Big Brand Tire & Service — Local services in Whitney

This was an awful experience. Had a coupon for a free oil change coupon said up to $75 value. Unbelievably great offer. I live right next door so I decided to take advantage. Dropped the car off and noticed that the price of oil change inside on their board was $49 and up. Kind of expensive but since coupon was free let’s do it! Lady behind counter did mention that coupon was up to $75 off and my price was going to be $49.95. I assumed that was what they were charging but it was waived since I had the coupon for a free one. When I went to pick it up she said I owed $49.95? I asked why, since coupon said free oil change up to $75 value. She claimed that was the remaining price I owed. Huh? They clearly show inside on board that the oil changes are from $49.00 or 49.95 I forget but I asked did they give me some special oil (synthetic or something) which she said no. I didn’t understand so I asked them the normal price of this oil change would have been $125? She answered yes. I sarcastically asked do people actually pay that? I’ve been getting oil changes for my whole life and know that’s much more expensive than a normal fee, and said explain to me how a free oil change was $49.95 when the normal price shows 49.95 with no coupon and she said “yeah we wish corporate wouldn’t do that” I was like do what? She then said I guess if your going to have a problem with it I could just give it to you for free. Ok, since that’s what it was supposed to be , yeah that’s what I want. She handed me my keys and off I went. No receipt, ok, just let me get out of here. Upon entering my car I noticed my entire drivers door panel was soiled with oil all over it (see pics) which was not easy to remove. Probably my biggest pet peeve when I get oil changes please do not smear oil all over inside of car and that’s why last 3 times I’ve gone to Valvoline oil change literally a block away as you never exit the car there they do oil changes while you wait in the car but the coupon got me to go to big brand. See pic I took of inside of car. Upon driving to work today I noticed the never even replaced a new sticker to show when oil change was done as my old sticker was still on the window. Did they even do an oil change? How would one know? Is there a new filter? This was a bad experience and I will be taking it to the Valvoline service center in a day or two to even see if they did an oil change as I have no way of knowing but based on my experience I somehow doubt it. I will never go here again ever! The whole thing was to weird and the service was awful. Hey you get what you pay for I guess but why send out a coupon then try to scam me and then...

This place is a SCAM. I was specific in a room full of people what I needed done and what I did NOT want done. They called hours later and attempted to 'sell' me parts and services that I was clear in the beginning I did not want. I was clear on the phone again that I was not interested nor could afford what he was selling. I asked him to ONLY replace the wiring piece. I returned to find a differenent man (later identified as the owner) who charged my card ($100 MORE than what I was told and in the end, the charge is more than 12 times what the bill should have been without any detail receipt of work and parts). After taking my money - he could NOT find my key. Someone removed it from the fob and separated it. He returned to say my vehicle was out being washed "as a courtesy". I, continued to ask for the man who took the vehicle in - in the morning and was told 3 times it would only be 30 minutes more. 90 minutes later the man returns and makes claims to support the bait and switch. He was yelling that I needed those parts. and I told him I was clear I was not interested...and wanted my old parts put back in. Then he accused ME of scamming him..when I insisted on them putting MY parts back into my vehicle as I did not authorize the ones they put in. He said he would charge me more labor....so I told him ok get started and then he called the police and said he was NOT going to do that. It was the shop that reminded me that everything is recorded - and I was GLAD to hear that. Upon inspection of my vehicle - this shop 'tossed' it!! I have work inventory and other items in my vehicle - at NO time did I ask nor authorize anyone to go thru the inside of the back seats of my vehicle - to vacuum or otherwise. In the BACK seat and the spot behind the back seat, I had a box of 2 dozen t shirts as a pomo for my company and a second box of bottled invetory. In the back floor board I keep a spare gallon of water. When I got to the car - the gallon of water was flipped upside down on the back seat and had leaked into both of the inventory boxes - another loss form these guys. One last note - while I was waiting the 90 minutes this afternoon I listened to and watched the owner profile his customers...'i got you'...'i took car of the tax for you'...'no worries ive taken that off the bill' and then the foreign and newer people who came in a totally different demeanor...not so helpful and charging way more than the others. This is NOT a good business. My experience is NOT reflective of what I had read. Lawyers have already...

RIP OFF WARNING. The "check engine" light came on in my 2006 Toyota Tacoma so I took it to AA Auto Care. They said I needed new manifold and valve cover gasket and new spark plugs. I paid them $681.42 to do those repairs. A few days later, the "check engine" light returned so I took it back to AA Auto Care. They said they did some sort of reset on the light. Everything seemed okay but a few days later, the "check engine" light returned. I took it back to them again and this time, they said I needed a new fuel pump. Although I was getting frustrated, I paid them $790.25 to replace it. A few days later, the check engine light came back on.

At this point, I had lost faith in thier ability to diagnose and repair my truck so I took it to a nearby Toyota dealership. Toyota diagnosed the problem and said I needed a new fuel pump. I was stunned. I explained that it had just been replaced and asked them to save it for me. After Toyota completed the fuel pump replacement, the technician handed me the "old" fuel pump and said that it was very old and there was no evidence whatsoever that it had ever been replaced. He pointed out that when new, the fuel pump is white but the one he handed me was yellow (he said it turns yellow over time). He also pointed out that there was a significant amount of dirt build-up on the top of it and the lines to and from the pump showed no evidence of being disconnected and reconnected. In short, he believed it was the original fuel pump. I have attached a photo of the fuel pump that was removed.

I called AA Auto Care and they directed me to the District Manager, John. John seemed very nice and said he would look into the matter and get back to me within two days. He even gave me his cell phone number. After not hearing from John after a week had passed, I called him but there was no answer and his mailbox didn't accept messages. Since then, I have called and text messaged John several times with no response.

In summary, AA Auto Care charged me nearly $800 for a repair that they did not perform and the District Manager, who promised to look into the matter, will not return my messages. They totally ripped me off. Do yourself a favor, don't use this company.

PS: My son has a horror story about AA Auto Care as well but I'll let him share...