Based on my experience five years ago with a company vehicle, I wouldn't recommend Jiffy Lube except to customers who know about auto maintenance and can watch the employees continuously.
The two Phoenix area Jiffy Lubes I used, one at Metrocenter, another near the Home Depot on I-17 and Thunderbird, seemed to be honest and didn't push unneeded services, but:
The auto maker required 5W-30 oil, but they usually tried to put in 10W-30. A couple of times the Thunderbird Jiffy Lube walked to the Walgreen's next door to purchase 5W-30.
The vehicle had ABS that had to be depressurized to for checking the brake fluid level, but both Jiffy Lubes apparently didn't do that and therefore overfilled the reserviors by a great deal and caused tons of fluid to spill out.
Both places way overfilled the radiator overflow tank. Granted it was an unusual tank that was supposed to be filled only to 1/2", but I had highlighted the full mark and warned Jiffy Lube of this.
The air filter housing was reinstalled wrong.
I had no problems with these places after I told them to only change the engine oil and filter and leave everything else alone.
And some retailers WANT that battery to fail right at the end of the pro-rate warranty period - because to get your 5% or
10% pro-rate refund you have to come back to /their/ store and buy the new battery from them, usually at full list price. Cha-Ching!
Oh, and while you're here we did a 'Courtesy Safety Check', and your tires look a bit low on tread, the fan belts look pretty bad, and that shock absorber is leaking oil, and... Double Cha-Ching!
If he bagged up the bad battery and brought it back home with him, he's got a good chance at a refund. He can plop the bad battery on the parts counter as irrefutable proof.
If the "evidence" is gone, he may have a fight on his hands - and then he has to decide if it's worth $400 of his time fighting to get $100 back from the eventual warranty claim.
Ahh, the KNBC Sting of Jiffy Lube Et. Al. - but the sad part is, KNBC has done this same investigation several times before and caught the same crooks doing the same things, and the Corporate Spokesperson for the service chains say they are going to clean up their act and make sure it never happens again.
A year later they run the same sting and get the same results, nothing has changed...
Several of these chains have tried the same thing on 'Bait Cars" and the sting is being conducted by the California Bureau of Automotive Repair. And they get a big fine and their operating licenses on probation, and again they go back to 'business as usual' when it's over. Sears damn near lost their licenses several times.
Back in the days when I was a wage slave, I had my company truck's oil and filter changed at a Penzoil quick-lube place. They checked the transmission fluid level with the engine off and over filled it by about a quart. I didn't know that and the transmission started slipping really bad on shifts after eveything got warmed up. Sucked the extra out and that fixed the problem. I never went back except once when I informed the manager (in front of about 6 customers) of the proper way to check the fluid level in an automatic transmission.
You just can't get good help for minimum wage these days!
So Bruce will you call me a crook after I doubled the MPG of my Mercedes and Infiniti ? You see, you people like to call every one crook, you made me afraid of dealing with the hassle, that's why I never bother to market my invention. I profit from my idea every day for two years now. America is just too picky, making their complaint when they were not supposed to, and didn't make the proper complaint when they were supposed to.
When I worked at the Sears Auto Center in Fairbanks AK we would take batteries back if (big if) the battery had not been damaged and tested good. I can't vouch for that policy Sears wide and I know that when Sears cut back on the scope of their service and closed some stores that, it seemed to me, that the "bottom line" had gained prieminence over Customer Service. That is why I quit working for them.
True...There are only about three (major) battery manufacturers in the U.S. but the batteries they make are built to the specifications set by each individual retailer. They are not all the same. Nor are they all equal in quality.
Many retailers do not accept returns on electrical items because it is very difficult to determine whether they have been damaged or abused. I suspect that a lot of people buy and install new batteries and then find out it was some other problem.
I would prefer not to shop at any retailer that allows returns on batteries or similar items. The reason is that means the returned items will be put back on the shelf for another unsuspecting customer who ends up with a used item. Anyone who thinks that retailers who allow battery returns is not reselling them to other customers as a new battery is smoking something illegal.
About 20 years ago, Sears had the most liberal return policy of any retailer. Satisfaction guarentted or your money refunded without conditions. I was with a friend of mine when he returned some items he received as a gift about a year before. The items had no tags, no receipt, and it was not even obvious as to whether it was sold by Sears. Sears no longer has such a policy, probably in part because some customers have probably tried to cheat them.
Agreed, they are not necessarily equal in quality, but there is no reason to believe that Wal-Mart's are any worse than anyone else's. Of course most retailers (including Wal-Mart) have more than model, each of different quality (usually differentiated by the warranty). I would bet a lot of money that a Wal-Mart battery is as good or better than any other battery being sold elsewhere at the same price (unless there is a major sale price being offered). But clearly, there are some batteries that cost a lot of money that are probably better than the ones Wal-Mart sells.
