- Report: #206130
Complaint Review: Pepboys - North Little Rock Arkansas
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Pepboys
4228 East McCain Blvd North Little Rock, 72217 Arkansas, U.S.A.
Phone:
501-945-5050
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Pepboys refused service after having car for 11 days, now I have to pay to tow it home North Little Rock Arkansas
my story:
I had my 96 Plymouth Neon towed into PB on the first, so that they could run a diagnostic and tell me what was actually wrong with it.I was having many sensor failures, sputtering, and it was acting as if it was not getting gas all of the time.
I recieved my results in a reasonable amount of time, I was told that it was my main computer, and that the mechanic had discovered that it was sitting in "fluid" when he went to hook it up to the machine.
I asked, to make sure, "did you find ANYTHING else wrong, any other results or codes that I should worry about?" I was told "no, it is definatly your computer" Since I knew the cost of a new computer for my car, I was not terribly worried, and I was given a finish date of the 4th for the repair. I was not quoted an inflated price for the repair.
I explained that I was in a borrowed car that would have to be returned, and that if it looked like it was going to take longer, to please call me so that I could let them know, and confirmed that they had my phone number, and the estimate for all of the repairs and towing.
As of 5pm on the 4th, I had not yet heard from them, so I called to check on the progress. I was told that the part had come in, but that it was not the right part for my car (automatic instead of standard) and that they were ordering the part again and gave me a new finish date of the 8th
...plus another $50.00 on the estimate because the first quote was based on the price of the incorrect part. A little more than I thought the part should cost, and I was going to be out of a vehicle for another 3 days, but I was still ok, a little annoyed, but ok.
Again, I had to call them to check on the progress of my car as of the 8th. I was told that once again, they had been sent the wrong part. This time I was speaking to the manager, who had decided to "take over" my case.
The manager explained to me that my car was a rare model and that they just don't make parts for them anymore and that he was having a very hard time locating one. He told me that he was now calling salvage yards to see if he could find one that could be rebuilt, but that I should expect to wait at least another 2 weeks.
He, the manager, then suggested that I try to obtain said part on my own because he was not sure that he was going to be able to find one, and that I might have more luck. He said that if I could locate the part, he would still put it on for me for a very small labor fee.
At this time I was starting to lose confidence in them, but I figured that it wouldn't cost me anymore and I might get my car faster. Once again, I confirmed that there were no other codes or problems detected and that the computer would fix everything.
I called my first pick of local auto parts stores, and after telling them what I needed, I was asked if my car was at PB. I was then told (by the manager of the parts store) that he had spoken to the manager of PB "about a week ago" and told him that yes, he could get the part, but that it was a special order and that it would have to be paid for before he could order it.
At this point I was upset that I had been forced to wait an extra week for a part that could have been in my car much sooner. I called the PB manager back to question him about the situation and explained to him that I did tell him the day that I brought the car in, that I had to have the car fixed ASAP and that I felt he had wasted a valuable week of my time.
This is when he went on the defensive and said that he could not put a part in my car that I purchased and brought in (even though it was one of their vendors)and that I needed to let him handle it from here. He said that he would call me back after he talked to the parts store.
The 9th came and went with no call, and the parts store said that they had not been called either and that they still needed to be paid so that they could order the part. Afraid that more time was being wasted, and that PB was now ready to dump me, on the 10th I asked how difficult it would be to replace the computer. Knowing all of the other parts that I had successfully replaced already, the parts store manager said that he was sure that I could do it myself.
I decided that I would do just that, but I still had to get the old computer off of my car to avoid the core fee for the new one. I called PB and asked if they could remove the computer so that I could take it in and save the core fee. The manager seemed to have had a change of heart and offered again to removed the computer, take it to the parts store for me and still install my new one for me.
This is when I found out that the computer came to the parts store still wet. This sent up major red flags for me, because I did not think that the computer could have had a complete diagnostic if it was still sitting in "fluid".
At this point I decided that it might be a good idea to call corporate. Corporate told me to call the district manager, but gave me no number for him. The manager at the store side gave me a number for him and I called. I never got a response.
