Pep Boys Auto Service & Tire

The manager, Ben, was amazing! He made sure that a mechanic was able to fix my car right away even though it was a Saturday afternoon. Make sure to go here if you have any car problems whatsoever !

Why do I continue to avoid learning how to change my own oil? I ask myself this quietly every time I pay someone else to do it at an auto shop. After leaving Pep Boys last week, I screamed this question to myself (internally of course).
Pep Boys makes it difficult to believe that bigger/​franchised auto service companies can compete with local mom and pops on customer service, quality, and price. I was under the impression that my oil change would cost me $ 35, as indicated by the sign and confirmed by the office employee. I actually skipped another oil change franchise because its price was $ 44. Upon picking my car up the next day (because the office employee’s 2 hour time estimate was over an hour off), I was given a bill for $ 49. No phone call to inform me of this, no mention of it when I initially agreed to the service. I was supposed to already know that the $ 35 price was for 5 liters of oil only, and my car took 7. No communication of that little detail.
Also, their 25-​point inspection garnered no information for me about anything else. I asked the office employee to look into what could be rattling under my hood on the driver’s side. Not a mention of it. My car has 206,000 miles on it and the 25-​point inspection garnered nothing?
Some big companies are successful at instilling customer service values down the line to all of their employees (Publix, Chik-​fil-​A, etc). Pep Boys is not one of them. How could I be confident in their model on more complicated (and expensive) types of work on my vehicle if they can’t accomplish an oil change without unspoken charges?
I do owe them a thank you for kicking me in the pants to learn how to change my own oil. One thing is certain, though: it will be the last lesson I learn from Pep Boys.