‘Paying to be lied to’: Woman takes car to Firestone. Then she gets a second opinion
A woman claims that an auto repair chain tried to swindle her out of hundreds of dollars.
In a video with more than 50,000 views, TikToker Jam (@jamleecham_) took Firestone Automotive to task.
"Firestone Automotive is on my [expletive] list forever, and let me tell you why," Jam says.
In the TikTok, Jam explains that every time she hit the brakes, her car started shaking, so she took it to a Firestone.
She says they told her she needed brakes and rotors and her tie rod was loose, which is what was causing the shaking.
"I, being a naive young whipper snapper, decide to believe them and call my dad just to let him know what they said," Jam explains.
Her dad told her he'd replace the brakes and rotors. But when he looked at the car, she says he saw that the parts were perfectly fine.
"They have plenty of life left," Jam says.
"So I ended up driving two hours, four hours round trip for no reason."
What about the tie rod?
Since the car was still shaking, and she was now suspicious of Firestone, she took the car to another shop.
They told her her brakes and rotors were fine (like her dad said) and that her tie rod was good, too. The actual issue was her wheel bearings, she says.
"Firestone literally charged me for an inspection and lied to me, not once, not two, but three times," Jam says, flabbergasted.
Now she wonders whether Firestone would've replaced perfectly good parts and charged her $900 or if they would've just fixed the bearings.
If the former, her car would've still been shaking. In which case, she says they would've had to deal with her father.
Jam says she feels especially affronted because she's been loyal to Firestone since when she got her car. Those days are over.
"You will never have my business again because of this experience," Jam says.
Instead, Jam says she's going to continue going to the local shop that actually fixed her issue.
"You were honest, and quite frankly, you respected me, not only as a customer but just as a person, as a woman," Jam says. "And that goes a long way."
"Shout out to all mechanics and all small businesses who do not take the opportunity to swindle their customers, especially their female customers, and especially their young female customers," Jam says.
Commenters conflicted
Some commenters took Jam's side. Others felt that it was probably just a simple mistake on Firestone's part.
"As a former Firestone service writer I can confirm absolutely everything," one person said.
"I used to work at Firestone. Sometimes its not the techs, its the service writers or managers trying to upsell shit the tech didn't suggest. Had a manager try to sell tires on a truck with 8/32 tread," another wrote.
"As a mechanic I don’t think they were trying to scam you it was just misdiagnosed 9/10 it’s the rotor that causes shaking while breaking," a top comment reads.
"Doesn’t sound like they were trying to scam you, they misdiagnosed it. From what you were experiencing they probably thought rotors were warped and the wheel movement can also indicate a bad tie rod," another chimed in.
@jamleecham_ @Firestone Complete Auto Care Paying to be lied to is especially heinous. Thank you Express Oil Change and Tire Engineers for reputable and honest mechanics, and excellent customer service. #fypp #carrepairs #firestone #firestoneauto #putafingerdown ♬ original sound - Jam | Foodie & Gamer ✨
The Daily Dot reached out to Jam for comment via Instagram and TikTok direct message and to Firestone's parent company Bridgestone via email.
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