Meineke Car Care Classic Bait and Switch and other dishonest business practices ripoff Snellville Georgia

On Friday, 4-13-07, my daughter brought her 1999 Volkswagen Jetta to The Meineke car care store at 3861 Stone Mountain Hwy. Snellville, Georgia 30039.
She explained the problems she was having with her car to the manager, Ken Snead (770-972-3886)

She told Snead that her car was skipping when she accelerated and then jumped into gear. She also told Snead that other mechanics had suggested to her that the issue with her car was a transmission problem.
Later that day, Snead called My daughter back and told her that it was definitely not a transmission issue and then gave her a list of what was causing the problem.

He said that to correct the skipping and jumping, the Jetta needed rotors and brake pads, a serpentine belt, a valve cover gasket, and a tune-up. To correct the water leak, My daughter needed a thermostat housing. The estimated cost at that time was approximately $750.00.

My daughter called me to tell me what Snead had found so I called him on the phone. I was surprised, but relieved, that he didnt find anything wrong with the transmission and asked him if he was sure it wasnt a vacuum advance or linkage problem with the transmission.

He told me it wasnt. I told him that I wanted to make sure that the repairs he was suggesting would resolve the existing problem and make my daughters car drivable and safe before I authorized payment and he assured me that they would. He also told me he would give the Jetta an oil change with a new filter. I authorized the repairs and told him I would put it on my Capital one Visa credit card.

I drove to the Meineke car care center in Snellville the next day on Saturday 4-14-07 and personally spoke with Snead. He again confirmed that the repairs he was making to my daughters car would make the car drivable and safe and would resolve the skipping and jumping that My daughter had been experiencing.

I presented Snead with a $20 off coupon that I had gotten from the Meineke website and he refused to accept it saying that he had already given me a great deal on the front and rear brake pads.

He told me that he had only charged me $79.99 for each pair of pads rather than $149 for each pair and had given me a life time warranty on the pads. I reviewed the invoice as I was standing at the check out counter and asked him what he was talking about. He said that he had given me the life-time guarantee on the pads and that he was supposed to have charged me $149 for each pair of pads. I looked on the invoice and there was NOTHING about a life-time guarantee or warranty.

I told Snead this and he seamed a bit agitated and then regenerated a second invoice and added the words lifetime after the words front pads and rear pads. I gave him my visa card and signed for the costs of the repairs which had increased to $859.

He also told me that he had changed the oil in the Jetta, but only an oil filter appeared on the invoice with the actual oil needed for an oil change mysteriously missing. The oil change was not performed. Why did he charge me $9.95 for an oil filter and why the $26.99 for the new PVC hose if the work wasnt done and the PVC hose wasnt new?

I again reiterated that my main concern was resolving the skipping /jumping issue and having a safe drivable car for my daughter and Snead assured me that My daughters car would run like new and told me that the repairs were almost finished and that he would test drive the Jetta himself.

He told me that he would leave the car in the Meineke lot for My daughter to pick up that Saturday evening after she got off work. Before I left, I took a minute to speak with the mechanic, Ron, who showed me a PVC hose that was cracked in half and he told me he was going to repair it with a sleeve and two clamps rather than replace it. When I got home and reviewed the invoice, I saw that I had been charged $26.99 for a new PVC hose.

Later that day (Saturday 4-14-07) after I had already paid for the repairs, My daughter called me and told me she had once again received a call from Snead. He told her not to pick up the car that Saturday afternoon because he had, after I paid the first invoice, (suddenly) found other problems and he wanted to keep the Jetta until Monday afternoon.

I called Snead immediately after I spoke with My daughter and asked him exactly what those new problems were. He told me that he had seen a spark plug wire arc-ing and that he wanted to do a tune up on the car. I had already started to become a bit suspicious because of being charged for a new PVC hose that the mechanic told me he was simply going to repair rather than replace and for being charged for an oil change that was not done.

I told Snead that he had already charged me for a tune up on the original invoice. He told me that it really wasnt a tune up on the original invoice (even though it reads Tune up) because all he had done was replace the spark plugs and that now he would replace the spark plug wires, the distributer cap and the rotor button. By definition, a tune up includes spark plugs, spark plug wires, rotor, distributor cap and the timing properly set by an electrical diagnostic device (tool) always used by certified mechanics.

I asked Snead if he had done a proper tune up assessment /confirmation by using a certified electrical diagnostic machine that certified mechanics use to calculate the correct timing and proper electrical firing of the plugs and distributor. He told me he didnt need to do that because he could actually see the spark jumping from the spark plug wire. I asked him why he or his mechanic hadnt noticed this problem prior to me paying for the first invoice and he said, We just missed it.

At this I became more suspicious but because I trusted the Meineke name and reputation I trusted Snead. I told Snead again that I wanted the skipping, jumping problem resolved and a guarantee of a safe, drivable car for my daughter and asked him what the additional costs would be. He told me $238.

I was shocked by this and told Snead that the costs had jumped from $750 to $859 and now to $1100 but if these additional repairs would absolutely guarantee that the skipping and jumping was corrected and that my daughters car would be safe and drivable ,to go ahead with the additional work.
Snead called me on Monday 4-16-07 and told me that the Jetta repairs were finished and that he had personally driven the car up and down Stone Mountain Hwy and that the Jetta is running like new.

