Brake repair service near Chevy Chase, MD

This review is specific to the Tune and Lube on Windsor Mill Road. In July 2010, they replaced my lower ball joint, and other related parts, at the cost of $550. January 2011, I noticed a noise coming from the front end, and returned to Tune for a diagnosis. Fortunately, the owner failed to remember me. The diagnosis was a problem with the same ball joint that was replaced in July. Once I reminded the owner of his work only 6 months earlier, and produced a receipt, he appeared stupefied. His proposal: Maybe he could "cut a deal on the part" (the part's cost was $67). Essentially, he proposed that I pay again for the same work performed 6 months earlier. To explain his decision, he cited legalities such as his 90-day warranty. Dismissed was the basic premise of customer service, which would impel a conscientious businessperson to correct work that was obviously faulty in some manner. He actuallly expected me to pay again for the same work he was responsible for completing just 6 months earlier.

Went in with a $9.99 coupon for an oil change. "John" said he had to check the computer to see if this coupon could be used. Told me that my 2004 Toyota required synthetic oil at a cost of $74.99. Even though my car has always used multigrade oil, he insisted that he had to follow his computer's instructions. Went home and checked my auto manual as well as with the mechanic who had done several prior oil changes; both sources indicate 5W-30 multigrade oil. NTB LIES with such ease it's scary! AVOID AT ALL COST!!!

I imagine you'll be hearing quite a few complaints about this location today, if it's not already a regular occurrence with this location. I waited about 30 minutes in the service area before anyone approached me and asked what I was there for, and this was after we had called the location multiple times earlier, but had been put on hold for 10-15 minutes each time before being cut off, and having to call back, just to be put on hold again. After receiving no answers or information on my vehicle for over an hour from Chris or Billy (apparently known as Will at this location), a young lady, Kelly, finally came in, clocked in, and started to clean up their mess. While Chris & Will attempted to keep an appropriate attitude with everyone, it was very clear that neither of those two employees should be doing what they're doing. Both of them kept answering the phone, saying the typical and I assume approved, "Thank you for trusting the boys, this is xxxxx, may I please put you on hold for a moment", and then letting the caller remain on hold until the phone system cut them off. Well, that's only partially true, they did that 75% of the time, the other 25% of the time, they just let the phone ring without answering it at all. When Chris finally found my paperwork and attempted to check me out, he told me the price was over double what we had been told it was going to be. I inquired why, but he didn't have an answer, just kept asking me who took in the call initially. As I was not the original caller (nor do I assume the majority of people remember who they spoke to on the phone), I finally pointed out that it says who took in the order on the top right hand of the order form. That seemed to come as a surprise to Chris, who then told me he was going to get that gentleman, Mike. Chris came back, said Mike was on his way over. So, I proceeded to wait for another 20 minutes until I finally discovered that Mike was behind the counter in the store and had no idea what I was talking about. Chris kind of just shrugged his shoulders at that, and that is when Kelly finally stepped in and said she would just take care of it. At this point, I'd like to remind you that Chris was having me pay the "wrong" amount, and was going to hand me the keys. Well, while Kelly was looking into why the price was over double the amount told to us originally, she found out that the WRONG TIRE had been installed on the car. We brought it in to replace one, single, individual tire with you because we have the warranty with you and tires we had just purchased recently. When Kelly then looked into how that had happened, all of sudden, we found out that Tina had been looking into it for about an hour, but hadn't said anything to me or had it fixed yet. I'll skip to two hours later, of course after being told it would only be a couple of minutes to replace the tire, when thanks to Kelly and a young technician, Dave, who came up and started helping customers on what I presume was his break, I finally paid the original quote and got the keys. Are you kidding me? At one point, I even had to interject myself into a conversation Chris & Will were having in front of us, while they ignored the phone ringing and the people walking in to the service center, about which one of them was going to take a smoke or lunch break at that point. That conversation lasted for over a minute before I finally said, or how about we answer the phone that's been ringing or help us? This location has gone well beyond losing my future business, both personally and professionally, and while I've had good experiences at other Pep Boys, if any of your stores are going to continue to employ people like Chris, Will, Tina, & Mike, who just constantly tell people they'll help them in just a minute, and then ask someone else to deal with it, I guess it's time for me to find another company completely for all of our future needs.