Our air conditioner was blowing warm air at the end of last summer. We took to Meineke, and they said the compressor was bad, so we paid over $1200 for a new unit with a full lifetime warranty. Nine months later, our air conditioner is doing the exact same thing. They refuse to fix it and are rude and condescending. When we asked to speak to whoever is over the local manager, he states, "I don't have a boss. You deal with me."
Took my car to Meineke to install a muffler that I brought to them. The quote was $250. They charged me $650. I felt bad for the guy, so I agreed to pay, on the condition they do a lifetime alignment. They did the alignment, and give the vehicle back. the vehicle now is worse than it was before the alignment.
I took it back to them to fix the original alignment, and they want to charge me for parts and a days labor to align the vehicle again. I dont mind paying for the shims, but why should I pay for them to do again what they did not do the first time?
This shop will quote you a low-low price to get you in the door. Once they have your car hostage they will charge whatever they want. I told them I wasn't going to pay again for an alignment that shold have been done right. Do not waste you time or money with these guys, they will rip you off and take your money. There are plenty of good quality muffler and service places in Katy that will charge you a fair price. do not goto Meineke near the Valero unless you want to give money for nothin'.
I have a car that needs catalytic to be replaced as a result of MIL P0420. The Mieneke owner told me that the Catalytic cost $600 and it will take hours to replace it. He quated me $1450 for this job.
I made a little research on the internet and found that a new catalytic converter for my car is cost $220 and it take 1 hour to replaced it. Magic Muffler in Norcross did the work for $330 and it takes less than 1/2 to be replaced.
Please be carefull from these crocks they will ripp you off.
I brought my pick up in for brakes. I was told it was the ABS brakes by another mechanic, but he was not able to do the job.... I took it to Meineke to have it looked at. Meineke said the same thing but they would be able to do it ..I was given the cost of $539 to repair it. The owner Bobby said that they would not do any work until approved by me. I said go head with the repair. they called later that day saying the supplier shipped the wrong part and it would be ready the following day. It is a second vehicle, so I said no problem. the next day they called to say it was ready. When I went to pick it up and pay the bill sky rocked to $954.00. They claimed it was more involved blah blah blah. I was not prepared for that bill. I would have waited to have it done but they just went ahead and did it. I will NEVER go there again. And the owner Bobby was just not professional at all.
I went to get my oil change and the mechanic refused to change my oil because my ABS light was on. I have had 4 oil changes all done at Meineke with the ABS light on and no one ever mentioned anything about not being able to perform an oil change.
In fact, the last time I went for an oil change, there were some issues with my front end that I got repaired in their shop ($1200) as well as an oil change but nothing was noted about my abs light. After I informed them of all this they still did do the oil change but said they will put a note on my file so that I have to get that fixed before my next oil change.
Why do they care if my ABS light is on? I went there for an oil change and that's it.
Had they asked me if I would have liked to get my brakes checked and to see what the error is with my ABS system I probably would have said yes but the way they go about to bully you and force you to get it fixed is not professional.
I emailed head office and this was their reply:
Thank you for contacting us at Meineke where our goal is to provide our customers with friendly, reliable and trustworthy service. We do sincerely apologize that your experience at our center did not meet these expectations and thank you for taking the time to alert us of your concerns. The Meineke shops are franchised locations so the owner's have the right to refuse or decline service at any time. I do apologize about your experience.
Bottom line they lost a customer by trying to force me to get something done on my car that I didn't care.
The technicians who were doing the oil change on my car lost the oil fill cap and when they said they fixed it I found a contraption made of metal, rtv, and a lid on the fill hole. I even took a photo of this.
My wife took our 2005 Toyota Camry here for a routine oil change, and was surprised when the tech said we had an oil leak. We just bought the car about 5 months ago so this was our second oil change. It has been a good car and we haven't had any problems with it. We never noticed any oil leaking, never smelled burning oil, and the oil light has never come on. In fact, less than a week earlier, we had taken the car from Louisville to Nashville and back. There were absolutely no indicators of an oil leak.
