Me: " I'd like an oil change. What type of oil do you use? I prefer Mobile 1 synthetic. I have it in the car if you do not carry it, I can pay for the labor" Firestone manager "Sir, we do not carry that, we carry Kendell. However, I maybe I have some Mobile 1 synthetic in the back. What type of oil is it so I can go check?" Me: "Uhh 0/20" ..manager comes back.. Firestone manager "Yeah we have just enough. Sometimes Enterprise brings their cars in and we do their oil changes. To keep their warranties, they use Mobile 1 synthetic, that's why we have some" ... tech starts working on car.. ... tech gets ready to put oil in car... ... firestone manager brings out oil.. ... I check the window to see what type.. KENDALL SYNTHETIC!!!! I then rush out and confront them, and he goes "What are you talking about, I told you we only carry Kendell Oil. It must have been miscommunication" He then used my Mobile 1 oil and charged me for the labor and oil filter. "Again sorry for the miscommunication" As soon as I left I called their hotline. I am so angry right now. Again, this is FIRESTONE.
It sounds like a pretty clear case of him not wanting to loose the profit margin on the oil and going to any extent (including straight out lying to you) to avoid it. Very bad!
I have a Firestone Service Center less than six blocks from my house. I have tried them over the years, as management changes, hoping that one day they will get their act together since they are so convenient. After 20 years, same old same old. I take the car in for tire rotation and balance and they tell me that I need brake pads, tie rods, air filters, all kinds of flushes, etc. None of which is true. I have even gone under the car and disproven each point and they just shrug their shoulders. The thing that amazes me is that their parking lot is always full. Unknowing people spending hundreds of dollars unnecessarily. I am sure there are a lot of Firestone stores that are very competent. Not in my city, though.
I had one Firestone shop where they told me that a shock absorber was leaking. The shocks were 2 weeks old, not leaking at all, and were the cleanest objects under the car. They either didn't look, or couldn't tell the difference between new and old. :rant:
I took a company vehicle into a Firestone Service Center once for service. The Vehicle had a maintenance warranty. But I bring it in for new tires and a few specific items. I leave it with the instructions and requests fully outlined. Come back at the end of the day and they had done SEVERAL extra things I did not request or authorize. When I got angry their response was that the warranty was going to pay for it so why did I care? I was so angry. I didn't authorize the work is why! Anyway...one experience and I think Firestones are independently run franchises...but I'd add one more negative experience...I know I'll never go back, nor would I ever take one of my own vehicles to Firestone.
My last vist to a Firestone facility was around 1970. I went in to buy a pair of snow tires. I selected the tire I wanted, we agreed on a price and they took my car into the service bay to install the new tires. After they told me the car was ready and I paid the bill with a check, I went outside to get my car. I'm not sure what prompted me to do it, but I looked at both newly installed tires and discovered the one was the tire I had selected and the other was a totally different model. When I went back into the store and confronted the person who had made the sale to me, he told me that they had only one tire of the type I had selected but that the other one they installed was equal in quality. He also said that they wouldn't get a new order in until late in the month. I had them remove the new tires and remount my old ones. When they tried to get me to pay them for their efforts, I refused and told them I wanted my check back or I would stop payment on it. They wouldn't back down from their position until I asked them to let me use their phone to call the police. I half expected them to refuse my request and tell me to take a walk but the threat was enough to get them to hand me my check and tell me they didn't want to see me again. No Firestone place has seen me since that occasion.
Ditto. I get free tire rotations and alignments at Firestone (ok I paid for the alignment service), and have never had any problems. In fact most of the time they're nicer and faster than my Toyota Dealership (Sunnyvale Toyota).
Firestone...that's the place that several years ago tried to tell me: 1) I needed to get an alignment at the same time I purchased tires or my warranty was void. 2) Pulled in about two months after buying new tires....just to check pressure....and before I could even ask, the sales guy was walking around my car and exclaming about my "totally worn out tires" and what new ones were I considering....
When the Firestone service writer told me they didn't have anyone qualified to change oil because they needed a Certified Hybrid Technician I left & never went back. Now that Toyota is bundling a couple years' worth of oil changes with the new cars business at the indy shops should be reduced.