On the 11th, I called the 800 number again and told them the whole situation again, except that this time I was concerned because the part was in, and it was Friday, and I needed my car, and that I was having trust issues with the manager and that I still had a rather large bill due after 11 days and as of yet, nothing had been done to my car.
I specified that I had no problems paying for the towing or the removal of my part, but that i had questions about the diagnostic and would at the least, like to have another one done after the part was on just to make sure.
I get sent to another voice mail, and I get no return call. At 4pm, I decided that if I did not get an answer soon, I would have to wait till Monday, so I call the 800 number again and get told by the rep on the phone that the area supervisor said that I was to pick up my car THAT day, and that they would be doing no more work on it, and I didn't owe a bill. My satisfaction did not last long.
I went in, computer in hand, to get my car and go home and have this whole ordeal over with. This was slightly past 8pm. I get to my car and notice that the mounting bracket for the computer is not in my car. NOBODY seems to know what I'm talking about. NOBODY seems to have a way to contact the tech that removed the computer. NOBODY seems to have a working phone number for the manager.
At 9:30, they contacted the manager, who first told them that I was the one that removed the part....wrong
he then said that I should have ordered the bracket with my part...wrong again
he then told them that he didn't know where the part was, and to call him back if they don't find it
At 9:45 (they close at 9:00) they find my bracket buryed under a pile of crap on a cart in the back somewhere.
At this point, they leave me with a flashlight and wish me luck.
Within a few minutes, I have the new computer on (yes, I did disconnect the battery COMPLETELY before I put it in) and I tried to start it......there was absolutely no change and the new computer now has the exact same codes registered on it as the old one. I have been informed that it would be extremely unlikely that it was a bad computer, or that I put it in incorrectly, if it was giving the same 2 codes as before, but nothing new.
Today, the 14th, I again try to call corporate with no luck, and then I call a friend to vent. This friend had decided to go to PB to get the scoop from them on what happened, since she thought it was odd that any corporate office would not seem to be too concerned with resolving a customer's issues.
Their story:
the same until you get to the 8th, when the manager told me that he was trying his best to get me a computer, but that he felt the price was too high for the one he found and that if I give him another 24 hours he will try to locate a cheaper one.
I then (magically) found out the cell-phone number of the district manager and called him to repeatedly harrass him while he was on vacation.
Soon after, I stormed into the shop and screamed obscenities at them and ordered them to not touch my car and demanded that they give me my keys so that I could take my car home.
I then went outside and proceded to remove my own computer,this is when the manager had to call the district manager and ask what he should do because I still owed a bill for services that they had performed and was becoming threatening towards them and refused to pay the bill and they were afraid that they were going to have to call the police for their own protection.
This is when the district manager told them to give me my keys and ask me to leave and never come back, because my business was not welcomed there.
All of this was decided without any member of upper management speaking to me, and now I have wasted 14 days and almost $400.00, not to mention the extra gas money from having to drive a borrowed gas hog for the time they kept me hanging. Andat this point, I feel that I may never get a chance to speak to anyone, or tell my side of the story, in order to protect the next woman that they try to decieve and possibly rip off.
Tiphani
North Little Rock, Arkansas
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on PepBoys
I had my 96 Plymouth Neon towed into PB on the first, so that they could run a diagnostic and tell me what was actually wrong with it.I was having many sensor failures, sputtering, and it was acting as if it was not getting gas all of the time.
I recieved my results in a reasonable amount of time, I was told that it was my main computer, and that the mechanic had discovered that it was sitting in "fluid" when he went to hook it up to the machine.
I asked, to make sure, "did you find ANYTHING else wrong, any other results or codes that I should worry about?" I was told "no, it is definatly your computer" Since I knew the cost of a new computer for my car, I was not terribly worried, and I was given a finish date of the 4th for the repair. I was not quoted an inflated price for the repair.
I explained that I was in a borrowed car that would have to be returned, and that if it looked like it was going to take longer, to please call me so that I could let them know, and confirmed that they had my phone number, and the estimate for all of the repairs and towing.