The tech took her back to show her the oil that was all over the engine. It was covered in oil -- splattered up on the underside of the hood (right above the oil cap) and all over the manifold. She didn't think about it at the time, but the oil was fresh -- definitely not oil that had been running through an engine for three months. The engine looked fairly clean except for the fresh oil -- There was no dirt and grime that would have certainly accumulated and attached itself to the oil if there had been an oil leak happening for a period of time. Since it was fresh, the oil had to have already been changed at this point. Furthermore, the car was in the garage for about 10-15 minutes before the tech came to speak with her -- sufficient time to change the oil, but too much time to not have already noticed the mess of oil that was all over.
The tech explained that the car was going to need about $500 worth of repairs. My wife immediately called me worried about the cost. I asked her to have them finish the oil change, but hold off on the repairs while I called my automotive friend at the car lot where we bought the car. My friend asked if we would bring the car by so he could look at it.
My wife drove the 15 miles from Meineke to the car lot. After looking at the car, he immediately told her that with as much oil as it was losing, that she would end up on the side of the road if she tried to take it home. He said that there is no way anyone could drive the car much more than a day without ending up on the side of the road.
But that wasn't all he said. Because of the pattern of oil on the top of the car above the oil cap and all over the top of the manifold, our automotive friend said, "I'm 100% certain that the car was started with the oil cap off." He explained that if it was just the manifold leaking, there is no way the oil would seep "up" to the top of the manifold and to the hood of the car.
The next day, after he replaced the valve cover set, he explained that he didn't like to accuse people of shoddy work, but this looked very suspicious. The valve cover gasket was split in half in a way that does not happen from normal usage. It almost looked as if someone had taken a screwdriver and wedged it up against it. He suggested that a possible scenario was that a rookie technician mistakenly left the cap off, started the car, and, in an effort to cover his mistake, wedged a screwdriver into the valve cover gasket.
That last bit is quite speculative. But what is not speculative is that my car was working fine before I took it to Meineke, and it was not after I left. There is no way we could have been driving around with that bad of a leak, and for three months up to that point, no one has been under the hood of that car except for Meineke.
Ironically, if the Meineke technician had come to my wife and told her, "I'm sorry. We made a mistake and we need to keep your car for a bit longer to fix it. Don't worry about the cost -- we made the mistake, it's on us..." I would probably be a Meineke customer for life. But don't expect to see me at Meineke after this.
I reported this to the management of the company and had someone call me back. Over the course of several phone calls, the gentleman and I spoke, but he didn't seem to be concerned about my car or the circumstances. The conclusion was that he supposedly reviewed the tapes of the incident and didn't notice anything unusual. So he wasn't going to give me my money back. Other than off-the-wall speculation, he couldn't explain why my car came to the shop without an oil leak and left with an oil leak. Nor could he explain how I was to trust his word that nothing happened against all of the evidence.
I set up an appointment online, suckered in by a flyer dropped at my door advertising a $19 oil change. When I got there they tried to turn it into a $50 oil change but backed off when I balked at that. When the change was done, they asked if they could check the "cabin filter" - I said OK, BIG mistake.
They came back with a blackened filter, enhanced with some leaves that they probably put on it (with 20-20 hindsight). I had no proof that this was taken from my car but I told them to replace it. The charge was $25 over the $19 oil change but I checked on the internet that this filter only costs $5.00!
That is a 400% markup. I paid the extra $20 because I was in a hurry but I will NEVER visit this establishment again.
I set up an appointment online, suckered in by a flyer dropped at my door advertising a $19 oil change. When I got there they tried to turn it into a $50 oil change but backed off when I balked at that. When the change was done, they asked if they could check the "cabin filter" - I said OK, BIG mistake.
They came back with a blackened filter, enhanced with some leaves that they probably put on it (with 20-20 hindsight). I had no proof that this was taken from my car but I told them to replace it. The charge was $25 over the $19 oil change but I checked on the internet that this filter only costs $5.00!
That is a 400% markup. I paid the extra $20 because I was in a hurry but I will NEVER visit this establishment again.
When in to get motor mount replaced. And ended up with idle issue.after car was done was thold they needed to test drive standard .so after test drive was told they needed to fix idle it was a lil high I said it was fine when I arrived he said yea I know don't worry.
After about 30min was asked if I could leave car there for a little longer because they were having problems locating the issue so I said fine how long . he said not sure we will call you in a couple of hrs to come pick it up.
