Monro Muffler Brake
Reviews and Complaints

I recieved a coupon for an oil change special at monroe muffler and we went to the monroe muffler in Altoona, Pa. and we were told that they would not change our oil for at least 3 to 4 days. I called an hour later and asked for an oil change and was told to bring it right in. when I explained I had a coupon for 10.00 off they told me they couldnt get to it for a week. They next morning I asked my sister to call and ask for an oil change appointment, she was told she did;nt need an appointment, she was asked if she had a coupon and she stated "NO" she was told it could be done right now. My sister went with me immed. to the monroe shop and when they saw it was me with a coupon, we were told they gave the appointment away. (within 25 minuted of the call)Botom line, If you have a coupon at Monroe, Throw it Away, They will not even honor it.

I am writing to share a very bad experience I recently had with monro muffler brake & service in ohio, which nearly cost me $450-800.

I took my vehicle — a 1998 chevy s-10 pick up truck — to the local shop due to a loud noise coming from my exhaust. I asked for an estimate on the work.

After the vehicle was inspected, I was told the problem was my catalytic converter and it would take about an hour to repair. the employee said I had 2 options: replace it with a factory converter for $800, or replace with a cheaper brand at a cost of $450.

I left the shop and did some price checking on my own. one of the local auto parts stores stocked the part for about $225. I later obtained price checks for as low as $115.

I returned to the shop and asked for a detailed explanation of the $450 quote I had received earlier. I was told the catalytic converter was approximately $315, with the rest accounting for labor. I asked what the hourly labor rate was and was told $80.

I told the manager I felt like they were trying to gouge me, with the mark up on the part, and the high estimate for labor which was almost for 2 hours, not the 1 hour they had told me it would take.

The manager replied and said he wasn't a parts shop. if I wanted to buy the part at a cheaper price and put it on myself, I was free to do that.

I told them they should be ashamed trying to gouge people who need simple car repairs completed, particularly in today's bad economic conditions. I understand companies needing to make profit, but a $100 + markup on a part that can be purchased cheaper at the retail store down the street is ridiculous. and i'm certain the actual cost monro would pay for the same catalytic converter is probably much less than $225, so they were in essence marking up that much more.

Later in the day I received another estimate from a "non-national", local repair shop and was quoted about $300 less than the $450 monro quote, installed and tax.

I would not recommend monro to anyone who wants to be treated fairly and economically. if you are an average working person on a budget, monro is not the place for you, in my opinion, unless you want to see your finances depleted quickly. I have since talked to several people who have had similar "gouging" experiences, or bad quality parts, and am telling everyone I know not to do business with this name.

I recently received a coupon for an oil change at Monro Muffler Brake. I went there for the 18.99 Oil Change in Waterloo, NY. My van had no problems when I dropped it off. The first time I used the brakes after leaving the shop the brake pedal went to the floor. I pulled over and discovered a rear brake line was leaking. I immediately took it back to the shop. They looked at it and determined that the part had coincidentally broke after I drove it away. Even though there was a pool of brake fluid where the mechanic parked the van. I disagree, the brake line broke because once they get your car in they go through it yanking and pulling on things trying to find things to fix and if they break something they don't feel they're responsible. I contacted Monro and file a complaint through there website and have not received a reply.They obviously don't care. If you receive a coupon from them throw it away. My $18.99 coupon ended up costing me over $100.00.

My Wife took our Chevy Trail blazer for an oil change today 3/23/2010 and was greeted by a confused mechanic. He first stated she needed a new air filter. Latter he stated we needed a new serpantine belt and the air filter was fine? We got an oil change and was told we needed a transmission fluid change. We had that done because it was never done 85, 000 miles. When I came home I checked the air filter and belt both were fine. If you go there you might want a second opinion.

