Yesterday, I went to a Pep Boys in Houston to get the brakes changed on my car. I figured that they would be busy so I called in the morning to ask if I needed to make an appointment. The guy that answered said he could put me in at 11am. That was cool with me. He told me that since they accept walk-ins that there may be a car in front of me, but they would be in the next available spot.
Once I get there, the woman at the counter was nice. She was helpful and got the paperwork done quickly, but then this chick dropped the bomb on me: the wait was going to be 2.5 hours. “2.5 hours…to finish it?” I asked. “No, 2.5 hours just to get it looked at.”
Now, I’m pretty sure she caught the dirty look I made, so she looked a little surprised, when I said “Ok, just call me as soon as it’s been looked at.” I’m think she was already getting ready to get a manager. I was upset because I had an appointment and really didn’t see why Pep Boys took appointments if they were going to make you wait anyway. I decided to just hold my tongue because Pep Boys is viewed as low cost and in this economy, low cost competitors get slammed with business. I decided to be a good citizen and try to be patient.
Sure enough, 2.5 hours later someone calls me and tells me that I need to change my front brakes and resurface the back brakes. The price fell in the exact range I expected I told them to go ahead and do the work. I asked how much longer and I think he wanted to say an hour, but he finally said 1.5 hours. Fine.
I get back to Pep Boys 1.5 hours later and some dude looks as me and says “Honda?” I need about 45 more minutes. Alright, now I’m getting more pissed off. Why isn’t my car ready? I’ve been already waiting 4 hours to get it done and it’s still not ready.
An hour later, I’m still waiting around the store. That’s when I notice that there is a TV that shows what’s going on in the shop. I find my car on the screen and NO ONE IS WORKING ON IT! Why the hell are people standing around and no one is working on my car!?!
I was debating as to whether I wanted to say something, but the assistant manager comes up to me first. He apologizes because he knows I’ve been waiting for a long time. He explains something to me that something unique about my brakes is the reason why it’s taking so long. He lets me grab a drink from the fridge while I continue to wait and he also offers me 10% off. Now, I’m not easily impressed with salesman pitches and things of that nature, but I was impressed with his professionalism and seemingly genuine concern for having me wait.
In the end, I was happy with my new brakes, the price that I paid for them, and the level of customer service at this Pep Boys. I think they may be my new car shop preference. As long as the prices stay resonaable and the customer service stays high, I’ll be happy, and so will my car!
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