Complaint Review: BJ's Auto Spa

Ok from having worked for years in a VW dealership, i am familiar with those skid plates on the VW Passat. I know for a fact that the clips designed to hold the bolts do in fact get worn out and can result in bolts being lost. From experience i have seen dozens of Passats have their skid plates come loose( especially from the front ) and scrape against the ground. This does not ruin the skid plate at all! in fact all that is needed to be done is reinstall some new fasteners and maybe some new clips. By the way sure hope you ran full synthetic 5 W 40 meeting VW req. 502.00 in that car due to oil consumption problems!

I just finished leaving this questionable establishment after sitting in my car waiting for someone to assist me in getting my car washed. I was ignored completely by two individuals wandering around with a clipboards. The only other vehicle on the drive was a truck that did not even have anyone in it. Avoid these jerks at all costs!!!!!

I am the original author of this report and just reviewed the comments made by the owner.

The statement Chris made, "We have since replace the part in question and apologize for our original mistake" is only partially correct.

An apology was made, but the part was not replaced. Instead of agreeing to replace the part, the manager on duty offered a full detail of the vehicle (which I accepted because of his unwillingness to replace/reimburse me for the part).

It's been 3 1/2 years since I filed this report and the way I was treated STILL bothers me (I know...get over it).

I am the original author of this report and just reviewed the comments made by the owner.

The statement Chris made, "We have since replace the part in question and apologize for our original mistake" is only partially correct.

An apology was made, but the part was not replaced. Instead of agreeing to replace the part, the manager on duty offered a full detail of the vehicle (which I accepted because of his unwillingness to replace/reimburse me for the part).

It's been 3 1/2 years since I filed this report and the way I was treated STILL bothers me (I know...get over it).

Sorry to hear about what happened to you. I was ripped off and treated like complete garbage by BJ's Auto Spa employees also.

I recently brought my car to BJ's to have an oil change, a top and bottom engine cleaning, and an interior and exterior cleaning/detailing. BJ's calls customers to the checkout to pay for services before they are performed. I paid $144 in advance for all of the services. They supposedly performed the oil change, and they washed the inside and the outside of the car. After about 3 hours later when they said the car was finished, I looked under the hood to see if the engine cleaning had been done and it had not been done. The inside and outside of the car was very clean and looked good, but the engine had not been cleaned at all. I told an employee there that I had paid for the engine cleaning, (which I was told was $53) but it had not been done. The employee told me that they did not see that I had purchased an engine cleaning and they could not do the engine cleaning that day because the car had already been washed and it would get dirty from the engine cleaning. The employee then wrote on my receipt "Return for engine cleaning." and I left the shop.

Later, I decided that I did not trust BJ's and I wanted a refund instead of the engine cleaning. I went to BJ's and I spoke with David, who is the Assistant Manager. Now it also turns out that David is the brother of Chris, who is the owner. I explained what had happened with my car to David, but he refused to refund my money. And at this point, David tells me that the engine cleaning was only $20 and not the $53 I had paid for it. On my receipt, it was marked that I bought only a top engine cleaning, but I had actually paid for a top and bottom engine cleaning, which is what I had requested, but never gotten. David would not give me a refund and several employees who were nearby and overheard our dispute started laughing. David did not refund me any of my money but offered me a free carwash. (What a joke.)

I later called and spoke with Chris, the owner, and he said that it would be no problem to get $20 (not the full $53 I had paid for the engine cleaning) back...all I had to do was go back to the store and give David a copy of my receipt. I did that, but I never heard from anybody from BJ's again. I called BJ's several more times, but none of my calls or messages were returned.

I paid for the services with my debit card and I filed a dispute with my bank. My bank did put $53 back into my bank account, but it is only a provisional credit while an investigation is being conducted. I also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

I hope that people will become aware of the horrible service that BJ's Auto Spa provides and avoid the company altogether. You are required to pay for the services in advance, but then you question if the services are even performed at all. In addition, the customer service is the worst and most unprofessional I have ever seen.

I do agree with the author, if plastic screws to hold up a splash guard are missing or damaged, the mechanics should have put it on the service report and notified the owner.

However, it is good to see managers respond to this form of free speech regardless of who is wrong and who is right with financial remuneration. I've looked through a lot of these sites for businesses in Arizona and rarely see business do anything substantial.

I have used the BJs on Bell Road and had a similar situation where my antenna broke (on my classic car) in the Car Wash. Because the antenna screws were metal, the antenna actually broke in half instead of falling off. I think the manager's name was Tom who came to me to tell me (before I had even seen the car) that the antenna had broken. He said we will take care of it. Sure enough, three days later a $160 NoS antenna was shipped from Michigan and on my car - I did'nt even have to pay for the the wash.

It might be worth your time to inquire if you can get the $20 oil change for free as well... I would.

The VW Passat that is in question had originally come into our store with what we thought was existing damage. This is very common due to the low ridding nature of the vehicle. We cannot be 100% sure that there was damage prior to the service. The customer's claim was originally declined due to this reason, which we feel was a mistake on our part. We have since replace the part in question and apologize for our original mistake. In response to the second claim of unpaid employees, that is just not true. We have been in business for over 8 years and service almost 30,000 vehicles per month. We have almost 20 employees that have been with the company for 5+ years. We randomly drug screen and are relentless in our training and certification methods in order to provide the very best service possible.

Thank You

I lived in Phoenix for several years while going to a tech school. During that time, nearly EVERYONE I knew, at some point or another, worked at BJs. It was a running joke. They hire absolutely anyone. I can tell you more horror stories about employees going in drunk, stoned, exhausted, all of the above, and making horrible mistakes on customers' vehicles.

I only know one person who worked there for more than a week, and only one person who ever received a paycheck from BJs for the work they had done. You can imagine the total lack of employee loyalty, and the total lack of willingness on the part of BJs to correct employee's mistakes.

Cars leave there every day with no oil, no plug, no coolant, no filter, no hardware, whatever - you name it, it's happened at BJs. In fact, BOTH of my current roommates here in Georgia worked at BJs for a couple days each a few years ago. Neither of them were ever paid, and both quit because of the deplorable conditions. People at the local tech schools (who may have never seen a wrench in their lives) basically used it as a temp job for beer money, but most of the time BJs never paid up. All I can say is, avoid BJs AT ALL COSTS!

Many many businesses in the Phoenix area have similar hiring practices, with very high turn over of mostly tech student employees. Just be sure to look carefully at the companies you do business with in Phoenix. I know it's a pain in the butt, but beleive me; if you have a problem with a reputable company, it will be most helpful when the same employees are there two weeks later.

I used to drive from Glendale to a mechanic in Mesa because they were all well trained, long-term employees with great customer service, and the shop was outside of the "tech-school circle". It was well worth the drive just for the peace of mind! Good luck in the future!