I have been having a clicking/knocking noise everytime I use my brake. I took it to Monro Muffler so that I could get the noise checked out. They told me that it was due to a rear axel seal leak. This leak may have been leaking oil onto the brake which was causing the noise. Once the completed the job I thought everything was fine. Silly me. I drove my vehicle a good distance from where I live and noticed that once again when I braked the noise was still there. Frustating as hell! So I go back to Monro Muffler, (this is all in the same day) and at first the manager tells me to bring it back tomorrow as it was only he and another mechanic there. I explained to him that I was there earlier because he seemed to have forgotten so quickly (once you have paid them a substantial amount of money they don't give a damn!) and that I brought my truck in because of knocking/clicking noise when I brake. He says, then let me test drive it. He test drove it and says, oh, its the left rear rotor. So I tell him that I hear the noise on the right side. He said well we can replace both sides. So I go ahead and do this because I want the problem solved. Once the other mechanic changes the rear rotors and brings the truck down from the lift, the manager test drives my truck. He comes back and says, "oh, not a peep." So, here I am thinking everything is ok, I pay the $98.00. I decided not to go straight home as I live right around the corner from them. As I'm pulling out of the parking lot and driving down the street low and behold I hear the noise again! I am about to explode at this point, becuase what does it take for them to do their job properly and take the time out to truly inspect a customer's vehicle in order for the problem to be diagnosed properly. WTF! I am so pissed off and broke because the problem is still there. I will be writing a complaint to their corporate headquarters becuase times are to rough for any company to jerk customers out of their money!

Monro charged me a rate for fixing my brake that was disproportionately higher than its competitors and other local repair shops for fixing my brakes and rotors.

When I complained on their website, the customer rep, Mr. Christopher Johnson, offered to resolve the issue using their price match policy, for which I was no longer eligible (given the timing of my discovery) and noted to him. Nevertheless, I complied with his instructions, after his encouragement. Subsequently, he agreed to refund me the $100 excess charge, however it was in store credit, which was unacceptable to as a result of my sense of mistrust for the company and my lack of interest in returning to the company for any further care of my car.

I was reasonably questioning the integrity of the company and their business practices as I had experienced them as having taken advantage of me. Mr. Johnson insisted on a store credit refund so I asked to be directed to his supervisor, Mr. Terry Haschmann, the director of customer service who provided the worst model of customer service I have ever experienced. I am truly appalled that he holds such a position, given my previous experiences in the retail and hospitality industries. Mr. Haschmann lacked basic skills of demonstrating courtesy or empathy and cannot imagine that the CEO or board of directors are aware of the way he is representing the company. He truly seemed to require a basic training in customer service.

I am interested in contacting either the CEO, Mr. Robert Gross or the V.P. to report my experiences with their company and request my refund back in the cash value that I paid to them, given that the excessive charge was an error on the institution's part and not mine. My loyalty to the company has quickly disappeared and has been replaced by a strong distaste for the company. I have not only stopped providing them with my business, I have also been discouraging all my family, friend, colleagues and acquaintances to avoid doing business with them, especially females, because they fail to fulfill their mission of providing fair, service that is of optimal quality. Even worse, the do not maintain their doctine of "reasonable pricing", or excellent customer service.

Please let me know if you can provide me with the contact information for the V.P or CEO of the company as I do not intend to relent on this issue due to my worry that they will continue to behave in such a manner and continue to take advantage of disempowered consumers.

I got my car inspected in July and went through a DUI checkpoint last week. The officers noticed that my inspection sticker looked weird and upon further review they discovered that Monro had changed the number 1 to a number 7 by putting a piece of black tape or a piece of another number on the number 1. I never noticed it before but the officers told me that I could get in trouble for it being altered. The officers told me to go back to Monro and get a new inspection sticker; when I told the man at Monro what happened and he was very rude in dealing with me and told me that I would have to make an appointment to get it re-inspected even though I told him that the officer told me that I could get in trouble for having it like that.

