Monro Muffler Brake & Svc

This place has been, in every interaction my friends or I have had with them, extremely sub-par. They BROKE a piece of a boyfriend's car then attempted to charge him for it, and misquoted prices for several car parts (something along the lines of, "Oh, that'll cost $170 for the part." "For just the back ones? Really?" "Oh, sorry. I meant $70. Oops,") all in addition to charging significantly more than their website quotes. The repair man was prone to trying to baffle customers with "technical" talk - often bearing little to NO relation to genuine information on the actual car repair being done - and whenever their mistaken statements were corrected (my boyfriend does know a decent amount about his own car and did a good amount of research before going in), they became increasingly belligerent.

On top of all of this, they attempted to belittle him and threaten him with statements like, "Oh, you COULD drive your car away to somewhere else... If you want to risk the brakes seizing up in the middle of the road" - that particular gem coming in response to the relatively innoccuous questions of, "Do you think my brake pads are too worn? Can I drive it this weekend?" Perhaps a final sign of questionable quality came when they were seen SMOKING inside the actual workshop within a few feet of cars in various stages of repair - just the little comforting, professional touches you like to have a reassurance contemplating a mechanic.

Overall, I would STRONGLY recommend that folks looking for quality service in Ithaca and a professional car repair experience search elsewhere.

Posted 06/29/07 | Report Abuse

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I had an unpleasant experience while having my car inspected at this shop. The amount of money they scammed out of me is small, but it shows their unscrupulous character. I won't go to their store ever again, and I will tell everyone how awful they are.

I thought a $5.99 inspection coupon from a phone book means I just need to pay $5.99 inspection, right? Wrong. They still charge you $16 for inspection. Can they do that? Isn't it false advertisement?

My windshield wipers were perfectly fine, but they said the wipers need to be replaced. They have those in stock for $15. While the WalMart next door have the wipers for $5. The manger there said, We can put the new wipers on for $15. If you come back later, we will charge you $10 for re-inspection. So for extra $5, you can have it taken care of right now.

I asked, Don't I have ten days grace period? If I come back within 10 days, the re-inspection should be free, right?

No, you still need to pay $10 re-inspection fee even if you come back within an hour. The manager replied.

I didn't want to be taken in like that. So I said I will come back later. They returned my car to me with my current inspection sticker REMOVED. I can easily get a ticket by driving without a inspection sticker. Well, that is how they treat their customers.

They will lie, cheat, false advertise, and do anything to make an extra buck. They act like this on this small sale, just imagine what they will do on a bigger sale.

PROS: None
CONS: False advertisement, dishonest, lies, overcharges customers

Posted 07/24/06 | Report Abuse

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