Midas Muffler & Brake Ripoff over a thousand dollars for a master cylinder cap? Cuyahoga Falls Ohio
HELP!!!! Someone really needs to put a stop to the blatant fraud at Midas muffler shops all over the country,here is my experience....
One of my female relatives had the brake light in her car come on because of low fluid 3 weeks ago and when it happened again this morning she decided to stop at the local Midas store to have it looked at.After one of the mechanics looked at it she literally left in tears because she was told that the master cylinder needed replaced at a cost of $1,036 including labor($799.00 for the part)
I told her this was outrageous and called a local garage where i have my work done and asked the owner for a rough idea of the cost and was told a FACTORY replacement would be about $175.00 plus labor,I then asked if he was sure because of the price quoted by Midas and he said he was sure and almost fell down laughing when I told him what Midas said the cost would be.
I dont think Midas even uses factory replacement parts so I called a national parts store chain a got a price of $56.00 for a brand new mater cylinder and $20.00 for rebuilt.Upon taking the car to the second repair facility they discovered the only problem was a faulty cap on the master cylinder and the total cost was a whopping $10.00
How can any community allow such fraudulent activity go on???and why cant someone get them in line or shut them down,there are too many vulnerable people(men & women)getting ripped off like this because they havent a clue about the mechanics of modern cars.I know everyone has to make a buck but FRAUD LIKE THIS SHOULD BE TREATED AS THEFT!!!
erik
cuyahoga falls, Ohio
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Lew
Cuyahoga Falls,Ohio,
U.S.A.
District Supervisor
#4UPDATE Employee
Wed, October 15, 2003
I am very concerned when a customer is unhappy with Midas. I feel if this customer truly has a complaint, they should contact me and I will correct the problem. I have over 30 years with Midas and my concern is happy customers. There seems to be more to this story than that which is stated. I run a respectible business and will not stand for any of my employees to rip a customer off. Please feel free to contact me.
Lew Bromer at 330-923-4378
Timothy
Sierra Vista,Arizona,
U.S.A.
it's a shame
#4Consumer Comment
Fri, September 19, 2003
My Rebuttle is more of a "re-rebuttle" to "T", I know, I just KNOW, you did not actually say that $799 for a FREAKIN' MASTER CYLINDER is "really not that bad"!?!? I am not a "professional" mechanic, I wouldn't disgrace myself with the term, but I have been working on cars my entire life, and very successfully manage to keep a 38 year old (almost twice my age) Mustang hot rod with well over 400hp on the road as a daily driver. As you can imagine, a car of this nature requires a lot of TLC, but somehow, I manage, lol. Now, my car may not be equipped with one of today's fancy "dual chamber teflon coated anti-lock super duper callafradgalistic hyper active" brake systems, but come on now... $800 dollars for something not a helluva lot more complicated then a simple childs squirt gun by nature!?!?!?!?
Here's the deal, about a year ago, my master cylinder went out. Ordinarily, I would have just fixed it myself, as usual, but I had too much money in my pocket, too much going on, and really just didn't feel like getting into it. Well, I went to Midas, and I TOLD them it was the master cylinder, I wanted a quote on $$$ and time... even though it was only 9:30 am, after waiting in the lobby for almost two hours, the guy comes back and says "well sir, it would appear your master cylinder is bad."... you don't say :/ I was then told it would not be done until about 3 the following afternoon, and it was going to cost almost $400!!! Luckily, not only did I simply not HAVE 400 bones, but I knew that the quote was b.s. as well, and since there just happened to be a Checker auto right accross the street, I went there instead and guess what... even for a "classic" car, yeah: Brand new master cylinder: $14, time to install: 7 minutes (not counting bleeding, 15 with bleed), NOT paying a con artist $400 to do the exact same thing, but take over 28 hours to finish.... PRICELESS!!!
My next point, as I said, I am not a "pro", but most of my friends are, and are employed by various national "franshised", as you so intelligently spelled it, chains. Within the context of a private conversation, basically, every single one of them admits to being "encouraged" by their supervisors to "make money", so to speak. My advice to everyone... cars ARE NOT that difficult, at least not when it comes to the basics. Stop into any nationally "franshised" book store, and you will find entire shelves full of books written for the sole purpose of educating the aspiring shade tree mechanic. Even if you choose not to do your own work, a little knowledge goes a LONG way when arguing about what services your vehicle actually needs. And finally, don't be so quick to rule out the "Mom and Pop" local shops, especially the ones whose primary advertisements come by way of "word of mouth". Good luck, and happy hot rodding, folks.
T
Cleveland,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Don't blame all Midas shops
#4UPDATE Employee
Mon, December 09, 2002
In case you don't know, most of the Midas Shops in this Country are Franshised. That means that they are owned and operated by individuals, not the main company in Chicago.
Just like any business, there are dishonest people, but overall Midas has a very good rep. How else could you explain that Midas has been in Business for over 45 years?
If you have a problem with the price, the best solution is to call Midas Consumer Relations in Chicago. Tell them your story.
As for the cost of part.... When you call the national parts store and they said the part was $56.00, did they fail to mention that their cost is about $15.00? I doubt it. Midas, like any other business, is there to make money. They charge higher than what they pay for parts. That how the business works, than they charge an hourly rate. In this situation, it sounds like you were overcharged for Labor. However, the cost of the part was not too bad. Your local mechanic might charge cheaper prices, garages usually do, but you can't get the National warranty to back your service either.
You really don't know what you are talking about and frankly, I don't believe your story.
If you want to talk about rip offs, talk about Docotrs or Lawyers.