ComplaintsforMeineke Car Care Center

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Meineke attempted to weld a new flex pipe onto my truck dating back to 9/13. The job that was performed was poor and they didn't actually finish the job. Due to the job not being fixed, it then created a leak and that leak caused severe damage to my particular filter. I took my truck to a local Dodge/jeep dealer who discovered the leak and the damage of the truck. They reported back to me that the leak and failed weld that was performed caused additional damage to the vehicle totaling over 3k dollars. At this time Meineke hasn't decided if they will be paying for the damages and dragging their feet on the whole process

  Business response

  09/26/2023

  I am well aware of *************************** issues with his truck. Although, I do agree that our welds on the repair are not the quality that we should provide, the leak due to the repair is not the cause of this the Particulate Filter Failure. In fact as you can see in the Phone transcript attached *********************** admits the filter has fallen off and a temporary repair was made by a co-worker to make it drivable. He also mentions the filer is bad in the same call. We recommended replacing the Particulate Filter which ********************* declined due to the added cost. This is why we replaced the flex pipe to begin with.  Also, according to other calls that we have recorded he states the Filter Sensor is bad as well. Therefore, I believe these problems already existed prior to the Flex Pipe Repair done by our facility.  This truck has over 100K miles on it and the average lifespan of a Particulate Filter is 100K Miles. We have reached out to *********************** to have him bring the truck back into us, so that I can personally inspect and replace the Flex pipe if necessary.  As I know at this time we have an appointment set for *********************** to drop off his truck on Tuesday, September 26th to be inspected by me personally on Wednesday September, 27th. 

  ***** Dorsey - Owner 

  Customer response

  09/28/2023

  Better Business Bureau:

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this response/resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  
  

  Regards,

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

• Initial Complaint

  06/09/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Saturday, May 28th I got my oil changed at Meineke. It cost me $25, which is now the most expensive oil change I've ever received in my life. The next day, I was running errands in Greenwood & noticed my car was shaking. I pulled over, popped the hood, & noticed the engine rocking back & forth. Proceeded to drive home, & shortly thereafter while sitting at a stoplight, I noticed smoke coming from my car, then the transmission light came on, as well as an alert that the engine temperature was too hot & to immediately shut off the car. I pulled over into a parking lot, where I pulled the oil dipstick & noticed the oil level was extremely high. It was twice the amount of oil that should have been in there. I let my car cool down & tried to drive home again, & only got out of the parking lot onto Highway 31 when my car stopped responding to the gas pedal. I had to push my car into the neighboring parking lot of where I just was. I got my car towed to *********************** where it is still under warranty. I have a 2021 Kia ****** with ~20k miles, so it shouldn't have any engine/transmission issues. When *********************** opened on Tuesday (because Monday was a holiday), I called & let them know what happened & they confirmed what I had suspected. There was no transmission fluid in the ************* ******* was 10 quarts of oil in the oil reservoir. 5 quarts is the normal amount of oil for an engine. Anyone can put the puzzle pieces together that Meineke accidentally drained my transmission fluid & added new oil into the engine on top of the old oil, which would explain the 10 quarts of oil in my engine. Not to mention there was oil all over the top of my engine, so it clearly overflowed. Metal shavings came out of the transmission & the ********** was told I needed a new ********************** Meineke was contacted, the owner was rude, unprofessional & denied any wrongdoing. He said *********************** is "full of ****." He is not willing to try & make things right or help at all.

  Business response

  06/16/2022

  On Saturday 5/28/22 ******* ****** brought in her 2021 *** ****** for a ********* change. Car was signed in at 8:25 am where the oil was drained and oil filter was replaced showing a mileage of ******. After oil and filter change was complete car was pulled out and ******* was invoiced at 8:59 am and on her way. Service was performed by **** who had performed the same service for this customer and vehicle on 1/22/****** ******* checking in at 1:59pm and checking out after service performed at 2:32pm. (See photos #1-4 showing work orders of dates, times and person performing service.

