Brake Work

Well, Lay’s brakes were grinding, so it was obviously time to get them fixed. They were in bad shape. We took it to a Firestone at Westshore Plaza. Naturally, it went from $300 to over $900 before they were through.

First, there was a $15 charge for the "inspection." This was to be applied to any additional work, but wasn’t, until I called them on it. They were supposed to change the oil, but I think to them that meant draining the old oil. We had to add 3 quarts to get it to full. The manager was a little beligerant about that.

One of their claims had been that a rear caliper was locked up. I’d told them I wanted to see all parts. We went by late, and the Service Adviser we’d talked with had already left. The poor little guy working brought out the calipers, and I said, "Okay, which one is the stuck one?" He proceeded to push both plungers in with is fingers.

I called the manager on that one, and he first put me on hold to, "go check them myself and see what’s going on." He came back to tell me that he’d had to use vice grips to get them to go in. I kept telling him that it might have taken him vice grips, but the skinny little guy the evening before was able to do it with his fingers. Then he made his fatel mistake. He said, "Well, if they’re not still here, I’ll call and get them brought back, we send them out for rebuilding, and put them back on."

You know me, I couldn’t resist, and asked him how it was that if he didn’t know whether or not they were still there, he had required vice grips to get the one caliper open? Well, he got really belligerant then. So, after some final agreement on discounts, I won’t be filing a complaint with the BBB, but for those of you in Tampa, I’d avoid this shop for repairs.

No wonder Rev. Mac thinks I should be a lawyer.