we all know NOT to go to pep boys for anything...
 

but many people dont have a particular experience to justify it...so here's one for ya!

The other day a friend of mine(we shall call him mike), who owns a camaro decided to go to Pep Boys to have his FRONT RIGHT TIRE plugged, as there was a screw in it and the tire would lose pressure after a day or two. I told him that if it were my car i wouldn't dream of going to pep boys for anything but his response was a casual, "its a tire plug, can they really **** that up?" i shrugged and let him go on his way.

I ended up following him to the store so he would have a ride home...person at the desk said, "right front tire? plug? ok no problem we'll call you when it's done...should be $24 + tax and whatnot" and then later i got a call from him...

He went on to tell me about how the store had called him to tell him that his car was ready, so he got another ride there and went directly to his car...the front right tire was(surprise!) still flat and, upon further inspection, the screw was still visible in the treads. mike then went inside and the conversation went like this:

mike: "hi, i'm here to pick up my camaro"

pep boys employee: "ok sure that will be twenty-"

mike: "did you fill up the tire after you plugged it?"

pep boys employee: "yes sir, its out in the parking lot...should be fine"

mike: "then how come when i looked at the car 3 seconds ago the tire was already flat and the screw i asked you to pull out and plug was still visible in the tire?"

pep boys employee: "uhhhhhhh...yea we couldn't plug it"

mike: "but you were going to charge me anyway? ridiculous...why dont you try again"

at this point mike's car was brought back into the garage and after a few more minutes the mechanic came out to happily inform mike that he found and plugged a nail-hole in the front left tire. mike then said something along the lines of..."that's ********, i specifically said the front right tire...i will NOT pay for anything but a plug in the front right tire!

at this point the mechanic tried to argue about a problem with liability in putting a tire plug and essentially a whole ton of bullcrap...on the third try the tire was finally fixed and mike paid the 25-26 bucks for it...clearly stating that he will NEVER go to pep boys for ANYTHING ever again...bout time ya learned "mike"! :wink:

MORAL/CLIFFNOTES: Pep Boys sucks...dont trust them with anything

would that camaro happen to be a 4th gen? 6 Speed? LS1orLT1?

Yea dont do Pepboys. For Xmas, I got a cherry picker from my mom. She went to Pep Boys with my brother to pick it out. She found one, went to the desk and told them she wanted Part # bla bla bla and what it was. The cashier said Ok, that'll be bla bla bla (price). So she paid... and this was the conversation:

Mom - "Am I gonna get a hand"

Cashier - "With what?"

Mom - "Does it look like I can carry that?"

Cashier - "Carry what?"

Mom - "The engine puller I just bought"

Cashier - "Oh, we can't assist you"

So my mom had to call my cousin and his friend to come and pick it up for her. What A$$H0L3Z!!!

autozone doesnt have royal purple.....

i am not at liberty to discuss that information

ok "MIKE". I bet it was you. Deep down inside you wish you drove a Honda, could go to pep boys for their discount $32.95 Universal Chrome muffler, and could tell about your 12 second time slips, ya know the ones you never seem to have, but either way you couldnt run that now cause your clutch is slipping!

my car doesnt run...remember? good goin genious

there is always an alternative...

Did i say anything about the Trans Am in there?

Yeah I only go to Pep Boys for the Royal Purple

said person should buy a plug kit ~$5 and do it him damn self lol cheap said bastard.

yeah....the pep boys in PA, is still closer than any of those lol 8)

Myers Speed & Van 1470 Prospect Street Trenton 08638 609-530-1404

(I'm bored, can ya tell?)

yeah, its probably still quicker for me to PA....plus.....olden sucks 8)

Holy crap, Im sick and tired of people telling me that Sears is too expensive for a tire plug.
For a synthetic rubber patch/plug that seals from the inside, and ballance for a rim 12 to 16 inches is $18 bucks, 17-20 is $22, and 21+ is $25. Some lady gawked at me, and told me that I was a rip off.
I bet Pep Boys uses ones of thoes red gas station plugs, and charged 25 bucks.

Was the nail in the tread, or the sidewall? Sidewall, I can understand, and NO ONE that has any ****ing clue will plug a hole in the sidewall.
Tread, I dont see why they couldnt plug it. Sounds like they were covering there ass.

Next time, go to Sears.

twas in the tread, and sears will most likely be the "next time" location

I wish I knew someone there...actualy....this is pretty funny.