I put the additional costs on the same visa card as the first invoice on 4-16-07.
My daughter picked up her Jetta from the Meineke car care center in Snellville, Ga. On Monday, 4-16-07, She called me less than an hour later very upset because, not only was the car still skipping and jumping but now it was stalling out at intersections.

Again, I immediately called Snead and told him that the car was doing the same things as when my daughter first brought it to him and that in addition to that problem, the car was now stalling out at intersections.

I told him I was extremely unhappy. I told him that I had just spent $1100 and that my daughters car was worse off. He then told me to bring the Jetta back to his shop so he could examine it again. I told him that he already had it for three days and that, at this point I felt like he had taken advantage of both myself and my daughter. He then unbelievably said,

Im sorry Mr. . I didnt know the car was still doing this because I never actually test drove it.

I was dumbfounded by this remark because Snead had completely contradicted what he had told me on the phone earlier that day.

I was then even more incredulous, even speechless when he uttered the next sentence.

Mr. , your daughters Jetta is going to need a new tranny.

Snead was now telling us that the Jetta needed a new transmission. We could not believe our ears!!

Again, Snead started in with his fast-talking contradictions and attempted to persuade me to let him have the Jetta back so he could take it up the street to his friends shop where he would give me a really great deal on a rebuilt transmission.

In fact, he said he was so dedicated to customer service that, after we purchased the rebuilt tranny from his friend up the street, that he would install it at no additional charge.

I told Snead that I was very upset and would not bring the car back to him for anything else and that if he had been honest with me up front about the transmission, I would NEVER have spent the $1100 on the other issue. It also appears that several of the repairs that he charged me for on the first invoice were not performed by his mechanic.

I asked Snead why, after My daughter told him on the first day that she had suspected a transmission problem, he told us there was no transmission problem. He responded to that question by enthusiastically repeating that he would get us a great deal on a rebuilt transmission from his friends shop up the street.

This statement was also remarkably outrageous and I asked Snead why he now wanted to replace the transmission before finding out whether or a not there was a simpler problem with a significantly less costly transmission issue like a vacuum advance, seal or linkage.

He started back pedaling immediately with more hype and said that, of course, he would have his friend down the street check that first before he sold me the rebuilt transmission.

This only added insult to injury. Snead now wanted to bilk me of even more money! Not only had Snead misled me and my daughter and charged me for $1100 worth of repairs that didnt resolve the performance issues with her car are were not needed, but he now had put my daughter at great risk of personal injury in a potential auto collision if the Jetta continued to skip and stall out. The car continues to skip and jump and stall out at intersections. I have advised my daughter not to drive it.

On Friday, 4-20-07, I called my credit card company and disputed the charges. I relayed all the above information to the Better Business Bureau in Atlanta and to the Georgia Governors Office Of Consumer affairs whose agents investigate consumer complaints filed with them alleging fraud which can form the basis for an investigation into a companys business practices.

A significant quantity of complaints about a business may give rise to legal action not on behalf of the individual complainants, but to enforce state law. The decision to investigate or file a lawsuit is based on a variety of factors.

Immediately after disputing the charges with my credit card company, I then called the Meineke corporate headquarters in Charlotte N.C. and spoke with President and CEO Kenneth D. Walker who referred me to Janet Laver at 704-644-8169.

I relayed all the above information to Janet Laver and My daughter and I faxed her two invoices that Ken Snead had given us.

I also told Ms. Laver that I had disputed the charges with my credit card company. Ms. Laver expressed great concern at what had happened and apologized to me and My daughter for having had to endure this type of treatment and needless expense.

She said they she too would be very upset if this had happened to her. She told me that the Meineke car care center in Snellville, Ga. was a franchise and that she would find out who owned it and would start an investigation and would call me back.

I called and emailed both Janet Laver and CEO Ken Walker several more times in the next many weeks and never heard "word one" back from either of them.

On Saturday, 4-21-07 I took the Jetta to Pep Boys in Lawrenceville GA and had it examined by a certified mechanic named Rick. I did not tell him anything about my Meineke experience. I asked Pep Boys to give me an estimate as to what the Jetta needed to make it road wortyh. Right off the bat and even though they gave me an estimate of what repairs were needed, they told me I had a transmission problem and should get that fixed at a transmission shop first before they did any work.

Rick put the Jetta up on the lift and we saw that the valve cover gasket had not been replaced as Meieneke had asserted [and charged me for] and there was still oil dripping all over the back side of the motor. The oil in the oil pan was black as tar and had not been changed by Meineke as asked and even though Meineke said they had changed it.

But a new oil filter had been put on by Meineke without them also changing the oil. The Pep Boys mechanic put a pressure tester on the radiator and saw coolant leaks from the hoses. Meineke charged me to replace the thermostat housing and said that that repaired the leak.

However the hoses were the cause of the coolant leak. I asked Ken Snead if he had replenished the coolant in the radiator because I didnt want my daughters car to overheat and cause more damage.

Meinekes Ken Snead assured me that he put plenty of coolant in the radiator. However at Pep Boys, the visible, translucent coolant reservoir was empty. The Pep Boys mechanic on his estimate recommended that all the hose be replaced because they were all original to the car. There was no evidence of a new PVC hose.

I took the Jetta to a V.W. dealer on 5-31-07 and, for $52.00, got an estimate of exactly what was needed. They think its a minor transmission problem and probably just needs the transmission fluid and filter changed.
Thank You,

Mick
Dacula, Georgia
U.S.A.

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