Great Lakes Lube

Review: 1st, [redacted] the Manager was extremely nice and worked very hard to replace a front Headlight bulb on my 2010 VW Bug, unfortunately, it took over an hr & he was not able to complete the repair. He said there must be an electrical issue & was kind enough to not charge me for the attempted repair. Prior to leaving though I was handed a "part" from the car and asked to bring it with me to the dealer so they could finish the repair. he said this would help them save time doing the work. I asked him to just put everything back as it was & I would go to another repair shop soon. Upon leaving the business, my car made a whistling sound & the check engine light was now on.I took the car in for repairs the next morning. The repairs cost $243.00 & the shop found no issue with the light housing causing the bulb to not work. The very 1st bulb they tried worked. The problem, they showed me the light housing was jammed in and bent, cracked actually & wires were hapharzardly just jammed anywhere. They said they would do a temporary repair but that a replacement light housing costs $500.00. The shop had to solder the light housing together & replace the wires to their correct places just to get the check engine light to go off. Even though the light works, the housing repair is a temp fix that should be refunded to me in addition to the temporary repair.Still [redacted] was great & immediately admitted he had done the damages & would file a claim. We filled out the claim form & he faxed it to [redacted] the Claims Specialist. He told me [redacted] would be back to me Monday morning as he was not in on the weekend. I didn't hear from him at all. [redacted] called him again and the following day, still no call back. [redacted] was great as is his crew but I just lost my job and paying $243.00 for a LIGHT BULB and needing to spend another $500.00 to return my car to it's original condition? I need my repair refund soon. HELPDesired Settlement: I would like the full price of the resulting car repair , $243 for the temporary repair PLUS $500.00 for the new housing since it was not damaged when I brought the car in should be refunded to me asap. Mistakes do happen and this guy did his best. please just do the right thing as soon as you can. Thank you. The original repair copy was faxed to [redacted] already

Business

Response:

Hello

Review: My husband went for a regular oil change and the next day oil was everywhere so when he was able to take his vehicle back to see what was going on, they told him that his man was rusted out. It was never mentioned to him at the time of service nor document on the paperwork. My husband and I ask why wasn't it brought to our attention and the man said "he shouted it out". To have the problem fixed it costed us 850.00 dollars and we fill like valoline should have gave us an option before they had mess with the vehicle gasket and oil pan because had we knew it would costed us that kind of money we could have waited to address that problem. The vehicle was working fine and had no issue whatsoever. I have tried to contact the regional manager and I can't get anyone to call me back. I really need help. ThanksDesired Settlement: I would like to be reimbursed because I believe that they did not follow appropriate procedure. Considering they should have told us of any concerns. I also have the paperwork for the oil change there before this time and it reads it was fine.

Business

Response:

Hello

There was no issue with our service or our products. The issue this vehicle had was rust. The oil pan was rusted. This is in no relation to the oil change. Nothing I did or did not due caused this. If we told you it was rusted a year ago or today, its still rusted and you would have to have it replaced. This is a vehicle defect.

Thanks

Review: On Monday, July 13th, I stopped at the Valvoline station on East Washington Ave in Madison, WI for an oil change. I had done this several times before at this location. This time though, I was preparing my vehicle to drive across the country to Rhode Island. While at the facility, the technician asked if I wanted any additional services completed as recommended by the manufacturer. At that time, I asked how long a transmission flush would take and the technician told me 20 minutes. After 45 minutes, I told him I needed to get back to work but that I would leave my vehicle at their facility and be back in an hour and a half.

I came back two hours later and the technician was pulling my car into the parking lot as I walked up. When I got there, I noticed my bill was now about $100 more than he had initially told me. I asked why and he didn’t give me a good answer so he started applying random discounts to my bill to decrease the cost. I also asked why it took so long and he said Subaru transmissions are really difficult to get to. At that time, I had to get back to work so I paid the bill and left.

The next morning I was driving to work and I noticed a faint, high pitched and constant noise whenever I accelerated. At that time I couldn’t tell if it was my car or another one around me. Two days later, on Thursday, July 16th, I started driving to Rhode Island. Once I was on the interstate, I started to notice that high pitched noise again but I didn’t think anything of it. I made it to Indiana and when I was about 10 miles from South Bend, IN, my RPMs shot up randomly but my car would not accelerate. I noticed that high pitched noise now had become intermittent. I pulled over immediately.