Received call to get car when I arrived was told by manager Ozzy that they did what they could but can't figuar out the issue and was told I need to take to someone els with more knowledge about Hondas I ask who's going to pay for that extra expence he said let's find out what it is first if its something we did we will but if its something mechanical then it nothing we did .
It was to late to find anyone on sat. Let alone it was a holiday weekend so week end plans ruined. No car it was drivable but idle was way to high to feel as if it was safe.
Found a Honda mechanic at the cost of 80 dollars to look at car after about 20 min was called to car n was told the issue. It was the vacuum lines above the mount that was replaced were in the wrong order and were causing a constant vacuum on the idle regulator.
Called Meineke explains the issue to the manager Ozzy and told him him mechanic replaced them in wrong order after mount replacment. Only to be told I didn't see him do it so I can't say it was our fault and that he don't know what to tell me.
So I'm out the 100 dollars for the mouth that wasn't in right. Lost a holiday week end. And additional 80 dollars for another mechanic to put vacuum line back in correct order. No extra parts needed.
That's how I was ripped off by Meineke car care .what a joke of a place not one knowledgeable mechanic in the whole place ......
The technicians who were doing the oil change on my car lost the oil fill cap and when they said they fixed it I found a contraption made of metal, rtv, and a lid on the fill hole. I even took a photo of this.
I took my car for a simple oil change to Meineke on 48th and Spruce St in PHL. After it took way too long for the oil change to be completed and the manager was making sure everything was ok with the car I left with a bad feeling and thought I got ripped off. I went on a long trip and when I started the car about 3 weeks later the low oil light came on. Of course I replenished the oil but while driving the screw (which I would bet anything which was tightened by hands instead of with the correct tools) must have come undone and all the oil leaked out and the car immediately seized up. I contact Meineke and of course they stated they did nothing wrong when the first mechanic who looked at my car said this was negligencence and the screw was not tightened. Meineke is a company run by 'managers' who are not true mechanics and their customer service is less than zero. The response I received over the phone was beyone subpar and quite frankly rude. They do not care about your car or you at the location. DO NOT let them touch your car. I now have no option but to seek legal help.
Meineke Car Care Center Reviews
Our air conditioner was blowing warm air at the end of last summer. We took to Meineke, and they said the compressor was bad, so we paid over $1200 for a new unit with a full lifetime warranty. Nine months later, our air conditioner is doing the exact same thing. They refuse to fix it and are rude and condescending. When we asked to speak to whoever is over the local manager, he states, "I don't have a boss. You deal with me."
Took my car to Meineke to install a muffler that I brought to them. The quote was $250. They charged me $650. I felt bad for the guy, so I agreed to pay, on the condition they do a lifetime alignment. They did the alignment, and give the vehicle back. the vehicle now is worse than it was before the alignment.
I took it back to them to fix the original alignment, and they want to charge me for parts and a days labor to align the vehicle again. I dont mind paying for the shims, but why should I pay for them to do again what they did not do the first time?
This shop will quote you a low-low price to get you in the door. Once they have your car hostage they will charge whatever they want. I told them I wasn't going to pay again for an alignment that shold have been done right. Do not waste you time or money with these guys, they will rip you off and take your money. There are plenty of good quality muffler and service places in Katy that will charge you a fair price. do not goto Meineke near the Valero unless you want to give money for nothin'.
I have a car that needs catalytic to be replaced as a result of MIL P0420. The Mieneke owner told me that the Catalytic cost $600 and it will take hours to replace it. He quated me $1450 for this job.
I made a little research on the internet and found that a new catalytic converter for my car is cost $220 and it take 1 hour to replaced it. Magic Muffler in Norcross did the work for $330 and it takes less than 1/2 to be replaced.
Please be carefull from these crocks they will ripp you off.
I brought my pick up in for brakes. I was told it was the ABS brakes by another mechanic, but he was not able to do the job.... I took it to Meineke to have it looked at. Meineke said the same thing but they would be able to do it ..I was given the cost of $539 to repair it. The owner Bobby said that they would not do any work until approved by me. I said go head with the repair. they called later that day saying the supplier shipped the wrong part and it would be ready the following day. It is a second vehicle, so I said no problem. the next day they called to say it was ready. When I went to pick it up and pay the bill sky rocked to $954.00. They claimed it was more involved blah blah blah. I was not prepared for that bill. I would have waited to have it done but they just went ahead and did it. I will NEVER go there again. And the owner Bobby was just not professional at all.
