Complaint Review: EconoLube And Tune (Meineke) - Olathe Kansas

On April 2nd, I took my mini van to Econo-Lube and Tune, at 135th and Blackbob, Olathe, KS. I dropped it off at 9 in the morning. I was told by the manager, named Ace, that they would call me back in an hour for an estimate to replace my brakes. They didn't really need to be replaced yet, but I thought that I would take care of it before summer traveling.

At 1pm, I finally called them back. They said that they could get it done by 2pm at a cost of $400 +/-. I told them that they could get on it, because I have to pick up my wife and kids from school at 3pm.

At about 3:30, the tech test drove my van. The tech drove the van through the big metal door of the garage, pushing a large tool chest out with it. The tech was about to drive the van into Blackbob. A couple of us tried to physically slow the van down. The tech steared it into a curb, threw the tranny into park and turned it off.

The manager ran out cursing. He questioned the tech about his work. He immediately got on the phone with his upper management and claims rep. He also took some pics of the damage. That was good. He then fired the tech on the spot. The tech was a bumbling older guy, who was nice, but not really with it. He kept misplacing things and shooting springs into the parking lot. He apologized. Ace apologized. I called the cops, filed a report and weighed my options with my insurance company.

Ace said that he was a master mechanic, and that he could fix the brakes. So, here it is closed to 5pm. My wife and kids have not been picked up. My van has been wrecked, but it is drivable. I had no choice than to let him have a whack at it. He got it done. He then told me that he would have to charge me the full price now, but that the company would refund my money later. He told me that their insurance company was very good, and since it was their fault, the damage would be covered too. There were two witnesses in the waiting room that heard Ace say that they would refund my money. Ace and his company deny that he said that, and refuse to do it. My wife and I have been calling Margeret, their claim rep, almost daily for the past month. She has been unwilling to return the call. We have contacted their insurance company. They have been helpful and much quicker to respond. They even said that Econolube needs to pay up, but that the insurance company can't make them. They thought that we were not been treated fairly as well.

It was the last week of May that I received payment for my totaled van. I have yet to see a penny from the company for my break job gone bad. Had it not been for their crappy people, training and work, this would not have happened. This has been a major inconvenience on me and my family. We had paid for mechanical work that we now will not benefit from. We made the mistake of keeping exceptional care of our van, so we didn't get as much as we wanted. The money won't buy anything close to what we have.

So, I am warning against going to Econo-Lube and Tune, Meineke (it's parent company), because they have substandard employees, perform substandard work, and do not do ALL of what they say that they will do. I will tell everyone I know that this place sucks!

BEH

Olathe, Kansas

U.S.A.