Meineke Car Care #4135 Could not perform car repair in 10 days. Someone else had to fix. Scottsdale Arizona

Complaint Summary; Meineke fraudulently told me that my car needed repair and they could fix it same day. They had me pay for the repair before work was complete. Then informed they could not repair / start engine; holding my car for 10 days. Shop manager falsely communicated status of vehicle and ability repair vehicle.  Other repair facility had to step in to get car going again. Meineke fails to be responsive, reimburse repair fee, or associated rental car fees.  Additional damage caused by Meineke to car.

January 28, 2017; Saturday morning. Took vehicle 2013 Ford Fusion sedan 1.6l 4cyl to Meineke, on Thomas Road and Haydon for a regular oil change. (an hour earlier I took another family vehicle to same facility for oil change, was took that car need repairs; I refused those repairs and picked up car after oil change).  About 40 minutes after leaving, a received a phone call from Randy, the Shop Manager, telling me that the cooling system was empty and required a pressure test to determine where system leak was. Shortly after, Randy called back and informed me that the water pump was leaking, needed to be replaced, and they could fix it the same day. Time estimate given that they would have done around 3:30 that afternoon. 

Around 4:30pm I received call from shop telling me that car was just finishing up, and that I should come down and pick up my vehicle.  Around 5:00pm I arrived to pick up, car was still in repair bay, but was greeted by Nathan, Assistant Shop Manager.  Nathan told me that they where just cleaning up and had me pay the bill and sign papers.  Meineke charged me $1,216.78 and asked me to weight. After about 30 minutes of waiting, I was told they could not start the car.  Nathan drove me home around the corner and told me they would fix the car and drop it off at my house that night and keep me updated.

At 9:00 pm, I returned to the shop.  They where still working on the car and could not get it started. I was informed that they had a problem reinstalling the timing belt after replacing the water pump. They told me they where doing the work over and would call me.  Around 9:30 I received a call saying they would work the next day, fix the car and return it to me before the weekend was over.

January 29, Sunday.  I went by the shop in the morning and the whole place was shut down/ closed. In the afternoon, I received a call from Nathan informing me that they still working on the car, unsuccessfully.  In the evening, I received a call from Randy telling me that car was not fixed and that they would get me a rental call in the morning, as soon as he got into the shop, so that I could get to work.

January 30, Monday.  I received call from Randy telling me that one of his mechanics would take me to work and drop me off. A technician from the shop picked me up in his personal car and took me to work.

Later in the morning I was told that to finish the repair on my vehicle, the shop needed a special tool, which they did not own, to finish.  I was told that they had decided to buy this tool off of E-bay, so they could fix the car.

Towards the end of day, I received call asking me if I wanted someone to come and pick up.  I had already made other arrangements to get home, so declined.

January 31, Tuesday.  I rented a car so I could go to work and attend prior scheduled business appointments around town.  I was told by Meineke that they where waiting to the delivery of the special tool, and they could not barrow the tool from anywhere else. I requested a refund of the fees that I had paid to Meineke for the repair.  I was told that I would be reimbursed for the rental car expenses.

February 1, Wednesday.  I was told my Meineke that they had the tool, attempted the repair but car would still not start.  They then told me that they thought it was due to a faulty fuel sensor switch, which they would replace.

That morning I call Meineke Corporation, Customer Service line and filed a complaint with a list of all events to that time.  I was told that someone from corporate organization would contact me with 48 hours to follow up on my complaint.  No one ever called me back.

That night I visited the shop to find them working on my car.  Nathan told me they were trying to re-program the car and find the problem.  I asked Nathan if they could even fix the car themselves. He told me yes. If that did not work, they would try to get a Ford Mobil Certified Technician to come diagnose the issue.  I found the contents of my trunk emptied out on the shop floor, my glove box removed from the car.  I removed several of my personal items from the car that I needed for work and the child safety seat from the back seat.

Upon my vocalizing my lament about how long it was taking; one of the mechanics working on the car told me that “once they had a Ford Explorer that they could not fix in the shop for almost a month.”

Nathan informed me that he had seen an email from corporate about the complaint I had filed.

February 2, Thursday.  I was told that they had some scheduling problems getting the Ford Certified Mobile tech to show up.  Car was still not working.  I informed them that I had been in contact with the Ford Dealership to get a 2^nd opinion on what I was being told.

Late in the afternoon, I was informed that Meineke was towing the car to the Chapman Ford Dealership to get repaired.

February 3, Friday. Ford dealership informed me they took delivery of the car the night before and they were investigating the problem.  They also told me that some of the parts such as the engine cover and battery hold down appeared to missing, and not with the car. 

February 6, Monday.  Ford dealership informed me they found that some bolts had not been adjusted correctly by Meineke. The dealer repaired the issue and was able to get the car started again.  They returned the car, working, back over to Meineke staff, less the items that were missing. Glove box still not re-installed.

Late in the day I received call from Randy saying they had put everything back together and I could pick up the car.  I picked up the car from Meineke, and returned the rental car that night.  Again, I requested a refund for the fees I had paid for the repair.   I was told that Randy would get back with me.

February 7, Tuesday. Paid $130.14 to Enterprise Rental  for car, plus $11.38 for gasoline.

February 9,  Thursday. I followed up with Meineke, but still no answers.

February 10, Friday.  I showed up to the shop, and delivered copies of all my receipts to Randy.  Complained that I had been overcharged for parts; $279 for water pump that only cost $160 at Checker O’Malley parts store, or only $55 according to dealer quote.  He informed me he would send information to the managing owners, but that he could not help me. I was told that I would have to talk to his boss, and I requested that he have his boss contact me.

Later in the afternoon I received a call from Brett, who identified himself as a Corporate Officer.  I relayed a full history of events that had happened. Complained that I had been overcharged for parts; $279 for water pump that only cost $160 at Checker O’Malley parts store, or only $55 according to dealer quote. He told me that he was just finding out about it and that he would have to investigate into the matter and get back to me. 

February 14, Tuesday.  I received message from Adam, who wanted to talk to me about information passed to him from Brett.

 February 15, Wednesday.  I received a call from Adam, who identified himself as a Managing Partner of the franchise.  I retold the history of events and complaints.  Complained that I had been overcharged for parts; $279 for water pump that only cost $160 at Checker O’Malley parts store (verified), or only $55 according to dealer quote (verified).  He told me that he would need to do an investigation into everything, and would try to help me but also explained that it was his job to protect the interest of the partners.  He told me that he would contact me in 48 to 72 hours.  I did not hear back from him.

February 21, Tuesday.  The car engine quit in gear while at a temporary stop in front of a parking lot entry.  Car would not re-start.  Called tow truck and took car back to the same Ford Dealership.

February 22, Wednesday.  Visited dealership and was told that faulty repairs done by Meineke had caused breakdown.

I visited Meineke shop in person around mid day.  Informed Randy of vehicle break down and that I had not ever heard back from the Managing partners. Informed him that I was very displeased with lack of response and no re-imbursement yet.  He informed me that he could not help me any further, and I had to talk to Brett.

I called Brett. Informed him about vehicle breakdown. Brett told me that he would inform Adam, but he couldn’t help me.

Currently, my car is at the dealership expecting further repair because of damage, and I’m without transportation for myself.