Brakes Plus unethical business practice Arvada Colorado
11/28 car taken to BP for alignment/2 new axles put on/car drives 1 block both axles fail/car repair done without owner authorization. no owner signature/11/29 randy states parts fail will fix/11/30 car not done no call/12/1 randy states transmission/could not produce original axles removed to determine if transmission going out before or brakes plus caused damage by improper axle install/by law should show owner parts taken off car/12/3 to 12/6 car not done /BP does not call re: repairs/ 12/7 Lori (owner of car)goes to shop/car not done/randy states his shop did not cause damage but trying to fix for cust service/Lori tells Randy no way to tell unless can produce original axles/axles gone/Randy states will call in AM/ no call 12/8-Lori calls 3 times,3 times Randy states it's going together now, states this each call until 3:30pm/
Finally pick up car in blizzard/randy states 1st/2nd gear fine/will slip in 3rd gear/transmission not fixed/destroyed by Brakes plus incompetence/car taken to master mechanic on 12/12/master mechanic states/no 1st gear/ something broken in transmission/transmission oozing fluid/master mechanic states take car back to BP for them to make right.call BP 12/13 AM - Randy states did not cause problem/washing hands of it/owner calls 4 transmission shops for advice/is told regardless of who caused damage BP should make right/call BP 12/13PM, Randy states will speak w/ his tech in AM see maybe what he can do./12/14 Randy states not doing anymore-maybe would discount repair if we take car back. Brakes Plus had car for 12 days and has rendered it undriveable. It drove in to shop just fine and now is unuseable.
An alignment turned into 2 new axles/Needing those axles cannot be proved as BP's did not allow owner to see original parts taken off car/futhermore the young man that signed off on the work is not the owner/making any and all repairs to car unauthorized. Now we have a young lady in her senior year of school trying to make it to work and school on the bus. This car is not a BMW but as we are a single income family it is hard to make ends meet & this car is all she had/and a young ladies right of passage has been ruined by the incompetence and greed of this company. They took responsibility of touching that transmission for whatever reason/and now because of thier inept mechanical abilities - thay are washing their hands of this situation/because Randy says,"I am not putting anymore time or money into that car" He knows he's liable and refuses to make things right. Futhermore,on 12/14 waiting to talk to Randy I stood in the lobby and listened to him shmooz over another customer for 15 minutes about why a brake job turned into ball joints and why it's costing more than originally stated/I also have 2 other letters from customers stating they left that shop with $660 and $700 bills for a $99 brake job all under the guise you signed a paper authorizing repairs as they hustle and bustle you without time to realize what you are signing.
If you Google these exact words- Brakes Plus Arvada Colorado the first thing that comes up is a map the 2nd site is a Rip Off report for this very shop from 2001. How can this shop be a member of BBB??? At this point my only recourse is to report this as many places as possible/STRONGLY consider litigation/and put my poor child on the RTD (have a great Senior Year darling Brake's Plus gave you a wonderful present)and try to skrimp and save to get her car fixed at the worst possible time of the year Christmas will be very stark this year due to this UNNECESARY expenditure. Had Brakes Plus not been dishonest and greedy - the unauthorized young man that took the car there for an alignment-would have got the alignment and went on his way. Now we are faced with a bleak and expensive car repair/through no fault of our own. How can a company continue to do business like this? Please consider removing them from your BBB list, before any other customers are hurt in such a heinous manner.
As this has been nearly 1 full month of chaos, I am very leery of having Brakes Plus touch ANY of my vehicles again. If they are a reputable company,and have good customer service for repeat business as Randy is fond of expounding - they will pay MY mechanic to fix my daughters car. They will no longer make other unsuspecting customers incur unnecessary/costly repair bills. They will honor the BBB stickers they have posted everywhere in the shop with integrity.
Lori
Lakewood, Colorado
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Brakes Plus
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Mkdenver1
Westminster,Colorado,
U.S.A.
Randy must have had a bad week last year.
#2Consumer Comment
Mon, September 29, 2008
Hi Lori,
I am a fellow consumer and a customer of this very Brakes Plus location in Arvada.
I have a 2003 Pontiac Grand Am with 85,000 and change miles on it. I knew Brakes Plus has a good reputation (as compared to their competitor Just Brakes who has nearly 400 reports on this site as opposed to Brakes Plus' 23) so I took it in this past Friday. The front brakes were replaced nearly 3 years ago as they started grinding while I was on a road trip and here they are grinding metal on metal again. I figure it's just the way I drive; but that's a completely different story.
Anyway, I take it to this location and spoke to Randy, same guy you dealt with, and he definitely showed compassion, care, and understanding and wanted to make sure the car was safe again.
I initially just wanted the pads replaced and the rotors machined. After he put the car on the lift, he brings me into the work area and gives me a tour of my brake system. The rotors were original with the car and I could tell they were pretty worn out. The pads were definitely metal on metal and the previous worn out pads may have started the damage to the rotors and these pads probably finished the job.
So I had them replace the rotors and he also showed me the rear brakes and did not recommend any work, except for cleaning which he had his mechanic do for free, as they were still in very good shape.
So what I thought was going to be a $100 or so job turned out to be $280. But I didn't feel "ripped off" because I saw first hand that there was additional work to be done.
Randy also had his district manager give me a ride back to my house while the work was completed and then Randy himself drove to my house to pick me up and bring me back to the shop at the end of the day.
He gave me a few tips on how to "break in" brand new rotors and a few things to expect in the first few weeks.
I do apologize for your situation, but Randy and his team do a spectacular job at brake work. He even took an additional $40 off the total cost because the previous pads were still covered by the lifetime warranty from Advance Auto Parts. Since he works directly with the AAP located in the same building, he said he would take care of the warranty replacement himself and just give me the $40 credit.
I'm not sure if he just had a bad week during your experience, but he sure seems like the opposite kind of guy when I worked with him last week.