  Returning to work after memorial day holiday on 5/31/22 we get a call from *********************** *** who says that *************************** her car down the road about 2 miles when the transmission gave out due to the tranmission fluid being drained instead of the engine oil. ******** says we never drained the engine oil but added engine oil to engine therefore overfilling it. *********************** stated they drained the the fluids to verify how much was in it. (They should not have drained the fluids out) *******s husband *********************** stated that wife had driven  the next day ** miles when the transmission overheat light came on and car started running rough and would not go. (Neither of these stories are correct on mileage driven. When *** was serviced last at our shop i left with ****** miles and when i had it towed back it had ****** miles on the odometer. (acually had been driven 54 miles since leaving our shop. Not 2 and not ** miles)

  * ******* states in her ******************** complaint that (she checked the oil herself) stating that is was extremely high. It was twice the amount of oil that should have been i there. She also states that *********************** confirmed what she had suspected. (there was no fluid in the transmission and the oil was overfilled by 5 qts.) SHE'S GOOD! If she thought it was overfilled at the time she would have brought the vehicle back to us not ********. None of her statement is true per her husband ***** telling us that they had it towed to *** because they thought it was a warranty Issue of some kind through ***. Not saying that the transmission fluid was drained or empty or that the oil was overfilled.

  We (H3**8393239303**43631H ********* told *********************** that the vehicle needs to be sent back to us to looked at. We paid for the tow bill to bring the *** ****** back to our shop to see what had been done. The car was returned with oil overfilled by ******** by 1 1/2 qts (see photo #5) and the belly pan of the car was missing (see photo #7) (*********************** says they drained fluids so they refilled oil and over filled by 1 1/2 qts.)

   

  What H3**8393239303**43631H is being accused of is not possible:

  * If the transmission fluid was drained at our facility the car would not move our of the shop bay at all not to mention when she came in for service she had ****** miles on it an when i had the *** towed back to our shop it showedd ****** miles on it. (*** was driven 54 miles with no problems). NOT POSSIBLE! (see photo #**)

  * *********************** charged $200 labor for looking at the ****** but did not charge anything for parts of fluids (see photo #9). So apparently they didn't have to put transmission fluid or engine oil back in the car or it would have been listed on the invoice.

  * When changing the oil and filter on the *** ****** you do not have to remove the belly pan due to the cut outs in the belly pan for oil drainage and filter change are already there. No but out for the transmission drain. (see photo #** showing cutouts in belly pan for the draining of the oil and oil filter)(see photo #** of locations of oil drain plug and oil filter and transmission drain plug) Had to supply photo belly pan since ******** did not put belly pan back on car when it came back to us.(see photo #** of belly pan for *** ******)

  * The bolt for the transmission drain plug and the bolt for the transmission fill have not been touched. There would be scarson the bolts from where the sockets were put on the bolts. Neither bolt has been pulled out meaning no fluid was ever drained from the vehicle period. *** fluid it came in with is the same fluid it still has. (see photos #** & 12.

  * ******** changes were performed by the same tech on the *** ******* Both were identical in the amount of time it took. If we had to remove the belly pan and put it back on it would have taken about ** minutes longer due to the amount of bolts it takes to remove and replace.

  * ********** was drained and refilled to 4.8 qts. Transmission was never drained due to belly pan covering the transmission drain bolt as shown above on belly pan.

  * ******** is placed back in the engine we start the vehicle so fresh oil can circulate through the engine and oil filter. Then we pull the dipstick to check for proper oil level. (apparently *********************** *** does not know to do this when filling oil, sent back to us over filled by 1 1/2 qts.) (see photo #5)

  * Even if oil was overfilled it would not cause metal shavings in the engine (see photo #**)

  * *********************** should never have drained the fluids. They should have told the customer to send it back to ********************** for us to see first. They did not do this which is not right.

  * When talking to husband *********************** i offered him to come to the shop so i could go over all the information while the car was still here ad show why none of this was possible and he blew me off. He said insurance company is having it towed back to ******** and he was getting an attorney.

   

  The 2021 *** ****** these problems that they are blaming us for with many of their cars. (******* stated that she has a 2021 *** ****** with 20k miles on it so it shouldn't be having any engine /transmission issues). I agree with that statement as well but unfortunately this is not the case with the *** ****** and other *** vehicles as well.