Our old Regional Trainer for ALL Sears techs, I belive his name is Dan, left Sears for....anyone wana guess? Anyone?
Pep Boys, to do the same thing he did for Sears.
Then the guy who was supposed to replace him who was my former assnt manager, didnt get his job, so he went to Pep's too to become Manager of the Peps down the road.
Dan then left Pep Boys after 2 months because he realized how ****ed up everything was, and was rehired by our new District Manager and sent to one of the biggest stores in the district, a store that was supposed to be given to my present store Manager, and a store I was going to go to be transferd to be Asst Manager.

Did I lose anyone?

Anyway, thought I would let everyone in on a little Sears politics.

Yeah, well consider your(self or buddy) lucky that it got fixed and for relatively cheap. I was going to get the same service done to my car a few years ago but my normal mechanic was closed so I went to this "other place". They did a great job with the plug and I was happy, left the building and got into my car. Pulled out my keys from their stupid little "don't forget which keyes go with which car" bag and go to start the car. Woops, WTF, the upper thumb rest fell off! It was GLUED!!!! Those bastards. I storm into the building and kick up a **** storm infront of all the customers. A lady that was looking for tires left the store and drove off. They wouldn't even pay for it saying it was my fault for having a "loose" ignition assembly. I looked at him and said you better get your lawyer because we're going to find out who's at fault. The manager offered to re-glue the thing on and I was like... um, notice what just happened about 30 seconds ago? He then asked how much it would cost in parts and I said give me my money back for the tire plug and I'll just never come back here again. He did and I was gone. Let's just say there are other stories to be told about this "other place" that go so far as sabatage to make more money. Can you believe this; Friends Lexus goes in for tire rotation, they talk him into an alignment and he doesn't leave but a 1/4 mile down the road and the thing was vibrating so bad that it stalled. He crawled back to them and they proceded to rape him for more. Then there's the time they ordered the wrong brake pads and they wouldn't fit so they ground down the pad to fit instead of getting the correct part. I'm sorry but does that sound at all like a special on 60-minutes?

no plugs in my tires.........and i dont have a camaro anymore :wink:

Friends Lexus goes in for tire rotation, they talk him into an alignment and he doesn't leave but a 1/4 mile down the road and the thing was vibrating so bad that it stalled

Hrm...to me that sounds like whoever put the tires on the vehicle did not balance the rears, and when they were rotated to the front, they caused the vibration. Â*
Alignment, unless WAY out of wack, wont cause a vibration. Â*That is a balance problem. Â*Rebalance the front tires, and that should fix the problem. Â*It happens a lot. Â*People will come in for a rotation, and if we see irregular tire wear, we will suggest an alignment, or if it hasnt been done in over a year. We rotate the tires, and do the alignment. Everything is in the green, we set her down and park her outside.
Customer picks the car up, and within an hour they come back complaining of a vibration at high speeds. People will think alignment problem, but usualy its due to the rear tires not balanced or balanced incorrectly. Â*

But as for the brake deal...well thats just amazing. Â*I find it hard to belive that they couldnt get the exact pads!! Â*Its not like its really hard to find parts for a Lexus, especialy the ES300's.

Al, don't try and justify this shop's work, they're evil and I've got more stories to tell about em.
Yes the alignment was sabotaged. I've never seen a rear wheel unbalanced stall out a car, don't see how it's even possible. My guess is that the toe was too far in or that the shop did something else evil to get them to come back.
As for the pads, that was a completely different story all together. The parts store happens to be, no joke, less than a 1/4 mile away from the shop. Dealers are all up and down 206 around the princeton airport so it's not like they've got very far to go to get parts but they're lazy bastards.

$25 for a tire plug? good god man. Going rate at a tire shop is about $7.50. Hell you can buy a plug kit for about $10 and do it yourself. I'm glad there aren't any Pep Boys up here. For something as like tires I would only go to a tire shop to get it fixed. Too important of a part to messing around with a 15 year old minimum wager.

I think a tire plug at my shop is like 8 bucks, and there is no waiting, if you roll up and need it plugged the odds are myself or one of the other guys will go out there and plug it, sometimes you can even get it while its on the car.

not a big deal

depends on what style plug they use.
A "plug kit" isnt gunna cost much. But the style we use looks like a black mushroom. Its called a patch/plug. We remove the tire from the rim, run the plug through the hole, and the patch seals form the inside, while the plug seals the hole. Then it is remounted and balanced.
That is the way all tire manufactures prefer.

pepboys is fine for small parts most of the time but their service sucks ass.