What a rip off!

I went in to get my car's front brakes changed. The manager suggested the basic change of pads with what seemed a reasonable price. However, shortly after they disassembled the wheels, they came back indicating that the car needed new rotors due to heavy rusting. The manager used the computer to prove that they could not be resurfaced. When I asked him for the price, he said quoted a number that seemed high and I asked for the car's factory parts. He then indicated that it would cost significantly more as the dealer charged very high prices. So, I authorized the used of after market rotors and pads. Paid over $500 (which included an oil change for $19.95). During the "inspection, " the manager claimed that there was a fluid leak in one of the rear seals. I told him to leave it as the car was under warranty.

After the breaks were done, I took the car to the dealer to get the warranty repair done on the differential seal. Much to the dealer's and my surprise, there was no leak where MIDAS said there was and the dealer found that the oil drain was loose and leaking the freshly changed oil.

I took the opportunity to ask for a quote to change the front brakes and to include brand new, factory authorized rotors. The quote was $329. Not the nearly $500 I paid MIDAS.

When I called the manager at the location where that provided the service, he basically talked bad about the Jeep dealer and referred me to a MIDAS 800 number which does not get you to a human being.

MIDAS is simply dishonest!!! It's a rip off. KEEP AWAY BY ALL MEANS.

DAMAGES:

So far it cost me nearly $200 more than necessary to change front brakes. Hopefully these brakes will function properly for a while.

Also, my car could have had significant problems had the oil cap issue not been noticed.

Hopefully this MIDAS location did not fool around other parts of my car just to break them and cause me to bring the car back in.

November 3, 2009.
To whom it may concern:
Hello, I am sending this letter in regards to the service I received on October 26, 2009, at approximately 6 o’clock pm. I entered the shop and asked the gentleman at the front counter if there was a charge just to check to see if my back tire on the passenger’s side had a slow leak. He informed me that there was no charge to check the tire, and that they would be more than happy to do so. I waited in the shop for my tire to be checked and about thirty-five to forty minutes later a mechanic came back in and asked me if the blue ford escort zx2 belong to me, and as I nodded my head yes, he then informed me that the total was $21.77. With a look of confusion on my faced I asked the mechanic, “Why am I being charged for something if all I asked for was for it to be checked?” The mechanic replied to me, “Well ma’am there was a nail in the tire and that’s what you’re being charged for. If you like I could get my manager for you, or we could just put the nail back in the tire if you don’t want to pay for it.”
As a senior attending the University of Cincinnati, Vice President of Communications for the National Pan-Hellenic Counsel, Financial Chair of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Incorporated and a Major Mentor for incoming freshmen, I was offended. In my three years attending this Midas shop, located at 2612 Reading Rd, Cincinnati, OH. I have never been spoken to in that manner. I am a valued customer who has spent well over $3, 000 with this company, and I have admired the staff who has worked at this specific location for the past three years, with the exception of this one incident. I will not spend my hard earned money with a business whose employees speaks rude and sarcastically to paying customers. October 26, 2009, was the last time I will spend my money with any Midas companies and I will be sure to share my experience with friends, family and colleges because this type of service is unacceptable.

I went to Midas in Federal ways, WA for the brake pads change for my car. Midas told me that I have to change the new Rotor too. I told them ok which cost me $XXX. I don’t know much about car but the “New” rotor look rusty. Midas told me that is normal for new break rotor. 2 month afterI needed to sell my car. The buyer want to have the car inspect at the dealer in Renton, WA. The dealer told me that My “New Rotor” was in fact old and thin. The dealer showed me the Actual “New” one also. I went back to Midas and complained to the Manager. The manager agreed to get me the Actual New one but don’t want to talk about why Midas Ripped Me off earlier.
JHG
Federal ways, Washington

Do you have a Midas coupon? It's probably worthless if you do.

No matter what it says, Midas is smarter than you and they'll prove it on your final invoice. Say you need brake service, typically a $210 service to get new pads and the rotors turned (smoothed out). The $210 is an industry standard and - for example - my invoice said the brake pad service cost $124.95 (parts and rotor turning not included), but then they slip in their own sneaky little line that says "Savings-$25 Off". Guess what, the total STILL adds up to $210.

Did you catch the trick, the dishonest little scam? Try to figure it out before reading on, because I missed it at first...

Well, their sneaky coupon bars you from using ANY advertised coupon (only "one per visit, " per the fine print)! This means you get the same competitive price as say, the OEM dealership which I would prefer due to technical expertise with the brand's own vehicle, but Midas reels you in with coupons that will NEVER, EVER work. How's that for savy and yet entirely unethical business? Ugh. And if you try to use your own coupon, they sound really generous and state they gave you an even better coupon and discount which now you know, is a complete lie that they expect you to fall for. Use a credit card if you know what I mean and never use cash at Midas "just in case".

Note: Watch out for the bogus "Shop Costs" they slip in. It's for that $12.83 roll of paper towel they used.

While I was at a Ross one day, a person approached me and asked me if I wanted to buy 4 Services for $30.00 from Midas in Glendale, CA. Each service included an oil change, topping fluids if needed to be, etc.

November 18, 2008, I took my car for the first Service, which they did. At that time THE MANAGER, YURI STAIN was extremely nice and helpful. He actually texted me after I had left to personally thank me for coming into MIDAS. He said that he usually sends out e-mails but this time he send a text. Little did I know his reasons behind it. Being naive I responded, saying that I appreciated their service. Then he texted me asking me out and I told him that I have a boyfriend and he replied: "EVEN BETTER!!!" I thought that was very unprofessional because I did not give him my cell phone number for personal reasons and he had no right to use it to his advantage and especially texting me from his personal cell phone, but I just brushed it off. He still had the nerve to call me a couple of days later and tell me that if I had any friends, I should recommend Midas in Glendale. I said I will and ended the converstation.

