Meineke Racial Bias and Ripped Off Matthews North Carolina
I went to this Meineke location for a promotional basic oil change for $19.95 on Saturday , 8/24. I did schedule the appointment and printed the coupon for the special price.
Once I got there the front desk service guy refuse to take the coupon for some reasons and he got my information and my car key , 2004 Mazda 3, to start the oil change.
Couple minutes later, I was called for some weird news, I was told that my car does not qualify for the $19.95 oil change due to the type of oil filter my car uses and I have to pay full price for the service.
I did not even qualify for the next level special package, $29.95. It was a really carefully planned trick to quick me out of the place because they did not really want to service me because I was a black guy in a white dominated city.
So the clerk charged me for every single item for the oil change. Oil, oil filter, oil disposal fee. Total $40.60 instead of $19.95 plus tax.
The fact is that I have done oil change all over the place and no one ever that me that my car does not qualify for specials. I sent a complaint to Meineke request my money back (how much I over paid), but all I got was an apology letter and that my complaint was forwarded to the owner of that location. And I never heard anything from the owner.
In 2013, we still go thru racial biais and profiling and I can even get my car serviced because I am black. I have to pay more than other people pay. Very sad and frustruting. Go racist NC....
4 Updates & Rebuttals
mwk05
Charlotte,North Carolina,
Level 1 and 2
#5Author of original report
Fri, November 08, 2013
Being the only minority among a bunch of white employees does not prove anything. Or having interracial kids does not make you Mr wonderful and in additional, I did not see when I visited your 14 years old career place.
FYI, companies have the legal obligation to have couple minorities on their staff and you are one of them. In reality we are not at the same level and you cannot understand hold an intellectual discussion with me until we want to talk about oil change, tune-up.... And my issue happened in Matthews not Charlotte. Charlotte looks diverse but there are still sneaky acts of begeterry going around.
I work at a big financial institution in the downtown but I come across racists and racist behavior everyday in the office. So stop fooling yourself, you might not be racist they are a lot of them in NC and around the USA. check out my personal blog on (((REDACTED)))
meineke
Matthews,North Carolina,
whats race got to do with it?
#5REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, October 31, 2013
14 years red flag? how? all that means is im a devoted hard worker, who is happy with his occupation. Further more your creed or race has nothing to do with this because a car is a car ??? But since you bring it up i have children of mixed race so i must be racist against my own children? anyway im sorry you feel ripped off, we don’t set the rules we just abide by them. also if you had of read the small print at the bottom of you coupon it states "includes up to 5 qts, house bulk motor oil and standard filter. Additional disposal and shop supply fees may apply. Special oils and filters are available at an additional cost" and you were paying more than 19.95 at all the other places so that’s why you have never been told otherwise about your cars filter. And your coupon was never refused, nor were you told you didn’t qualify for the basic oil change you were told you would be paying 19.95 plus the price of the filter. And for you information Charlotte is a very diverse and multicultural city so for you to be so slanderous in your remarks is ignorant. In regard to my career you have no idea what you talking about .
P.S. the definition of racist is "a person who believes in racism, the doctrine that a certain human race is superior to any or all others."
so having to pay for a service by definition is not racism!
mwk05
Charlotte,North Carolina,
Yes Your racist at Meineke Matthews
#5Author of original report
Wed, October 30, 2013
I owned my car for the last three years and I done oil in many states, TN, NC, GA, PA and no one ever charged me extra because of my oil filter. That's some BS.
Carlos, 14 years at the same place doing the same job, red flag, no room for career advancement for you,hint hint. You gone die as a store manager for meineke because them racist don't give a d**n about you as long as they put you on the front line to fool the general population. And i did not ask for any special treatment. But I am going one step futher now.
meineke
Matthews,North Carolina,
Meineke Matthews IS NOT RACIST !
#5UPDATE Employee
Wed, October 30, 2013
Meineke has multiple options when it comes to oil changes , we have BASIC, PREFERED, and SUPREME all of these options come with 5 quarts oil standard oil and standard filter, the only thing that changes are the points of check you get more services with the higher cost oil changes but the oil and filter are the same.Also if you have a coupon it clearly states that at the very bottom of the coupon( other fees and additional cost may apply). The vehicle that you have takes a canister filter and not spin on type filter which cost us more money and it would be like asking us to change the oil on a bmw for 19.95 we just cant do that! every car is different and some have different applications. We are not RACIST we just follow the rules, also my name is Carlos Perez and i'm HISPANIC and i manage this Meineke and i've been at this meineke for 14 years, so i dont really think we discriminate and we also have lots of great customers that come different backgrounds.We have lots of great reviews at this location and there's always one person out there that (he or she) thinks they should be treated differently from everyone else (for some reason).My advise is to read everything before you just asume!