Budget Brakes

Well I went to the same Budget Brakes in Mobile that Donnie went to.

I had been having soft brake pedal for a few weeks and was having to add fluid to the master cylinder once a month or so. I looked inside the wheels and saw fluid leaking on the front passenger wheel and decided to go to Budget Brakes to fix this inconvenience because I Googled "brake service" and their website was top of the list. Was told there was a 2 hr wait because they were busy. Fine.

Service Manager inspected my car and said I needed all new brakes and cylinders the works on front and rear, of course. I sat in the waiting room for hours, at one point I saw a flash of light and went to the window and saw my entire front driver wheel well in a big ball of flames. They had been using a cutting torch on the wheel for some reason and the fluid on the axle and wheel well naturally burst into flames. Before his helper could get a fire extinguisher, he turned the torch off and the air on, and blew the fire out.

I sat there five hours and was presented a bill for $688 which I gladly paid, relieved to not have to add brake fluid to my master cylinder once a month. I never had any squealing or noise from the brakes just the fluid leaking but bought:

Brake Hoses Parts and Labor ..... $129.12

Master Cylinder Parts and Labor..$127.95 (Still have the same old rusty one, they didnt even bother to clean the rust off of it)

Not gonna list each item but with Wheel Cylinders, Pads, Shoes and "brake hardware", the total was $688 but I was happy knowing I could drive with confidence for years to come... WRONG.

Two weeks later I was coming home from the store and the brake pedal slid to the floor when I was pulling into the garage and no brakes! I almost hit the garage wall. Last night I tried to go to the store and when I backed out of the garage I couldn't stop the car and it went into the neighbors chain link fence. Now I have NO BRAKES at all! Can't add fluid and fix it because the fluid is full. Absolutely no brake pedal, can't even idle at a redlight without putting the car in neutral. Holding the pedal to the floor won't stop the idle from moving forward in drive.  

I called the Budget Brakes and told them those new brakes only lasted two weeks and now have zero brakes and cant add fluid like I was doing before. He told me "It's first come first served, so come down here and get in line."

Well they have me by the short hairs now, got my whole Social Security check for the month, I only get $690, and I have no choice but to go back. They are slick there and will probably come up with a dozen excuses to get my next month check too. They managed to turn a minor inconvenience into a major life-threatening dillema.

Am going to be there this morning when they open @ 7:30 and bring an ice chest with drinks, snacks and a roll of toilet paper. Also going to bring my kitchen fire extinguisher - just in case.