Jiffy Lube My A$$

[smoseley]

At least, that's what Andy, the manager of Jiffy Lube Store #391 in Miami tried to do, so he could bend me over and stick me with a big bill full of extras.

I took my VehiCROSS in this morning on my way to work, cause I didn't have time to change my oil this weekend. I was planning to do my oil and PCV valve, but ran out of time, so just did my PCV and left the oil for another day. This morning, I decided that I'd be really busy this week, and wouldn't have a chance to do it... so that leaves Jiffy Lube.

Here's what they did:

1. They tried to sell me the Penzoil synthetic for an extra $20, but Penz synthetic is group 3 stock, iirc, so I was like "no way, give me regular oil".
   
   
2. Then, they tried to tell me that I should change my air filter. But I am running a CAI with a wire mesh filter. So I laughed and wisened them up to the fact.
   
   
3. THEN, the manager comes running into the office, while they're filling up the oil, and tells me, "Hey, look, here's your PCV valve, you should replace it." I took it from him, and walked over to my SUV to make sure it was mine, then rattled it, and told him, "I put this PCV valve in LAST NIGHT. Check it, it's fine." He gave it to the tech and walked away. He knew he was busted.
   
   
4. FINALLY, 15 minutes later, the guy has the balls to try to charge me over $50, saying I opted for synthetic "blend" oil. I was livid. I refused to pay the upcharge. He said he couldn't give me the synthetic blend at regular price. I told him that I asked for regular oil. So he offered me either a $7 discount or to drain my car and use regular oil. I'm not waiting again. I took the discount
   
   Then, I left, called up Jiffy Lube corporate, and got them to refund me the difference, and also filed a complaint.

I am NEVER going to Jiffy Lube again! If I can't find the time to do it myself, it's a regular garage for me..

[Surferjer]

Thanks for sharing your story. Bastards! I change my own generally speaking, but I'll make sure to stay away from Jiffy Lube. Another one to be careful of is Midas Mufflers, who incorrectly re-assembled my brakes and damn near killed me many years ago.

[TTP]

Haha. (not making of your situation). I had a similar experience. I didn't want the hassle of changing the oil on my daily driver so I went into J-Lube for the cheapo $19.99 oil change. Little did they know that this is my cheapo-I don't care what oil is in it-run it into the gound-I don't care what happens to it VW. I just need to run. So I got a similar upsell routine. LOL Bastages. What a hassle.

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Surferjer

Thanks for sharing your story. Bastards! I change my own generally speaking, but I'll make sure to stay away from Jiffy Lube. Another one to be careful of is Midas Mufflers, who incorrectly re-assembled my brakes and damn near killed me many years ago.

Funny you mention them. I had a brake job by Midas many years ago, and they only finger tightened my lugnuts. I was driving home and the wheel fell off. I recovered all 5 lugnuts and only ~ 1/4 inch was stripped.

[codymac]

Well... the thread title made me laugh.

Similar experiences all the time as I can hardly be bothered to change the oil myself on my beater (though that's about to change). The best was them putting the wrong weight oil in the gearbox and me calling them on it.

[zOOmz]

In defense of Jiffy Lube, they are not all like that. Each one is different. It depends on who is managing the franchise. I have gone to maybe 10+ different Jiffy Lubes in Florida and SoCal, have had mostly good experiences, The one I went to in Florida, the guys doing the work discovered something wrong and alerted me to it (not something they could work on) and it saved my Turbo from damage. It happened again in SD. I also ran into some bad Jiffy Lubes, I just stay away from those locations. My concern when I get an oil change is always that I wonder if they put regular oil in instead of full synthetic. I have a really sensitive sense of smell, I can tell the difference. Toyota tried to slip me the regular and charge me for synthetic. I made them change it. I went back to Jiffy Lube where I could actually watch what they were putting in my car.

Sorry you had the bad experience, Steve.

[JWC]

They told me my rear differential needed new fluid with my mileage. It was a Honda Civic.

[Surferjer]

They told me my rear differential needed new fluid with my mileage. It was a Honda Civic.

[nas213]

I went to a Jiffy Lube once and never will again. I took my own oil and filter with me and told them that I simply wanted an oil change and not to touch anything else. I had to physically threaten them to make them leave everything alone. They wanted to check every fluid, change the air filter etc. I thought I was going to have to kick the one of the grease monkeys a$$'s when he tried to wash my windshield with from a bucket of water with a oily layer floating on top.

