Poll of the Day > lol one of those oil change places just tried to upsell me on a service I didn't

(+) Yeah! (+)

need

This jackass calls me to my 200 and says the coolant reservoir is empty (well duh, the guy under my car just drained it and my oil bro I'm not stupid). He claims some dumb shit, says it will be $90 (super cheap for that service) but they will take off $20 since I'm getting an oil change (how nice of them). I decline the service. Dude tries to sell me wiper blades as I'm about to pay for the oil change. Like bro if your first attempt didn't work why the fuck are you going to try something different? Worst part about this scam is that he can easily look up the features on my car and see that it would notify me if my coolant was empty like he claimed. Really banking on people being dumb.

Sent corporate a nicely worded email about this blatant scam. I don't think they will do anything since these businesses push their employees to upsell. Claimed I would report them to the BBB and blast them on all the review sites. Waiting on an email/call.

Be careful out there. The way he explained it probably has worked multiple times on people that don't know shit about their car.
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SmokeMassTree posted...

blast them on all the review sites

We all remember how well that worked for you last time.
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Unfortunately, upselling is a part of the corporate car business. I had a shop tell me my car needed a new detent cable. That particular car doesn't have a detent cable.
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I feel this is one of many reasons folks should have some basic understanding of their vehicles. They don't need to be expect, just knowledgeable enough to know whether the issues makes sense and if the price is reasonable. I'm far from being a car guru but I do rely on opinions from friends/family who have better experience if certain car issues are actually a concern and if quotes given make sense.
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MannerSaurus posted...

Unfortunately, upselling is a part of the corporate car business. I had a shop tell me my car needed a new detent cable. That particular car doesn't have a detent cable.

I do most of the maintenance on my car. The big stuff that I don't have the tools/patience for I get done at a shop my buddy owns. I only went to this place because they offer 25% off for rideshare partners and at that price it was slightly cheaper than getting the oil/filter and doing it myself.
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Upselling is how they make money.
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Damn, $70 just to pour some water in the engine? Even I know that's grossly overpriced.

I once had a Honda guy bring out a dirty cabin air filter and told me they could replace it for $80. It wasn't even mine because I had changed it myself a few weeks earlier. I was so pissed. I gave a cuss filled earful to the head of thier service dept about the blatant lying. They offered to charge me only for the cost of the oil I was there getting changed. It didn't matter though because it was all free under a lease contract. I did not renew my lease with Honda to say the least.
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DPsx7 posted...

Damn, $70 just to pour some water in the engine? Even I know that's grossly overpriced.

Well, water and anti-freeze in a 50:50, 40:60 or 60:40 ratio. But yes.
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One time Castrol tried to tell me I needed new wiper blades when I had just installed them a week earlier. I also had an employee at this same Castrol try to sell me weed before too. Showed it to me and everything lol

SmokeMassTree posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

Unfortunately, upselling is a part of the corporate car business. I had a shop tell me my car needed a new detent cable. That particular car doesn't have a detent cable.

I do most of the maintenance on my car. The big stuff that I don't have the tools/patience for I get done at a shop my buddy owns. I only went to this place because they offer 25% off for rideshare partners and at that price it was slightly cheaper than getting the oil/filter and doing it myself.

Same. I can do basic things like I deleted my emissions in my car (EGR and AIR pump) to accommodate long-tube race headers and removed my old exhaust myself, and I bolted up the headers myself (well, with a friend), but I don't know anything about welding so I had to have an exhaust shop finish the job for me. I also upgraded my air intake manifold and throttle body myself, which isn't that hard, except I shed a lot of blood and layers of skin. LOL. (And then I spent like 5 days trying to get the idle correct with the new throttle body.)
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It wouldn't work on me. My coolant reservoir is always empty!
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You sent an email to the corporation which has mandated its technicians use this technique.
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kangolcone posted...

You sent an email to the corporation which has mandated its technicians use this technique.

Yes.

Figured if someone called them out on it and threatened to put them on blast they would at the very least offer me a refund. I'm not going to accept it and use the offer in my reports.
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SunWuKung420 posted...

SmokeMassTree posted...

blast them on all the review sites

We all remember how well that worked for you last time.

Oh right, I do remember that! That was some hilarious shit
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I want the story.
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One thing I noticed taking my car to a dealer for oil changes as opposed to one of those oil change places (I get free oil changes from the dealer) is they don't try to up sell you on ANYTHING. The only time they added anything to the oil change is when they looked at my air filter and saw it was pretty dirty. I said it hadn't been changed in 4 years so I decided it was time to change it.

