Complaint Review: Just Brakes

To the so-called ASE Certified brake "mechanic"...

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

On a Neon and most other FWD's the adjuster is actuated by the parking brake lever on the rear shoe of each rear drum assembly.

I have many times showed customers how this works when I explain to them why they should set their parking brake every time they get out of the car.

Take the drums off, have an assistant set the parking brake, and watch the self adjuster work.

True, it doesn't always keep up with shoe wear, but setting the parking brake is indeed what adjusts the rear shoes.

On Wednesday morning July 14, 2004 I started my 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 truck to go to work. I noticed the entire display panel did not work. I new something was wrong and took it to a friend of mine who is a mechanic. After it was there for a couple of hours, I received a call from the receptionist. She told me I need to take it to the dealership for repair. The mechanic didn't have the equipment to repair it since it was Dodge specific and only the dealer could repair it.



I took it to Union Dodge in Garden Grove CA that afternoon. I spoke with the one of the servicemen (Beto Tec) who told me it may be a bad power module and it may run about $390.00 for that part alone plus labor, which would come to around $500.00. I had to call my credit card company to raise the limit because I didn't have the funds. I was also told; it would be a few days. I had to miss two days of work and being in sales, I missed out on revenue. I complained to the dealership I need to be able to get to work so they told me they would rent a car for me for one day, this was Thursday July 15.



I received a call on Friday the July 16 around 5:00 from Beto Tec stating they received the power control module and now they need to order another part an Instrument Cluster and it should only take a couple of days to come in and my truck would be finished. I called on Monday and it wasn't finished yet and I was assured that in a few days it would be done. On Monday I called customer service at Daimler Chrysler (File # 12473533) spoke with a Becky and was told there's nothing that can be done and she hung up on me when I asked for the CEOs name. The same day I called Mark the service manager at Union Dodge and he told me it'll be a few days for the repair to be complete. Well by Wednesday July 21st I hadn't heard anything so I stopped in at Union Dodge after work and spoke to the service manager Mark. Mark told me the Instrument Cluster was coming from some place back east and it takes two to three days at the most. He also told me that "you didn't bring in the truck in until Wednesday afternoon and that you didn't approve the additional part until late Friday." How could I approve the instrument cluster when I wasn't called until late Friday afternoon.



A few more days passed by and by Friday the July 23rd around 4:45 PM I received a call from Beto Tec and he told me "bad news John, the part didn't come in. He did mention that Union Dodge would be picking up the cost of the rental from Friday July 23rd forward. I called on Monday afternoon July 26th to Daimler Chrysler to customer service because this was getting very ridiculous and spoke with a woman who called Union Dodge for me to tell me they're still waiting on the part. I told her "I could have told you that". I asked for the office of the CEO and she refused to and hung up on me. I called the dealership and spoke with the sales manager and explained my situation and he told me he would look into it. I received a message from Mark the service manager at the dealership and it stated, there's no updates. I sent a next day letter to the CEO (Mr.. Jurgen Walker) at Daimler Chrysler).



Today July 29th I called Union Dodge spoke with second in command a Mr. Carl Salier who told me he would look into it. I received a message from him later in the afternoon stating that there is a national back order on the instrument cluster and all that they had were shipped to other dealerships and that I'm number 30 on the waiting list but they might be able to bump me up to number 15 and maybe next week they will get it.



I've had it with Union Dodge, Daimler Chrysler, the Ram 1500 and that fact that these people are not calling me except with more bad news. Had I known it would take this long I wouldn't have brought to the place where I bought this truck. I want Union Dodge to buy my truck and pay off the existing loan I have on and let me get on with life.



If you can help me I appreciate it,



Thank you very much,

There is a good business, named Just Brakes & Alignment, that is not affiliated with the chain of shops reported as a rip-off.



They were established over 20 years ago, and have an excellent reputation for their service.



Do not confuse this honest shop with ones that have a similar name.

There is a good business, named Just Brakes & Alignment, that is not affiliated with the chain of shops reported as a rip-off.



They were established over 20 years ago, and have an excellent reputation for their service.



Do not confuse this honest shop with ones that have a similar name.

There is a good business, named Just Brakes & Alignment, that is not affiliated with the chain of shops reported as a rip-off.



They were established over 20 years ago, and have an excellent reputation for their service.



