Pep Boys

I wish I could give them a zero. They totally ripped me off, told me I needed an fix that they’d charge $ 1000 for, my local guy charged $ 800 for. then my guy told me I didn’t even need that in the first place. Total BS. never again. lost a long time customer.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. Have you ever seen those signs emblazoned over the window of a place of business that tell you the old boss with a crappy, attitude, has been sent packing, and the new one with a convivial one is finally installed. You say to yourself, «ok, lets give them another try, its convenient.»
Well that’s just what I did with Pep Boys whose new service manager is Pennardy Francois, (AKA Francois) and let me tell you I am super glad I did. His professional presence and human touch is just infectious for customers and employees alike. Its a happy, well run place!
You discover to your surprise that as you tell Francois your car problem he listens not like the grouchy, curt, impatient cigar smoking counter guys in the tire places of yesteryear. The guy at the counter listens like he is your psychiatrist, convivial, empathetic ready to do whatever to help. You then at his invitation are asked to go to in the waiting area, while the tech checks out your car. Its set up like an office away from home with power, WiFi internet connection not to mention plenty of Kuerig coffee.
You don’t know as you sit there experiencing some free floating anxiety whether the car EMT – Technician who evaluates the job is going to come back with a diagnoses that is going cost you a few bucks for some ailment that is relatively minor like an alignment or or you have something that is the equivalent of auto cancer, which you are going to have to pay a lot of money to fix.
After a 20 to 30 minutes Francois, comes out to the waiting room, like the attending physician who has just removed his surgical mask and quietly calls your name «Robert, would you please to step out of the room for a moment so I can talk to you.» Here it is the moment of truth! Egads! In my case he told me it was a U joint in the steering column, which I knew would cost me big money, I guess this was why the steering wheel seemed to be freezing up all the time when I turned it half way,
I immediately began calling Auto Zone, Advanced Auto Parts and other stores to see if I could get the price of the part down, and to my surprise Francois and the Technician bent over backwards to be very cooperative. He said, with empathy «If it was my car I would be doing the same thing as you.»
Lets face it, the occasional repair that costs $ 100s that absolutely must be done can for some people be the difference between whether or not they can make their rent payment, child support or taxes and not, and so a trip to Pep Boys can get very emotional. I found Francois able to stand on both sides of the tennis court, making sure the company makes money, but at the same time, being very empathetic for the impact the visit will have on people, and giving them a little discount
I was very impressed with the fact that the fact that Pep Boys Dedham isn’t like a lot of auto dealers who don’t have real mechanics working on your car. Pepboys had three master mechanics, and three tire guys. The best part yet they were American, (or American trained). Mark Regan, the tech who worked on my car was not only born in the USA but had thirty years experiences and was the consummate professional.
There was no Ivan from Russian who learned auto repairs selling burnt out work out cars with 300,000 miles to poor Ukranians. There was no Harry from Hong Kong who took a crash course at the new England Auto School and then got a job here. There was no Pepi from Mexico who used to work in the Narco trade fixing cars used in drug smuggling.
I settle on a good price with Francois, hung out in the waiting area working on my computer and it seemed done in no time and worked perfectly. I will be back again soon to do some brake work. Thanks for everything!

Completely unhelpful. Made me wait nearly a hour to tell me they couldn’t fix my car or really help me at all, even at a later date if they ordered parts. All I needed was a new tire and rim. Will never go there again.

I had a spare tire on my car and I needed a replacement. I made an appointment online 3 hours prior to the appointment. When I went online, it asked me question about my car that I was unsure (type of trim, type of transmission, etc.). I like how it had the «I don’t know» option.
I called to double check my appointment went through and to make sure they had the tire I needed in stock, they did.
I got there 20 minutes prior to my appointment. I spoke with a woman named Joanna who was VERY helpful. She showed me four options of tires I could choose from. I don’t know much about tires, so I asked for her opinion and she helped me choose the best fit for my VW Jetta.
I also informed her I wanted a few other things done such as replacing my headlights and checking the air in all my tires. She wrote down everything I asked her.
I only had to wait about an hour to get my car fixed. Joanna was very helpful and I left a VERY HAPPY customer.
I would definitely recommend this for a fast, easy fix for whatever you need!