Only difference is it seems to take like an hour to get any service done compared to the 15 - 20 minutes it takes at the oil change places.
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Dikitain posted...

One thing I noticed taking my car to a dealer for oil changes as opposed to one of those oil change places (I get free oil changes from the dealer) is they don't try to up sell you on ANYTHING. The only time they added anything to the oil change is when they looked at my air filter and saw it was pretty dirty. I said it hadn't been changed in 4 years so I decided it was time to change it.

Only difference is it seems to take like an hour to get any service done compared to the 15 - 20 minutes it takes at the oil change places.

Dealerships charge out the ass for everything. It will get done right and they wont upsell you typically but they dont call them stealerships for nothing

MannerSaurus posted...

I want the story.

He tried to blast some other auto repair shop for charging him to diagnosis when he never intended to have them fix and tried to argue he should have gotten the diagnosis for free. He posted a picture of the Google review, then we all found it live and watched him get owned. He ended up deleting the review.
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SunWuKung420 posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

I want the story.

He tried to blast some other auto repair shop for charging him to diagnosis when he never intended to have them fix and tried to argue he should have gotten the diagnosis for free. He posted a picture of the Google review, then we all found it live and watched him get owned. He ended up deleting the review.

#fakenews
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SunWuKung420 posted...

He tried to blast some other auto repair shop for charging him to diagnosis when he never intended to have them fix and tried to argue he should have gotten the diagnosis for free.

I vaguely recall a discussion about that. Dunno when but I have started to notice signs at mom-n-pop shops stating the diagnosis fee is only waived if they perform the fix/service. Personally I feel that is reasonable since it still takes time to perform the diagnosis. If said service is able to offer free assessments (i.e. some contractors), perhaps they make enough in the long run to make up for it. So long as it is known before the diagnosis starts, I think it is fair game.
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It makes sense to charge for a diagnosis if you aren't getting it fixed there EXCEPT for PCM engine codes. That takes 10 seconds with a scanner, and anyone can do it, and even auto hardware stores do it for free. So charging for that would be bullshit.
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MannerSaurus posted...

It makes sense to charge for a diagnosis if you aren't getting it fixed there EXCEPT for PCM engine codes. That takes 10 seconds with a scanner, and anyone can do it, and even auto hardware stores do it for free. So charging for that would be bullshit.

Exactly what it was and they quoted me $126 more than my buddies shop for the same service.

I just went back and looked at their reviews. Of course they have three new ones basically saying the same thing that happened to me. Then I found this gem that I completely forgot about



Made me smile. @greensomethingdonthatemefornotrememberingyourname
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Yowza. At the very least the diagnosis fee should be known beforehand since the quote for the fix/service usually can't be given till afterwards. I've been fortunate that the mom-n-pop shops I go to have been trustworthy. The only one I was a little hesitant on was one that my AAA roadside assistant driver recommended and it was far enough away that I would have to Uber over to/from.

Still, it was an AAA certified shop and they gave me a discount for being a AAA member. The charge for replacing the alternator was in-line with what I would expect and they offered to pay for my Uber ride. Funny enough, this shop also had a one star review for charging for diagnosis. I had to sign a form before they performed the diagnosis that I understood there would be a fee if they don't perform the fix/service.
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SunWuKung420 posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

I want the story.

He tried to blast some other auto repair shop for charging him to diagnosis when he never intended to have them fix and tried to argue he should have gotten the diagnosis for free. He posted a picture of the Google review, then we all found it live and watched him get owned. He ended up deleting the review.

iirc, shop held his car hostage until he took down the review.
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Zeus posted...

iirc, shop held his car hostage until he took down the review.

If the TC didn't sign any forms or agreement, could he have called the police on that? I've heard of similar stories of tow truck companies prowling around to take cars away and charging an arm or leg to give back. For the life of me can't recall how that was legal.
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Zeus posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

I want the story.

He tried to blast some other auto repair shop for charging him to diagnosis when he never intended to have them fix and tried to argue he should have gotten the diagnosis for free. He posted a picture of the Google review, then we all found it live and watched him get owned. He ended up deleting the review.

iirc, shop held his car hostage until he took down the review.

That is why I used to keep a spare set of keys that I would give the shop instead of my main keys. Basically they tried to do that to me once, so I just went back after the shop closed and took my car back. That way I was only out the couple of bucks it costs to make a spare key rather then the money they were holding my car ransom for. When they called me, I just told them I wasn't having my car held for ransom and if they wanted to press charges they were free to do that. Nothing ever happened though.