Do not confuse this honest shop with ones that have a similar name.

There is a good business, named Just Brakes & Alignment, that is not affiliated with the chain of shops reported as a rip-off.



They were established over 20 years ago, and have an excellent reputation for their service.



Do not confuse this honest shop with ones that have a similar name.

After I filed this report, I drove my car a few months and only 5,000 (at the most) later, my brakes began sqealing again. I took my car to another brake shop (well known!) and suprise suprise, I have very LOW QUALITY brake pads, the rotos Just Brakes "replaced with new" need to be machined. The brake fluid is dirty, which means they LIED on the paperwork when the wrote they had done a bleed, flush and refill.



Hell, after I left the shop, I had to put more fluid in myself because the master cylinder was LOW! The hardware on the front needs to be cleade and the rear brake hardware needs to be cleaned and the rear brakes ADJUSTED. Again, my rear brakes are not working properly and I HAVE BEEN SETTING MY PARKING BRAKE!!!!!!!



I contacted Just Brakes headquarters and spoke to Jim Shipp again, and I told him what was found. He was quite while he listened to me rattle off the list of things found to be WRONG with the brakes in just under four months. Of course, he had some "explinations" but he was dumb founded by the machining of the "new" rotors. He practically BEGGED me to bring it back to a DIFFERENT SHOP to have them "fix" the problems under "warranty". Yeah RIGHT! How much is THAT going to cost me????? The last warranty repair they made almost soaked me for $461!!!!!

So, I explained to Jim Shipp that I was leary about taking my car to one of their shops EVER AGAIN and that I had filed a formal dispute with my credit card company which has been holding up their getting paid the entire time I let my brakes just fall apart again. So, Just Brakes can SUCK MY a*s!!!! I will NEVER put mine and my childrens lives in their PATHETIC HANDS EVER AGAIN!!!!! Warranty my a*s!!!!!!

Glad to hear you are doing a investigation on this company. (Just Brakes) After reading your post I was suspicious of the company imediately.

Please let us know what happens and post any links

to news reports you can. The thing Jim that made

me wonder is at that low mileage you should just replace the pads and shoes.



I was not thier and dont know what happened and can only state the normal situation. Jim you have been lucky with this company but to tell you the truth a dealer does this work for less. Just brakes has a low price advertised but after you get in the store they hit you up for all they can get.



I dont know if they are actually doing all the work or not but they are getting all the money they can.



I do wonder Jim if you are the same Jim that Misty has spoken to or another person? Yes bad breaks can cause car wrecks but they dont go bad all at once replacing the whole system at low mileage is a very unlikely senario and unlikely

to be honest at all.



The most Misty could need is pads. At 26,000 miles pads are still new I even question if they where bad. Most pads are 60,000 mile rated so go figure it out. Jim your comments are suspect and you are suspicious at best.



The initial repair of 750$ for a complete brake job is also suspect that rarely happens but it is

possible after that though her car should have been up to speed.



The secound charge of 420$ has got to be a scam I can say that not even seeing the car.I would like to see the Invoice of what work was done and how it was billed this would tell me allot. Total mileage on the vehicle too?

Well, it's been about a month and a half or so now and I have been dealing with the Just Brakes headquarters. I have spoken to a man by the name of Jim Shipp and he is a complete MORON! First of all, after adding up the cost of all the parts from November 2002,I was actually OVERCHARGED by almost $100.00 and on top of that the warranty was supposed to cover 54% of the total; atleast this was what Stan at the shop told me over the phone. When I got the bill, I was informed that I was paying 54% of the work, not Just Brakes; BULL! That was not what I was initially told. I refused to sign the invoice and extenuating circumstances have prevented me from getting the work checked until now.



I am taking my car over to Midas for a brake inspection. I am taking a digital camers with me so I can take pictures of what is found and I am focusing my investigation on those rear adjusters. Jim Shipp initially tried to tell me my brake problems were all my fault, then turned around and said Chrysler/Dodge just makes bad rear adjusters and they keep sending Just Brakes bad replacement parts.



I work for an A/C manufacturer here in the valley, and if we have extensive problems with the quality of say our defrost boards, we go back to the manufacturer and GET THE PROBLEM SOLVED!



We did that about two years ago; we had gotten a bad batch of boards. We didn't charge our customers to fix the problem, we JUST FIXED THEM!



