Budget Brakes "Budget" Brakes?? More like "rip-off the consumer" brakes Nashville Tennessee

I hope that whoever is reading this give me an opportunity to explain this customer service case.  All of our brake services start out at $89.99, that includes resurfacing the rotors and a lifetime warranty on pads and labor.  It’s a starting point that allows customers to shop basic brake services within the industry.  Clearly customers come into the store that need significantly more work and sometimes no work at all.  Each case is unique and that is why we offer a free inspection along with a written estimate.

In most cases customers like this one are well aware before they come to the store that their vehicle is not stopping properly and is in need of major repair.  During the test drive/inspection the rear caliper was sticking and the brakes were dragging along with a variety of other issues.  The other repairs such as the rotors/pads are determined by measuring them and referring to industry specific guidelines as to whether they should be replaced or not.  All of this is done during the inspection process and at any point we will gladly put the vehicle back together for the customer.  We encourage our customers to shop our services, we are very competitive and are proud of that. 

This customer chose to have the work done; we even offered them a few different repair options for them to choose from.  We do this because sometimes the completed repair option might not fit the customer’s budget so we give them some choices.  Example, fix the front brakes first and do the back brakes another time, these recommendation are all based on needs which are determined from the inspection.  The optimal situation for the customer is to completely fix the braking system, meaning if the inspection says you need front and back brakes then yes sell the customer front and back brakes. 

If that is called an up sale then yes we were upselling brakes.  We would like to make all of our customer’s vehicles as safe as possible and the best way to do that is by doing a complete brake repair job on every customer’s vehicle.  That sale is driven by what needs to be fixed, if it does not need to be fixed then we do not sell that service, the sale is based on needs.  We realize that this might not always be an option but we still have a responsibility to present all of our findings to our customers regardless if they buy brakes or not.  

Some of the customer’s statements are not completely accurate, the customer actually came out and looked at the vehicle, it was not in the shop per the customer’s statement, it was on an outside hoist; he walked around the vehicle and even made a comment to the mechanic that was working on the vehicle about the state of the brakes.  At no time during the repair did the customer request the old parts; we would have gladly given them the parts. Many of our customers ask for them so we bag them and give them to the customers.  This is not common but it is a request that we do get and have no problem doing. 

Finally, the customer did call Customer Service.  They were not double charged for labor, each one of our services has a part and labor charge to it, industry standard.  To say we double charged is unfair.  Customer Service called the Store Manager with the customer and went over the repair in detail, each inspection measurement and how we arrived at the repairs we recommended.  The same process we went through when we sold the job to them the first time.  The customer felt that we made all of the numbers up and that none of the repairs needed to be done even though the vehicle was not stopping properly and the rear brakes were sticking because of the caliper problem.  Hence why they came to us in the first place, they knew they had a problem.   

As a business we test drove the vehicle, did a complete inspection, provided the customer a written estimate, with multiple repair options, we explain how we arrived at our estimate and why we feel these repairs needed to be completed.  The customer has a choice to decline the services and take our written estimate with them.  At the time of the sale it was clear to us they understood what they were buying, they asked educated question and they approved the work. 

We did our best to answer their questions when they called again but it appears this is a case of buyer’s remorse.  Saying things like “we never saw the parts”, “we were not allowed into the shop” and so on are a front; when they made the purchase none of these things were brought up.  The vehicle is in good working order and the repairs were done properly.  Budget Brakes goes above and beyond to make our customers happy.  In this case I am not sure what more we could have done and I am sorry that the customer feels the way they do.  We did our best to satisfy them.