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Jiffy Lube on the corner of Pico and Cloverfield - Scam City

Sep 5th, 2008
by Jon.





A couple years back, KNBC’s Joel Grover headed up a hidden camera investigation that showed Jiffy Lube charging customers for repairs that were never made.  This caused a lot of people to stop seeing Jiffy Lube as a quick, convenient way to get their oil changed, and made people take a second look at the quality of service that Jiffy Lube provides.

People have also criticized Jiffy Lube workers for upselling services that are not necessary.  Sure this is typical business, but some workers take it too far, using scare tactics to convince customers to have a service done right away else their car may break down soon after it leaves the Jiffy Lube lot.

The Santa Monica Jiffy Lube on the corner of Olympic and Cloverfield is the worst that I and others I have spoken with have experienced.  Everyone I have spoken with that has taken their car to this Jiffy Lube has been told that their battery is almost completely dead, and a couple people, INCLUDING MYSELF, have witnessed a Jiffy Lube worker try starting the car unsuccessfully when it had been working just fine beforehand.

I’d be interested in hearing about other people’s experiences with this Jiffy Lube, feel free to do a hidden camera report of your own.

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  • Mel
    They totally did the "car won't start" trick to me and got me to buy a new battery!
  • Jeff
    The guys there are a little sketchy, I think they have fun ripping people off.
  • bill
    the jiffy lube is actually on the corner of PICO and Cloverfield...
  • jsnark
    Thanks Bill, I always get Pico and Olympic confused.
  • Kevin
    I don't know if this is in the training manual or what, but we have the same problem out here in Oregon. I went to a Jiffy Lube, and was shown a piece of paper with a number on it and some brownish liquid on it. I was told my battery was about dead and did I want to replace it. Two problems with this:

    1.) I changed the battery myself only six months prior.
    2.) It's a sealed battery. Not sure what he was trying to show me, but it wasn't battery acid.

    I vowed never to go to another Jiffy Lube.
  • Smartin
    I have had problems with this Jiffy Lube most definitely. I can always count on the "Mr. Martin can we see you?" and then the upsell pitch for a radiator flush, engine oil upgrade, air filter, etc. When you don't take the upgrade and are a regular, I've had them take my new radiator cap and bend it...so the car overheated. BRAND NEW RADIATOR cap bends AFTER visiting my friends at Jiffy Lube. The last straw was when once again, I opted just to have the oil changed as usual. This time, I checked the radiator and the fluid was constantly low. I couldn't figure it out and kept pouring more antifreeze into the radiator on a continual basis. It wasn't until I took the car to the EZ Lube on the corner of Lincoln and Michigan that the person there told me that the reservoir hose that feeds the radiator HAD BEEN REMOVED. Had it come loose, it would have been in the coolant reservoir tank. It had been purposely pulled out.....once again just after the last visit to Jiffy Lube on Pico and Cloverfield.

    I went to Kragens on Lincoln immediately afterward and bought the hose and putting it in convinced me that whomever removed the hose had to yank it off, because putting the hose in required me to push it hard into the cap. The filling and constant monitoring of the radiator fluid stopped. On no occasion did I ever have to go into the reservoir and because I thought something was wrong with my 3 year old (brand new not rebuilt) radiator.

    With my last 4 or 5 visits to them, it seemed like since I didn't ever get into the up sell game with them, little things (like my AC hose being disconnected) and the radiator reservoir hose being disconnected, were happening more and more.

    I had been going there for 12 years and prior to the more frequent tampering, the only other incident was when they forgot to put the radiator cap back on! My car overheated just a few blocks away. That was plain carelessness. I should have stopped going back then, but wanted to give them a chance.

    Then I noticed different people working there all the time (high turnover) and more tampering to the point it was VERY obvious...the hose and radiator cap problem. NEVER EVER will I go back to them again. I'll get under my car and learn to to this myself. They have cost me money for visits to the mechanic who should have been more forthright as the problems started happening more frequently. They made my mechanic (who I've changed) a happy person and cost me a couple thousand dollars. The same mechanic who gave me a brand new A/C system had to fix it...(coincidentally--so I thought) after a visit to this Jiffy Lube.

    I'm glad NBC exposed these people for what they are. A rep from Jiffy Lube called me and it made me angrier. I told him he could promise me free lifetime visits but I'm simply not going back. If you take your customers for granted, they move elsewhere as I have done. I hope they go out of business because they deserve it. At least this particular location.
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