Thursday, August 31, 2006
Jiffy Lube cheaters caught on tape!
A Los Angelos NBC affiliate brought some hidden cameras into their local Jiffy Lubes to see if the technicians there were being honest. Well, their report documented clerks selling them unnecessary services, and at five out of nine Jiffy Lubes they visited, the mechanics didn't do all the work they billed them for. They even caught a district manager trying to insist he was a customer to avoid answering questions.
Jiffy Lube reacted to this by firing six people, including the district manager, and installing some cameras in Los Angelos area stores. They also promised they would retrain some of their employees. I was disappointed that nobody in this story got arrested - I'm not a lawyer, but I believe the legal term for taking money for services and not actually performing them is "theft by conversion."
Found this one via Snopes, where they also linked to an MSN Money article on how to avoid auto repair ripoffs. I'm not sure how many of these tips would have applied to the Jiffy Lubes in the article - most of those do have a relatively clean work area and clearly post their prices, for instance - but none of the local Jiffy Lubes are listed as AAA approved.
Jiffy Lube reacted to this by firing six people, including the district manager, and installing some cameras in Los Angelos area stores. They also promised they would retrain some of their employees. I was disappointed that nobody in this story got arrested - I'm not a lawyer, but I believe the legal term for taking money for services and not actually performing them is "theft by conversion."
Found this one via Snopes, where they also linked to an MSN Money article on how to avoid auto repair ripoffs. I'm not sure how many of these tips would have applied to the Jiffy Lubes in the article - most of those do have a relatively clean work area and clearly post their prices, for instance - but none of the local Jiffy Lubes are listed as AAA approved.
Labels: Automotive Awefulness, Gas Mileage
