STS TIRE AND AUTO Ripped off 1400 Nazareth, Pennsylvania
I drove an 02' Kia rio. Not the most reliable car but it got me to work and back. I had a wheel bearing noise that I need to get taken care of. Took it to the Sts in Nazareth for them to look at it. Keep in mind that only a front drivers side was vibrating/making noise. They said I need all 4 new ones. Bull.
They did the work and when I went there to pick it up and saw they did stuff I didn't authorize. Trans fluid flush, brake fluid flush. So I reluctantly paid the 1376.71 bill and was on my way home. When I merged onto the highway, I heard a loud pop, followed by some screeching coming from the front drivers side tire. Drove it home and called them back and said they would tow it up there for a "second look." I decided to get my own second opinion.
Took it to the actual dealership to have an estimate done. It turns out they over-torqueded that wheel bearing an the axel and hub had to be replaced on that side. Another almost thousand dollars worth of work was needed after Sts performed 1400 worth of "work." called them and the manager went to the dealership where my car was at to confirm the damage. He offered to tow my car back up there and attempt to fix it again. I agreed, only because it was at no cost to me. They did the work and I got my car back. Drove to work that evening(about 25 miles from the shop). After work, got gas, was driving home and the same thing happened that did on the way home from the first visit to the shop, except on the front passenger wheel. Was just to about to be at home, so I lucked out in that aspect of it.
Called them the next day and let them know what happened, offered to have a "third look" at it. I declined, and let them know a stop payment was filed at the bank and they could talk to my lawyer if they wanted any other information. The complaint is still being pursued. 1400 in "work" done to my car actually caused more damage than what was there to begin with. I have second and soon to be third opinion. I should be alright.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Leonard
New Jersey,USA
STS Techs DO rip people off...
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, February 08, 2012
But... It's not their fault. It's the fault of store management and upper management. STS underpays their techs, plain and simple, and then they promise them the world with their 'commission program', but when the profitable jobs come into the shop, management just gives these jobs to the techs who are not on the commission program. The techs who ARE on the commission program are left with the unsavory choice of... ripping people off.
The district managers are all pitted against one another. This makes them push the store managers, who in turn push the techs. Management doesn't want to know what you are doing... If you get caught, they will try to help you out, if you are pulling in the 'numbers'; if you aren't, you get left out to 'flop in the wind'. If your numbers fall behind, you get reprimanded. This reprimand goes all the way up the food chain, from tech, to store manager, to district manager.
STS is starting to shy away from actually 'fixing' cars. They are moving towards just doing tires, alignments, and fluid maintenance. Those are the things that you can train a monkey to do. They don't want to pay their top techs top dollar, they want to hire kids out of school and pay them nothing to do tires, alignmenets, and fluid changes. With the new alignment machines, you don't even have to know anything about cars; the machine tells you exactly what to do!
I saw one guy get bounced around from shop to shop because he wasn't pulling in the numbers. Do you know what his problem was? He had integrity. He couldn't sell people oil flushes (which are useless!), or any other of the fluid services. He couldn't sell rotors and calipers on every brake job. He couldn't sell belts, tires, or cabin air filters on every oil change. He had integrity. He cared for his customers. That landed him onto the unemployment line when the big mass exodus happened in the fall of '09. Companies used the economy as an excuse to get rid of what they thought was the 'dead wood'. STS was on the crest of that trend.
Find yourself a local guy. Someone that you can trust. Stay away from the STSs of the world, the Pep Boys, the Sears, the Midases, the Goodyears, the Firestones. Sometimes the local guy can rip you off too. Hey, it's not a perfect world! But... the odds are better that you are being ripped off by the ones that I mentioned above! I worked at STS... for a long time. I got out, and I'm doing much better now!
Do your homework, ask around, check out this site, reasearch! You'll find the good guys, they're out there! Peace!