My boyfriend first brought his 1999 Grand Cherokee to Scott's one year ago to be serviced. They told him then, on top of the work they were doing, to consider getting his serpentine belt replaced because hot coolant had leaked onto the belt and weakened it. Since he had already spent money on other maintenance, he decided to hold off on the belt.
Last week he got his brakes fixed, and while he was paying for them, the guy at the front desk told him again he should consider getting the serpentine belt replaced because it was in bad condition and could break at any time. Another mechanic was in the lobby telling a woman she needed to get her serpentine belt replaced, and he came over to us and said, "I'll show you guys too." He brought over two belts, one in horrible condition with rubber ripped off the top and one that was in mediocre condition with a few large cracks in it. He told me the condition of my boyfriend's belt was between the two belts he was showing me and that in places, the rubber had ripped off the top. I asked him how long he thought we had before it broke, and he said it was impossible to tell.
We came back a few days later because my boyfriend was moving and wanted the belt replaced before his trip. They charged us $117.30. He said the belt itself, a Goodyear Gatorback belt, costs $70, and the labor costs $50. I asked to see the old belt after they put in a new one, and the mechanic showed it to me. At that point, he told me an entire row of rubber had been ripped off the belt's side. There were no cracks on the ridged side, and the rubber on the top was in perfect condition. There were surface-level grooves on the back. I took the belt to a mechanic at Tires Plus in Moline for a second opinion, and he said it appears to be in "good condition" and that no rubber had been ripped off the belt's side. I took it to Tom's Repair Shop in Wheaton and got a third opinion, a man named Dan, who also said that in his opinion, the belt did not need to be replaced.
When I came back to complain about the situation, the mechanic lied about lying and said he had no recollection of that interaction. I brought the belt with me, and again, he tried to convince me that the belt needed to be replaced because "it was loud, and you can see the grooves." That level of dishonesty is completely unethical. Then when I asked how much they paid for the belt, they said they couldn't release that information.
The owner of the business Scott called me after I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint, and he told me the belt needed to be replaced because antifreeze had leaked onto the belt a year ago and weakened it, which made more sense to me but didn't erase the fact that I was lied to multiple times. Scott told me the guy who had explained what was wrong with the belt wasn't a technician but more of a bridge between technicians and customers so customers could better understand what was wrong with their cars. But I don't know why he would hire a person that lies to customers so they understand better...that seems counterintuitive to me.
Overall, my experience with this business was not a positive one, but hopefully my case was an anomaly and this business does better by other people. read more