Putting Monro Muffler & Brakes at 35 Howard Road in Gates, and especially Tony D. the manager plus the owner who was also present, on blast for their dishonest business practices and cheating me out of warranty work! Venting starts here...
I had $1,000 worth of tire, brake pad,and rotor replacements done less than a year ago. The parts and labor had a one-year warranty on them. Ten months later, the back of my vehicle started thumping when I applied the brakes. A friend knowledgeable about cars said it feels like the rear rotors are going bad. I took the vehicle back to Monro a few weeks before the warranty period ended to get the brakes looked at plus an oil change and inspection. Although I had an appointment, I waited nearly four hours in the waiting room for them to claim my vehicle needed rear calipers -- something that was not done in the original repairs under warranty. My gut feeling was that something was amiss. Since being told the problem was the calipers, I texted a friend right there from the waiting room who quickly found the calipers at Schnabel auto parts store for half the price Tony at Monro quoted. I told them to close the vehicle back up without making the repairs.
I took my vehicle to a friend of a friend, who is a great mechanic with a car lift in his home garage. After being looked at by him, it was verified the problem was indeed the rear rotors, rear brake pads, and low front brake pads. All of those things Monro did less than a year ago and were covered under warranty. I bought all of the parts for the real fix from Auto Zone for $155.00 total. The backyard mechanic repaired everything (rotors and pads) and now my vehicle runs super smooth. Tony at Monro Muffler, in the presence of the owner, cheated their way out of that warranty work and wasted half of a work day for me. They lied that I needed calipers so they could apply the money toward the parts that were really needed and were covered under warranty.
Besides that dishonesty, I also didn't like the way he tried to upsell me when I walked in for an oil change. The BS-o-meter piqued when he asked me, "Are you still using the good oil in your vehicle?" Not amused, I told him I had never heard about my vehicle needing any special oil. (I had never had an oil change at their location.) He claimed the year and make of my vehicle recommended special oil. I asked him how much does this good oil cost? He said $12.95 more than the bait price of $19.99 posted in their advertisements. While sitting there for 4 hours, I noticed when another woman came in for an oil change, he immediately asked her like he did me, "Are you still using the good oil in your vehicle?". I saw the game! Right there in the waiting room, I researched info about oil changes for my vehicle. I saw no recommendations for any special oil. I also think that nonsense was that gender-biased crap that make women hate to go to auto repair places, but also believe Tony and owner will pull that nonsense on anyone they think they can get over on. Obviously there is an employee or brand commission/incentive/kickback in getting customers to purchase "services" that are unnecessary. Not to mention, after knowing they lied to me about the brake issue, I wouldn't trust that they would use any upgraded oil during an oil change.
If the above wasn't enough, Tony also gave me a BS quote to replace a tail light unit on my vehicle. The cost quoted to me was $280; that is, $230 for the tail light unit + $50 labor. After Tony left the waiting room, two other men who were sitting nearby said it is ridiculous for them to charge me $50 to replace the tail light unit and to go somewhere else. At Keystone auto parts store, the cost for the unit was $166 (because it was an LED light unit). It took the backy
I would not recommend Monro Muffler in Gates to anyone; and especially urge women to steer clear of this dishonest repair shop.