Nowadays since cars come with the key fobs, it is a little more costly to do that.
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Dikitain posted...

Zeus posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

I want the story.

He tried to blast some other auto repair shop for charging him to diagnosis when he never intended to have them fix and tried to argue he should have gotten the diagnosis for free. He posted a picture of the Google review, then we all found it live and watched him get owned. He ended up deleting the review.

iirc, shop held his car hostage until he took down the review.

That is why I used to keep a spare set of keys that I would give the shop instead of my main keys. Basically they tried to do that to me once, so I just went back after the shop closed and took my car back. That way I was only out the couple of bucks it costs to make a spare key rather then the money they were holding my car ransom for. When they called me, I just told them I wasn't having my car held for ransom and if they wanted to press charges they were free to do that. Nothing ever happened though.

Nowadays since cars come with the key fobs, it is a little more costly to do that.

I used to work for a car dealership, and yeah you are 100% legal to take your own car. Someone "stole" their car once when the dealership held it ransom for the body shop work payment, but the dealership can literally only sue you for the payment of the work. It isn't an auto theft situation since it is your car to begin with.
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MannerSaurus posted...

DPsx7 posted...

Damn, $70 just to pour some water in the engine? Even I know that's grossly overpriced.

Well, water and anti-freeze in a 50:50, 40:60 or 60:40 ratio. But yes.

Whatever those jugs at the store have. No way they cost that much.

DPsx7 posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

DPsx7 posted...

Damn, $70 just to pour some water in the engine? Even I know that's grossly overpriced.

Well, water and anti-freeze in a 50:50, 40:60 or 60:40 ratio. But yes.

Whatever those jugs at the store have. No way they cost that much.

If they are pre-mixed, than yeah it should be a 50:50 ratio, I imagine. And yeah... a lot of car shops are rip offs. lol
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DPsx7 posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

DPsx7 posted...

Damn, $70 just to pour some water in the engine? Even I know that's grossly overpriced.

Well, water and anti-freeze in a 50:50, 40:60 or 60:40 ratio. But yes.

Whatever those jugs at the store have. No way they cost that much.

They don't. The real service of flushing out the system typically costs $150-$200 but it's rarely necessary.
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SmokeMassTree posted...

DPsx7 posted...

MannerSaurus posted...

DPsx7 posted...

Damn, $70 just to pour some water in the engine? Even I know that's grossly overpriced.

Well, water and anti-freeze in a 50:50, 40:60 or 60:40 ratio. But yes.

Whatever those jugs at the store have. No way they cost that much.

They don't. The real service of flushing out the system typically costs $150-$200 but it's rarely necessary.

A full flush is something you should do for your car, but not nearly as frequently as an oil change. I don't remember the mileage you're supposed to, but I did mine at like 90,000 miles. lol
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Flushing out your coolant is easier than an oil change and anybody can do that.
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Kyuubi4269 posted...

Flushing out your coolant is easier than an oil change and anybody can do that.

Burping the system was a little annoying though and I shoulda bought a plastic tube to attach to the radiator drain instead of making a stupid aluminum funnel.
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Just got this voicemail from them


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SunWuKung420 posted...

SmokeMassTree posted...

blast them on all the review sites

We all remember how well that worked for you last time.

Said the dude that tells people to google shit and then fucks it up.
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CacciatoPart3 posted...

SunWuKung420 posted...

SmokeMassTree posted...

blast them on all the review sites

We all remember how well that worked for you last time.

Said the dude that tells people to google shit and then fucks it up.

Is this your newest toy, lil caca?
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We could always go with the classics, like your belief in the one pound baby average or your bizarre idea of good tattoos.
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SmokeMassTree posted...

Just got this voicemail from them

lol. dude sounds shook

CacciatoPart3 posted...

We could always go with the classics,

I cannot believe an adult posted this.
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CacciatoPart3 posted...

We could always go with the classics, like your belief in the one pound baby average or your bizarre idea of good tattoos.

What about his oddly shaped back cancer?
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SmokeMassTree posted...

kangolcone posted...

You sent an email to the corporation which has mandated its technicians use this technique.

Yes.

Figured if someone called them out on it and threatened to put them on blast they would at the very least offer me a refund. I'm not going to accept it and use the offer in my reports.

OH NO! One anonymous reviewer who isnt a regular customer. Seriously, are you actually this deluded?
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lol
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LanHikari10 posted...

lol

Larry says hi
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Same thing in the medical field. They want you dumb and ignorant to the point where they actively shame you for research and questioning what they are doing to you. It's sick that happy meals are under more scrutiny and they think they are above that. No.