As of 5pm on the 4th, I had not yet heard from them, so I called to check on the progress. I was told that the part had come in, but that it was not the right part for my car (automatic instead of standard) and that they were ordering the part again and gave me a new finish date of the 8th
...plus another $50.00 on the estimate because the first quote was based on the price of the incorrect part. A little more than I thought the part should cost, and I was going to be out of a vehicle for another 3 days, but I was still ok, a little annoyed, but ok.
Again, I had to call them to check on the progress of my car as of the 8th. I was told that once again, they had been sent the wrong part. This time I was speaking to the manager, who had decided to "take over" my case.
The manager explained to me that my car was a rare model and that they just don't make parts for them anymore and that he was having a very hard time locating one. He told me that he was now calling salvage yards to see if he could find one that could be rebuilt, but that I should expect to wait at least another 2 weeks.
He, the manager, then suggested that I try to obtain said part on my own because he was not sure that he was going to be able to find one, and that I might have more luck. He said that if I could locate the part, he would still put it on for me for a very small labor fee.
At this time I was starting to lose confidence in them, but I figured that it wouldn't cost me anymore and I might get my car faster. Once again, I confirmed that there were no other codes or problems detected and that the computer would fix everything.
I called my first pick of local auto parts stores, and after telling them what I needed, I was asked if my car was at PB. I was then told (by the manager of the parts store) that he had spoken to the manager of PB "about a week ago" and told him that yes, he could get the part, but that it was a special order and that it would have to be paid for before he could order it.
At this point I was upset that I had been forced to wait an extra week for a part that could have been in my car much sooner. I called the PB manager back to question him about the situation and explained to him that I did tell him the day that I brought the car in, that I had to have the car fixed ASAP and that I felt he had wasted a valuable week of my time.
This is when he went on the defensive and said that he could not put a part in my car that I purchased and brought in (even though it was one of their vendors)and that I needed to let him handle it from here. He said that he would call me back after he talked to the parts store.
The 9th came and went with no call, and the parts store said that they had not been called either and that they still needed to be paid so that they could order the part. Afraid that more time was being wasted, and that PB was now ready to dump me, on the 10th I asked how difficult it would be to replace the computer. Knowing all of the other parts that I had successfully replaced already, the parts store manager said that he was sure that I could do it myself.
I decided that I would do just that, but I still had to get the old computer off of my car to avoid the core fee for the new one. I called PB and asked if they could remove the computer so that I could take it in and save the core fee. The manager seemed to have had a change of heart and offered again to removed the computer, take it to the parts store for me and still install my new one for me.
This is when I found out that the computer came to the parts store still wet. This sent up major red flags for me, because I did not think that the computer could have had a complete diagnostic if it was still sitting in "fluid".
At this point I decided that it might be a good idea to call corporate. Corporate told me to call the district manager, but gave me no number for him. The manager at the store side gave me a number for him and I called. I never got a response.
On the 11th, I called the 800 number again and told them the whole situation again, except that this time I was concerned because the part was in, and it was Friday, and I needed my car, and that I was having trust issues with the manager and that I still had a rather large bill due after 11 days and as of yet, nothing had been done to my car.
I specified that I had no problems paying for the towing or the removal of my part, but that i had questions about the diagnostic and would at the least, like to have another one done after the part was on just to make sure.
I get sent to another voice mail, and I get no return call. At 4pm, I decided that if I did not get an answer soon, I would have to wait till Monday, so I call the 800 number again and get told by the rep on the phone that the area supervisor said that I was to pick up my car THAT day, and that they would be doing no more work on it, and I didn't owe a bill. My satisfaction did not last long.
I went in, computer in hand, to get my car and go home and have this whole ordeal over with. This was slightly past 8pm. I get to my car and notice that the mounting bracket for the computer is not in my car. NOBODY seems to know what I'm talking about. NOBODY seems to have a way to contact the tech that removed the computer. NOBODY seems to have a working phone number for the manager.
At 9:30, they contacted the manager, who first told them that I was the one that removed the part....wrong
he then said that I should have ordered the bracket with my part...wrong again
he then told them that he didn't know where the part was, and to call him back if they don't find it
At 9:45 (they close at 9:00) they find my bracket buryed under a pile of crap on a cart in the back somewhere.
At this point, they leave me with a flashlight and wish me luck.
