because it would take a few hours.  Now dropping my car off for him to fix a tank was not only, not an option but it also didn’t make sense.  This is when I asked my mechanic how long a job like this should take and he said 30-45mins max.  So I had been lied to again.  It was amazing that it would take him 1 ½ hr (for my mechanic), 2 ½ hrs (for me) to replace a whole thermostat and perform another coolant flush, but needed a few hours to simply replace a tank and on top of that I had to drop the car off.  UNBELIEVEABLE!  So after hearing this, I was done and asked Elmer, who I needed to speak to in order to get a refund so that I could be done with this company.  After all that had happened in the last week in a half Elmer still wanted to know why I wanted a refund, so I expressed to him that I at this point I didn’t trust them to work on my car.  Elmer rudely shrugged his shoulders and said “then we won’t work on your car.”  Elmer walked back into the shop and after waiting outside for 15mins he finally came back out accompanied by another gentleman who said that he was the District Manager, who I had spoken to the Tuesday prior.  I began to express to him how at this point the only appropriate solution would be a refund, but before I could finish he rudely cut me off and said that he already knew what my concern was.  This guy who was no where in sight when my car was getting flushed on 11/8 proceeded to tell me that, my car did need a flush because of the build up and wrong coolant, that the tank was already like that, and that my car needed so many other things fixed including the thermostat.  My mechanic then asked, the District Manager why was a coolant flush performed if a thermostat was needed and more importantly if the tank was already damaged.  The District Manager became irate, and with his finger in front of my face while he pointed to my mechanic asked “who the hell are you?”  My mechanic stated that he was a mechanic and that the work done on my car didn’t make sense.  The District Manager immediately told us to leave because he doesn’t deal with other mechanics.  I asked him to calm down, and that I would have my mechanic wait in the car so that I could have the opportunity to speak with him.  The District Manager yelled “no, I’m not talking to you until he leaves, take him home and then come back.”  He then threw his hands up to shoo me away and walked off.  I then yelled out to him “is this how you really handle business?” He then replied “yes, I’m serious now get out of here.”  I then asked him for his name but he told me that I didn’t need his name and to come back once I have an attorney.  So unacceptable!

The truth of the matter is Tune-Up Plus is completely unprofessional, rude, inaccurate, bias and so many other negative things.  The incomplete work done on my vehicle has caused not only a bigger problem, but also more money.  It truly amazes me that although only 1 mechanic worked on my car, 3 other mechanics were the ones who had so much to say about what my vehicle needed done.  Peter who was the only one who actually worked on my car was correct by implying that a coolant flush wasn’t needed especially since the noise (that was never spoken about) that my car was making was actually the driver side wheel bearing that I have to get replaced tomorrow.  I feel so violated in more ways than one and can only hope that no one else has to experience anything like this and if so not to let them get away with it.