  * *********************** is stating that the transmission was overheated but empty of fluid. It was overheated but not because of not fluid. *** ****** is having sudden transmission failure on these cars. (see photos #**-25)

  * *********************** stated that the engine was overfilled with oil which caused metal shavings in the engine. There probably are metal shavings in the engine but not due to being overfilled with oil. (*** engines are having engine problems as well with the timing chaines coming apart and circulating metal shavings through the engines. (see photos #**-25)

  * Other ***'s are having engine problems as well with oil consumption issues and they are replacing motors constantly under *** warranty.

  * The *** ****** should be covered under warranty by *** due the the face that these problems are *** problems not H3335303038363**93335H mistakes. Someone is not telling the truth.

   

  The 2021 *** ****** left our shop on 5/28/22 running fine and service properly. What happened after it left our shop is not due to our work or lack of. You cannot run any car for 54 miles without any transmission fluid period!!!
  

  Customer response

  06/16/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  Meineke supposedly changed the oil. There is no way around the fact that my oil was 5 quarts over, and that was done by Meineke. I checked it myself BEFORE the car ever got to ***********************. *** has yet to take any accountability for anything and is looking up information on ****** to fit his agenda. He's making up lies about what my husband said. My husband never said we took the car to *********************** because we thought it was a warranty issue. He said we took it back to ******** because that's where we purchased it from and that's where it is still under warranty. He's just trying to cover his business and not wanting to help the customer to try and make things right. *** has handled this whole situation poorly from the very beginning. At this point, no one can prove or disprove anything to do with the transmission. The facts are the oil was overfilled and *** has horrible customer service skills. I would never recommend anyone taking a vehicle there just for the simple fact that he's a jerk and uses profanity toward customers. If he had handled the situation in a mature, professional manner, I wouldn't be on the Better Business Bureau website filing a complaint. 

  Also, the $200 fee from *********************** was a diagnostic fee, that's all. It has nothing to do with any work being done on the vehicle. And it's called an under-shield not a belly pan. ******** removed the under-shield of the car so they could actually look at everything.

  *** stated, "the same fluid it came in with, is the same fluid it still has.." ***, how do you know that for sure? You would have had to have drained it, and if it were in fact the original transmission fluid, it would have been a reddish ***** fluid. I need proof. If it's new fluid, it would be bright red. 

  There are not bolts on the under-shield, there are clips. Bolts have nuts. It would not take an extra 15 minutes to put the under-shield back on the car. 

  My husband did not "blow *** off." There was no point in coming to Meineke with insurance being involved, and to have *** show him everything he found on ****** that we've already seen ourselves. We are down to 1 vehicle and it's a little difficult to get everywhere we need to be and that was not priority for us. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  
  

  Business response

  07/11/2022

  Like i said above: You have no answer how the car was driven 54 miles from our facility with no transmission fluid. This is due to the fact that transmission was never drained by us and oil was never overfilled. Your problem is not with me.

  All that *************** to here has already been discussed and backed ** in previous response.
  

  Thank you,
  

  *** Gonterman
  

   

  Customer response

  07/14/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. 
  
  *** is right in that there is no proof that Meineke drained the transmission fluid. However, he is mistaken that my engine was over filled with twice the amount of oil by one of his technicians. When I was stranded on the side of the road the oil is the very first thing I checked. As I mentioned in my original message, the oil was twice the amount it should have been PRIOR to being towed anywhere. *********************** did not do that because they had not touched my car at that point. The only people that had touched my car in that 24 hour period were Meineke staff. Meineke did in fact put double the amount of oil in my engine OR did not drain the old oil at all and added new oil on top of the old oil. My husband saw how excessive the oil was in the engine as well. Again, this was all prior to my car being towed to ***********************. Meineke did make a mistake. My engine needs replaced as a result and it's very sad that *** being a business owner has no regard for the customer in trying to do ANYTHING at all to make things right or take any accountability. Meanwhile, I am still without a vehicle almost 7 weeks later. Try putting yourself, your daughter, or wife in my shoes.... Would you have treated them the same way and let them continue to be stranded and not do a single thing to TRY to make anything right? Absolutely ridiculous and unprofessional. 

  
  Regards,
  
  *************************

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