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Report: #204338

Complaint Review: Muffler Man - Portage Michigan

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Vicksburg Michigan
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  • Muffler Man 106 E. Center Portage, Michigan U.S.A.

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On October 15, 2005, I took my car into Muffler Man to have new brakes put on it, at that time they told me that I needed calipers and roters (sp), I had them do the work, at a fee of almost $300.

I started to have problems with my brakes about a month ago, contacted Muffler Man (still under warranty), talked to "Ron" who said he was the manager, that I needed to take my car in and leave it for the day and he would try to get to it and see if the brakes were the problem or I had something else going on.

This Ron character is not a nice person to deal with.
On my way into work on 8/1/2006 my brakes went completely out. My car was towed to a different mechanic who told me that not only did I need brakes, I needed new roters (sp) and calipers, that a caliper had gone through my roter and cut a brake line.

I asked the other mechanic about the roter's if that was something that would go out in a year, he said that they were never replaced that the original's were on the car (1995 cutlas).

made contact with Ron again who got very defensive and loud and very obnoxious on the phone, I asked for corporate numbers he said that there wasn't any (have learned there is from another shop)

Marilyn
Vicksburg, Michigan
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 08/03/2006 09:44 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/muffler-man/portage-michigan/muffler-man-billed-me-for-new-parts-but-did-not-install-them-ripoff-portage-michigan-204338. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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2Employee/Owner

#9 Consumer Suggestion

It may be to late to get remedy

AUTHOR: Gary - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, August 24, 2007

Sure has been a lot of useless stuff printed in this rubuttal area for this lady's problem. What it boils down to is that she had brakes done and paid for. The brakes later failed. She was informed that some parts may not have been replaced and that is what is the issue. The only remedy is to have the old brake rotors at hand and have them inspected. The factory brake rotors will have numbers stamped into them that are different than those which would have been put on at the muffler man joint. If indeed these stamped numbers confirm that the brake rotors were the originals, then she has a very good case and I would refer her to contact the State of Michigan Bureau of Automotive regulation for a refund. PLUS, if the person that did the brake work at muffler man was not certified by the State to do brake repairs, she will get ALL of her money refunded, no questions asked!! If she needs my opinion she may contact me to personally inspect her brake rotors. My 37 years in this business is enough to make this decision. The rest of you with the IQ infactuations need to get a life.

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#8 Consumer Comment

Did you have anything relevant to add?

AUTHOR: Robert - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Saturday, August 05, 2006

That was wonderful, Wally. As always, you were completely off topic, and brought up stuff that had nothing to do with anything.

"Marilyn, not all men are like Robert and Marc. You had a problem and Marc the tow truck driver immediately decided you knew nothing because you are a woman. Simply divide your IQ by 10 and the result would be pretty close to Marc's IQ."

That's true, Wally. Not all men are like you either. We have them here, but they mainly stick to their annual parades in San Francisco and New York. I can't seem to find anything in Marc's post that even mentions the fact that Marilyn is a woman, so that's just one more comprehension error on your part. And of course, you always resort to an attempt at insulting someone's intelligence.

"Then along comes Robert with his massive $200,000 per year turnover greasemonkey business to back up all that his good buddy Marc says. Now you know you are dealing with two high profile experts, don't you? Dont you? Marilyn stop laughing!!! Please, they are the foremost exponents of mechanical expertise in the good old USA."

I fix cars for a living. Marc used to, but runs a tow business now. I'd say that makes us experts in automotive issues. More so than you. Your knowledge of automotive ANYTHING is less than zero. Do you still think all the electrical systems in a car are connected together because they share a battery for power? I guess since my house only has one main power supply, if I pop a breaker in one circuit, the rest will be effected too. It's the exact same principle, and one that an IT guy should know. As for my income, don't get all hysterical. At least mine makes sense. You claim to be paid $200/hour setting up Networks, yet didn't know what one is. Here's a clue...nobody in IT gets $200/hour. Not a single person. Not any Company. You also refund all of the money your make. That speaks volumes about the quality of your work. You said your employees do it too. I'll assume you trained them in their jobs.

