Went to Pepboys today to get four 10ply tires for my dodge 1500, after pricing several places pepboys appeared to be the best deal at $569.04. It turns out I could not have possibly been more wrong.
The manager; Mike, gave me a quote of $569.04 (without giving me details about what that included), and said I would get a free brake inspection, alignment check, and that a free warranty came with the tires. All great news! He said it would take at MOST an hour and a half.
I decided to hang out and watch the work being done. A young kid I believe named Karlo began the work. It took him twenty minutes to remove the first tire, and additional ten to twenty minutes to try and get the rim removed with the automatic machine. Finally he called over another attendant to help him get it removed. Then he began texting. I was getting frustrated at this point, since it had been nearly fourty-five minutes since the process began and he only had ONE tire removed. Another twenty minutes later he had put the new tire on the rim and loaded it onto the truck... only then did he realize he FORGOT to put pieces back on the rim.
At this point I was LIVID and called over Manager Mike, I asked him if Karlo had done this kind of work before. Manager Mike said "He just hasn't used this equipment." I said "So he's never done this work before?" Manager Mike said "No, not on this equipment." I said "What the hell, why did you give me a newbie? I don't want him working on my truck anymore." Manager Mike said "I'll go help him in a moment." Several minutes later, he emerged from the back room with a bowl of cereal, munching away as he leisurely strolled over to where Karlo was STILL struggling to get the first wheel mounted right. Manager Mike continued eating and did not help Karlo at ALL, instead he watched him struggle to get the second wheel off. I stood there staring in horror at the situation, finally after about five minutes, Manager Mike realized I was watching and put down the cereal and began helping. When he walked back into the office, I told him again that Karlo should NOT be touching my car, I wanted SOMEONE ELSE to finish the work.
FINALLY, another mechanic came over and began popping the tires off, and replacing them. It took him only twenty minutes, what took Karlo nearly two hours. Even with as quickly as the new man worked, I was still there nearly three hours. Finally when the truck was finished Manager Mike came back in. I told him that this was the WORST Pepboys experience I had ever had, and that although he had been nice to me it was clear that Karlo had no idea what he was doing and had no business working on a truck when he didn't know the equipment. Secondly I told Manager Mike that he was badly representing his company, as the way I was treated... a young woman with a truck... made it seem that his company put the 'newbie' on the woman's truck because it 'didn't matter'. Manager Mike said; 'It's alright!'
When I get in the car, already angry that Manager Mike did not even offer me an APOLOGY much less a discount off my purchase... did I realize that I got charged for a $57.12 warrant that he told me was FREE. Not only that but I was charged for wheel balancing... how was that not part of the package? He said everything was included. If I had known the warranty was extra I would have never purchased it.
Needless to say, a HORRENDOUS experience, I will NEVER be supporting Pepboys again as a customer AND as a woman. I urge other potential customers to stop and think before you patronize their store.
