Sears Automotive Ripoff South Bend Indiana

I notice the Sears Automotive shills are here to defend their practices, LOL. It's not exactly a secret to anyone who's dealt with these clowns that they're crooks.

At one point I had new wheels and tires installed on my car at Sears. Maybe a year later I took my car to Sears for a "popping" sound in the front end. I was told that the ball joints were bad and they all needed to be replaced for $460 (this was about 10 years ago). I thought this seemed a bit ridiculous especially because the pop was only coming from one side of the vehicle. I told him to forget it and I'd be there to pick it up.

I get a call back saying "We checked the brakes and you need new drums and rotors all the way around" (1969 Olds). He actually had the gall to tell me that one was so bad that he wasn't allowed to let me drive away without repairing them. I asked how much it was to replace just the bad one. He said I had to have them all repaired. I was irritated beyond belief now so I told him I didn't want my brakes checked and I'd be there to get it.

I picked the car up without incident and maybe a couple weeks later bought new wheels and tires and decided to have them put on myself because I was tired of mechanics screwing me. I jacked up the car and started pulling lugnuts off - or tried to. About half the lugnuts were stripped. Some weren't able to be retightened. I was livid.

I attached the nuts as best I could and drove back to Sears and pulled right into the garage in front of everyone who was sitting there. I explained that when they pulled the wheels to check my brakes, they stripped out my lugnuts. The manager (the one I'd talked to on the phone and argued with at the shop) said "We never had the wheels off this car" - to which I delightfully showed him my receipt suggesting all the brakes be changed and I refused. I loudly asked him, in front of 10 people sitting there, whether he was lying to me about checking the brakes or lying about not having the wheels off.

He didn't say another word, pulled the car in and changed all 20 lugs free of charge. Gotta love catching a criminal in a lie.

The guy I worked with was not at all surprised, having been a Sears mechanic himself. He quit because it was so disgusting. Their motto was "You need it". He said the guys in the shop would tell people they needed batteries so they could keep the old ones for themselves. He said he was the most honest but most of the mechanics were ruthless. He wouldn't tell me about some of the stuff that went on...

Rick
Portage, Indiana
U.S.A.