possible dispute w/ oil change dudes

steagle

steagle

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ok so check this out. took my car to EZ Lube last Friday for an oil change. the crew there was totally haphazard and unskilled i could tell, but hey it's just an oil change it's not rocket science. i figured they'd let me know if i had any major issues i needed to take care of; all they mentioned was the fuel filter was dirty and could go for a replacement (which is true) and one of my brake lamps was busted. turns out i need an all new assembly cause the bulb melted into the plastic and was impossible to remove. anyways, the important thing is that those were the only two things they told me about. i paid them and got on the road to Joshua Tree.

the next day i'm driving back to LA and my engine starts overheating. i pull into a gas station to check my fluids. the engine coolant resevoir is bone dry so i pay the bucks and get it up to speed. when i'm finally back on the road i start thinking about the oil change and wondering why i wasnt alerted to the low coolant level. i gave them a call yesterday to see if there's anything they can do for me considering that was a really big inconvenience and it should be standard procedure to make sure my levels are sound, at the VERY least just inform me i need to take care of that. the guy on the phone said he remembered me and he remembered my levels being fine, and that i could have a leak. that must have been one big ass leak then, if my coolant was at the right level, then down to absolutely nothing in under 24 hours.

but if the leak was that bad, how was my car driving perfectly fine before the oil change, then coincidentally after the oil change, the coolant is gone? anyways i'm headed over there after work to put it up on the lift and look underneath. i have a bad feeling about this, what would you guys do in this situation if both me and EZ Lube can't see eye to eye on this?
 
its your word vs theirs and since you didnt pay for the fluid to be filled or changed they wont accept responsibility. The oil change places take so much cr@p from people all the time. People get their oil changed and then blame the oil change place for the starter going out the next day on a 15 year old car.

Youre better off not wasting your time and just refilling your coolant yourself. They may be courteous and give you a free oil change next time.

I work as a software programmer and get blamed for things as ridiculous as a hard drive failing on a PC because I touched it last.

Good Luck.
 
Had the same problem, but first they put the wrong oil in, then the charged me for the "Full Service" which includes all level checks, light checks, wiper checks, air filter checks. then i confronted them and they said the did not check the levels, because they are not trained on the LS. well i said you charged me for it. " uhhhhhhh" thats what i thought, fix the problem, or i will take it to the dealer and you will pay for it one way or another. Oh yeah, the next day my car was overheating, came to be a cracked reservoir, but what a coinkadink. the day after i took it there.
 
don't change your wire assembly for the tail light. it's a waste of money. i've changed it and still have the same problem. i change a brake light about once a month cause it burns it out. it's something internal. if you check other threads people have the sdame problem with the bulb getting too hot and burning the plastic.
 
how do you get the bulb out then? i took out the assembly and it looks bad, the thing was not budging if my life depended on it.
 
02V8 - well said, i do a lot of IT stuff myself and deal with the universal "it's your fault" accusations all the time. definitely hear what you're saying about the oil change places getting crap from customers. that's not my intention though. a full service oil change clearly states they are supposed to *check* your levels. doesn't say they have to refill or top them off, just check, and let me know if something needs attention. the fact they did not tell me about this, on a full service oil change, suggests that it is now their responsibility to set things right.
 
This comming from a guy at a mechanic shop (no quick lube).

You pay for JUST an oil change - that's all you are gonna get. Sorry, my time is $$ and I won't bother with it. If it's something major - i'd suggest looking at it, but doing diagnosing is MY JOB, not a freebie.

Sorry - I wanna get paid just like you. You pay for a fluid top off, I'll check/top off and note what's low, but will NOT see what's leaking. Agian, that falls under Diagnostics - and yet agian - my time is worth money.

Sorry, but I'm am tired of people that want MY TIME for free. You sure as hell get paid for your time, I know I'll get paid for mine.

If you came here with that - I'd tell you sorry bud, you paid for an oil change and that's all. See ya. I'd assume it's the same for them. :soapbox:
 
no offense, but did you read the part of my message where i wrote that checking all fluids is PART OF THE SERVICE OFFERED. it's written on the damn receipt they print out for you. i would not bother with this if it wasn't advertised all over the place.
 
listen im not trying to pull a fast one on this EZ lube. i dont place blame on others for things that are my fault. but to write on a receipt "check lights, check fluids, check wipers" etc etc and then to blatantly miss an empty radiator resevoir is just bad business. in a my word vs. their word battle, they'll win every time, and i'm already resigned to that happening in this situation. but it's the principle that counts here and i'm only doing this to teach their employees a lesson, that you have to follow through with the services you advertise, even if it's on a car you've never worked on before. if you don't know what you're doing or where to look, pull out a manual, or consult someone who does know.
 
steagle said:
02V8 - well said, i do a lot of IT stuff myself and deal with the universal "it's your fault" accusations all the time. definitely hear what you're saying about the oil change places getting crap from customers. that's not my intention though. a full service oil change clearly states they are supposed to *check* your levels. doesn't say they have to refill or top them off, just check, and let me know if something needs attention. the fact they did not tell me about this, on a full service oil change, suggests that it is now their responsibility to set things right.
Click to expand...

