NEVER AGAIN.
I went…read moreto this store for a simple tire swap last Friday: my summer rims and tires for my winter rims and tires. Probably the most straightforward and simple thing to get done on a car at a shop. I left my car with them for about an hour, which isn't that long, and paid the $40(inc. tax) happily and was on my way, job satisfactorily done... or so I thought.
I didn't notice right away as I had the radio on, but as I left the next store on my trip, I noticed a vibrating, rubbing sound that was not there prior to my stop every time I applied my brakes froom about 30km/hr to 5km/hr. Unfortunately, it was late in the day and I had other things to attend to, as I no longer live in town and my time there is usually spoken for in advance. I resolved to take it back to have them look at it at the next available opportunity, which for me was Sunday afternoon.(Apparently this was a mistake.)
Sunday rolls around and I make it back to this location, and tell the service center of my woes. The staff was very polite and took my car in, claiming they would do what they could to right what had happened. The technician, after about another hour an a half of waiting, eventually called me to the desk, at which point they told me they could not hear any noise and wanted me to show them what I was talking about. I went with the technician on a drive around the parking lot so he could reach the speed necessary to make the noise, and he acknowledged hearing it. At this point he said it seemed to be a brake problem, and I'd likely have to do a brake inspection to further determine the problem. Now, I had gotten my brakes (pads and rotors) serviced within the past year and have not been putting the kind of mileage on my car to warrant another servicing so soon, so red flags started going up for me.
When we got back into the store, they put my car back up on the lift to have another look and the Service Manager(who did not identify himself as such at the time) came to talk to me. Without asking me what had happened, he advised me that he'd seen my car and that the tire swap had happened according to his specifications, and that there was no way possible that my issue had anything to do with the tire swap performed by his technician. I let him know that this could not be accurate, as the winter tires and rims had been on the vehicle before more than once and this is the first time I'd had an issue like this, which occurred right after his technician changed my tires.
At this point he became extremely defensive and hostile and began to tell me that if I wanted my brakes inspected that I'd have to pay the $29.99 for the inspection, and then for any repairs necessary to correct the issue. I replied that I have a serious issue with that, and asked how he knew his technician did the tire swap correctly, without damaging anything along the way? He replied evasively, saying there's any number of things that could go wrong with the brakes of a car and that he would not be giving me a free brake inspection just to determine his guy did nothing. I asked to see the manager, and he tells me he is the Service Manager, and didn't have time to argue with someone trying to get a free brake inspection. At this point, I, begrudgingly, accepted and asked him to do the inspection. He then asked me if I wanted a brake inspection or to find out what the noise was. I told him I wanted the noise fixed. He then tells me, "Well that's going to be $45 to find out what the noise is, not including any repairs." Unhappy with this, I again agree and tell him to go ahead, to which he replies "I can't do this now, the earliest I can get you in is tomorrow." At this point I was extremely fed up with the run around I received and asked him to just give me back my car. He walked away without another word.
I have to say that all the other staff in the building seemed a bit uncomfortable with the argument, as was I, but were extremely professional and as helpful as they could be. I have no idea how the service manager here got promoted to this position without learning how to deal with people properly. From my perspective, he was trying to get me to pay for a brake inspection the entire time he spoke to me, refused to believe that there was anything that his technician did wrong as well as to begin to find out what the problem was. He didn't even ask me what the story was. He came into the situation hostile and belligerent, and seemed to have no intention to actually help, only to get another sale out of me.
I have since consulted another mechanic, who informed me that it's very likely the technician banged one of the wheels on the brake shield as he was performing the swap. It is not critical damage but still, the principal of the issue, and the horrible customer service that will prevent me EVER patronizing their automotive service center again.
BEWARE!