Meineke Car Care Center — Local services in Gulfport

Listen folks....please do not let this place over price you and then try to convince you that no one else can do the job for cheaper. Get a second opinion before you go with any auto mechanic establishment. I understand that you got to make your money but taking advantage of people who work hard for their money is a bit overrated. We went into this establishment on Saturday to get an estimate for a catalytic converter repair or replacement. Keep in mind we knew exactly what it was, we just wanted to know how much it would cost and if it was reasonable we were prepared to get it fixed. This man quoted us a price of almost $900. He was going to charge us $200 for one catalytic converter and $99 for labor for one (weld, cut, fit). Keep in mind we needed two catalytic converters. Then he wanted to charge $79 per O2 sensor w/ $98 labor (we need two). So all in all you want to charge $400 for just labor alone. He tells us that he discounted as much as he could and that we couldn't get the parts for any cheaper than what he is quoting. We told him that we will discuss it at home and if we decide to go with him we would bring it back. Now I know as a dealer they get parts for a penny on a dollar. For him to tell us that he has the best price and we couldn't get it anywhere else cheaper was a big red flag. The other red flag was the outrageous labor cost. My friend and I read him right. He was trying to hustle us. My friend went outside to talk on the phone and I was left in the waiting area inside. Do you know he came to tell me that he saw my friend on the phone outside and that he didn't know if we decided to go ahead and get the work done. Dude...we just told you that we had to go home and discuss the repair cost. We were only still there because we were waiting on them to rotate and balance his tires. About 10 minutes later my friend came back in to check on me. How about the man stopped him and asked him if he decided on getting the vehicle repaired. Now I'm irritated because not only did we tell you twice, we had to tell you the same thing a third time. Nothing had changed. We felt so uncomfortable that we literally ran up out of this establishment. We immediately went to Advanced Auto and the manager pulled up the exact number for the parts that he listed on his estimate. How about the parts were listed way lower than what he quoted. The manager told us that the man at that shop tried to nickel and dime us. Need to say we ordered a direct fit catalytic converter (no welding or cutting needed) and O2 sensor for $476. That is way cheaper than the quote of almost $900 this establishment tried to charge us. We also purchased gaskets for less than $4. We got am excellent deal. All we need to do was unbolt the old and bolt the knew parts. Labor cost us nothing. We could have went with another auto mechanic but we figured why not do it ourselves to avoid another unrealistic quote. All major parts have a warranty so if we purchased a bad part we can return it for a new part. The moral of the story is don't trust the estimate from this place. Do your research and get a second opinion because it can save you hundreds. I can't say anything good about our experience and we will not be visiting them again. Maybe they are good to other customers but we felt taken advantage of and with the dishonesty we received, we cannot trust someone like that to work on our vehicles. Integrity is the...

If I could give less than one star, I would. I took my car to Meineke for an appointment at 830 one morning. I had a coupon that was for an AC check. Upon getting to the counter, I told the guy that I was there for an AC check. He proceeded to tell me that it would be $205. I said wait a minute I came for an AC check he says yes that’s what we do. That’s how we check it. We will run some dye through it blah blah blah I really don’t know what else he said because I’m like a free check turns into we-already-know-what-you-need and you’re gonna pay $205. I decided to go ahead and have the service done since it’s very hot outside. I asked them how long it would take and they said it would take from an hour to an hour and a half. I said OK. I proceeded to walk to Home Depot and I walked around. After an hour and a half, I came back to hopefully pick up my car. I saw that my car had been moved and was no longer in the spot where I left it. It was parked in the front of the store in a disabled parking space. I stood at the counter and waited. Finally, a lady asked me if she could help me. I said yes, I’m trying to see if my car is ready and gave her my name. She proceeded to go into the garage and asked the gentleman in the garage if my car was ready. She came back and said there’s been some miscommunication and they’re getting ready to start on your car now. I looked frustrated and she said do you have time to wait? I said no! She said would you like to just get your keys? I said yes I was so mad. I had worked all night and had come to an appointment that I had made only to be told that my car was not ready and had not even been started on. I think I made a mistake by leaving . Instead of waiting for my car. I believe once they knew that I wasn’t there that they just started on other cars. This is not good customer service at all and I don’t appreciate it. No one should be treated this way. In the future, I suggest that you treat customers with the upmost respect and excellent customer service. This was not the proper procedure . I hope that’s not Meineke standard...

dont ever go here and if you do go here make sure you check youre mileage on your receipt. I came here last year with my 2003 with 191k exactly on the car and got my headlights and ac/heat fixed. I have 2 other vehicles. i park the 2003 with everything fixed to sale the car, by meinke. I had an issue where i moved and the car sat while the other two were driven. i start the 2003 one day just to run it and the headlights go out. I call meinke and they tell me to bring it in, after there is a new manager and the previous lady at the desk remembered me. Mind you that is the only reason they even accepted my car, so i thanked her. They call me an hour later to tell me all of my cells are dead in my battery which made me think, huh, because it had been cranking but it had been sitting. So i was told get a battery and come back. Well now they have a new manager again, and i finally have my battery, because now i can get one and be comfortable. I call them, he tells me that unfortunately he can't do anything because the computer says my mileage was 125k. lol. So im like what, dude im at 191,148 and i was at 191k a year ago, i have not driven the car because of my situation and then when i wanted to get it back out u told me my cells were dead.He says" it doesnt matter what your car says, when i send in for warranty they are going to go off the original mileage on your car". so i say to him bro so i dove almost 70,000 miles in less than a year, who can do that? I go to school, and am a service disconnected vet. you mean to tell me that even outside of the military I have to up hold my honor and integrity to get through my day but i spend almost 1000 dollars less than one year ago on a car i have only driven 148 miles on, to have them tell me that i have 125k miles , and i know he can hear the sincerity in my voice. where is the honor in that, where is the customer service in that. i will never and i repeat never do any business with this place and i will never give a recommendation and i hope that this post reflects on the kind of dishonest business practices...