Letter to the Editor --JiffyLube incident--it was ugly

Dear Joe,

This is what happened today. Your opinion? And this shouldn't happen to a poor old widder woman...

Today's mystery doesn't have an ending, at least not yet. However, there are numerous facts that lead to sound deductions at this point.

What am I talking about? A trip to my local Jiffy Lube for a simple oil change. I did not expect what happened after they pulled my old war horse of a truck into the bay and certainly not what occurred afterwards. Let's see if you concur with me as to what you should consider the outcome to be.

I'll start with the fact that I've been going to this same Jiffy Lube since at least 1988 with nary a problem. In and out, oil changes, filters changed, sometimes wiper blades, through 4 vehicles. It's simple, it's quick, that's why I use it. Now that I work from home, I don't have to drive much. When you talk about 20 miles a week with an extra ten a month to another store outside of the grocery store, it doesn't impact the truck too much.

Is the truck old? Yep, it is, It's a 2000 Ford F150 my husband bought years ago and about 2009 the engine was entirely refurbished. Has it has other issues? Yep, a few; tires, the radiator hose, and new starter and plugs, normal stuff for a vehicle that old.

Further disclaimer, when you have an older vehicle, before any drive, any trip, no matter how short (it's 10 miles to town), you do a pre-inspection, a "flight check" for any leaks of any kind beneath the vehicle. It's just something I've done for years and years, it's automatic, you just do. No drips, no leaks, no lights on the dash, and all the dials within levels, I'm good to go as along as no shudders or hiccups. The big old behomoth purrs in her own way, smooth to start, and runs well. The air conditioner has gone up, but the heat works, and the fan only runs on high, but really, what more can you ask for?

So I set off this morning, my stop was to get the oil changed to get ready for cooler weather. I pulled in, left it running as the gents with smiles came out to me as their only other customer was pulling out. I went to the waiting room area like I always do and watched them pull my truck in.

I got the normal spiel about all the services, opted to get the air filter changed, but no wipers, no transmission service, no, no, no, just the oil change with higher mileage oil. The bill was close to $90 which made me cringe but needed to be done.

They finished quickly, the hood was down, they were greasing up the fittings from below and then I saw people scrambling about the truck, looking beneath it, conferring with each other. I stood and looked, waiting for someone to come and tell me that something was wrong.

Then they just pulled the truck to the front, like right to the literal edge of the property at road's edge at the busy highway, keys in the ignition and left the door open. The girl came in and printed up the bill for me to pay. I paid, nothing was said about any problem.

I walked out and hopped into the truck, put my foot on the brake to start the truck and the pedal went right to the floor. I mean RIGHT to the floor. I pulled back and tried again, right to the floor.

I don't know why I repeated the process, I knew I had NO BRAKES, none. It wasn't that way when I pulled in less than 20 minutes before. I opened the door and leaned out and called back to the crew in the bay.

I said, "Hey, I have NO BRAKES, what's going on?"

The youngest of the group, the one they sent as a scapegoat ambled up. He said the truck was that way when I pulled up. I told him it certainly wasn't. Then another came over who said that the truck was like that when he got in right after I got out.

NO it wasn't.

I was flummoxed, looked at them totally dumbfounded. "What am I supposed to do, I can't drive this?"

"Ma'm, we don't do brakes, I don't know what to tell you."

With that, they ran like roaches. There wasn't another customer there at the time and they ran to the bathrooms or the office, they disappeared.

I certainly couldn't drive the truck ANYWHERE, there were no brakes at all.

I started the truck and slowly idled in reverse enough to turn it around in the parking lot, having to swing around the back, eyeing where I pulled in...no leakage there before pulling up on the side of the building leaving enough room for a tow truck.

I called AAA for a tow, called Pepboys that I was coming with a broken vehicle and then got out to look beneath my truck. It was spewing brake fluid like someone cut an artery. And there I sat waiting for my tow for a bit. Not a soul from inside came out to see if I was okay or not, or if they could help, offer a phone, nothing. They just wanted me to go away.

Grant's Service came and picked me up a smile and expertly delivered me to Pepboys who has my vehicle and the determination of 'just what happened' I'll find out tomorrow.

Could it be coincidence that the brake line ruptured during an oil change without any action on the part of the service crew? Yes, it's possible. Is it likely, no.

First of all, why would they LIE about the brake pedal going to the floor not 3 seconds after I exchanged seats with the guy pulling it into the service lane? Because it didn't happen then, there was no leakage at that spot in the entry lane, trust me I looked while maneuvering the truck back for a tow. Secondly, WHY would they NOT even tell me about a leak or rupture and expect me to simply drive away in an obviously UNSAFE vehicle?

There was no, "Ma'm, did you know there is a leak, a problem with your brakes?"

Nope, nothing, NADA, here's the bill, have a nice day.

Oh, they knew, they KNEW!

Even if for some amazing coincidence the brake line ruptured while they were changing the oil and the truck was not running, they should have alerted me that there was a major problem rather than just hoping I would go away taking my life in my hands along with anyone else on the roadways.

I'm an old woman, a widow woman, obviously without a lot of monetary resources because I'm driving a 15 year old vehicle, but I'm not stupid. It was an egregious error on their part. What their actions showed to me is that they DID know. Whether or not they caused the problem, yet to be determined by the mechanics, not saying anything to me, warning me there was a problem speaks volumes to me about their culpability.

I'm hoping to have the truck fixed tomorrow and it will be pricey, much more than my budget can afford. Jiffy Lube Corporate will be hearing from me. I do not play with customer service, I don't. I do tend to go right to the top of the food chain, When I've HAD to do that in the past, I've done it. I do customer service for a living. I know how this works and "I" give great service.

I don't scream or yell or cuss at people. I take that abuse every day in my work. I'm polite and I expect politeness in return. There wasn't even an offer of, "Are you okay?" Especially when I obviously wasn't okay, I was quietly freaking out trying not to cry not knowing what I should do next. They just wanted me to drive off their lot and disappear. I'm sure they wouldn't have worried if I caused a 4 vehicle pile-up just as long as I went AWAY.

Jiffy Lube lost a customer of over 25 years and they are about to lose a few more. The sad part is that they could have saved a customer by a few simple, positive responses. They didn't want to get into trouble. I understand that, nobody wants to get into trouble. No one wants to call their big boss and admit they royally screwed up because they don't want the fall out. They didn't want to take responsibility for an error or damage at worst or advise caution at the very least.

Sans that warning that there was NOW a spraying leak of brake fluid they KNEW about, they are in trouble. Now the franchise owner won't be the only one to know about this.

So, play Sherlock, what do you deduce?