Midas

While I was at a Ross one day, a person approached me and asked me if I wanted to buy 4 Services for $30.00 from Midas in Glendale, CA. Each service included an oil change, topping fluids if needed to be, etc.

November 18, 2008, I took my car for the first Service, which they did. At that time THE MANAGER, YURI STAIN was extremely nice and helpful. He actually texted me after I had left to personally thank me for coming into MIDAS. He said that he usually sends out e-mails but this time he send a text. Little did I know his reasons behind it. Being naive I responded, saying that I appreciated their service. Then he texted me asking me out and I told him that I have a boyfriend and he replied: "EVEN BETTER!" I thought that was very unprofessional because I did not give him my cell phone number for personal reasons and he had no right to use it to his advantage and especially texting me from his personal cell phone, but I just brushed it off. He still had the nerve to call me a couple of days later and tell me that if I had any friends, I should recommend Midas in Glendale. I said I will and ended the converstation.

My parents went on a trip to Lake Tahoe with my car and came back and my car started having problems. My brakes weren't working properly. The car would slow down even if I wasn't pressing on the brakes or the gas! That problem went on for a couple of days until my car would just stop on an even rode even when I wasn't pressing on the brake! The next day my brakes started smoking! I pulled over and called my boyfriend! He came, took the car and he said that my brakes were probably worn out and he is going to change them. My boyfriend's uncle has a car body shop and my boyfriend has been working there since he was 12! He is 32 now! He did change them because they had worn out; however, he said the car is still not running right and that we should just take it to the Toyota Dealership first thing in the morning. We did that and I had to leave the car at the dealership for a day.

The next day when we went to pick up my car from the dealership, the master mechanic explained to us that someone put a different fluid in the brake fluid, which completely messed up the whole brake system, he said it is going to cost me $3500 to fix the problem. Even though my car was still under warranty, he said that since the oil change was not done at the dealership, the warranty does not cover that and since Midas had worked on my car previously I needed to speak with them. I immediately called Yuri and told him what had happened. He told me to bring the car so they can inspect it.

I took the car to Midas and the mechanic there "inspected" my car and said that it is not their fault and they are not responsible for what had happened. Yuri said that since my boyfriend had changed my brakes, he is the one who is responsible for it. I did explain to Yuri that the reason my boyfriend even changed my brakes was because the car was already having a problem, there was smoke coming out of my brakes. I told Yuri that the problem occured before my boyfriend changed my brakes. I also said that if I knew my boyfriend had put fluid in my car, I would not even come to Midas and if I was trying to blame it on Midas, I would not have even mentioned that my boyfriend changed my brakes, he could have simply changed them back! I also explained to him that the very next day we took it to the dealership and they discovered the wrong fluid and that my boyfriend had not put any fluids in my car and that all he had done was changing my brakes.

I also told Yuri that under the service it says (as I showed him the little brouchure with the details that I had received from the person I had purchased it from) that if the fluid is low Midas will "top it off." I told Yuri that my brakes were worn out, which meant that at the time I had taken my car to Midas my brakes had already been worn out, which meant the brake fluid was low, which obviously meant they "topped it off." Yuri said that that is not true and I cannot bring the car back to Midas after 1000 miles and tell him there was something wrong with it. He also said that if there was indeed the wrong fluid in the brake fluid, the car would have started having a problem after driving 60 miles from the moment the wrong fluid was put in. I explained to him that the reason I brought the car back with so many miles is because my parents went to Lake Tahoe, which is 500 miles away from my house one way!

I called the master technician at Toyota and he told me that it is NOT TRUE that it only takes 60 miles and he also told me that it can take 10 miles or 5000 miles, he said that no one can predict that! He also said that I should ask Yuri where does it say exactly how many miles does it take for the whole brake system to give up? I hung up the phone with him and I told Yuri what the master technicial had told me and I asked him, where does it say that? Yuri said that I am right it doesn't say anywhere how many miles it takes for the brake system to completely fail, but from his personal experience he knew that! I told him that his personal experience is not good enough evidence for me! He still insisted it wasn't their fault and he said they cannot do anything about it. I knew that this conversation wasn't going to go anywhere, so I left Midas extremely dissapointed and upset!

So here I was stuck with having to pay $3500 because of Midas! I was extremely upset and I called their corporate office. I told them what had happened and they told me that they will look into it. The next day Yuri left me a voicemail that their corporate office had called him and that him, their corporate office and their lawyers are standing behind their innocence and that they wish me luck with my car and that they advise me to fix it as soon as possible because of the break issue that I had. That's great, so the corporate office obviously didn't even care enough to investigate the issue, they simply took their manager's side! Is this really the way to do business? I made I complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Bureau of Motor Vehicle Repair; however, that led me to a dead end as well!

All I received from both bureaus was a letter stating that they have tried to contact Midas; however, they haven't received a response from them! Wow It seemed like no one was able to help me and hold Midas responsible for completely messing up my WHOLE BRAKE SYSTEM! There was nothing else to do! I spoke with a lawyer, which was my last alternative, but he advised me not to sue Midas because it might take a long time and if I did not win, I would end up spending more money and I should simply fix my car! Great no one was willing to help!

At the end, I ended up fixing my car, paying for getting it fixed considering that I did nothing wrong! Midas (considering the fact that they supposedly SPECIALIZE IN BRAKES!) in Glendale, California did something wrong and did not even try to take responsibility for their actions! The lesson I learned is DO NOT EVER EVER EVER AGAIN GO TO MIDAS! I also learned that by trying to save some money by purchasing 4 services for $30 instead of getting my oil change and services at the Toyota Dealership like I had done in the past for $70, I ended up having to spend A LOT MORE money! I do understand that companies make mistakes! I mean no one is perfect, we are all human beings, but you know it will be nice if they actually take responsibilty for their mistakes!

EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE AWARE OF MIDAS, ESPECIALLY THE ONE IN GLENDALE, CA! DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR THERE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON FIXING YOUR CAR ONCE THEY MESS IT UP! AND BELIEVE ME MIDAS AND THEIR CORPORATE OFFICE WILL NOT AND I REPEAT WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND DEFINITELY NOT EVEN CARE OR BOTHER TO ACT UPON THEIR MISTAKES!