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Meineke Overcharged for the Oil Change Willoughby, Ohio
Meineke has advertised Oil Change for $19.99, so I printed the coupon & headed to the shop. The shop charged me a total of $30 explaining that the difference in $10 was for the shop materials. What do they use, gold-plated wrenches? Ten bucks for the rags that they use over again, it's unheard of. A clever way to increase their profit. It won't make it or break it for me, but it sucks to be taken advantage of. I guess when a woman walks in to an auto shop, all they see is green, and Meineke is no exception. I will never set my foot in that place again.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
knah
jeannette,Pennsylvania,
Make sure to do your homework, then you can walk away with you money and give it to a company who deserves it.
#4Consumer Suggestion
Wed, June 19, 2013
I had a similar experience at Meineke. Printed my coupon, took it to the shop also. I I already knew before I went that my oil cost less than $5 a qt for conventional oil in a 4cyc eng. which is 5 qts. $25 for the oil. Meineke tried to charge me $48 even though I presented a coupon for $19.95. He had no explanation beyond "that's what it cost". I left him standing there with a meaningless schedule entry with my first name/time/day on it. "Scratch it out dude. I know what my oil cost. Cya." Be careful and check to see what your car requires/price, call before you go, get a name and when you get there, get a name and hold them to it or they should be able to show you on paper what they are charging for and how they justify it. That way you can impose your power as a consumer, walk away with your money and give it to a company who deserves your business. That is just as good as showing them where they can put their poor service. Good luck in the future.
Anonymous
Cleveland,Ohio,
This is an overcharge as far as I am concerned
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, May 02, 2013
Disagree all you want, but I bet they wouldn't charge a man ten bucks for the 'shop materials'. The sales tax here is 6.5% which is a dollar with small change. If the shop advertised the promotional price $20 for an oil change, up to five bucks for their 'shop materials' etc. would be reasonable. Now if you multiply the difference by the number of customers, you'd come up with some hefty numbers.
$7 for the shop supplies? This must have been norm in the area with the high sales taxes.
You don't believe me, fine. Please feel free to do all your oil changes at Meineke, for all that I care.
And oh, they did try to take me for a ride for some 'maintenance', but I flatly refused.
SUCKA!
Somewhere,Florida,
Men Don't Pay Shop/Environmental Fees or Sales Tax?
#4General Comment
Thu, May 02, 2013
So, you're saying you this repair facility saw "green" when they saw you, in turn taking advantage of you by charging you shop/environmental fees and sales tax, simply because you are a woman? I beg to differ. I think they would have charged any customer the same, regardless of gender.
I'll admit, their shop/environmental fees must be a little on the high side, if your total bill was $30. If, say, sales tax in that area is a whopping 10%, the oil change $20, shop supplies $7, sales tax $2.70, for a total bill of $29.70, $7 in shop supplies is a bit much for a $20 oil change. I could see $2-$3 in shop fees within reason, but no more.
However, I completely disagree with you saying it is your belief that this facility charged you $10 in shop supplies and sales tax due to your gender. If all they saw was "green" when they saw you, where is your complaint about them trying to sell you thousands of dollars worth of unneeded maintenance and repairs?