I got my brakes done at Pep Boys about a week ago. They seemed to have done a good job. I decided to take a trip to NJ at 7:30pm Tuesday night to pick up some rims about 2 hours away that I had won on E-bay. If any of you guys that live in the area remember, the weather Tuesday night was awful. Anyway, as I am getting close to Ocean Gate (where I picked up the rims) there was a noise that was getting louder and louder after every bump that I hit. It sounded like a bad wheel bearing at first but as I began to slow down the brake on the front driver side began to lock up and release continuously, kind of like ABS, except that there was a grinding noise with it. So, long story short, I had to get home and I was 2 hours away. I loaded up my rims and started driving very slowly. I got onto the parkway/turnpike and anytime that I had to brake I was bugging out! Under 30mph the wheel would lock up. So, at every toll booth I received some awkward stares. It turns out that Pep Boys forgot to put the bolt back into the caliper. In my eyes this seems like a major liability for them and I am going to get it fixed and demand all money back for the job, including parts ($290!). Is this unreasonable?

Absolutely not! They are lucky you're not the sueing type. I would not ask, I would demand my money back and make sure they all know how lucky they were nothing bad happened.

Now that I think about it, that may be letting them off too easy. I mean that is gross negligence.

Take pictures and maybe document the mistake before you let PepBoys fix their incompetent/negligent mistake.

Koz

I wouldn't let them touch my truck after that. I would go to the dealer and have it fixed and checked over thoroughly and send the bill to Pepboys as well as get a full refund. They're lucky it didn't cause an accident and injure anyone.

Better Yet!

Koz

The difficult part is proving that they are, in fact, at fault. Make sure you take as many pictures as possible. Document the hell out of everything. Make sure you have all your paperwork from Pep Boys & any other recent work you have had done.

As much as people here badmouth bringing your car to a dealership for service, I have never once had a problem like this happen to me. On the flip side, I always hear nightmares form places like Pep Boys, Jiffy Lube, etc.

Next time you hear noises like that ....don't keep driving !

so what your sayin is next time i need a brake job take it somewhere shady and after it falls off take it to my mechanic and get it all done for free? plus a couple hundred in my pocket, sounds like good advice to me

I wouldn't let pep boys change my oil, never mine work on the brakes.

YEP!!

I always had bad luck with pepboys. Don't use them anymore. They failed my state inspection and claimed I had multiple holes in my exhaust system which was going to cost about $700 to repair. If i didn't know my vehicle I would have agreed. I ended up taking it to midas and it passed with no problem. I wrote a letter to their headq and was able to get all my inspection fees refunded. I got the address from the web. Try doing this if the local manager gives you BS

No kiddin.....right up there with Canadian Tire and Wal Mart

perfectmax,

How did you make out?

Koz

Good luck getting ALL of your money back.
Unfotunately, the most they will probably offer you is the labor charge. You have all new parts on your vehicle and so they can say that - even if the parts were installed incorrectly - you still have new parts that you should be paying for....

A large company like PBoys might say "Here's my offer, take it or leave it", and when you don't take it and threaten a suit, they'll come back with "so take me to court then" because they know most people either a) don't follow through, or b) figure it wouldn't be worth the time/effort to recover $300, even for small claims court.


Just my $.02 from first hand experience in actually suing a company (BRAKE KING in Mass) over a botched brake job....

Dealerships are great but if you can find a honest good mechanic that's even better.
I have a Mitsubishi shop handle everything for my 4Runner and they use OEM parts and still undercut the dealership by almost 40%.

This is the same shop that sponsored my Eclipse at the dragstrip and have been great for over 7 years I've been associated with them and have never had a problem.