"Robert does have one c***k in his armour though. All you have to do is tell him that you have a 24" waist and he will salivate and his usual quote is "Yummy". He will then proceed to tell you that his wife no longer has that small a waist since she gave birth to their children and then he will expect you to swoon and immediately fall deeply in love with him and desire his poor excuse for a body. If you jump through those hoops he will then side with you in your fight against injustice."

That's true, Wally. A first for you. I like women. I like everything about them. Big, small, short, tall. I like them all. And yes, I do find a 24" waistline "Yummy". The rest of that paragraph is just more of your twist and outright fabrication. Pathetic. Am I a stud? Yep. Staying in top form is not something I am ashamed of. I am proud of the fact that I have a low fat index. A 44 year old with 6-Pack abs is pretty good, don't you think? I'll tell you how to do it. Take a 45 pound plate and hold it to your chest. Then do 3 sets of 40 situps every morning. People only have to be right to get me on their side.

"On a serious note I wish you luck in fight for compensation. Ben was the only male to mention that you had been charged for parts that weren't supplied. That is theft, fraud or something similar."

I'm glad you mentioned that. I didn't want to bother with it, but here goes. Since it physically IMPOSSIBLE for the caliper to go through the rotor, and also physically IMPOSSIBLE for the rotor to cut either the brake line, or hose, the second shop has no credibility. As always, the customer will say the repair shop that tells her what she wants to hear is the good one, but the ones that don't are the bad ones. Since the second shop said stuff happened that is IMPOSSIBLE, their claim about the 1st shop not replacing the rotors is equally suspect.

Just as suspect is Marilyn's claim the damage happened in 2 days. Let's look at that. The pads have scrapers. The scrapers hit the rotor on the 1st of these two days. That's the first noise she ignored. In any other car, the scrapers hitting would give the vehicle about another 3000 miles of normal driving. She managed somehow to do it in 2 days. The next sound was the metal on metal grinding of the backing plate against the rotor. That noise is unmistakable, and very loud. You can hear when you drive. You don't even need to touch the brake pedal. Finally, the car has no braking ability and she gets the car towed to another shop. And ALL of this happened in less than 48 hours. Allowing for sleep and family time, it happened in less than 20. Nope.

The car lost braking ability due to a loss of line pressure. The line/hose leaking, bad master cylinder, or the seals in the calipers/wheel cylinders, will cause a pressure loss. If it was a small leak, the proportioning valve would compensate for it. To completely lose pressure, the leak has to be catastrophic. This had nothing to do with her calipers, or rotors. The second shop simply did what most shops do. Everyone needs CPR. Everyone needs Calipers, Pads, and Rotors. What a surprise...both shops sold her that line of crap. The 1st shop knew the game, and was mad because another shop does the same thing. At least one, probably both, shops are full of it. I'll pick the second one, only because they made claims that just are not possible of happening. I've seen cars come out of crashes where it was nearly impossible to distinguish one part from another. In none of them, have I ever seen a rotor and brake line/hose touch each other. It does NOT happen.

"Not all of us can drive a towtruck or do a lube and oil change like Marc and Robert but then again not many of us want to. All we want are honest service people who will do a professional job and not rip us off. Despite the creed that Robert lives by "the customer is always wrong" I believe the reverse applies and that is how I conduct my business, always!!"

Amazing at best, Wally. I don't know of any oil change places that are NAPA AutoCare Centers. I don't change oil...there's no money in it, unless you do 50 cars a day. You obviously missed the fact, that I did not use that phrase when considering Marilyn. She is not wrong. She was lied to, by the second shop. That makes her misinformed, not wrong. As for how you conduct business...we alreadt dealt with that. You pretend to make 10-20 times as much as any other IT guy on the planet, and proudly hand everyone their money back. As I said, that speaks volumes about your skills.

