An unpleasant Oil Changers experience
Here’s a story I meant to tell a while ago…
About two months back, it was time for another oil change on the ol’ Taurus. Rather than doing it myself, I took it to my local Oil Changers, which was a bit of a mistake.
Since I got my car in August of 2005, I’ve done all my own oil changes, rather than bringing my car to a shop. It’s not really that difficult to do, and after getting help from my brothers the first couple times, I can now complete the entire process myself in about 20 minutes. Getting the oil and a new oil filter from Canadian Tire costs under $15, so doing it myself saves me money.
Since it was so cold outside and no car will ever fit into my garage, I decided to take my car to Oil Changers to get the oil changed. I figured I would pay an extra $10 or $15, but at least I wouldn’t freeze my hands off in the cold doing it myself.
I got there at about 11 in the morning, and there was only one car ahead of me. While I was waiting, one of the mechanics came by to tell the customer ahead of me that his serpentine belt in his car was cracked, and they recommended replacing it. He declined, saying he would do it next time. When it was my car’s turn, the first thing the mechanic mentioned to me was my belt was cracked and they recommend replacing it. I declined. He then suggested I do an engine flush to clean out all the dirty oil and sludge. It would only cost an additional $79, which is more than I paid for the car. While I’m sure it would be helpful, I declined.
When they were done, and handed me the bill, I was a little unpleasantly surprised. The total came to $42.23! A little pricey for a simple oil change, I’d say. I begrudgingly paid my bill and then went outside where they had parked my car. As I went to open my car door, I noticed my car was rolling ever so slightly… I hopped in, noticed the engine was off, but the keys were still in the ignition and the car was still in drive. I started swearing and they guy who parked my car came out and asked if he left it in neutral or something, as if it were no big deal.
Overall, I would say I was not happy with my experience at Oil Changers. They try very hard to get you to buy extra services and parts that may not be necessary, they are expensive, and judging by the way they left my car “parked”, I’d say they don’t pay much attention to details.
The only good things I can say is that they refilled my wiper fluid, checked my tire pressure and they were very fast. My oil change only took about 5 minutes to complete. I will be doing my own oil changes from now on.
Peter San says:
I think you should teach me how to change the oil in my car because I don’t even know what that means.
But if it gets your hands dirty, then I’ll just go to jiffy lube.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Spencer "oil" McCormack says:
I had the same experience at the same place, the one oil change I ever got, the bill was shocking. I remember that being shocked! Also when they offer you the things they want to sell you they call you sir I must’ve been called sir 7 times. I was 19 at the time and everyone working there was older than me and calling me sir, which doesn’t say customer service to me. What it says is “they make us say sir and ma’am to everybody”.
I agree!
May 16th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
robmaeder.com » Blog Archive » Petro Canada gave me a shitty car wash says:
[...] The car wash is directly beside Oil Changers, and I think I’ll stay away from that particular Petro Canada from now on. [...]
October 11th, 2007 at 8:08 am