My Biggest Complaint About Pep Boys Auto Parts And Service

Let me start by saying I have been a loyal Pep Boys customer for a very long time. My father and I have been going to Pep Boys for many years now. I have spent more of my hard earned money with them than I can count. With that being said I have never written an email to a company to tell them about the service I received from my experience at their store until today. I needed to get my car fixed because my car would not start or keep a charge.

My father drove me by early in the mourning to see if the store would be open and saw a sign that said the store would open at 12:00 because of the Easter Holiday. That was fine because I understand that your workers would be with their families in the morning as well as I. I wish I could have the luxury of missing work on Monday to take care of fixing my car but I do not due to the line of work I do. My experience started at 11:55 am when I called the store to find out if the service department would be open to work on my car today. A worker then picked up the phone and said “Pep Boys we open at 12:00 hang on” and I had to wait as I heard in the background a conversation between the person who picked up the phone and another co-worker. After about 45 seconds to a minute later the associate then said, “The system is not up and running yet, we cant look up any part requests yet, call back at 12:00″. I then said but I just need to know if service is going to be open so I can get my car looked at and fixed. The associate then replied, “Nobody from service is here yet I don’t know what to tell you”. I then replied but it is twelve and the associate then replied and said “No, it’s 11:57,were not open yet” and I then said so then I’ll call back in a few minutes when your open ok and hung up the phone. If the store was not open yet why did the associate pick up the phone? Was it just to annoy potential customers? I then told my dad that we just need to go over there now so he gave my car a jump and I was on my way.

Now when I got there I said to the service desk representative that “I was told by friend of mine that if I get a diagnostic on my car and fix what ever the diagnostic tells me that the diagnostic charges would be dropped correct” and the representative laughs in my face and say’s “No”, turned to a co-worker and asked, “Have you ever heard of a diagnostic being waived” and the co-worker says, “Never” and turns back to me and says, “No, the charge for that is like a hundred bucks” and looked at me as If I were just some idiot that was wasting his time. Then he says, “So what are you gonna do?” I just walked out of there because I was insulted.

Now I was pissed! We popped the hood of my car and started the car and my father said take the positive cable off of the battery and we can tell if the alternator needs to be changed. So we did and the car stopped. Now we have an idea of what is needed to fix the car. We called the other store location on Military Trail and Belvedere Road but they were only doing oil changes. I went around with my father looking for some other mechanic to fix my car. After no luck we had to go back the store that offended me anyway. Now this time I walked up to the counter and avoided the worker that insulted me and went up to another associate. Her name is “Arley”. Now let me tell you first of all there was no thank you for coming to Pep Boys. There was no hello how are you. There was no “can I help you.” There was no kind of pleasantry at all! I got a “Next!” and that was it!

I told her what my problem was and that we pretty much know that the alternator needs to be changed. She then replied “The jobs not gonna be guaranteed because other things go wrong with a car, we need to find out what else is wrong with the car.” I felt like I was talking to a robot. No emotion. No, we’re going to take care of you. No reassurance that the job would be done right at all! She said that the battery, the starter and alternator had to be checked and that it was like twenty bucks to do the check or the jobs not guaranteed. So I said “I guess I have to get it done then, my car doesn’t start so you need to jump it” and she replied back and said “Don’t worry we got a way to jump the car” then proceeded to do the paper work and when she was done said that “The job is in so you can sit down now”.

I’m not a third grader and you don’t have to talk down to the customer in a demeaning tone of voice and make the customer feel small. I need my car fixed so I said nothing and walked outside where my car was. After a while someone finally came out and walked toward my car with no cables and just my keys and I told them, “The car is not going to start, I told the girl at the counter that it needs a jump” He the proceeded to try and start the car anyway. The car did not start as I told him and he said that “Your gonna have to wait, we need to charge the battery with our jump kit” and walked away! After waiting and waiting I decided to walk up close to the bay to just tell the guy that “We can just jump the car with my cables I have in the car, That is how I got it here” and looked at me as if I were bothering him and said “We can just push it in the bay”.

I’m thinking to myself, is this guy for real? He then walked up to my car with the keys and put it in neutral and we pushed the car into the bay! I couldn’t believe it. 1) I’m paying for a service, 2) you don’t expect the customer to do your job, and 3) it is just plain unprofessional! Now the car is finally in the bay and is going to get looked at to finally see what the job is. After they do the check on all three components I was told something I already knew. The alternator had to be changed. So there was my time and twenty dollars gone that I wasn’t getting back. Now I had to talk to “Arley” again and nothing has changed. She still had no customer service. She still talked to me with a chip on her shoulder. She still was not treating me like a human being. I have feelings. In my line of work if I were to treat a customer the way I was being treated do you know what would happen? You loose a customer for life!!!