I too had been a tech in a Auto-Service Center, Many years ago, before the current restructuring. Even then, we would accept a returned battery, in new condition, if the customer had purchased the wrong type for their vehicle. Many times the customer would guess about the size they needed, even though they were advised and shown what would be the proper fit for their car. Usually, their recollection was the battery was smaller than what they were looking at, only to find out they were wrong, once they got the battery home. Then back they'd come, asking for the proper size or a refund if they ended up getting the battery elsewhere.
As for Sears and the cut backs, their big goal was the $, and not really customer servcie. All too often, a customer would bring in a battery because it'd be giving them a problem. We were required to fill the electrolite to the proper level if it was low, then check the voltage and load test the battery, if the voltage was with a specific range. But if the voltage was too low, we'd have to give the customer a temporary loaner battery and put their battery on a slow charger for 3 days. In most cases, the customer would return, only to be told their battery was no good and they'd need to replace it. Maybe Sears figured that if the customer couldn't or wouldn't wait the 3 days, they'd just buy a new battery. Anyway, I didn't care for the policy because I felt for the customer. The time and inconvience it took (4 days) just to replace a battery you've already checked out to be bad. Personally, I preferred killing a cell in the battery to make it a done deal and get a replacement right away.
Point of note: while at Sears, heads looked the other way when certain service advisors sold things that weren't needed and made big bucks on commissions from the sales. The honest service advisors and whench turners got screwed when they kept adjusting the "incentive" bonus amounts. It initally started out as a reward for working hard , but when upper management saw what everyone was earning, they restructured everything the following year. Long story short, the harder the you worked, the more you got screwed.
Well, I have read through this and may have missed something but I just comment on Interstate Batteries. We sell Interstate in our shop and many other places do also. There is a toll free number on the top of the battery you can call and they will tell you the closes dealer that sells Interstate Batterys. They are everywhere in the US and maybe other countries also that will warranty the battery as long as the date purchased is punched out on the top of the battery or you have a receipt showing when it was installed. If there is a problem, call Interstate at the toll free number and the problem will be taken care of. I have refunded (this does require a sales receipt) the purchase price when the battery went dead because of a no charge condition and the customer had to buy another battery to get home. I didn't sell the first battery, the second battery or get to fix the charging system but still refunded the money for the Interstate battery and Interstate took care of it. Could anyone want a better warranty this this. Paul Paul's Auto Electric
Somewhat unrelated: A friend of mine recently bought what he described as a "refurbished" Interstate battery, directly from a facility run by the manufacturer here (Rochester NY). He chose to try one in a non-critical application - his lawn tractor. The battery cost him about half the retail price. As he described it, these are batteries that have sat around dealers' showrooms past their "freshness date". Interesting resource.
I would think the illegal smoking would come from someone who thinks like that.
According to your statement... You would prefer to buy a new battery, which could possibly be defective from the assembly line, and be stuck with the bill and a defective battery?
Most any large retailer is not going to put something used or damaged back on the shelf, as they simply can Return To Vendor or dispose of the item and get credit.
: I hardly think a profit motive is unique to those evil corporations. : Geoff
Whoa! I stand edified. Thanks for posting that. It's a hell of an eye-opener.
I haven't been to a Jiffy Lube in several years. What I remember from one of my 3-4 visits was the service writer's trying to convince me to pay for a radiator flush because my car's coolant (which had recently been changed) was "thick." Riiight...
Geoff
-- "If it rains after a liberal washes his car, they say it's a right-wing dirty trick." -- Ann Coulter
And the 3 companies are JCI, Exide, and Delphi. JCI stands for Johnson Controls Inc. and they make Interstate and Optima plus many others.
Exide sells batteries under its own name and the Wal-Mart batteries where I live say distributed by Exide technologies on them. They also have their own version of the Optima spiral cell battery called the Exide Select Orbital.
Delphi makes the AC Delco Freedom batteries along with the clones that have a flat top with the "Delco Eye" and a flat oval vent hose port at either end of the top.
I know this isn't a very long list but a simple google search can tell you the rest.
Don't forget the silver hazmat suit with the little window in the front of the hood, and a Geiger counter. (What the hell's a "Geiger," anyway?)
Oh, and that symbol of neurotic risk-aversion, a bicycle helmet. Get an extra-large one, so that it'll fit over the hood of the hazmat suit. Andf maybe a reflective vest in DayGlo orange or lime yellow. You can't be too careful, you know.
