Hub Starters are liars and thieves. They up-charge for work they never do. They robbed me for…read morealmost $1,000.
Before you think that Hub Starters might not likely be doing the same to you if they haven't already, taking advantage of honest, hard-working people who (they think) don't know anything about their car or engine, ask yourself this: must you always drop your car off to be serviced for an extended period of time? Do they give you a hard time about sitting and waiting for the work to be done? If so, when you pick it up, have them point out to you what work was done. Take pictures before, and take pictures after. Make sure that the work is actually being done.
I am a full-time college student and a single female. I am new to the area. I have recently had to start my life over from scratch. I don't have family or friends here. I work for the City and moved here for work.
A little over a year ago I found and bought my car. It is a 2004 Ford Taurus. It is my only asset.
As much of the work that my car needs done that I am able or capable to do, I do it.
My friend and I attempted to to do a tuneup. We did alright, but unfortunately we were only able to change the front three spark plugs and wires on the engine. We couldn't finish it and do the back three, because generally one must take the manifold off. (Alternatively, one might access it from underneath with the use of a lift kit. This I don't have.)
Since moving here to Malden, I have had my car serviced at Hub Starters. I was referred by a coworker and someone whom I had thought was a friend. I needed the break pads replaced. While I was waiting for the break pads to be done, I spoke with the owner about some other work I needed done. In particular, I told him that I needed the tune up finished - the back three spark plugs. He told me that they wouldn't have time to do it that day due to the fact that the manifold would need to be taken off and that it would take some time, but we made tentative future plans for me to bring it back to have it done.
Fast forward - while at work at my other job one day, my car wouldn't start. I thought it was the starter. I rented a car on my lunch break, expecting to have to have the car towed into Hub Starters for further repairs.
When AAA showed up, the service agent was able to jump my car off of the jump kit. It wasn't the starter, it was the battery, he said. He could have replaced my battery right there, without charging me a thing that day. Hell, I could have changed my own battery.
Instead, I asked him to tow the car to Hub Starters. I would get the work done that I had been putting off and desperately needed - primarily the back three spark plugs and wires on the engine
At the end of the day, Hub Starters charged me just under half a grand. This was to change the battery, replace the drivers side mirror I had broken, but mostly, to complete the pain-in-the-butt tune up I needed so badly.
I picked up my car and drove off, and didn't think twice about it.
Until my car started intermittently stalling.
Then, one day, I popped the hood, and lo and behold - the same old spark plugs and wires. Hub Starters charged me a small fortune for work they never did.
I went to Hub Starters to straighten it out. Surely this was an oversight. No way did they intentionally charge me almost $1,000 for work they never did. The battery and the mirror, I could have fixed that myself.
I popped the hood to show the owner. The first thing he said was, "these are new wires," fingering the back plugs' wires. Until I pulled out the old matching front wires we had changed, still stored in my trunk.
So then he says, "hold on, give me a minute, I'll figure this out." He goes into the shop for a few minutes and then comes back.
He has my receipt in his hand, and he tells me, "we charged you for three spark plugs. We didn't charge you for the wires. You didn't ask us to change the wires."
I'm floored already. Who ever heard of anyone changing the spark plugs but reusing the old wires?
"So you changed the spark plugs but not the wires?"
"Yes," he says. I'm about to pop the wire off one of the back plugs to see if they were new plugs.
"We changed these ones," he tells me, pointing to the three front spark plugs. The plugs I had already just changed. The plugs that were brand new.
"Why would you do that?" I asked him.
He said, "because we ran a diagnostic and the machine told us that was where it was misfiring."
I didn't need a diagnostic. I needed the three spark plugs on the back of my engine changed.
Hub Starters ripped me off and stole almost $1,000 from me, and I still need the work done.
Hub Starters, my Cash App is $LittleHypocritic, if you want to return the money you stole.