My parents went on a trip to Lake Tahoe with my car and came back and my car started having problems. My brakes weren't working properly. The car would slow down even if I wasn't pressing on the brakes or the gas! That problem went on for a couple of days until my car would just stop on an even rode even when I wasn't pressing on the brake! The next day my brakes started smoking!!! I pulled over and called my boyfriend! He came, took the car and he said that my brakes were probably worn out and he is going to change them. My boyfriend's uncle has a car body shop and my boyfriend has been working there since he was 12! He is 32 now! He did change them because they had worn out; however, he said the car is still not running right and that we should just take it to the Toyota Dealership first thing in the morning. We did that and I had to leave the car at the dealership for a day.

The next day when we went to pick up my car from the dealership, the master mechanic explained to us that someone put a different fluid in the brake fluid, which completely messed up the whole brake system, he said it is going to cost me $3500 to fix the problem. Even though my car was still under warranty, he said that since the oil change was not done at the dealership, the warranty does not cover that and since Midas had worked on my car previously I needed to speak with them. I immediately called Yuri and told him what had happened. He told me to bring the car so they can inspect it.

I took the car to Midas and the mechanic there "inspected" my car and said that it is not their fault and they are not responsible for what had happened. Yuri said that since my boyfriend had changed my brakes, he is the one who is responsible for it. I did explain to Yuri that the reason my boyfriend even changed my brakes was because the car was already having a problem, there was smoke coming out of my brakes. I told Yuri that the problem occured before my boyfriend changed my brakes. I also said that if I knew my boyfriend had put fluid in my car, I would not even come to Midas and if I was trying to blame it on Midas, I would not have even mentioned that my boyfriend changed my brakes, he could have simply changed them back! I also explained to him that the very next day we took it to the dealership and they discovered the wrong fluid and that my boyfriend had not put any fluids in my car and that all he had done was changing my brakes.

I also told Yuri that under the service it says (as I showed him the little brouchure with the details that I had received from the person I had purchased it from) that if the fluid is low Midas will "top it off." I told Yuri that my brakes were worn out, which meant that at the time I had taken my car to Midas my brakes had already been worn out, which meant the brake fluid was low, which obviously meant they "topped it off." Yuri said that that is not true and I cannot bring the car back to Midas after 1000 miles and tell him there was something wrong with it. He also said that if there was indeed the wrong fluid in the brake fluid, the car would have started having a problem after driving 60 miles from the moment the wrong fluid was put in. I explained to him that the reason I brought the car back with so many miles is because my parents went to Lake Tahoe, which is 500 miles away from my house one way!

I called the master technician at Toyota and he told me that it is NOT TRUE that it only takes 60 miles and he also told me that it can take 10 miles or 5000 miles, he said that no one can predict that! He also said that I should ask Yuri where does it say exactly how many miles does it take for the whole brake system to give up? I hung up the phone with him and I told Yuri what the master technicial had told me and I asked him, where does it say that? Yuri said that I am right it doesn't say anywhere how many miles it takes for the brake system to completely fail, but from his personal experience he knew that! I told him that his personal experience is not good enough evidence for me! He still insisted it wasn't their fault and he said they cannot do anything about it. I knew that this conversation wasn't going to go anywhere, so I left Midas extremely dissapointed and upset!

So here I was stuck with having to pay $3500 because of Midas!!! I was extremely upset and I called their corporate office. I told them what had happened and they told me that they will look into it. The next day Yuri left me a voicemail that their corporate office had called him and that him, their corporate office and their lawyers are standing behind their innocence and that they wish me luck with my car and that they advise me to fix it as soon as possible because of the break issue that I had. That's great, so the corporate office obviously didn't even care enough to investigate the issue, they simply took their manager's side! Is this really the way to do business????? I made I complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Bureau of Motor Vehicle Repair; however, that led me to a dead end as well!

All I received from both bureaus was a letter stating that they have tried to contact Midas; however, they haven't received a response from them! Wow It seemed like no one was able to help me and hold Midas responsible for completely messing up my WHOLE BRAKE SYSTEM!!! There was nothing else to do! I spoke with a lawyer, which was my last alternative, but he advised me not to sue Midas because it might take a long time and if I did not win, I would end up spending more money and I should simply fix my car! Great no one was willing to help!

At the end, I ended up fixing my car, paying for getting it fixed considering that I did nothing wrong!!! Midas (considering the fact that they supposedly SPECIALIZE IN BRAKES!!!) in Glendale, California did something wrong and did not even try to take responsibility for their actions!!! The lesson I learned is DO NOT EVER EVER EVER AGAIN GO TO MIDAS!!! I also learned that by trying to save some money by purchasing 4 services for $30 instead of getting my oil change and services at the Toyota Dealership like I had done in the past for $70, I ended up having to spend A LOT MORE money!!! I do understand that companies make mistakes!!! I mean no one is perfect, we are all human beings, but you know it will be nice if they actually take responsibilty for their mistakes!!!


EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE AWARE OF MIDAS, ESPECIALLY THE ONE IN GLENDALE, CA!!! DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAR THERE UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO SPEND A LOT OF MONEY ON FIXING YOUR CAR ONCE THEY MESS IT UP!!! AND BELIEVE ME MIDAS AND THEIR CORPORATE OFFICE WILL NOT AND I REPEAT WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR ACTIONS AND DEFINITELY NOT EVEN CARE OR BOTHER TO ACT UPON THEIR MISTAKES!!!