So, all of the phone conversations between Jim Shipp and myself have been recorded and I faxed the corporate office demanding to speak to Mr. Shipp's supervisor.



When I called in, I was informed that he didn't have a supervisor, but a few days later I got a call from another man that said he was Mr. Shipp's supervisor.



He said he was extremely "concerned" about the fact that I had all the conversations recorded and he said that they would be willing to settle for a smaller amount than the bill. Talk about admitting guilt! I have to speak with a guy over at channel 12 today because they have been doing their own investigation to help me out of this bind.



What Jim SHip and the other corporate cronies DON'T know is that I also recorded my conversations with Stan, you know where he told me the warranty would cover 54%?!!! HA ha!!! So I am getting ready to bend them over the barrel. I appreciate all the great information I wa sprovided and I have done some extensive internet research myself.



To the former police officer, I'm glad you haven't had any problems with their quality of service; good luck in the future. Just give me the make, model, color and license plet of your car so I can STAY OUT OF YOUR WAY......

Robert first off i am NOT nor have I ever been EMPLOYED by just brakes. for your information i am a retired law enforcement officer for the state of arizona. I have seen first hand what happends to people that dont take care of their brakes right. second I have noticed that you jump around in all of your reports. you say they buy the cheapest parts. so I guess you are calling companies like BAP imports. TRI STATE auto, AND NAPA to name a few that JUST BRAKES GETS THEIR parts from cheap and should be closed down too. WE all know you use to work for them, if you were that concerned with teh public being tipped off then why did you work their for over 2 years. so BOB OR ROBERT what ever your name is please allow people that have their brakes done there like ME to make the reports not some ex-employee that has a thing out for them because more than likely you SCREWED UP and got FIRED!!!!!!!!!!

Jim in response to your rebutall you must be a current employee, the reason I believe this is do to the fact when I was employed there most of the managers used the line of what color is your vehicle and what area of town do you live in, so I can keep my family and friends off of the road.



Being a former center manager that started as a assistant, I do believe with all of my heart that Just Brakes is a rip off. Let me start by saying that I am ASE certified in brakes and other area as well. Trust me not all vehicles need calipers rebuilt for a little uneven wear, some uneven wear is normal. Just Brakes prides them self on using cheap "brake specialists", this way they can keep there labor under 14 percent of the total sales. They use cheap brake pads whcih doe resultsa in squeals, no matter what amount of work is done. I guarantee that on a car that just came form Just Brakes and fixed everything suggested, the brakes will squeal, if upgraded pads were not installed to prevent it. Furthermore

I could take 90 percent of the cars they slae all of this work to and make them not squeak by installing quality brake pads, and either maching the rotors or rerplacing if they are below the discard thickness.

First off i have had my brakes done by them for years. never any problems GREAT SERVICE. unlike most people I read the the owners handbook for the auto's i have plus i also go by what the MANUFACTURE recommend for the auto. I dont mean GM or FORD i mean the manufactures of the parts in the auto like BRAKES SHOES or PADS. ( JUST BRAKES DID NOT GIVE ME THE INFO THE INTERNET DID)they are the ones that say RECOMMEND replacement of the parts ON EVERY brake change to insure that your brakes DO NOT fail. so please do me a favor if you did not get the auto fixed the way the manufacture of the brake shoes or pads wanted you to i just need the color and make or your auto plate number would be nice to SO I COULD GET ME AND MY KIDS OUT OF YOR WAY before your brakes go out!

I am a ASE certified mechanic. First off rear

brakes are self adjusting on all cars and have

been for years. (70years) Second the emergency

brake being used would have ZERO effect on the

rear brake adjustment.



It is true the adjusters dont tighten enough and about every 15,000 miles most cars need a rear brake clean and adjust. This is about 45$ service it gets brake dust out and they check the adjustment usually tightning a few notches to make it work effectively.



I am very concerned you needed so much work on such a new car. If you drive allot maybe it was needed. Most cars brakes last at least 50,000 miles pads alone.



A complete brake job should not be needed until

100,000 miles or above. I would be very suspect of

the work these guys did. I cannot do much but give

my opinion here and some information. There are

situtations which would change my analysis like

a car wreck or something hitting the brakes like

a rock but in general that is acurate information.