I knew there was something wrong with Jiffy Lube
Ok, this is a personal rant, but it’s backed up by true video and data supplied by an NBC news affiliate out of California. I caught whiff of this story through Snopes. Turns out that Jiffy Lube was scamming its customers at 5 out of 9 locations, and that’s just in one area of California!
Our own personal story with Jiffy Lube goes like this: A few years ago, we took our 1997 Pontiac Grand Am in for a simple oil change. This place was a mile from our apartment and my wife went directly there and back using the same local route (no highway driving). I get a call shortly after she got home where she kept telling me something was missing from the front of the car. Long story short, the 2 plastic grill covers that were definitely there when I left the house were no longer there. I know they were there because I had to move the car to get my Acura out of the garage. I would have seen 2 gaping holes staring back at me.
Stacie backtracks multiple times along her route (remember, it’s only a mile) but couldn’t find any trace of these parts. She confronts the manager at Jiffy Lube and he denies any wrongdoing, but she notices an employee in the back wanting to speak up about something. The manager cuts him off and ushers her out of the shop.
I call him up and in the end, get him to agree to reimburse us the cost of the parts (about $30). When I install the new parts, I realize that these things are in there so securely that not even falling into a 10 foot pothole would dislodge them! For added measure, I heated 2 thin nails and slid them through the plastic tabs to make sure they NEVER “fall out” again.
Since that time, I’ve been changing the oil in all our vehicles myself. I will never step foot in a Jiffy Lube again. I’ve even found numerous forums specifically for bashing Jiffy Lube. Turns out I’m not the only one who was scammed by Jiffy Lube!
I had a similar issue with them. They have a “top-off” policy where they will fill all of your fluids for you, i.e. washer fluid, etc.
I had my oil changed at a Jiffy Lube in NC where it doesn’t tend to get too cold. A few weeks later, we drive my car up to PA (where it tends to get a little cold) for Christmas.
It turns out that they filled my washer fluid reservoir with diluted washer fluid. When I attempted to use my washer and nothing came out, I assumed they just didn’t fill it. So, I stopped to buy some. When I opened the cap, I saw that the reservoir was filled — with a giant blue ice cube!
I had to drive several hours while trying to look through a very salty windshield. It didn’t warm up enough to thaw it until we hit Virginia on the way home.
Haven’t been back since.