Brake Check

On Saturday, 4/16/2011, at 7:23 am I arrived at Brake Check located at 8650 Marbach Rd, San Antonio, TX 78227. The reason for my visit was an oil change and to get my brakes repaired as the rear brakes were squealing quite loudly. I was greeted by Charles, who had my 2006 Dodge Caravan taken to the bay to have the tires removed and a full inspection of the brakes done. He called me back there and explained that my rear pads were paper thin, and there was also a good deal of wear on the from pads. He recommended replacing the pads, & the hardware, & machining the rotors along with flushing, refilling, and bleeding the brake lines. I was quoted a price just over $400. I agreed to the work, (though the price seemed a bit high), because it would all be under warrantee. As I was waiting for them to complete the work (including the oil change), Charles called me back there again to inform me my calipers were bad and needed replaced. He compared them to a Jeep that was in another bay, showing me that mine had a green tinge to them, and they should be black like the Jeeps. He went on to inform me that mine were to the point that they could not be machined and would have to be replaced. He proceeded to quote me a new price, which was almost $300 more. I agreed, stating, if it needed done, it needed done. He later came back into the waiting room to apologize and inform me they had gotten my calipers mixed up with the Jeeps, and that mine were fine. After several hours of waiting, they finally finished and I settled the bill. I was slammed with a final price of $630.54, about $200 more than I had agreed to, but paid it as the work was done, and I felt I had no choice. This was a little after noon. It was explained to me that there was a 200 mile/2 week “break in period” after which my brakes should not squeal any more. Well, 2 weeks, and almost 500 miles later, my brakes were still squealing. I went back to the same location at 7:20am on 4/30/2011. I explained that they had replaced my brakes 2 weeks before, I paid over $600, and gone almost 500 miles, and the brakes were still squealing. They took my van out for a “test drive” behind the bays, and then put it on the lift. After removing my tires, they brought me back to explain that my rear rotors were “under spec” and needed replaced. When I asked them why they hadn’t told me this two weeks ago, Charles claimed he did. I explained that had he told me that, I would have had them replaced as I had been willing to when he made the mistake regarding my calipers. He proceeded to argue with me, claiming since it was notated, that proved he told me. I then told him that while it may be notated, that didn’t mean he told me, and again reiterated that had he; I’d have had them taken care of at the time. He continued to argue with me, going back and forth with “yes I did” to my “no you didn’t”. I was so shocked that he was arguing with me, I actually asked him if he was really going to argue with me, pointing out that he talks to 100’s of people regarding brakes, but in the last 6 years, I had spoken to one person regarding one set of brakes, him, and mine. I then told them to put my tires back on and return my vehicle to me, and informed them that I would be making a complaint against them. My vehicle was returned to me shortly after 8 am.