My car was towed to Veldman’s in South Bend. They checked my transmission fluid and indicated it was a quart low. I explained the work that I had authorized at Valvoline. They tried to top off the transmission fluid with no improvement. The technician at Veldman’s indicated the next step was to flush the transmission again in the event the wrong transmission fluid had been installed. This was done and the transmission still did not function. They ultimately determined I needed a new transmission. I had to be out East for work on Monday so at that point I rented a car and left. A few days later I got my car towed to a Subaru dealership because I believed the transmission was still under warranty. After their technicians looked at my vehicle they found a transmission line that had been spliced and pieced back together which voided the warranty. This was the likely cause for my transmission failure. The splicing must have occurred at Valvoline. In the three days between getting my car serviced at Valvoline and my transmission failing my car was either at work or in a locked parking garage. It seems highly unlikely that somebody would intentionally sabotage my vehicle especially given it was secure. Although the technician at Gurley Leap Subaru indicated the wrong transmission fluid was installed by Veldman’s, the transmission failure occurred prior to any service provided by Veldman’s.

I contacted Valvoline and discovered that the receipt I received did not include a transmission flush, the service I had authorized. Instead, I was charged for the oil change, an engine flush, work on the front and rear differential as well as the transfer case. Other than the oil change, I did not authorize these services. The manager at Valvoline stated he had submitted a claim to their insurance carrier and it was denied because, “No one at Valvoline had touched the transmission”.

I reiterated my concerns to the manager at Valvoline. He agreed to further investigate. The manager at Valvoline said he has investigated the situation but that his technicians did nothing wrong. I sent an email to the manager expressing my disappointment in the lack of accountability for the error that occurred. I have not received a response back. As stated, there is no other logical explanation for the transmission line splice than it had to have occurred at Valvoline while doing the work they state was done. The photos I have clearly indicate the repair to the splice was recent. I was a repeat customer at this place and they blatantly lied to me and tried to cover up their mistake. Their mistake led to about $5707.03 in additional cost to me. My goal is to recover the money I spent from the services completed on my vehicle on Monday, July 13th ($335.13) in addition to the $5707.03 I’ve had to spend to get my vehicle back in working order including the cost of the car rental and transport costs to get my vehicle to Rhode Island.

I am appalled by Valvoline’s lack of accountability. I also found out that they lied to me about the manufacturer recommending a transmission flush. Subaru doesn’t recommend it until 100,000 miles. Of note, my car had 52225 miles on it when the transmission failed.Desired Settlement: Their mistake led to about $5707.03 in additional cost to me. My goal is to recover the money I spent from the services completed on my vehicle on Monday, July 13th ($335.13) in addition to the $5707.03 I’ve had to spend to get my vehicle back in working order including the cost of the car rental and transport costs to get my vehicle to Rhode Island.

Business

Response:

this is being submitted to our insurance for the customer

Consumer

Response:

Review: I visited this location to have an oil change done on my vehicle on 09/26/2015. A little over a month later I start hearing a noise. I thought maybe my breaks had started to wear, So I got them changed. After the new brakes were put on I took it for a drive and the noise was still there. I had my mechanic take more of a look at this point. Upon investigation he found that the plug for the differential was so loose as it was about to fall out!!!! All the differential fluid had leaked out and ran the differential dry. I had to be towed. The last people under my vehicle was Valvoline. On my receipt it states no leaks were found during that visit. I have contacted Valvoline on many occasions and have gotten zero response to my claim. They have expressed that their procedure is that after a claim is put in the District Manager will contact you to discuss the claim and then make a decision. I have not been contacted by anyone!!! I call their customer care line once a week and try and escalate this to the district managers supervisor and I still hear nothing. This is bad customer service and even worse it involves my vehicle which they made a mistake and will not own up to it and make it right. I believe that Valvoline needs to pay for the mistake and have my vehicle fixed and the to bill I incurred.Desired Settlement: I would like to hear from Valvoline and have the repair reimbursed and the tow bill reimbursed as they caused this disaster.

Business

Response:

HelloThis customer was spoke with by the SCM when she returned. He spoke with her for about 30-45 minutes explaining we dont inspect differentials (policy for over 5 years), didnt notice leak due to body panel, and didnt remove body panel due to oil filter access. The AM also spoke with her explaining same facts. The receipt she has even states not checked.This is from the AM after he spoke with customer careFrom: [redacted] Date: [redacted]Subject: RE: VIOC Customer Care - Action Requested - ISSUE=221922 PROJ=1This customer came in for an oil change on September 26th at that time we were Great Lakes quick lube and our policy was unless we were requested by the customer to check the any of the differentials we do not check them on her receipt it also says not checked the service center manager will be contacting this customer tomorrow and this claim will be denied

Review: Since 2000 I’ve owned B5 (1998-2005) series Volkswagen Passats, bought new. These models include the lower aerodynamic belly pan that extends from underneath the front bumper to the front axle. This is held up by proprietary fasteners.

Proprietary is synonymous with expensive.

After having many of these fasteners go missing after visits to VIOC, I started the habit of making sure they were there immediately before the oil change, and then immediately afterwards. This practice has proven fruitful many times finding some missing, going back, getting the fastener(s) and saving money from having to buy replacements.

This routine has also proven useful to find the belly pan is sometimes installed incorrectly. Which results in a trip home, getting out the floor jack and fixing someone else’s carelessness/ineptitude.