Now, Marilyn...I don't know what my IQ is. I'll tell you what my GCT score was when I was still in the Marines...135-138, depending on if I gave a rat's butt about the testing. I took it several times to qualify for different assignments. Maximum score was 155, and a person had to be at least 110 to be an Officer. That score put me, as one CO put it, "smarter than most". In fact, I only had one CO who scored higher. Compare the scores. Using Marilyn Vos Savant as the high score of 220, let's see what it works out to. You'll notice 142 is a much larger difference from 220, than 135-138 is from 155. I think that pretty much sums up your question.

BTW, there are several "Official" IQ tests. NONE of the ones on the internet are remotely accurate. Everyone who takes it is borderline genius. Take the MENSA test and get back to me. An IQ test takes into account things like age, occupation, life experiences, etc. It takes into account street smarts as well as book smarts. It is a general gauge of a person's abilitiy to make informed decisions...nothing more.

The 1st shop may or may not have done what you paid them to do. The 2nd shop is just flat out lieing to you. Of course, you consider the shop that told you what you wanted to hear the reputable one. Must be those good reasoning skills of yours.

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#7 Consumer Comment

Now, now, play nice!

AUTHOR: Thomas - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, August 04, 2006

OK, Marilyn. You have an IQ of 142 and an MBA. Does that make you a brain surgeon? No, it does not. It also does not make you knowlegeable about cars, either.

You have two conflicting reports and you have no proof which is correct... unless you want to pop a wheel off and look for yourself. Do you know what to look for? No, you do not. So Marc's suggestion is correct. Get a third opinion, preferably without telling #3 mechanic about stories #1 and #2.

Me? I do not know my IQ, but I have patents for aircraft and power plant turbines. I was key in development of a $nine-figure power plant providing 60% efficiency and also development of a simple power plant that can be built in 4 months and yield 50% efficiency. But this doesn't make me a brain surgeon, either. I am well to do and retired at a nice age, so if you guys are all still working, then I guess I am smarter than all of you.

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#6 Consumer Comment

Tell Robert you have a 24" Waist Marilyn

AUTHOR: Wally - (Australia)

POSTED: Friday, August 04, 2006

Marilyn, not all men are like Robert and Marc. You had a problem and Marc the tow truck driver immediately decided you knew nothing because you are a woman. Simply divide your IQ by 10 and the result would be pretty close to Marc's IQ.

Then along comes Robert with his massive $200,000 per year turnover greasemonkey business to back up all that his good buddy Marc says. Now you know you are dealing with two high profile experts, don't you? Dont you? Marilyn stop laughing!!! Please, they are the foremost exponents of mechanical expertise in the good old USA.

Robert does have one c***k in his armour though. All you have to do is tell him that you have a 24" waist and he will salivate and his usual quote is "Yummy". He will then proceed to tell you that his wife no longer has that small a waist since she gave birth to their children and then he will expect you to swoon and immediately fall deeply in love with him and desire his poor excuse for a body. If you jump through those hoops he will then side with you in your fight against injustice.

I know you are sorely tempted to take my advice Marilyn but think about it first!!!

On a serious note I wish you luck in fight for compensation. Ben was the only male to mention that you had been charged for parts that weren't supplied. That is theft, fraud or something similar.

Not all of us can drive a towtruck or do a lube and oil change like Marc and Robert but then again not many of us want to. All we want are honest service people who will do a professional job and not rip us off. Despite the creed that Robert lives by "the customer is always wrong" I believe the reverse applies and that is how I conduct my business, always!!

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#5 Consumer Comment

I think some people missed a point

AUTHOR: Ben - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, August 04, 2006

Did anyone notice that the OP mentioned that she went to the first mechanic and she paid to have rotors REPLACED?

And did anyone else notice besides me that after this supposed "replacement" she was informed that the car still had the ORIGINAL ROTORS on it? Thus they were never replaced and she did get ripped off.

Regardless of how much she knows about cars. Its fairly obvious this repair shop is one to avoid. I agree with the second post. Goto an honest shop, get the work done right, save all your parts, and sue the pants off that crook that charged you for rotors he never replaced. Along with any extra damage his fraud caused to the car.

