The Pep Boys

I was asked if I wanted a new air filter during the oil change and they showed me a really dirty filter and said it needed to be changed for a new one. I said yes, change it. And my son looked at it the next day because it had been changed on the last oil change and should't have needed changing so soon. Well my son showed me the air filter that was suppose to be new and it looked liked the same dirty one they showed me the day before. I also had to wait over an hour for the job to be done, that's O.K. but they never informed me when my car was ready. I was getting impatient and walked out of the waiting area to check on my car and it was out of the service bay and in front of the store. The service guy who did the paper work Jacob Smith was nowhere to be found and I had to find someone to check me out when I left the store, I saw him outside the building talking on his cell phone.

I waited for an acclimation of over 7 hours to have a simple repair done on my vehicle, which only took an hour to perform. I was quoted a price beforehand. Upon payment I was quoted the same price; however, I was now informed that this was with a discount with a decline of the breakdown or proof of the employee’s jargon of such a claim when I asked for a print-out. In addition, during my wait in the customer service wait room, the television was set on a specific ethnic channel which I found inappropriate for such a setting. A more neutral selection should have been made like a news channel, or a racially/ethnically diverse selection such as a show or film for the family, Disney, etc., or at worst, no television playing at all. Also, I was told to show up the next day and that the part would have arrived; however, it did not and I had to wait again and in the customer service waiting room where the same ethnic channel was playing the next day. I sat in for about three half-hour shows and a movie had started when I was finally informed of my repair job completion. In general, PEPBOYS does not seem to foster this type of ethnicity when advertising, thus, it should not be cultured to customers who may find such entertainment offensive. In addition, most of the employees were of one specific type of color which does not promote affirmative action and of course which promotes natural bias or discrimination towards a customer of a different ethnicity, race, faith, etc. Also, the manager who dealt with me was very condescending in that he would act as if he was very busy and partially start to leave while I was still asking him questions, which made me be quick in my language and forget most of what I wanted to ask and consult him with due to the body language he was showing me, in that he wanted to leave. Then, he would stand around or go to another customer, thus, showing me that he only acted like he was leaving so that I could be nervous in my conversation with him. This is a dirty tactic that should not be employed, especially by managers. Also, a many of the mechanics would walk in a dominating, aggressive nature and slam the building doors which at one point, I thought the employee had broken the door that was already going back and forth (regular doors usually open one way--they should not be swinging like that back and forth unless this is the type of door that does that, but it was not) In addition, and the major complaint of the service that was provided to me is that I was overcharged for the handling or labor fee on the repair. After paying, and with the refusal of having a print-out of the labor charge provided to me due to the argument that the manager is the only one who has rights to view the screen that determined the labor charge and that a print-out could not be provided to the customer of such information, etc. (which by the way is a violation of the printed agreement on statement which clearly indicates that a print or break-down of all fees needs to be provided upon the request or selection of that particular check-box by customer), I consulted with an honest and well established private auto service center in which I was informed that, based on the current competitive rates, I was cheated over $50.00 for the labor work. What was worst is that when I politely asked the manager about the breakdown of the labor charge fee and asked whether a discount could be made due to my long wait and not having the part in on time, he informed me that the original labor charge would have been about over $70.00 more, which than of course would bring the amount I would be cheated from up to and over $120.00 instead of $50. In general, I was disappointed with the repair service and customer service skills this particular auto center provided. During the repair, looking from the glass window provided within the customer service wait room, the mechanic took about two or three cigarette breaks, drove my car out of the garage and then back in as if he had forgotten to complete the repair which had nothing to do with testing out the car (it was a part replacement that had nothing to do with the driving function), left my trunk open without telling me in which I drove in that condition out in the open road and then later find out it was opened (and had nothing to do with repair, but then understood why cars were beeping at me), and what was perhaps most psychologically abusive was that the employees were congregating and laughing at me from time to time. I had noticed this due to their abusive stares, devilish grins, and communication between mechanics while looking at my direction. One of them even went into the customer service wait room and stared me down which made me feel incredibly unconformable, but as an educated, honest, and ethical being, I did not react. He then later came by and condescendingly used the term “buddy” on me. I rate this place a -9……………………………………. on an opened-ended scale and would not recommend that anyone step foot in this place. A serious restructuring of employees needs to be made and a ton of refunds distributed to customers as the operation is a extremely shameful. I paid for my service because I needed it quickly due to the type of repair, but should not have been taken advantage of due to this. During my 7-hour wait, I did not disturb a soul and was never impolite or argumentative. This is why I am writing my account and experience here. I recommend that you do not go to this particular shop. Oh, and also, my steering wheel had mechanical stains on it, in addition to the area where repair was made. Going directly to work after the repair posed a problem as my hands were stained and parts of dress pants and suit brushed-up some of the stains from the repair area. Honestly, I would rather have had a computer do everything for me instead of having to deal with human beings. Kudos to the terminator (referring to film series): where is one when you need one!