I brought my car in for an inspection and failed for the drive belts. I saw them, they did have cracks so i said change them. When it was done I saw the bill. My car requires 3 belts. 2 belts were 65.99 EACH and 1 belt was 52.99. A grand total of 184.97 for drive belts! I looked around for the price of these drive belts online, the most expensive one i could find was 17.99 same brand. I then called Midas to find out who their supplier was to find out the actual cost of the belts, but they told me they are not sure about which one they get the belt from and just gave me the number to a supplier who i called and found out he doesn't sell those belts to them.
I went back to see the manager to discuss the bill and prices. I realize he doesn't make the prices, but its the first person you have to bring these matters to when you have an issue. He is good at his job, first telling me that i agreed to the work and paid for it, then after pressing him for any more information on anything i can do, he said i could get an estimate from another place that shows the price of the belts for a price match.
So i call another Midas, I figured stay with the same company so all policies/gurantees are comparable only parts prices would possibly be different, it was 45 mins north of where i live and got an estimate and brought it in, by this point he relays a message that he will meet with me outside. I imagine this is so the the other customers aren't effected by overhearing what i am going through. By the way i am a military service member in uniform, so i was in no way losing my bearing under the situation. I understand that this is a process and as with most complaints it will take a while before you get anywhere with it. The manager looked over my estimates and noted that the only difference was the price of the belts at about 100 dollars cheaper at the other Midas, which also offers lifetime warranties. He then gave me a fax number to send the estimates too, turned out to be a land line and not a fax number, i called and got the right fax number, then faxed the estimates. after a week and not hearing anything i called to make sure the fax went through and speak with Chris, the person i addressed the fax to, that's when a very nice woman told me she can not find the fax at the moment and i agreed to just send a new one. a couple of more weeks go by and no word yet, I tried calling the number again and no one is picking up.
This has been going on for a month since I had the service done and I am at the point where I am going to try to contact Midas corporate, I think this location should possibly be investigated for price gouging. I realize the prices are marked up for the convenience of having the work done on the spot, but 66 dollars for one drive belt for a 2000 Honda is outrageous, i called the Honda dealership and even they said it cost 17.80 for an oem belt. I wanted to speak with someone from this newburgh repair facility to give them a chance to investigate the prices themselves, maybe its a computer error, but after hitting a brick wall with the phone number i faxed twice and called at least 5 times afterwards without any answers, I believe they are expecting me to go away, so i am going to post my experience online to warn others.
In conclusion, I do not recommend getting any actual repairs done her outside of an oil change. Even windshield wipers will cost 30 dollars a piece. If you do have any work suggested by them, ask for a printed estimate and pay close attention to the pricing on your parts. read more