I went to Monro Muffler with a coupon they sent me for a $19.99 oil change, free brake inspection, and free tire rotation. I've been there before and had all new brakes installed six months ago. The brakes have been screeching for a week, but I did not mention this to the service adviser when I came in. They finished with the car in less than twenty minutes, and assured me when I asked that they found no problems. When I left I noticed that the tires had NOT been rotated ( I knew this because there was a scuff mark on the front left tire, still in the same position on the car as when I brought it in to Monro.) I went back inside and questioned the manager about this, and he insisted that the work I requested with the coupon had been done. I asked him why they didn't report the free work on the receipt ( showed oil change only) and was told they do not record any free services on receipts, only chargeable services. No rotation means no brake inspection either. Brakes still noisy. I know they are lying to me and I will never go back. I am taking my car to another shop or a dealership from now on.

I had muffler noise so I took my car to my local Midas (a shop I frequent) they put my car up and gave me an Estimate of $150. Specifically mentioning that the Catalytic Converter was in great shape. I made an appointment that I unfortunately and subsequently missed, do to work. The next available appointment at Midas was several days away. I wish now I had waited! Needing my vehicle sooner I stopped in to Monro that evening on my way home to see if they could get my car fixed right away.

They put the car up on the lift and we all looked underneath, I noted that indeed it seemed like a small repair as Midas and my father had noted. My car was then taken off the lift. My father is a master pipe fitter for over 60 yrs now. He used drive - on lifts to take a look at my car and would have done the work for me, but his full lift was inoperable at the time.

To my surprise Monro quoted an estimate of $425. far and away above the Midas estimate which I mentioned to the manager(?), he advised the Catalytic Converter needed to be replaced. I questioned why? The response being "it's no good". I asked why they could not "tack weld" the front pipes as Midas had advised, it seemed simple enough to me, the response was "it needs to go". My vehicle was inspected visually only, nothing was taken off, removed or moved on the evening I took my car to Monro. Yet, they produced an estimate of $425. was to include the "cat" all parts and labor. The "cat" they said, showed as being in stock and available, feeling I had no options, I reluctantly made an appointment for early the next morning. I arrived at 8 am after 20 minutes or so my car went onto the lift, I checked out the area for myself (again) and again plainly asked why a replacement not a repair? I was assured the "cat " was necessary.

After another 30 minutes or better, a manager(?) appeared to advise me that now the "cat" could not be located in their parts dept. so one would be ordered at a "little" higher price but could be finished that day. Now, not that I am not some what culpable here, but to be fair, I will explain further. I needed to have the car in particular that day because the next day is the anniversary of my son's death. They did not know this, but I believe fully, that they noticed I was very distracted, emotional and stressed, that I required fast service and took advantage of these factors to bump up the bill.

BTW the total cost at Monro went from $425. to $503. on the day of service The ordered "cat" took over an hour and a half to arrive. Work began about an hour after the part arrived. It took until 4PM. for Monro to finish with my car!

I registered a dispute with my CC company, and after a preliminary investigation, Monro offered to "price match" the work, which of course would include the cost of the "cat" I never needed. The offer was to extend the price match option.

When the actual dispute resolved letter was I received I was incredulous to see that Monro had claimed the "cat" needed replacement because "it was all broken up inside" Lets see now, no-one seemed to be wearing X-ray glasses and no one appeared psychic, so how did they "know" my car needed a "cat" having never taken it off and looking inside before quoting me the estimate of $425. to replace the "cat"? Slick huh?

I will never of course return and will let everyone I know that this place is a RIP OFF JOINT! Which considering the number, wide spread and scope of customer complaints, I assume it is a company wide policy to deceive the customers.

I have registered a new dispute against Monro, they unwittingly provided me with more evidence of their deceit when they offered the explanation for replacing the "cat" because supposedly "it was all broken up inside" before looking! Wish me luck and if you like, send an E mail to American Express, letting them know how shady this company really is!

I went to Monro Muffler on 10 Anchor Road, Elizabethtown because it was recommend to me by another mechanic. Unfortunately I ended up having to drive 22 miles there and back 4 different days-first time to get an exhaust leak fixed. They fixed the leak and re-hung my muffler [crooked-off by 11 degrees to center]. Steve told me that's the best they can do.

