Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  08/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Came in for an oil change 8/26/2023. My vehicle was in perfect working condition prior. I drove home and then to get a car wash. On Tuesday, 8/29/2023, I was attempting to drive from ********* to ****** when my check engine light came on and my car died, forcing me to pull to the side of the road. I called my mom who came to my car, along with my step dad and then my fiance arrived. My oil dipstick was completely dry. Grease Monkey was called and they sent a tech out who checked the dipstick, verified it was dry and proceeded to add 4 entire quarts of oil to my car. The Grease Monkey employee checked before and after oil was added to look for any leaks. There were no leaks. Employee then calls Grease Monkey and lets the manager know the car had not had oil put in after the oil change and it was definitely their mistake. Employee tries to start my car and finds the engine won't go over **** rpms with the gas pedal floored. They decide to tow my car to their mechanic at their expense, as the employee let me know my car was not going to be drivable due to this. Today, 8/30/2023, manager ******* calls to yell at me over the phone telling me that the car was checked and was full of oil, and that we all (his employee included apparently) don't know how to read a dipstick and that the car was on a hill and that is why no oil was showing upon checking the dipstick. The car was on FLAT ground when it died and the employee put 4 whole quarts of oil in it in front of us all and verified there was no oil in the car prior to adding it in. My car holds 3.9 quarts of oil, which corresponds with the employee putting in 4 quarts on the side of the road and then saying "the dipstick shows that's a little too much oil now but that's ok". ******* is now telling me I have to pay $350 for a repair after I told him I wanted my car taken to a ***** dealership for them to run diagnostic testing to verify what actually happened. My engine went without oil due to this location's error.

• Initial Complaint

  07/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On June 5, 2023, my 2006 ****** 4Runner was taken to the Grease Monkey location on **************** in ****** for a routine oil change costing $132.27. At the service, the technician checked fluid levels across including the transfer case. Once complete the vehicle began leaking fluid for the first time. The vehicle was taken back to the shop for resolution. After multiple attempts to resolve the issue, I returned with the vehicle and spoke to the Manager, **** who looked at it and showed me the check plug which he wrapped in Teflon tape and stated he believed it would resolve the leak. It did not and I took the vehicle to an independent repair shop who determined the transfer case was cracked. The independent recommendation was to replace the transfer case, this was confirmed in 3 calls to other shops. The repair using a new part was $5,014.99, a used part could be used and was priced from 3 different sources averaging $2,084 compared to $3,640 new.I sought resultion from the manager who offered to repair the vehicle He priced the repair at $1000 and offered to pay that price to me if I used my own shop. I sought fair value for the repair using a used part even though I chose to use a new part at the higher price. He stated he priced the repair at $1000 by pulling the part from a scrapped car himself and taking it to a local shop for installation. In the calls to the independent shops all agreed it was not prudent to use an untested part as further damage could occur to the transmisison. As we were at an impasse I asked to escalate the situation to ownership at which time **** the manager has gone silent.My desire is to resolve the situation for an equivalent repair using a used part at $3000. **** has chosen to communicate to me with his personal email and phone avoiding company resources stating he doesn't have an email. As he was also involved with the original "fix" which cracked the transfer case, this appears to be outside of normal ownership purvue.

  Business response

  07/31/2023

  We do not disagree that we damaged the transfercase on ****************** 2006 ****** 4Runner. The problem is the vehicle don't need to have the transfercase replaced. He was convinced by ****** car care that we couldn't repair the transfercase properly. ************** told ****** car care to replace the transfercase. Not allowing us to repair the transfercase leak was **************** choice. At this time just to settle I willing to pay ************** the $3000 he is asking for. I'm just unhappy after all the years ************** has been a customer he didn't trust us enough to fix the problem. I will mail a check to ************** by weeks end.

  Thank you 

  *******************

  Customer response

  08/09/2023

  The company responded back to the complaint with the requested resolution as they stated in their response. The resolution and compensation for the damage was appreciated, however, I disagree with the characterization that I was "talked into" needing a full repair. Multiple independent repair shops had a similar analysis of the repair required and disagreed with the analysis performed by the Grease Monkey manager.  Also, the store had an opportunity to allow for escalation to his superiors and chose to not respond to the request.
  The compensation and resolution is appreciated as all parties to this would prefer to close this case and move on.

   

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