This is a typical scam when a crooked mechanic knows they have a person not to savy with autos. And they are sure the customer wont ask for the old parts. Of course I have seen crooked mechanics pull old parts out of a junk bin and give them to customers claiming it came out of their car also.

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#4 REBUTTAL Individual responds

excuse me

AUTHOR: Marilyn - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, August 04, 2006

I have a 4.0 GPA from the local Community College as well as a MBA. I am far from stupid-I have an IQ of 142. Care to match them.
Yes I did mis-understand, but the fact remains that I have a reputable company telling me one thing and a not so reputable company telling me another. I am sorry but I tend to lean to the more reputable company. Wouldn't you do the same.

But see the type of reaction one receives when one mis-spells one or two words. You automatically treated like you do not know what is going on.

Therefore, I would question your comments as well.
Also, for the record it was after I told Ron what the other place told me, he is the one that started yelling and getting defensive. Ninety-nine (99%) of the time that means that something was not done according to standards.

There are other reports out there on this company for not living up to agreements or other arangements. This is just another case.
As far as the rubbing/grinding. It was not a long lasting thing (less than 2 days) I initially thought I had gravel in my wheel covers (yes I do know what those are too). But why explain to you??

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#3 Consumer Comment

Welcome to my world, Marc!

AUTHOR: Robert - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, August 04, 2006

"They are units made of heavy steel and one wouldn't "go through" the other without a 500 lb. bomb attached."-Marc 08/03/06

"I found that remark not only offensive, but untrue. I do know what a roter is and i do know what calipers are, and I do know that they do not weigh any where close to 500 lbs. If any one can go and by them at a local parts store and carry them out of the store with out the use of a piece of heavy equipment then they can go through a roter if it is worn."-Marilyn 08/04/06

First, you are too easily offended. If being told the TRUTH offends you(as it does 90% of the population), you will always be ripped off.

Second, it's spelled ROTOR, not roter.

Third, Marc never said the rotor weighs 500 pounds. He said the only way the caliper would go through the rotor is with a 500 pound bomb.

Perhaps reading comprehension classes at the Community College would help.

Marc is pretty close to perfect in his estimation of your entire situation. From your attitude in here, I can guess why Ron wanted nothing further to do with you. The brake HOSES(lines are steel) will not be cut by anything you described. It is bolted to the caliper, and the caliper can only go as far as the caliper mount will allow.

The brake pad may have worn down to the steel backing plate, and torn up your rotors. Of course, this would ONLY happen long after the "scraper" had been making it's "TIME TO GET NEW BRAKES" noise. Apparently, you chose to ignore that sound. When brakes make noise, THAT is the time to get them checked, not after the "squeaking" has turned into "grinding". When they "grind", they make a horrible racket ALL of the time. You decided to have them checked after the "grinding" turned into no ability to stop at all.

Now, WHO do you believe is at fault?

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#2 REBUTTAL Individual responds

may be a woman but

AUTHOR: Marilyn - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, August 04, 2006

I found that remark not only offensive, but untrue. I do know what a roter is and i do know what calipers are, and I do know that they do not weigh any where close to 500 lbs. If any one can go and by them at a local parts store and carry them out of the store with out the use of a piece of heavy equipment then they can go through a roter if it is worn.
It makes me wonder, if you are not in the same type of business as Muffler Man is.

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#1 Consumer Comment

Do you know what a caliper and a rotor is?

AUTHOR: Marc - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, August 03, 2006

They are units made of heavy steel and one wouldn't "go through" the other without a 500 lb. bomb attached. Someone is either lying to you while emptying your wallet or you got the story all wrong. The chance of two calipers going out at the same time is suspect, and I bet your problem was the master-cylinder all along. Find a THIRD mechanic, stay away from the other two, and have mechanic # three put everything he finds in writing. After you get your car fixed, sue the first and second bastards in small claims. If any brake line was cut it was by someone in the shop. I would tell you to take a man that actually knows something about cars to the shop with you because you are out of your element, but you would probrably be offended so I won't say it.

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