I went to get my oil change and the mechanic refused to change my oil because my ABS light was on. I have had 4 oil changes all done at Meineke with the ABS light on and no one ever mentioned anything about not being able to perform an oil change.
In fact, the last time I went for an oil change, there were some issues with my front end that I got repaired in their shop ($1200) as well as an oil change but nothing was noted about my abs light. After I informed them of all this they still did do the oil change but said they will put a note on my file so that I have to get that fixed before my next oil change.
Why do they care if my ABS light is on? I went there for an oil change and that's it.
Had they asked me if I would have liked to get my brakes checked and to see what the error is with my ABS system I probably would have said yes but the way they go about to bully you and force you to get it fixed is not professional.
I emailed head office and this was their reply:
Thank you for contacting us at Meineke where our goal is to provide our customers with friendly, reliable and trustworthy service. We do sincerely apologize that your experience at our center did not meet these expectations and thank you for taking the time to alert us of your concerns. The Meineke shops are franchised locations so the owner's have the right to refuse or decline service at any time. I do apologize about your experience.
Bottom line they lost a customer by trying to force me to get something done on my car that I didn't care.
The technicians who were doing the oil change on my car lost the oil fill cap and when they said they fixed it I found a contraption made of metal, rtv, and a lid on the fill hole. I even took a photo of this.
My wife took our 2005 Toyota Camry here for a routine oil change, and was surprised when the tech said we had an oil leak. We just bought the car about 5 months ago so this was our second oil change. It has been a good car and we haven't had any problems with it. We never noticed any oil leaking, never smelled burning oil, and the oil light has never come on. In fact, less than a week earlier, we had taken the car from Louisville to Nashville and back. There were absolutely no indicators of an oil leak.
The tech took her back to show her the oil that was all over the engine. It was covered in oil -- splattered up on the underside of the hood (right above the oil cap) and all over the manifold. She didn't think about it at the time, but the oil was fresh -- definitely not oil that had been running through an engine for three months. The engine looked fairly clean except for the fresh oil -- There was no dirt and grime that would have certainly accumulated and attached itself to the oil if there had been an oil leak happening for a period of time. Since it was fresh, the oil had to have already been changed at this point. Furthermore, the car was in the garage for about 10-15 minutes before the tech came to speak with her -- sufficient time to change the oil, but too much time to not have already noticed the mess of oil that was all over.
The tech explained that the car was going to need about $500 worth of repairs. My wife immediately called me worried about the cost. I asked her to have them finish the oil change, but hold off on the repairs while I called my automotive friend at the car lot where we bought the car. My friend asked if we would bring the car by so he could look at it.
My wife drove the 15 miles from Meineke to the car lot. After looking at the car, he immediately told her that with as much oil as it was losing, that she would end up on the side of the road if she tried to take it home. He said that there is no way anyone could drive the car much more than a day without ending up on the side of the road.
But that wasn't all he said. Because of the pattern of oil on the top of the car above the oil cap and all over the top of the manifold, our automotive friend said, "I'm 100% certain that the car was started with the oil cap off." He explained that if it was just the manifold leaking, there is no way the oil would seep "up" to the top of the manifold and to the hood of the car.
The next day, after he replaced the valve cover set, he explained that he didn't like to accuse people of shoddy work, but this looked very suspicious. The valve cover gasket was split in half in a way that does not happen from normal usage. It almost looked as if someone had taken a screwdriver and wedged it up against it. He suggested that a possible scenario was that a rookie technician mistakenly left the cap off, started the car, and, in an effort to cover his mistake, wedged a screwdriver into the valve cover gasket.
That last bit is quite speculative. But what is not speculative is that my car was working fine before I took it to Meineke, and it was not after I left. There is no way we could have been driving around with that bad of a leak, and for three months up to that point, no one has been under the hood of that car except for Meineke.
Ironically, if the Meineke technician had come to my wife and told her, "I'm sorry. We made a mistake and we need to keep your car for a bit longer to fix it. Don't worry about the cost -- we made the mistake, it's on us..." I would probably be a Meineke customer for life. But don't expect to see me at Meineke after this.
