Pep Boys

I hate it when people just complain and complain. I read all of this comments and they are ridiculous. All these people say they would never come back to this location and what happens they come back. They guy with the diesel oil change. I know for in fact that they told you the estimate for the oil change. If you didn’t like the price you should of just walked away. Every time that I come here I get good customer service. David, Ken, Sabrina, Moy and all the staff that work here I thank You for your hard work.

This branch is the reason that Unilocal needs a zero star rating.
Customer service here is incredibly inconsistent. We called in the day before to ask about getting repairs on our car done since we were traveling. They said they would take care of it and so we went straight from the hotel the morning after I called. I get to the location and they tell me that they don’t have what is needed even though they told me on be phone they did.
This location wasted 30 minutes of my time AND made me drive all the way here with my car MALFUNCTIONING only to tell me they couldn’t help me. My problem worsened because of this and they could do nothing about it even though they were the reason I drove here. So I had to drive back up north to the dealership by my hotel all because a person at Pep Boys couldn’t do his job properly and just say that they couldn’t help me. I described my problem extensively and double checked that they had what was needed to address it because it was dangerous to keep driving my car. I arrived and, in five seconds, the guy in services told me they don’t have what was needed to fix it.

Surprisingly expensive oil change (have a diesel pick-​up and generally get oil changes for about $ 80. It was over @200 here. I was sort of captive so there was nothing I could do as I needed to get this done and some brake work before a long trip and they were the only place I could find available.
I was there from 9AM to 1PM and it turned out I did not need any brake work so it took 4 hours to do an inspection, change my oil and rotate tires. The bays were only half full so I guess they were just slow rather than behind.
I liked the guy who was helping me who was friendly and conversational but a little disappointed that it cost so much, my total bill was over $ 250 but I had a coupon that knocked it down by $ 22 dollars so that helps.
Last, they could use better ventilation. There are so many plastic and rubber parts that in the store that the air burned my eyes. I took a little while to realize it and as soon as I went out side I could break better and my eyes stopped burning. I feel bad for the employees here who may be used to it but I doubt it was good for their health.
I’d like to give the 4 stars for the honest service they gave me. I came in asking for brake work and they could have done it and charged me, or done nothing and charged me. Instead they came and got me, took me out to look at the breaks and told me I really did not need brake work at all. I really appreciate that. But the slowness and the cost kept me from giving a higher score.

Came in on a Sunday and made an appointment to get my tires aligned for following Monday at 6pm, they said the service wouldn’t take any longer the an hour. Show up Monday at 5:55 and check in, literally waited until 8pm and they hadn’t even started on my car yet so I asked for my keys back politely and walked out. Waste of time never coming back to these guys again.
Advice to management hire more people to support the demand. I saw like 3 people running around trying to do everything with a lot of cars waiting to be serviced.
Also after reading these bad reviews it made me decision that much easier.

I made an appointment online for an oil change. In about 20 min, the car is ready. I did ask whether they did rotate the tire (included as part of the synthetic oil package), the guy is very honest and said he didn’t. He brought the car back and rotated the tires. Minutes later, I got my car back with a very reasonable bill (the online coupon I saved to my phone also worked). No pushing for unnecessary maintenance recommendation at all (maybe because my car is fairly new). In total, I spent 40 min there. I would definitely come back again.

Standard oil change, was in and out in under an hour first thing on a Saturday morning. Pretty good service.

Avoid Service all costs: San Carlos
Service manager (Matthew) today tried to rip me off by telling me I need more than oil change. But all the things he said I did 3k miles ago lol. How sad!
My maintainence reminder on the Honda says only oil change and tire rotation. Not brake fluid and other stuff. Ended up leaving from this place!!!
After this I went to another service center, they did the right thing. Also checked and said all my fluids are good !

I had them replace all of the rotors and brakes here and they have had to be warranty replaced twice. The first time they put the wrong sized parts on. The second the brakes didn’t last much longer. I agree with the other customers that this place is understaffed and it is impossible to find anyone. They didn’t have my work order when the car was done, it wasn’t up to date. I did see the car on the lift so I know they did something but I find it hard to believe they actually did the work properly (again). I am taking the car to another shop just to verify that the brakes were replaced and are actually safe.
I won’t be back here again even with the warranty. I don’t trust this shop or its mechanics. I am filing a complaint with the State.

