Just Brakes Northglenn, CO $99 brake service?! Northglenn, Colorado

After stopping in to have the brakes serviced on my 2003 Land Rover Discovery at Just Brakes in Northglenn, Colorado, I decided to Google "Just Brakes Landrover" and I came across this site so I thought I should share my experience with what I feel are questionable business practices and that was how I stumbled upon this site.  This afternoon at approx 2:15pm, I took my truck in to take advantage of JB's "$99 brake special" and, of course, the $99 special quickly turned into 300+ tax.  Now stay with me because this is only the begining.  First, let me break down the $99 and what it normally covers and explain how they were able to quote me at nearly triple for my Discovery.  The typical special covers brake pads and shoes on all four wheels plus rotor re-surfacing and re-packing bearings.  Of course in order to take advantage of this offer, you can't be driving a car worth more than 5k or you're getting stuck with something similar to what I paid or $115 for front brake pads, $79 for the rear and then there's the additional $99 for the special which no longer covers the pads but now as it was described to me, only covers "servicing the rotors".  When I ask why I pay the full $99 when my pads are extra instead of having the additional cost rolled in, he says that is because my "vehicle no longer qualifies for the offer."  When I finally agree to have the work done, the store owner asks me what's wrong with the brakes.  I tell him nothing is wrong with the brakes, it just needs pads and that the Land Rover dealership measures the rotors everytime I have the vehicle serviced and they suggested having the work done soon before I start grinding against the rotor.  He then tells me they close at six but that the work should be done by then.  This is when I head home and do a little reasearching online.  In the post I came to on this site, another gentleman had mentioned the "call back" and "The Way" speech he gave customers while working as a store manager for JB.  This callback basically tells the customer that they need to come back to the shop and do a "walk-around" of the vehicle and that this is where the real inflation and robbery takes place.  To summarize, "The Way" is a standard practice coached by JB to it's managers in an attempt to fatten the hog.  Basically it involves calling you in to tell you about the "suggested" additional maintenance that needs to be performed to your vehicle without directly stating that they're about to gut you on the bottom line.  This is where you need to use your best judgment because they're going to try to use words that say "suggested" but make it sound more like you don't have a choice.  It had been about 30 minutes since I dropped off my vehicle when I read those words and just then I looked at my wife and said "I think I'm about to get a phone call!"  Sure enough, not two minutes had passed and there it was, the phone call!  The speech was almost the exact verbatim of what I was reading as I was talking to him.  He recommended the same "overheating of the calipers and suggested a re-build of the front calipers including new shims and bleeding the lines.  I couldn't believe it; what a sales pitch!  Apparantly during corporate training, store managers/owners are " " encouraged to give this speech to customers to maximize revenue and if the speech isn't given consistantly to customers, that person is usually removed from their position with the company.  Long story short, I asked the manager what the bottom line was and if this was going to be an additional cost to what I was originally quoted and, of course, his answer was yes.  I told him no thanks and that I would appreciate it if they just put my old parts back on and that I would just take the vehicle back to the dealership for service instead.  He answered, "let me talk to my shop foreman and see what we can do."  He came back on the line some thirty seconds later and insisted that they could at least do the standard service just this time but he "highly recommended that I come back for the full service soon."  He said I would get basic brake service with pads for the original amount I was quoted and that I could come in within 30 days for a discount on the "full-service" package.  What a rip-off!!  All I can say is that a rehearsed speech like this signals to me that there is an extreme lack of integrity existing in this company's corporate structure and something really should be done.  Just Brakes inflates the cost of what it calls "specialty" parts by nearly 450% and takes home almost 75% of the increase.  Seriously guys, $115 for 2 brake pads because they're not made by Honda, Ford, Toyota, etc.?!  You'd think the profits on these parts alone would be enough of a buffer so that a chain like this wouldn't have to slam their customers with services they don't need.  I think the BBB needs to take another gander at this company's consumer reports and start an investigation into these "very questionable" business practices.  Thanks for reading!  - Griz