I reported this to the management of the company and had someone call me back. Over the course of several phone calls, the gentleman and I spoke, but he didn't seem to be concerned about my car or the circumstances. The conclusion was that he supposedly reviewed the tapes of the incident and didn't notice anything unusual. So he wasn't going to give me my money back. Other than off-the-wall speculation, he couldn't explain why my car came to the shop without an oil leak and left with an oil leak. Nor could he explain how I was to trust his word that nothing happened against all of the evidence.
I set up an appointment online, suckered in by a flyer dropped at my door advertising a $19 oil change. When I got there they tried to turn it into a $50 oil change but backed off when I balked at that. When the change was done, they asked if they could check the "cabin filter" - I said OK, BIG mistake.
They came back with a blackened filter, enhanced with some leaves that they probably put on it (with 20-20 hindsight). I had no proof that this was taken from my car but I told them to replace it. The charge was $25 over the $19 oil change but I checked on the internet that this filter only costs $5.00!
That is a 400% markup. I paid the extra $20 because I was in a hurry but I will NEVER visit this establishment again.
I set up an appointment online, suckered in by a flyer dropped at my door advertising a $19 oil change. When I got there they tried to turn it into a $50 oil change but backed off when I balked at that. When the change was done, they asked if they could check the "cabin filter" - I said OK, BIG mistake.
They came back with a blackened filter, enhanced with some leaves that they probably put on it (with 20-20 hindsight). I had no proof that this was taken from my car but I told them to replace it. The charge was $25 over the $19 oil change but I checked on the internet that this filter only costs $5.00!
That is a 400% markup. I paid the extra $20 because I was in a hurry but I will NEVER visit this establishment again.
Lesson well learned.
When in to get motor mount replaced. And ended up with idle issue.after car was done was thold they needed to test drive standard .so after test drive was told they needed to fix idle it was a lil high I said it was fine when I arrived he said yea I know don't worry.
After about 30min was asked if I could leave car there for a little longer because they were having problems locating the issue so I said fine how long . he said not sure we will call you in a couple of hrs to come pick it up.
Received call to get car when I arrived was told by manager Ozzy that they did what they could but can't figuar out the issue and was told I need to take to someone els with more knowledge about Hondas I ask who's going to pay for that extra expence he said let's find out what it is first if its something we did we will but if its something mechanical then it nothing we did .
It was to late to find anyone on sat. Let alone it was a holiday weekend so week end plans ruined. No car it was drivable but idle was way to high to feel as if it was safe.
Found a Honda mechanic at the cost of 80 dollars to look at car after about 20 min was called to car n was told the issue. It was the vacuum lines above the mount that was replaced were in the wrong order and were causing a constant vacuum on the idle regulator.
Called Meineke explains the issue to the manager Ozzy and told him him mechanic replaced them in wrong order after mount replacment. Only to be told I didn't see him do it so I can't say it was our fault and that he don't know what to tell me.
So I'm out the 100 dollars for the mouth that wasn't in right. Lost a holiday week end. And additional 80 dollars for another mechanic to put vacuum line back in correct order. No extra parts needed.
That's how I was ripped off by Meineke car care .what a joke of a place not one knowledgeable mechanic in the whole place ......
The technicians who were doing the oil change on my car lost the oil fill cap and when they said they fixed it I found a contraption made of metal, rtv, and a lid on the fill hole. I even took a photo of this.
I took my car for a simple oil change to Meineke on 48th and Spruce St in PHL. After it took way too long for the oil change to be completed and the manager was making sure everything was ok with the car I left with a bad feeling and thought I got ripped off. I went on a long trip and when I started the car about 3 weeks later the low oil light came on. Of course I replenished the oil but while driving the screw (which I would bet anything which was tightened by hands instead of with the correct tools) must have come undone and all the oil leaked out and the car immediately seized up. I contact Meineke and of course they stated they did nothing wrong when the first mechanic who looked at my car said this was negligencence and the screw was not tightened. Meineke is a company run by 'managers' who are not true mechanics and their customer service is less than zero. The response I received over the phone was beyone subpar and quite frankly rude. They do not care about your car or you at the location. DO NOT let them touch your car. I now have no option but to seek legal help.