[JWC]

Part II - Now that I'm thinking about it, I remembered that I drove home leaving a trail of oil the whole way (from the improperly installed oil filter). I noticed it when I got home and saw the nice little line going all the way down the block and the oil light came on just as I hit the incline of the driveway. They denied that it could have caused any problems "because Honda lights come on WAY before damage is done".

[sonza68]

A friend of mine had his oil changed at a Jiffy Lube and on his way home noticed the oil light was on. He stopped and checked the oil level. It was empty. They had sent him on his way without putting new oil in the car.

[FlyLo]

Then, I left, called up Jiffy Lube corporate, and got them to refund me the difference, and also filed a complaint.

With a brand like that, I can see why you'd want to avoid all Jiffy Lubes.

They wanted to check every fluid, change the air filter etc.

Damn them!

Do you guys get angry when someone asks if you'd like fries with that?

My local Jiffy Lube is very respectful, helpful and fully capable of recognizing the K&N filter on my truck. Maybe you guys just live in a crappy neighborhood. :-p

[JnC]

Try Grease Monkey instead. (Be sure to ask for the head Chimp.)

[nas213]

Originally Posted by FlyLo

With a brand like that, I can see why you'd want to avoid all Jiffy Lubes.



Damn them!

Do you guys get angry when someone asks if you'd like fries with that?

I would not have been upset about them checking other things had I not explicitly asked them not to before hand.

[Beanie]

I go to Jiffy Lube and they do fine. It was funny to see them open the frunk (what we call the front trunk on MR2s), thinking that the engine would be up there.

They know my car by now and how particular I am. Now before I get flamed for not changing my own oil, let me just say that I watch what they do, ask them to measure the amount of oil that came out, and watch them like a hawk. And it is necessary to have the car level with the MWR pan, otherwise there will be some dirty oil left in it. You can't just raise the rear end and there is not enough room to do it in the driveway. But that's my car, not an Elise. YMMV.

The last time I went there, I showed the guy who usually changes the oil the new 2ZZ-GE painted red, 6-speed, MWR oilpan, and custom header, intake, and exhaust. He pretty much wet himself. Just tell them very specifically what you want. All I ever have them do is change the oil and filter.

[BrianK]

Originally Posted by SAElise

Funny you mention them. I had a brake job by Midas many years ago, and they only finger tightened my lugnuts. I was driving home and the wheel fell off. I recovered all 5 lugnuts and only ~ 1/4 inch was stripped.

This same thing happened to me at a Midas... I didn't notice at the time (obviously) until I drove away - my steering wheel was vibrating really bad, so I brought it back. as they pulled it into their garage, the wheel fell off & dented the front quarter panel. They tried to blame it on another shop & denied paying for it. We had to get lawyers invovled. They did end up paying for it in the end, but what a hassle.

That was the last time I went to a Midas.

[jac]

Ahh man I got the same treatment down here with a bathtub refinishing guy. They are a reputable company that my friend uses and they re epoxy the tub instead of adding plastic over your old tub. He asks me if he should replace the fixtures for $150. I was planning on polishing them myself but I figured it wasn't a bad idea since i am getting 4k per month rental. So he comes in today and says the foot valve connections are bad. Now don't get me wrong he didn't charge me the 150 for new fixtures and he left them here. But he did dump the old hardware so I need to jury-rig new stuff myself. Plus if I just left the original stuff alone I wouldn't be in this mess.


Screw the up-sell it gets you every time even if they mean well.

[smoseley]

Originally Posted by FlyLo

With a brand like that, I can see why you'd want to avoid all Jiffy Lubes.

Sarcasm aside, you're exactly right. One should not have to call corporate to resolve a dispute at a branch. The manager was condescending and rude. I will not give my business to a company that staffs such individuals. Furthermore, I suspect that upcharging is unofficial company policy. The CSR I spoke to didn't sound surprised about it.

[Lotus Fury]

Oh. The title of this thread is rather misleading.

[NMRJock]

My experience with all quick-change places has been that they all way over-push the up-sell. I sent my wife to a Valvoline with our '02 Exploder when I was extremely busy and it needed changed. I was very specific in telling her exactly what she wanted and what NOT to get. They tried to replace our new K&N air filter, they wanted to flush and fill our (service free for 100k mile) transmission fluid, etc. etc. Even with my instructions they still managed to make it a $70 oil change and my wife was panicked about the huge list of things 'wrong' with her car.

I find tire places to be the same. My wife and I had an early breakfast at a Panera across the street from one of the big chains and they were having a meeting about convincing people that they needed to replace all kinds of things.