They have great prices on oil changes– for both our cars which uses the regular and synthetic. Check online there’s usually some kind of great coupon. I would definitely recommend making an appointment. They get very busy so be prepared and come with some work to do… pretty chill customer lounge area.
I could see that they have reviews that aren’t exactly favorable. However, Matthew deserved and earned much of this review because he was totally short-​staffed today and was still running the show like a champ. Got to give credit where credit is due.

Don’t come here. Just call! The cashiers will answer the phones and help those customers before helping customers physically in the store. Line of five people waiting to purchase stuff? Hold on I have to help these guys on the phone. The cashier asked me to look around and find someone else to help me. WHAT? That’s YOUR job. Walked out after waiting 20 mins. Can I give half a star?

So here it goes after looking around at local tire shops I decided to buy a set from Pep Boys. They had the brand and size I was looking for and I decided to give them a call and see if they had them in stock. After waiting on hold over the phone for over 20 minutes!!! Yes 20! I really in needed the tires so I waited. I finally was able to speak to someone who took my order I told him exactly what I needed and would also like to set up an appointment to have them installed. I was told the tires were not in stock but would be shipped from their warehouse. So I placed the order and asked if they could work on a lowered car. The gentleman sounded hesitant when he answered but I thought they would be able to do it since they had unlimited resources at the storefront. So I had my tires on order and would be able to have them installed in a few days.
I call back 2 days later to make sure that my tires had arrived because I was going to have them installed the next day. Again I was on hold but not for long this time around. When I spoke with the gentleman I asked if my tires had arrived. He looked up my appointment and found that I was scheduled for a tire install but the tires had not been ordered!!! So no tires but he promised that he would get them later that night from another location.
Just for kicks I call back later in the evening and the tires have arrived. At that point however I felt a bit dissatisfied that I had to check up on them to make sure things would be going alright. Now onto the day of the install I had made the decision to have another local shop install the tires and I was right to do so. When I arrived I was the only person waiting and asked if I could simply pick up the tires without installation. The clerk stated it would be fine and he proceeded to ring me up. As I waited for him to log into a register another customer at the register next to mine had inquired about tire installation as well and was told that it would take up to 5 to 6 hours??? And he would have to leave his car until the evening. I am so glad I dodged that bullet.
After I paid I was told that I could drive up to the back where the car lifts were and pick up my tires. I drove my car toward the back and no one was there. The area was blocked off with a cone and chain so I got out of my car and moved it myself. No big deal. I then cleared up some space and lowered my backseats so I could put the tires in my car. After I finished with that still no one. So I took it upon myself to walk into the garage and grab the tires myself and loaded them up. I really hate to give the place such a low rating since I could tell that the place so heavily understaffed.

This is the shabbiest auto service company that I’ve visited, and I discourage Bay Area residents from turning to Pep Boys in San Carlos for service.
My friend took her car in for a simple oil change. Four hours later we returned to Pep Boys to learn that they couldn’t find the work order and the keys. They questioned my friend about when she’d come in, who she’d talked to, and whether she had actually dropped off her car with them. The insinuation was that my friend was lying to them. After several more searches, three employees got into a debate — visibly and audibly — about which one of them was going to break the news to us; that while the work order and keys had been found, they had not serviced the vehicle! They were smart enough to offer a free oil change but not an apology for wasting our time or questioning our integrity.
Fast forward seven days… I chose to use the same Pep Boys location for my own car oil change. After all, they couldn’t be this bad all the time, right? I pulled my car up to the «Drive up service» lane, next to the service bays, but received no drive-​up service. So I walked inside, and handed over my details and car keys with the promise of service within 3 hours. I gave them an extra hour to be on the safe side.
When I returned to the Pep Boys lot I noticed my car sitting in the same spot in the drive up lane. With a little anxiety, I walked into the store and was dismayed to hear that they could not find my work order! Could this really be happening? In frustration, the employee (a different one from when I handed my keys in) even muttered «we lose work orders here all the time!» Wow, that’s quite discouraging as a customer, and it is appalling that such failure is accepted within the store’s culture! A number of searches and minutes later, the employee even turned his computer screen toward me to demonstrate that my car wasn’t logged into the system — as if to tell me that they didn’t believe I had come in at all. And the employee that originally helped me check my car in said he didn’t recall me and my car!
Eventually they found the work order at the same register at which I’d been served; it had barely moved. «It’s alright. We can get it done in 30 minutes!», he said. But no, it’s not alright, Pep Boys. None of this is alright. Two awful consecutive customer service experiences? Unacceptable. This store requires a complete upheaval; a customer service re-​training and work process intervention. Without it, Pep Boys in San Carlos is destined to lose more customers like me.
And yes, I’ve emailed Pep Boys Customer Service about this experience.

