Complaint Review: Lake Express Lube

AUTO CONSUMERS:  BEWARE OF LAKE EXPRESS LUBE!  Updated 3-7-14

Four months ago, I took my car into Lake Express Lube for an oil change, after which I drove my car home, where it was parked all afternoon and night.  The next day while I was driving to an appointment, my car totally died.  When the tow truck picked put the car on his truck it spewed oil all over, and the driver said that clearly it lost its oil and went metal on metal and the engine is ruined, ruining my one and only car.  This presents an extreme hardship as I have no family or partner, and am in a long-term job search living in an economically-crippling situation, and now have no way to get to part-time jobs, or client/business networking meetings where I usually land clients out of the county.

 Despite the Bible sitting on this business's counter and the TV being set to the Bible channel, do not be fooled, as its owner Michael James Greenwood hung up on me when I first called to let him know of what had occurred the day after visiting his shop.  Since then, I have written him twice asking him to do the morally-right thing and use his insurance to either fix my vehicle or get me the money for a new used vehicle.   Despite the insurance he bragged about when I called him, he has yet to use it to rent me a car, to get my car fixed, or to reimburse me for the car he has ruined, or my lost income!  Additionally, when I called him he wanted me to have the vehicle towed to his shop claiming he was an independent party, which I explained that he is not as he is the key culpable party!  He has not responded to either letter.  (DO YOUR HOMEWORK on "Michael James Greenwood, Clearlake, CA" as it will yield shocking results.)

 Though I opened a case with the Bureau of Automotive Repairs (BAR,) and had the vehicle inspected by them and another mechanic, the results are inconclusive as there is no way that I can prove culpability after the fact.  (My car also sat in an accessible carport for 8 days until the BAR could inspect it, leaving plenty of time for the shop which knows where I live to put a missing/stripped plug back in or tighten the oil filter!) The BAR inspector/mechanic even said that this could have clearly been caused by the oil not being filled up all the way, and there would be no way to prove this after the fact, despite the fact that three different mechanics told me that the odds of the ruination of my car not being related to something this shop did/didn't do would be a s****.>

 On prior occasions this shop’s lack of professionalism and poor employee training were apparent in these examples:

1) Employees smoking in the auto bays while working on cars, where customers are exposed to second-hand smoke from these unconscious smokers who have been poorly trained by their unconscious owner,

2) The owner puffing away on his cigarettes adjacent to the auto bays where customers are exposed to second-hand smoke from his unconscious smoking,

3) An employee telling an anti-l*****n joke right so that it could be overheard by me while they were working on my car.

 Later, I learned from the BAR that Mr. Greenwood claimed that my car was making a clicking noise when I brought it into his shop, (which is a total lie,) and which was neither written in the paperwork by them that day or mentioned to me (because it is not true!)  This lie is the owner's attempt to make it appear that my car had an engine problem before I brought it to him, which is untrue!   Mr. Greenwood has also been sent a cease and desist notice for an outrageous lie he spread about me.  He has also had the audacity to serve me with a restraining order to keep me from picketing within 50 yards of his shop, which he got by dishing up a host of lies about me to a Superior Court Judge, and which his process server was supposed to give me but did not, leading to my having to get it and all of its surprises on my own!

 Now, as a result of picketing him due to him crippling my ability to make a living, I am meeting many others who have been screwed by him due to shoddy work, and am told by moms of ex-employees that he has a line of lawsuits against him!  If you are one of these people, I strongly encourage you to file a complaint with the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) at 866-799-3811 866-799-3811 and the Better Business Bureau at (866) 411-2221 (866) 411-2221.  If consumers who have been screwed do not report it to these agencies, these agencies cannot see a pattern of consumer abuse!  . . . and then you get people like Greenwood bragging about his BBB rating (which he did to me) due to the fact that people he wronged did not know of these agencies and/or make the time to submit a complaint against him!  (His lies and inaccuracies in his reply to the BAR, my BBB complaint, and perjuring himself on a court form to get a temporary restraining order clearly establish a pathological and egregious pattern of lying and deception.)

 I would NEVER visit this business again and would STRONGLY recommend that it be AVOIDED at all costs!