Obviously, after all these hassles I have stayed away from several VOIC locations.

Incidentally, after driving these cars over 300,000 miles I have never had a fastener fall out on its own.

On September 3rd, 2015 I visited the 6100 North Port Washington Road in Glendale, Wisconsin location.

ISSUE NUMBER ONE. While working on the car for 6 hours the previous Sunday I noticed the coolant level was low. During this oil change I noted they did not check the level and noted it “OK” on the paperwork. So I asked a gentleman, “How is the coolant level?” He replied it was OK. As soon as he walked away I discreetly (ever polite) got out of the car and looked to see the level still below MIN. They also did not check other fluid levels or tire pressure. $8.87 to buy coolant.

ISSUE NUMBER TWO. Leaving this oil change I drove to the neighboring business’ parking lot and found the belly pan was installed incorrectly and all four of the side fasteners (from the wheel well to the belly pan) were absent. Driving back and parking they came out and said, “I know why you are back, the plate is installed wrong. I noticed it as you were pulling out of the bay.”

They let a customer leave with something installed incorrectly.

After explaining how I always check all fasteners are in place before an oil change I asked if I could get the four missing ones, as they are pricey. They said they weren’t there, but had two of something, but didn’t say what. After going back and forth and seeing my explanation that I knew they were there beforehand was useless I left and drove a mile and a half to a Volkswagen dealer.

The new ones from Concours Motors were $5.40 each. I bought all 3 in stock to return later for the fourth.

ISSUE NUMBER THREE. This increased the price of the oil change 50%. And added more time to an already rushed lunch.

RESOLUTION: Reimbursement of $31.67. And not in a credit, I need to replenish the cash I should not have had to spend. Not to mention all the time.Desired Settlement: Reimbursement of $31.67. Not a credit.

Business

Response:

the customer will be called and his refund will be given to him!

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. $31.67 was refunded in cash.

Regards,

I was a very loyal customer, I began to establish a relationship with the staff and manager of the location. They were doing all of the work that my car needed and the minute something went wrong with my car the store manager tryed to blame me, he tryed to say maybe my car is going bad and that I probably waited too late to get the work that they said I need it done. I had got the work done and two days after my engine light was on, I had returned to the store twice and saw the manager and both times he got the light to go off for a day and it was back on. I went and saw my dealer and they told me what the problem was, I mentioned I went to see them and my dealer told me that what they did caused something in my engine to go bad. I went back to the store and talk to the manager and let him know and that's when he tried to blame me, my car and that they would need to see something in writing saying that. I looked through my manual of my car install that if any other cleaning product other than what my manual said is used it could make things go wrong and what the manual stated could go wrong is what the dealer said is wrong with my car. I talked to the store manager and let him know and I made a copy of my manual for him to send off so that I could get my money back and and that vavoline can pay for the problem I now have. This was very stressful and I had no idea that I would be treated the way that I was, knowing that I was a very loyal customer and had established somewhat of a relationship with the store manager. I will be most definitely going to my dealer for everything now.

Review: On June 16, 2015, I took my 2001 Toyota Highlander into Valvoline for a routine oil change. Everything seemed fine, until the next evening when my children and I were 30 minutes away from home visiting my mom. When we were ready to leave, I went to start my car, and it made a horrible noise, followed by a boom and a cloud of black smoke out of the back of my car. I tried again, and it had a hard time starting up, and then just turned off. When we looked under the hood, the oil level was almost empty. So, we added more, which did not help, and took the car to a mechanic. It turns out that low oil pressure caused a piston rod to break and puncture the engine block. Valvoline then had it towed to their mechanic, who, *shocker* couldn't find anything that they did wrong, so they would not cover any repairs. My car had been regularly maintained and should have had 100,000 more miles on the engine. A new engine would have been at least $3300 to have replaced, so we ended up trading it in. I can't believe that Valvoline won't take any responsibility, and there's no reason that my oil should have been so low the day after an oil change to cause such a problem. I can't help but think of what would have happened if this would have happened 10 miles earlier while driving on the highway.Desired Settlement: I would like reimbursed for the value of my car that they ruined. At the very least, the cost that a new engine would have been.

Business

Response:

Hello

I was on the road for a Labor Day vacation when I had issues with my car. I opened to hood to find my oil cap was missing. The Valvoline at 1700 North Ave. performed my last oil change. I was 4 hours from home and was fortunate enough to find another cap on a Saturday morning that fit my car.
After calling the oil change facility for my next oil change they indicated they would give me a coupon for $15 off my next change. I already had a coupon for $8 so they were offering me $7 for my trouble. Honda charges $19 for a new cap and luckily no engine damage was done.
Stay away from this shop as they don't stand behind their work. In the past I also had one of the employees tell me my oil was not touching the stick and I should have my engine flushed. The car had less than 10K miles on it at the time and was a lease. When I inquired more the gentleman walked away to another car. Avoid this location.