My husband and I have come here a couple of times because the location is convenient to us. The location is the only thing that is good about this place. Every time we have come here the customer service has been absolutely horrible, finally to the point that we will no longer return. Employees having inappropriate conversations in front of customers (while getting rung up), using vulgar language is not customer service. It is pretty obvious that the only thing the employees care about is picking up a paycheck. Bottom line: You can find better places to spend your money on auto parts-don’t do it here.

Update from 2 star to 1 star.
We can’t even get our battery changed because none of their mechanics showed up to work. What a joke. Plus we were told to wait. We would’ve waited forever for a mechanic that wasn’t going to show. I’ve never seen such poor management. Ever. I called in yesterday to confirm date and time, so I was more than surprised when an employee told us it’s a consistent pattern on Sundays, people just don’t show up. So… employees fighting+employees not showing up to work on a whim. Isn’t that everyone’s idea of a broken/​shit business?
Came in for battery change.
But this is a comment is for the manager.
An employee named nate was trying to learn how to price a product, so he asked George. George did not help him and started telling him off and swearing at Nate. This type of behavior is unprofessional and disgusting to see. Not only is it uncomfortable for customers to witness but it means experienced employees do not have any desire to help newcomers. Compromising your team and company’s image.

This place has the worst customer service of all time. They dont answer the phone. There is always a line.
From time to time I come here to take advantage of a web deal. My advice? Plan ahead and buy elsewhere. I have been here multiple times to pick up the same item. They will email that order is, ready and then it isnt there. Or their site says they have something they dont. Its a joke.
Some employees try. Otherw give up. All seem depressed.

Not cool! Did everything I was asked to do online. Picked out tires, added alignment, made the appointment days ago. Your web site said its all a «go.» I get here and it’s all still a «go»… Until, 15 minutes later they tell me the tires are not in the building. I was offered another set of tires at the same price.
People like me try to plan things out. This was planned out and still did not go as planned
Seems to always be something!
The reason for the 3 stars and not 1, is because they were able to offer another set of tires at the same price.

Three and a half hours to get the brakes done on my car. No one in front of me, but everyone seems to be going on breaks all the time. Fast food everywhere and randos having long long conversations with the staff… Anything to slow the process down will do.
The workshop looks like a scene from the walking dead, everyone is gone, but there’s a chance someone is lurking somewhere.

Worst customer service. Didn’t do my brakes correctly then give me the run around to get them looked at.
Don’t get your brakes done here. They will charge for more expensive parts and then put on cheaper parts
Manager is a scam artist.

Hate to complain as I’m sure these are good guys doing their best. But the management of the repair shop here is non-​existent. 11:00am «appointment» — rough guess they gave me was that it would take 2 hours to complete an oil change and the replacement of 1 tire. After going for a two hour walk, I returned and the work on the car had not begun. Then they went looking for «a guy» who was on lunch break, and then they found another guy to work on my car. Two and a half hours and the car is still not ready, but at least I saw them finally drive it into the work area just now.
I’m going back to wheel works next time I need tires. Jiffy lube for an oil change.

First person in line to pay for oil and filter but waited for two cashiers to finish talking or discussing what is being typed in their computer. Estimation: 4 min.
Next time, I should dress like a dude so the service would be slightly faster.