Within a few minutes, I have the new computer on (yes, I did disconnect the battery COMPLETELY before I put it in) and I tried to start it......there was absolutely no change and the new computer now has the exact same codes registered on it as the old one. I have been informed that it would be extremely unlikely that it was a bad computer, or that I put it in incorrectly, if it was giving the same 2 codes as before, but nothing new.
Today, the 14th, I again try to call corporate with no luck, and then I call a friend to vent. This friend had decided to go to PB to get the scoop from them on what happened, since she thought it was odd that any corporate office would not seem to be too concerned with resolving a customer's issues.
Their story:
the same until you get to the 8th, when the manager told me that he was trying his best to get me a computer, but that he felt the price was too high for the one he found and that if I give him another 24 hours he will try to locate a cheaper one.
I then (magically) found out the cell-phone number of the district manager and called him to repeatedly harrass him while he was on vacation.
Soon after, I stormed into the shop and screamed obscenities at them and ordered them to not touch my car and demanded that they give me my keys so that I could take my car home.
I then went outside and proceded to remove my own computer,this is when the manager had to call the district manager and ask what he should do because I still owed a bill for services that they had performed and was becoming threatening towards them and refused to pay the bill and they were afraid that they were going to have to call the police for their own protection.
This is when the district manager told them to give me my keys and ask me to leave and never come back, because my business was not welcomed there.
All of this was decided without any member of upper management speaking to me, and now I have wasted 14 days and almost $400.00, not to mention the extra gas money from having to drive a borrowed gas hog for the time they kept me hanging. Andat this point, I feel that I may never get a chance to speak to anyone, or tell my side of the story, in order to protect the next woman that they try to decieve and possibly rip off.
Tiphani
North Little Rock, Arkansas
U.S.A.
Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on PepBoys
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Tiphani
North Little Rock,Arkansas,
U.S.A.
a little more info on the car
#2Author of original report
Tue, August 15, 2006
While Neons are not uncommon at all, the 96 Neons can be tricky. It was an odd year for Neons with three differnt makes, each with 3 different models, about half of each made in Mexico and standards not being in the majority, each of the factors can change many of the parts you need. I would not call it a "rare" car, just that you have to be careful to make sure you match all of the variants, which they failed to do twice. The ECM on a most neons were placed, by sheer brilliance, under the windshield washer fluid fill spout.....whether or not fluid was actually spilled there when I took it in will forever be a mystery, since I did not think to look for that before I took it in, and the spout has to be removed in order to get to the part in question. I've had this car for a long time, and we have been through many repairs together, and thank goodness they are fairly cheap and easy to work on and that my little female brain is able to figure it out most of the time....yet it still amazes me how many times I have been faced with a mechanic that tried to cheat me because he thought that I wouldn't know any better. Yes I have learned a lesson. I went to PB, not because they were cheap (because their diagnostic was the same price as everyone else in town) but because I thought that a corporation would be less likely to try to cheat me than an individual that does not have to answer to anyone.......I was so very wrong, it only gave them more mouths to lie with.
Robert
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
More fun at The Boyzzzzzzz.
#3Consumer Comment
Tue, August 15, 2006
A "rare" Neon? That's a good one. The ECM is easily available anywhere, unless the car is a "California" model. In that case, you may have to send the original ECM away to have it remanufactured. You can always buy one from a Dodge dealer. They keep them in stock, no matter what version you have. I question the "fluid" issue. What type of fluid? Where did this "fluid" come from. Was this car in a flood? You may want to find out if you bought it recently. You just found out the CHEAP place isn't the GOOD place, for getting repair work done.
Robert
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
More fun at The Boyzzzzzzz.
#4Consumer Comment
Tue, August 15, 2006
A "rare" Neon? That's a good one. The ECM is easily available anywhere, unless the car is a "California" model. In that case, you may have to send the original ECM away to have it remanufactured. You can always buy one from a Dodge dealer. They keep them in stock, no matter what version you have. I question the "fluid" issue. What type of fluid? Where did this "fluid" come from. Was this car in a flood? You may want to find out if you bought it recently. You just found out the CHEAP place isn't the GOOD place, for getting repair work done.