Jesus, are you talking about cleaning off a battery, or fueling a Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet rocket fighter? You forgot to mention calling the local public-safety authorities and having the three- block radius around his house evacuated before he begins.
Look: just hose down the battery, and the tray after you've removed the battery, and sprinkle some baking soda onto it right from the box; no need to make a paste. Then when the fizzing stops, hose off the areas where you'd sprinkled the baking soda. Piece of cake. Forget the goggles; just use c*mm*n s*ns* and don;t stick your face over the engine bay when you're spraying water. The same 1-lb. box of Arm & Hammer ought to be good for 2-3 battery replacements.
"Borrow" a plastic milk crate from behind a supermarket or Sebm-Lebm, and put the battery (wrapped in the aforementioned garbage bag) into that, to prevent it's falling over when you go around a corner. I always preferred to carry them in the front passenger footwell instead if in the trunk, so I could keep an eye on them, and grab the battery if necessary.
Or wait until after nightfall, and drop the old battery down a storm drain. The city public-works workers will eventually take care of it for you.
Geoff "No Dumping - Flows To Bay" Miller
-- "If it rains after a liberal washes his car, they say it's a right-wing dirty trick." -- Ann Coulter
Are you saying people shouldn't wear bike helmets? I mean, while riding a bike, of course. Or are you saying neurotic people wear them even while walking? (jokingly, one assumes)
If it's the former, you should work in a hospital emergency department over a weekend.
That'll settle anyone's thinking when it comes to head gear with using two-wheeled vehicles.
Would this be some latter-day, fuel-injection equivalent of the Fish carburetor?
Yeah, I know: it's a conspiracy of Big Oil. If it weren't for their interference, you'd cure cancer, solve all the world's energy problems, eliminate war, famine and pestilence, and put paid to morning sphincter breath and the Heartbreak Of Psoriasis(tm).
Geoff
-- "If it rains after a liberal washes his car, they say it's a right-wing dirty trick." -- Ann Coulter
No, management failing is when they don't sell enough extras
Too true. Even in the places where you can watch them like a hawk - the only places I would take my cars - you tend to see the manager as the one who's been there more than six weeks, can count without removing his shoes, and manages to NOT need bail money every Monday morning.
Come to think of it Geoff, you probably should issue an apology to retards. Shame on you comparing them with the pit monkeys.
You know, when I was a kid in the Sixties and Seventies, no one wore a helmet when riding a bicycle. Ever. I mean, it never even crossed our minds. Why, we had no idea that we were in mortal peril! And back then kids rode bicycles a hell of a lot more than they do today: to and from school, to friends' houses, to the movies or the bowling alley or the hobby shop, just around town, etc.
There were no Nintendo potatoes, and consequently, there was no obesity crisis. Each grade at every school had but a token fat kid. The exposure to bicycle-related head injuries, both indi- vidual and collective, was far greater than it is today.
And yet, nobody worried. We never heard of anyone bonking his head while riding a bicycle. Oh, I'd never insist that it didn't happen. The odds being what they were with that many bicycle kid- miles being ridden every year, it had to have happened once in a while. But it was a fluke, and understood to be. It was rare enough that nobody ever heard about it. The possibility never joined "You'll break your neck!" and "You'll put your eye out!" (with or without a Daisy Red Rider BB gun) in the hysterical repertoire of even the most neurotic mother.
I lived in five different towns as a child, and not only did I not know anyone who suffered a head injury due to falling off of a bicycle, I never even *heard* of anyone who had. It stands to reason that if bicycle-related head injuries were at all common, such an incident would've been part of the local kid-lore in at least one or two of those places ("Billy's brains ran out of his head onto the blacktop! It was cool!"). But there was nary a story.
(Okay, I'll concede that once time circa 1969, I saw a kid fall off his Schwinn Sting Ray and do a faceplant onto the street. But a helmet wouldn't have helped there. And besides, he was an asshole.)
What changed? Thanks to the advent of the Culture Of Fear and a concomitant culture of risk aversion at all costs, the threshold of acceptable risk plummeted. People have lost the ability to distinguish between the probable and the merely possible. Anything that's possible is perceived to be likely, and therefore, as something that must be proactively guarded against. So now we have bicycle helmets, head restraints, the TSA, airbags, cops at schools, "stranger danger," and a child molester behind every tree.
You know? I'm glad I was a kid back then and not today. And no, I still don't wear a helmet when I ride my bike.
Then you should understand as well as anyone that since your hospital serves a wide area, the people you see with bicycle-related head injuries are a tiny subset of a vastly larger bicycle-riding population, most of whom escape without even an owie.
Geoff
-- "If it rains after a liberal washes his car, they say it's a right-wing dirty trick." -- Ann Coulter
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.