Jiffy Lube Scam

People…BE VERY CAREFUL WHERE YOU TAKE YOUR VEHICLES FOR REPAIR. I own two establishments in which vehicles are repaired. Our reputation and providing quality service is vitally important to us. NOTHING in business pisses me off more than to know that our competitors are screwing the public on a daily basis. No matter how honest and above board we are…when these types of instances occur, regular consumers have a natural assumption that everybody does it. THEY DON’T! We are not a Jiffy Lube; we are a full service repair / maintenance garage. We cannot perform a service and oil change for $19.95. However, when your vehicle is serviced in our garage, IT’S SERVICED! The oil is changed, the filter(s) are changed depending on need, brakes are checked, chassis is lubed, and ALL fluids are checked and filled appropriately. THAT’S the true meaning of an oil change…just like it was in the old days. This post is in no way intended to unduly slam Jiffy Lube. Unfortunately, the facts are the facts, and even sadder is the fact that Jiffy Lube is NOT the only place where these types of things happen. The Jiffy Lube establishments mentioned in the video were in California. In this video, News 4 did an undercover report, and FIVE out of nine Jiffy Lube stores DID NOT do the work the news team paid them to do. The district manager lied on camera, and Jiffy Lube corporate took the low road in their statement. I know that at least ONE Jiffy Lube in Reno follows the same sleazy practice. I had a very nice gentleman come into my shop for a basic oil change. As with all customers, upon inspection we found his air filter FILTHY and almost completely restricted, so it was changed also. When paying the bill, the customer saw the charge for his air filter (his particular one is an expensive type), and was a bit upset. He told me that he really wished we hadn’t done that without asking him first, as he just had his air filter changed at Jiffy Lube less than 30 days ago, and estimated it was about 18 days prior. Not wanting to unduly charge a consumer for something they did not need, I went back to my mechanic to check on the service. We brought the customer back to the shop, and my mechanic took the filter he had removed from this gentleman’s car and held it off the floor only about six inches, and merely dropped it. Enough grime and debris came out of that filter that we LITERALLY FILLED a little restaurant style long handled dustpan. It was apparent that if we dropped it again, we could have filled the dust pan again. This customer was furious! He asked me if he could have it ALL. We swept up the junk, placed the contents and the filter into a trash bag, and gave it to him. I asked him why he wanted it, and as he was off toward the door…he said he was on his way to Jiffy Lube to shove that air filter up somebody’s ass! I felt sorry for him; it SUCKS to spend hard earned money only to learn that you’ve been ripped off. Buyer’s Beware…the cheapest is not always the best. The video below was made by another consumer that got ripped off by Jiffy Lube (the same one MORE THAN ONCE). His story is common with others, and just a note, there are a couple of choice words on one part of the video.