The craftmanship by the mechanic (Brian) was excellent and meets my standards. However, Steve is not customer friendly. For example, I told them I would in at 9am, but showed up at 8am. Steve told me "You're early. Let me get the keys. Have a seat." No hi' or 'good morning' or 'how can I help you?' Just from meeting Steve these few things I noticed about him-He's been working there for quite awhile, I'm guessing because he doesn't seem to care that customers are standing there while he talks on the phone. Asks other employees to help customers while he finishes what sounded like a personal phone call. I tried to come back to talk with him a 4th and final time. As soon as he saw me, his attitude completely changed to annoyed, obviously from my being 3 previous times. Monro is a very large corporation which I assumed by spending the extra money and by going to such a place that I would receive EXPERT CUSTOMER SERVICE which I didn't receive from Steve from the moment I walked in the door the first time! You should in all honesty consider replacing or re-evaluating Steve.

Being in the market for tires, I researched many tires and reviews of tires, looking for what I wanted. Once I found the exact tires I wanted, I price shopped, again, all over the place. To my surprize, monro in Albion NY had the lowest price by far and they offered me a free alignment if it was needed. I have been reluctant to go there for many years because years ago they did work on one of my cars and they then SUCKED. Ok, I fell for their crap again, (I know, IDIOT). I bought the tires, scheduled the work to be done A WEEK LATER at 7:30am. I asked him to add a lube oil & filter and the guy tells me it will take two hours tops. I get there, the [censored]bag meets me in the parking lot and starts some chit-chat small talk, then tells me he will have it done by early afternoon. I start to see red, calmly take my bike and ride away so as not to freak out on the guy. I come back an hour later and my vehicle is still parked where I left it. By then, I have calmed down. The thought of them touching my vehicle with tools made me sick, so I collected my keys and tires, said thanks, then wiped my butt of that place never to return again. I can't recommend monro in Albion NY or anywhere for that matter. My Mother has been taken for many expensive crap rides in Albion as well as Medina NY with most of her problems unsolved or made worse. She drove away from there at least eight times with metal on metal grinding sounds in her front wheel after they said there was nothing wrong. As much as I have tried to tell her to avoid that place for major work, she still goes. Heck, Mother knows best right? I'm the [censored] who decided to try to save a hundred bucks by going to monro. The extra hundred would have been well worth it in my book to just get good, honest, timely service at a reputable service shop. Lesson learned, hemmoroid cure found. PLEASE! Do your self the favor and GO SOMEWHERE ELSE for service!

I made the mistake of taking my vw eurovan to monro in hilliard, ohio to have the brakes replaced at a cost of nearly $900. Yesterday my caliper falls off the rear tire! I've never heard of that happening. To make matters worse, abs pump now needs replaced and they are claiming the two aren't related even though I had no problem whatsoever with my abs system until my caliper fell off and damaged my rim! Part alone is nearly $2000 and they are refusing to pay vw dealership for repair costs. I'll sue if I have to in order for them to pay the damages caused by their faulty workmanship. Manager's name is larry bowling at this location... Say away, not worth the aggrevation!

The monro in indianapolis on keystone has the worst service in history. I scheduled an appointment for 3pm on monday and I ask a guy are you sure this is a good time I dont want to wait he said its fine. Thus, when I go there only one guy is working and the other guy is sitting on his # watch tv. The guy who said who will be fixing my car wasnt even there he left early for the day. I came in at 2:40 after work and about time I got threw playing my psp it was 4:16 he hasnt even touched my car for an simple oil change. He siad he was going to get to it after this lady. So cursed them out and told them to give me my keys and I just walked out. They better be glad I beat a level on my game so it wouldnt feel as bad of wasting and hour and 30 minutes of my life.

