Les Schwab Tires, Hayden, Idaho Les Schwab Brakes, If we can't guarantee it, we'll sue you, put me on road with no brakes Hayden Idaho

We took our 1993 Chrysler Town and Country minivan to our local Les Schwab center to have tires put on it, when we picked it up, the person behind the counter told me that the rear brakes were worn, and should be
replaced. As we were leaking brake fluid slowly, we agreed to bring the van back the next day to have the brakework done. I told the person taking my order that we had a slow leak, and that I suspected the leak would be found somewhere in the area of the passenger front tire, based on the location of leakage in the garage where the van is parked.

They called that afternoon and told us the brakes were done, I asked about the leak, and was told that there were no notes from the mechanic (invoice indicates Weller, Jeff B as the mechanic) about it, and that he had gone for the day. We picked up the van, and before I could even get it home, I found that I had little or no brakes whatsoever. It was too late to deal with that night, so I brought it back to them the next morning, and told them that the van was transport for a disabled Vietnam Veteran who had a surgery scheduled the following Monday in Portland, Oregon, so I would need it back A.S.A.P., I went home and waited for them to call.

After 5pm, having heard nothing from them, I called and they told me that their 'brake specialist' had worked on it most of the afternoon, but couldn't locate the problem, so they were going to have their better 'brake specialist' from Spokane, Washington drive over the next day and have him look at it.

The next day, I called them about 4pm, and found that they had as yet been unable to fix the brakes, and so they suggested at this time that I take the van to our local factory servicer. I picked the van up at Les Schwab, after they required that I sign a statement that I was aware that the brakes were defective, and I was driving the van away at my own risk. (I consider this a
'If we could guarentee this, you wouldn't be signing a document recognizing that the brakes weren't properly operative' situation.)

I drove directly to the local Chrysler repair center, and before I could even finish explaining how I got there, the service manager told me 'It's probably the ABS distributor pump, they were problematic, and so Chrysler has agreed to warrant them for life.'

They fixed the brakes the next day, and all was well, in spite of Les Schwab still charging us $263.22 for a rear wheel brake job that resulted in my having little to no brakes, along with the $481.88 we had paid for 4 tires the day before the brake fiasco started. About 2 months later, my brake warning light came on while driving, so I checked the resevoir and found almost no fluid, my brake fluid leak was alive and well...

It's been under a year and a half, and I have put over a quart and a half into the brake resevoir, and the black spot on the garage floor continues to grow.

Today, we recieved a letter from our local Les Schwab, stating that if we didn't pay off $460 of the remaining $500 balance, they would take legal action against us. Considering WE should be suing THEM for turning a van with a brake fluid leak, and otherwise functional brakes, into a van with almost no brakes, and as it turns out, still a fluid leak, all for the paltry sum of $263.22!

The van's owner is a disabled war veteran and former POW, he has 100% combat related compensation from the VA, which is nearly untouchable as far as suing us goes, but we have been paying on the bill just the same. Because his income is fixed, we have been paying as we can, usually $50 a month, and Les Schwab has accepted the payment, charged us any fees they can, such that in almost a year and a half, our balance has gone from
$744 to $500.

Sounds to me like we are making about $10 a month of headway on our bill while paying much much more. I find it hard to believe that Les Schwab is foolish enough to upset an applecart as rich as that, but it seems they would rather sue us than take our $50 a month and give us $10 off our bill per month, in doing so, losing any chance to preserve his 20 year stint as a faithful customer... Way to go, Les....

Bmoat
Hayden, Idaho
U.S.A.

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