Monro Muffler Brake & Service Installed Faulty Over -Priced Wheel Brearing Would not Replace Uniontown Pennsylvania
I had my 1995 Buick Century inspected at Monro in Uniontown PA in November 2003. The manager said I needed a new left front wheel bearing. I had it replaced. The cost was $420 part, $40.00 labor. (Keep in mind that Advance Auto Parts sells this same part for $138.00) The manager stated it had a 1 year warranty and Monro would replace it free of charge if there was a problem even though the invoice coding showed 90 days warranty. After driving home I heard a clicking noise coming from the wheel. I returned the car the first week of January 2004 to Monro because of the noise. I asked them to inspect the work. They said there was no problem with the bearing. The noise later went away. In August 2004 I had some different work done with a local independent mechanic shop. They stated on my receipt that I had a bad left front wheel bearing. I told them that was impossible because I had it replaced recently and paid alot of money for it. These wheel bearing lasts for 120,000-150,000 miles and it's the newest and most expensive single replacement part on the car. I returned to the same Monro at once and spoke with the same manager. Asked them to replace the bearing. While they were inspecting the wheel I could see it move as if it was bad. The manager, to my surprise, again insisted the wheel bearing is good and that the independent shop must not have inspected it correctly. He wrote me an estimate for new brakes because that is what he said I needed,not a new bearing. He said the other shop probably did not take the wheel off. The manager convinced me the other shop made a mistake.
A year later I decide to have my car inspected at the independent shop. They failed my car's inspection due to a bad left front wheel bearing. The same part again!!!. They said they did not make a mistake and showed me the motion in the wheel and compared it to the bearing on the other side, A bearing twice as old with twice as many miles!) This is no mistake. The same motion as last year.
I went back to the same Monro. They have another manager there now. I brought all receipts from both shops indicating the other shop showed me last year the wheel bearing was bad and I returned it and you insisted it was good and gave me a brake estimate. They would not replace the bearing and tried to convince me it was good even though they had to admit this time it was not as good as the other one. (Since the other shop showed me how to prove it) I told them it won't pass inspection at other shops and I paid top dollar for this part. When you pay 3 times the auto store price you expect a quality part and Monro should provide a quality warranty at the price they charged. They would not provide me with a new part and stated the warranty was over. I did bring it back twice within the stated warranty period and provided them a copy of all reciepts proving my visit last year. They would not replace this part in or out of warranty.
The manager stated he got in touch with the district marketing manager and he did not replace my part either. I called Monro's 800 number and was on hold for customer service 1-800-876-6676 x500 for over an hour before just leaving a message for a call back.
I received no call back as of yet. This is a rip off. If you charge this much for a part, you have to stand behind it.
Given this situation, Monro's pricing, environmnetal fee's, the sales pressure, deceptive "Lifetime" warranties, the way they defend their defective parts and put down the findings of other shops to avoid warranty replacements, I can't recommend them at all.
I have been their customer and I have tolerated alot but with this situation I say " No more". I will comment on this if Monro does correct this situation.
John
Connellsville, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
John
Connellsville,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Monro is Impossible!! Letter to Attorney General's Office
#3Author of original report
Fri, February 24, 2006
Office of Attorney General
6th Floor, Manor Building
564 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh Pa 15219
Dear Ms. Sarsfield
This letter is in response to the reply from Terry Haschmann of Monro Muffler Break and Service concerning my complaint #C-006805-2005.
I have enclosed a copy of a receipt dated 8/25/04 from a local shop Max Muffler & Brake. This receipt clearly states the left front wheel bearing is loose and a replacement is recommended. It is important to note that the Monro 1 year, 12,000-mile warranty was not expired at this time. This was a new bearing! I presented the receipt to Kevin Bounds. He was the manager at Monro Uniontown on 8/28/04. He is the manager the wheel bearing was originally installed under. Kevin Bounds discredited this finding and insisted nothing was wrong with the bearing. That is when he handed me the brake estimate. It is true that the brake rotors and pads were wearing out, but that was not the purpose of my visit 8/28/2004. As you can see, I did not have the work done at that time. Mr. Haschmann states the estimate on 8/28/04 says nothing about the wheel bearing. Why would it? Mr. Bounds refused do anything to the wheel bearing. The estimate proves I was at Monro Uniontown on 8/28/04. Why would I have a receipt 8/25/04 stating a loose wheel bearing and not present it to Monro on 8/28/04 as implied by Mr. Haschmann? I knew the part was under Monro's warranty. The more likely explanation is Monro will say anything to avoid full warranty obligations.
I have also enclosed a copy of an invoice from Max Muffler & Brake 11/8/05 once again indicating a faulty wheel bearing. They also state to compare the left to the right wheel bearing. The right bearing has over 80,000 miles and is rock solid. The left had about 40,000 miles and loose. What I cannot get Monro to understand is I am not asking them to replace a 2-year-old 40,000-mile wheel bearing. I am asking them to replace and 9 month 10,000 mile wheel bearing that should have been replaced under warranty 8/28/04 when I asked. (Actually I first tried to get Kevin Bounds to replace it on January 2nd 2004 when it was 1 month old and had less than 400 miles! This was due to the helicopter like clicking noise it was making. Once again Kevin insisted there was no problem)
Mr. Haschman stated they offered me a 50% discount on a new bearing. If you have done business with Monro as long as I, you would understand that this is an insult. They are actually trying to profit from their own mistake! Monro's invoicing has always been quite unclear. It is deliberatly designed so you can actually debate how much you really paid and for what. This is especially true when you have multiple services performed on the same invoice. It is full of over-priced line items combined with discounts and environmental/shop fees everywhere. This is so prices can be adjusted when they have a lifetime parts pay for labor warranty or when they offer coupons. I ask 50% off from what? The actual price or the over inflated pre-discount price, then remember to add the variable environmental fee?
As I have stated multiple times this is not fair because I followed Monro's policy and returned the part to them twice within the warranty period. One visit included documentation from an independent shop indicating the problem. My mistake was to put my trust in Monro in the first place. It is a hard truth to learn that Monro would actually fight a long time customer on this matter. They should correct their own mistake. It shows the company has no integrity, interest in keeping their customers or care about the safety of their customers. It goes against their doctrine. Only what you need done right the first time guaranteed. They really need to re-evaluate this claim.
Thank you
Robert
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
Keep calling Corporate
#3Consumer Comment
Sat, November 12, 2005
They did smoke you on the bearing. The full list price from NAPA is $295 for the hub assembly. You simply unbolt the assembly, and put the new one on. Takes less than an hour. I am sure they used some junk from Advance or the Zone however, so it should have been much cheaper. Do not go by what either of those two stores will sell you something for...all shops mark up the part. As you guessed, it is to pay for warranty repairs and shop expenses. Since they are not honoring their warranty, stay on Corporates back. If that fails you, call your state's consumer affairs department and file a complaint. Good Luck.