Do not go to monro muffler in monroevile pa on us 22.This place is a joke they ripe off customers and the manager Rich is a [censored] they only pay 9.00 bucks an hour plus 12% after the tech as done 3, 000 in sales.I am a former employee They lied to my face to get me to work there.He sales alinements and does not do them, oil changes.he will sale you max life and tell the tech to put in bulk but charges you 37.71 for a 23.80 oil change this is with tax.They will sell you napa, advance auto, car quest, parts if they don't have the parts in stock and mark them up 100%some times 200% say they pay 20.00 bucks for brake pads "their cost" and charge you 120 bucks + labor.This is just a start to what I have to say.

Yesterday I went to change my oil at the New Britain location. I was told by the manager Mark that I had to use the highest grade oil in my car because my car was and Audi. The oil change cost me a total of $96 and that was with a discount. This oil change cost me more that it did at the actual Audi dealership. My car only have 78000 miles on it. After doing research I found out that I did not need to use that oil and I could have gotten the regular synthetic oil for $35 which is what I went in for. I have two cars that I was taking to them and I will not be using their service anymore or recommending them to anyone else. The last time I took my maxima there I spent over $1300 replacing the exhast system and everything else started going bad. I had to spend another $300 to fix somthing else and the car still was not working right. I took the car to another mechanic and the fixed my car and now its running perfect. I have already made up my mind to not go back to that francise but if I were to go back to any Monroe I would need some form of appology and discount to compensate for the uneccessary monies that I have spend with the company. They did not even rotate my tires because the said they could not get othe lugs off one of my tire. I did not get the service I required yet I paid so much money for the work.

Back in February I called Mr.Jack Carter to complain about a compliment that didn't filter down to the Hanover store, where these awesome guys (Ken Reilly & Mark Q.) work. He said that the company doesn't pay any attention to compliments, just complaints and that he would rectify this, well he didn't. So I called his boss Mr. John Lamb, and you guessed it, he did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!, too. But then if you look at the "Complaints Board/MONRO.COM" site you get the impression that the company thrives on bad news. No wonder America's corporations are in the CRAPPER! But BEWARE MONRO, you are NOTHING without your KEN R's and MARK Q's and ME!

When my car broke down out of town, I had the alternator replaced at Mr. Tire - affiliate of Monro and Tread Quarters. I have a Saab, and I know its expensive...but there is mark-up, and then their is highway robbery. They told me it would cost $700 for a new alternator, but I could get a re-fab overnighted from Albany (because there isn't a single Saab alternator in the entire city of Buffalo) for $399. I was stuck, and they knew it. The car broke again a week later. As instructed by the Mr. Tire folks, I called a Monro in Rochester to make good on the warranty. When I called, an electrical engineer advised me that Saabs were very difficult and recommended that if I thought it was an electrical problem I should bring it to a dealer. If it was the alternator, of course they would honor the warranty. Right. So I bring the car to said dealer, and they say I have a faulty alternator. They do not use re-fabs because this happens all the time, and they're not worth a crap. A new alternator would cost me $375 - wait a second! The new one, is less than the re-fab?! oh yes. so I did some research on the wholesale cost of the Saab 9-3 alternator and found that the average base price was between $150 and $225. Shady. So I call Mr. Tire and they yell at me for not taking the car to a Monro, so I yell at them for having an idiot who told me not to. I ask them to send the money to the dealership for a new alternator and issue me a refund check for the difference. The labor was less too - win win right? Wrong. Monro refuses to honor the warranty unless the car is repaired at one of their shops. We'll find out why. I decide that I don't want to die on that hill, and they tow my car back to Rochester to a different shop than the one with the electrical engineer who was afraid of Saabs...like I believe that the mechanics are smarter on the East side than downtown. You'd think at this point that they'd get right on it. Oh no. A day later when I haven't heard from the shop I call them. "Oh thats your car!" the guy says. "I was gonna call you, but I actually lost your sheet...oh wait, here it is right here. Yeah...that parts on order." On order? Were you ever gonna tell me that you towed my car away from a shop that could have fixed it immediately, for less, and without you having to tow it only for me to ride my bike in the rain for another 4 days? I call another shop looking for the manager that I dealt with first - grease monkey asks me what happened and proceeds to talk to me as if he were born first: "what do you expect, you bought a Saab?! You should know better by now, it takes a while to get Saab parts. I mean, I can't just pull an alternator out of my butt!" oh, you did not just say that. Manager frowns but offers no apology. I ask for an oil change to soften the of my Easter weekend with no car. They refuse. I say I want a NEW alternator this time. I get no answer. I e-mail their customer service and get a very curt reply asking me to forward the appropriate documents and they will correct any discrepancies - as if rudeness, lateness, impertinence, tolls, gas, time and bike rides appear on a repair invoice. Of course we all know that if he really wanted to help, he would have looked at his computer and gotten them himself. tut tut. I finally get my car back. I mentally add an interior detailing to their tab...the leather is covered with car yuck. I get a message from manager informing me that they're putting a new alternator in, but there are some "loose connections" and they think there might be some other electrical problem. You're telling me basically...on my way out the door...that I should expect another problem?! What the hell is a "loose connection?" I mean - did you install the alternator or not? Not. Car promptly dies again next day. Sick of these jerks, I take the car somewhere else. They say its the alternator. oh brother. it can't be the alternator. what are the odds of getting two bunk alternators in a row? They search for other possibilities. I rack up a grand in other expenses trying to find the cause of my dead car. This shop suggests I change the battery after all this dying and resuscitation. Since my Saab battery was under warranty I brought it back to the dealer. They hook up my car and say "Stack, we promise, its the alternator." they show it to me - I'm not a mechanic, but I'm not stupid either - hook up alternator, battery drains, detach alternator, battery fine. The mechanic who looked at my car two weeks earlier takes out the alternator and tells me that they never changed it. Its the same faulty one he saw two weeks ago. Same sticker, little x on it. I totally got lied to...like a rug. $1000+ in expenses that didn't actually fix anything. All because they didn't do what they said they were going to do. After I made a huge stink, they condescended to reimburse me for the cost of the original work I had done at the Mr. Tire. Nothing but the bottom line. No going out of their way for you. No customer service. No apologies. These people overcharge by a ton for the absolute bare minimum allowed by law. And when you confront them about it, they make you into the problem. Don't go there!

