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Complaint Details
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Initial Complaint
05/10/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Resolved
Meineke Car Care Center 2436 Gulf to Bay Blvd Clearwater, FL 33765 May 3, 2022 Took my 2017 Nissan Altima in for service. Spoke with Tyler at the location. Explained the brakes had been squealing loud recently and wanted them checked out, also asked for an AC check since the AC wasn't as cold recently, and oil change. Tyler called and said the squealing issue was from grooved rotors in the front and I needed to replace them to stop the squealing. I did this as he recommended (new pads and rotors in front) and the squealing was even worse afterwards, so problem not fixed. AC was also not cold after picking my car up. After returning to the store on, May 4, 2022, spoke with technician about brakes and AC still not working. Technician explained he had told Tyler that there was blockage with the AC system and just doing the AC recharge would not solve the issue. Tyler NEVER told me this information about the AC, he just charged me for a AC recharge that he knew wasn't going to solve our problem. When I tried asking questions he got upset and rude. I asked to see the paperwork before leaving the car and then again before paying and he refused. He wouldn't let me see anything until after payment. This is beyond shady dealings and ripping people off with services they don't need. I should not have to bring my car back to the shop when Tyler isn't there to find out the truth about my car. Today they replaced the rear pads under warranty since they were the issue with the squealing, not the front like Tyler told me. He lied about my AC concern and charged me for something that he knew wasn't the problem and then charged me for new rotors when that wasn't the problem either. I spent hundreds of dollars on items that did not fix my issues. Ive attached the receipt from the transaction with Tyler. I would like a billing adjustment since my concerns were not fixed and I was charged hundreds of dollars on items I did not need. Very shady business dealings.
Business response
05/27/2022
Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/05/17) */ This response was taken verbally by the BBB We have resolved this directly with the customer. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/05/24) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Received billing adjustment from businessInitial Complaint
04/04/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Product Issues
- Status:
- Answered
My son took his 2013 Chevy Cruz to the Mieneke Shop for a diagnostic and repair. He was told that the car need repair because of several things and maintenance. We paid for the repair to the tune of just under 1200 Hundred dollars and scheduled the maintenance for the following two weeks with a man named Hank. My son picked up the car after the repair and an oil change were allegedly finished. The following day I called Hank and explained that there was a burning smell and was told by Hank that the was the residual mess burning off and not to worry. I did this for three days in a row. Later that night my son's car broke down on a bridge with an overheated engine. I had it towed back to Hank and Mieneke. Hank called me in the am and said they were very busy, he would look at it on Monday. This was Friday morning last week. He called me back in 40 mins and asked me where we had the car serviced and the oil changed because the oil dipstick was missing and the engine seized. The gasket was blown and the car was not working ever again. I told Hank that he had done it at his shop four days ago. He was flabbergasted and stammering- I told him what do I do now and he said to call corporate. I called corporate and made a report and 48 hours later I was told to call the owner, but corporate would not give me the owner's number, they would reach out and have the owner contact me. It has been a week and no contact - no resolution. Please help- give me a direction to go in or a resolution of repairing the car. Thank you.Business response
05/26/2022
Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/04/14) */ Hi ******, as you know by now, by the time we received this notice you have already been well informed of the situation, but for public record I would like to shed some light on the events that took place in order to aid in understanding what exactly went wrong. Your son's vehicle was originally brought to our shop to diagnose a engine oil leak. We found a significant oil leak coming from the engine oil cooler and the valve cover. Keep in mind that when your engine is leaking oil it leaks oil and the oil runs down the engine and onto other components of the engine. It makes quite a mess, so anytime we are dealing with an engine oil leak we try and degrease and clean as much of the excess residual oil on the engine as we can during the repair. After the repairs were completed, the vehicle is test driven three times, two times by the mechanic that did the repair and once by the shop foreman to ensure the oil leak has been repaired and the vehicle is good to go. When the call was made to the shop regarding the burning smell, we advised the customer that is a very very common occurrence after that type of repair because of the degreaser and excess oil that had leaked onto the exhaust, thus burning smell can occur. Fast forward a few days later, the car is towed into our facility under a different name and a different phone number. Upon the initial inspection, the car overheated immediately and we noticed the car had zero coolant in the cooling system. Anytime we have a vehicle with no coolant, the first thing we do is try and find the leak. After pressure testing the cooling system, we immediately found the lower radiator hose was leaking coolant. As it has been explained to ******, when the vehicle started leaking coolant and the temperature gauge started to rise telling you that the engine is overheating. It is crucial to pull over immediately and stop driving the car in order to prevent damage to the engine. Sadly with this situation that was not the case. The vehicle was overheating and eventually lost all of its coolant and was continued to be driven anyway until it eventually shut down. This is a very expensive lesson to be learned. Overheating the engine is catastrophic. And unfortunately when you're dealing with a ten year old vehicle you have to be prepared for anything to possibly fail at anytime. A leaking radiator hose is an inexpensive repair as long as you watch the temperature gauge and not overheat the engine. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/04/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The car was brought to the shop for a full diagnostic. I was told that it was an oil leak. The repair was completed and an oil change was also added. The car was checked (collant included) and released. Two days later there is an issue with the engine overheating.The car was stopped immediately (on a bridge) towed from the bridge back to the shop with in 48 hours of the diagnostic and repair. I was asked where the car was serviced because of the lack of oil. The coolant was never mentioned nor was a leak discovered. The response from the business is the first I am hearing of the issue. This is unacceptable and the lies cover up the mistake made by the business. Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2022/04/29) */ ******, please believe we understand how frustrating and absolutely terrible this situation is. I wish there were other outcomes when this happens but unfortunately there isn't. There are no lies being told to you, that I can assure you. I urge you to just do a simple google search and you will see the severity of this issue. Please just search 'Chevy Cruze 2.0 Turbo Overheating / Recall' just use any combination of those words and you will see. You have to keep in mind, with the vehicle being a 4 cylinder and a turbo that engine runs on extremely high pressure which makes it much easier to damage the head gasket when over heated. Literally can happen in just seconds. Again I urge you to do some research online and you will see multiple recalls from Chevy specifically regarding the 2.0L Turbo Chevy Cruze, your exact year due to cooling system failure. And also there are several class action lawsuits filed under the 'Lemon Law" also concerning over heating and engine failure.
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