While at the counter I see two displays of signs that said “Book Today! Call our service department to schedule your appointment. Free Pep boys Auto Car Care Check Up”. So I ask “Arley” why did I not get offered this free check up on my car? She then replied in a demeaning voice again “You have to call the number and set it up, it’s not a coupon”. I can’t believe how I was being treated but I still kept my cool. So I call the number to schedule a check up and the phone rings and a guy answers and I explain to him that I wanted to schedule a free check as the flyer says. He said to me, “That was yesterday, you missed it and I don’t know when the next one is” I replied, “But I just got one of these flyers and it says to call and set up your free check up.” He then tells me “Sir, this is the third time I am explaining this to you people and I need to put the phone down and take a deep breath before I start to raise my voice at you”. In my head I’m think I’m in the Twighlight Zone or something. He says “I suggest you let me take a deep breath and then I can help you”. I say, “Sure go ahead do what you have to do or we can talk to the manager or something”. He puts down the phone and takes his deep breath, waits a little bit and picks up the phone and say’s “Ok, now I’m level headed and can help you, the flier you have was for yesterday! It’s over! See the date that’s on it?” I say, “No, there is now date on this flyer”. He then replies to me and says, “Sir do you know how busy the service area is? We don’t have time to take those down. Just call and speak to the managers tomorrow. Their names are Denny and Jeremy but they are out today”. I then reply, “Do you need me to just set them behind the counter for you since you guy’s are too busy and would want this to happen to someone else.” Believe it or not he said YES!!! Unbelievable!!!! This has got to be one of your worst run stores in the country!!!

I then tell “Arley” that I just tried to schedule this free check up on my car and she says ” You just called the store sir, we don’t know when the next one is”. Just minutes before she told me to call the number to set it up. What is going on? I explain to her that it’s misleading to have that display out and it should not be out if the customer can not actually set up this free appointment. She then grabs the displays one by one and slams them underneath the counter!! Wow! Is this really happening? So I go outside to wait for my car to get done and decide to walk to Pollo Tropical, which is in walking distance from the store, and get some food so I can cool off and get out of that environment. On my way to get some food I see a coupon on the ground that says “10% off your next service “. Picked it up a kept walking to get some food. After a while I get a call. It was “Arley”, “Your car is done”. I say, “Ok, I’ll be right there”. I wanted to end my experience with your company as soon as possible.

I get to the counter and “Arley” is working with someone. When she gets done she takes her time does a few things and says to me” That’s $325.18, Cash or Credit?” I don’t know about you but where I’m from most people don’t carry that much cash. When I worked behind the register the question was “And which charge card would you like to pay with today?” assuming that was how the transaction was going to be paid because of the amount of the total. I say “Charge” and she starts to process my sale. As she is doing the transaction I remember I have the coupon in my pocket. I then proceeded to give it to her. She takes it, looks at it and says, “This was for customers who attended our clinic yesterday”.

In my head I’m thinking how does she know if I attended the clinic or not? I say to her “What makes you think that I was not here?” She replies “First of all I would not have had to explain to you earlier about how the check up works and second I heard you calling before trying to set yourself up with the check up”. I then said “I found it in the parking lot, now who’s not to say that a friend of mine was here yesterday and then gave me the coupon to use, you wouldn’t know that”. I say, “So you’re not going to honor the coupon?” She replies “No!” in a nasty voice! And say’s “I could, it only depends on the situation”. I then say, “So if you wanted to you could but your not cause you don’t like me or something?” She then replies “No! I’m just not gonna honor the coupon for you and that’s that!” I even asked to get the coupon back because I did find it on the floor and it should be mine and she said “No!” and kept it!

The coupon was for ten percent! Do you think that the $32.52 would have saved my life? Do you think this amount could make or break me? No. I do think that this young lady has a little power trip with her position, thinks she has a safety net, thinks she knows it all, and gets off on doing things like this! You NEVER tell a customer that you could do something and don’t do it!!!! Don’t say you can do something and don’t deliver! You know what? You have just lost my father and I as a customer for LIFE!!!! I am going to tell everyone I know to boycott and stop spending money with your company! I am paying for a service. Customer Service IS A BIG PART OF WHAT I PAY FOR as well!!!!! If this is the kind of people you want in your organization I am going to do my best not to ever have anyone in my family or any of my friends experience what I have experienced today!!!!! I could not even tell a manager about the incident because THEY BOTH WERE OFF!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!!! What type of service orientated store gives both managers the day off??? How does it affect the work place? I’ll tell you how, PURE CHAOS!!! Everyone showing his or her true colors!!! The associate you think is a good worker is really a goof off, irresponsible, and not even worth giving a paycheck. Do you even spot-check the service with secret shoppers at this store? I bet if you did, this store would fail every part of the questionnaire!!! The Service was horrible! The people unprofessional! The environment Chaotic! No sense of store pride or even showing that they like their job or what they are doing!!! I love my job and that is why I do it. If I didn’t then I would go find a job that made me happy!

BOTTOM LINE, This was the worst experience I have ever had at any store! I had to write and let someone know about this!