My family and I have been monroe customers for years, on April 2nd, I had my car inspected there, first I got a call that my car needed tires, which I knew was not true, my tires are in good shape, so I told them I would be over to look at them, ten minutes later I got a call back telling me they got my car mixed up with another, I don't know if this was a innocent mistake or they tried to sell me tires, after I picked my car up within 5 minutes I realized I was not givin my title or insurance proof and no emisions receipt, so I called them and turned around to go back and pick them up. During the next 13 days I was looking for my extra set of keys and remote I put in a envelope and gave to them to work on my car, which I never found because I realized I gave them the keys and they never gave them back to me or left them in my car, I have my set I always use and didn't notice it at the beginning that they didn't give them back to me. After talking to them and the district manager, he said if they don't find them they will not get new keys for me. I need you're help, it is you're employees that misplaced or lost my keys and I need a new set of keys made. I don't know what else to do but look into legal advise next.

I called for an appointment on 3/19/09 and Monro told me to bring the truck in on 3/20/09. When I showed up they didn't even have me on the list but took me anyway and told me they were busy but there was no one in the parking lot. They were to inspect a rattle coming from underneath the drivers side. Upon inspection they told me that the Cat needed to be replaced and would cost me $1075.00 and that was without labor. Getting ready to walk out the manger offered me $900.00 for the job. Waht a joke! I did my research before I went an a Cat cost around $250.00 and I figured labor to be $100.00 since he told me it would only take an hour to replace. I walked out and went home an had a friend look at the noise. He removed a small rusted ID plate that ford install on top of the cat to identify Part number etc. Noise disappeared problem solved. It took all of 2 minutes. What kind of mechanics do they have working there? In these hard times you are looking for good service and a deal. They would have replaced my cat and there was nothing wrong with it and would have cost me a bundle. Any by the way they difference between 1075 and 900 was the fifteen percent discount which I was aware of. I will make sure that I don't ever go there again!