I hear ya steagle. Im with you on this issue, but dont know if they will do anything about it. Those quick change oil places stink!

I took my LS to one once for $15, come up to pay and they guy told me $60 because of a special filter. I tild him to put my old oil in and filter and Ill go somewhere else. They always try pulling shady jobs at these places.
 
I used to run a Quik Lube. If there were a problem with the filter, the plug, the oil, you would have something. However, it was an ancillary problem.

You are screwed.

I have no dog in this hunt, just experience in dealing with it. Vote with your money and go somewhere else.
 
Just make sure you don't have a leak. If it were bone dry when you took it to the lube shop I think it would have overheated before your trip back to LA. I didn't realize mine had a leak in it until I was checking my sir filter and noticed that my overflow tank was low so I filled it up. two day later when I went to clean my air filter i noticed the tank was low again. I never saw a drop of coolant. I just wish I had figure that out two years ago because my heater would blow cool air when I was at idle but hot air when I was driving and I could never figure out the problem. But once I changed to tank and bled the system I got hot air at idle.
 
well the situation was resolved maturely and to both our satisfaction. as a courtesy they inspected the car from underneath and could find no radiator or coolant resevoir leaks. they topped me off and we ran the car for a bit and everything looked fine. i was honest but polite with them, not demanding they refund me or anything of that nature - i just wanted them to do something, and confirmation that i have no leaks is good enough for me. shows they actually care about their customers instead of running an assembly line operation. it's still a mystery to me how i lost all fluid in the radiator & resevoir in under 2 hours, yet there is no leak. i was not driving fast on the freeway to Joshua Tree and the weather was actually chilly not warm. i guess it's one of those fluke things, just glad we're back to normal again.
 
I'm glad it worked out for you just check it again in a week or two just to make sure it not coming out.
 
This leads to a pretty interesting experience I had with a quick lube joint. When I first bought my pickup in my college days I went to the quick lubes for oil changes because at the time it was cheaper and quicker for them to do it. They said they also greased everything. So one night I went out to some gravel pits to park with my girlfriend (the good ol days). Anyways you have to use 4 wheel drive to get back to this place. After we were um finished. I got ready to back out but I kept spinning trying to back over this hill. Put it down in 4X4 and get a horrible clunk clunk. Great she needs to be home and we’re stuck because there is a huge mud hole in front of us and I know I can’t make it through it without 4X4 so I can’t even turn around. Kept trying to make it up this hill and I finally do (hell on the rear-end and clutch). The next day I crawl under the truck and the front drive shaft (a two piece) just spins the outer piece over the inner piece. I pull it out and take it apart and the spines are all gone and rusted. Needless to say the quick lube was not greasing things like they said they were. Cost me $160 for a new drive shaft and I have never been back to a quick lube. I thought this might be funny to some of you. It also taught me a very important lesson that night: Lubrication is the key for everything!
 
I have the ultimate complaint with Jiffy Lube. Before my stellar 2006 LS, I owned an underpowered but fun to drive gas hog, 2004 RX8. I took my car into JL for an oil change. 20 minutes later I noticed that the guy still has his head under the hood. I go and ask him what is going on? He removed the o-ring from the oil filler cap and it dropped into the engine bay and he was trying to retrieve it. 10 minutes later, still under the hood. I asked what is going on. He found the o-ring and tried to retrieve it with some long nosed pliers. What he removed instead was the fuel injector plug. WTF.
I asked what was the purpose in removing the o-ring from the cap. Did he really think that I was stupid enough to think that a 1 year old car requires a new o-ring.
So, I told him to stop working on my car. Since, this idiot was unable to get the plug back on.
Jiffy Lube took me to Hertz, for a rental ( a fn kia piece of crap). I had to have my car towed to the dealer. Of course they found that the injectors were cracked. (none in stock). One whole week I was without my baby.:mad:
So, to all of you with nice cars, do not go to a fast food, ripoff, undertrained, idiotic oil change establishment to have your oil change. 20 minutes may turn into 7 days.
 
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