Don’t make the same mistake I did. Please! Go someplace else for tires. I needed to buy and have tires installed on my car. I called and they gave me an appointment. I arrived, and the guy behind the counter (Francois), checked, and then told me that he didn’t think they had the tires. He asked me who had I spoken to. I didn’t know. He asked me to hold on while he checked. He headed to the back of the store. He came back about 10 minutes later, checked the computer again and asked me to hold on, and headed to the back of the store again. This went on for nearly an hour. Back and forth. Francios seemed more and more confused every time he came back to the front of the store. I ignored my gut warning to just leave and go some place else. I waited, because I had left work for this appointment, and I figured I was already here.
Finally, he tells me that he doesn’t have the tires that I was promised, but he had a «higher» end tire «Continental Tires», but they would cost more, and they weren’t buy 3 get one free like the advertised ones on the internet. Now, I’m upset. I asked to speak to a manager. Francios, informed me that he was the manager. So I asked to speak with someone above him. He called John. John’s nametag confirmed that he was a manager.
Well, John said that he was the person who had spoken to me on the phone earlier, and that he had put the tires away for me. Okay. Why didn’t Francios ask John or any of his colleagues if they had made the appointment? That was my question.
Ok. Not a great experience, but now they have the tires, it’s buy 3 get one free. Let’s just do this so I can get out of here. 30 minutes later, Francios calls me. The mechanic say I need to get new breaks, that I’m medal on medal, and that I have to get breaks as a matter of safety and it would cost an additional $ 500. Really… You hear those wise tails about how mechanic try and take advantage of women. But really. Of course I refused.
By now, I’m beyond mad, and on the phone with a family member. He asked, what did I agree to, what did I sign for? Huh? He asked if they gave me an itemization of the costs. No, they just told me that the tires were $ 79/​ea, and the fourth would be free. He told me to ask for the itemization. There was none. Francois show me on the computer. Now, he tells me that I have to pay hazard, Rotation and labor, bringing the total to $ 570. He told me that the only way to get the buy 3 get one free, was to agree to these other charges. Now I hit the ceiling. I couldn’t believe they were trying to rip me off like this. John comes back out, and claims that he explain this all to me. He didn’t. «show me where I signed» or put the old tires back on. At this point I didn’t care. What a nightmare.
Bait and Switch…
After a standoff, we settled on $ 417. I know I got ripped me off.
Lastly, as I’m standing there, at the register paying, this inflated bill, Francios apologies to me for about the fourth time. He goes on to tell me how he doesn’t like to see people get so upset, because he’s a Christian, and at the end of the day when he goes home to his wife and daughter, and he’s ok.
He may have been ok, but I wasn’t. I left feeling violated and totally taken advantage of.
I know this review is long, and I can’t go back and change the decision I made to stay and do business with Pep Boys. I know I will never again, and I hope others will learn from my poor judgment.

I went in to buy filter, battery and oil to do some maintenance on my 1966 Mustang. I buy quite a few parts to keep her on the road so am frequently visit auto parts stores. This Pep Boys is very conveniently located to me in Dedham, MA.
Last Saturday, I found the battery i needed and oil and oil filter that was a combination deal posted near the oil. I was having trouble finding the filter and stopped to ask the parts person (Bob or Rob) for help and he told me just to go back and look for it harder. When I got to the register, the rude sales person (Kelly) told me the oil and filter was $ 15 more than posted on the display. I told her that I it was advertised for much less and showed her the add from the display. She explained to me that the sale date (in small print) had passed and that why I had to pay more. Turns out this was also the case for the battery (computer said $ 137 and display said $ 130). She implied that I was cheap for wanting the posted price. She honored the battery price but not the oil. Every other retail establishment I have ever been to honors the mistaken posted price and corrects it.
Come on guys, I bet you can find sales people that won’t insult customers. I bet they can even keep the store shelves stocked and display prices correct. Maybe they can behave that way for their other burly mechanic customers but i won’t be going back.

Excellent service. I needed my tire replaced with the spare one. It had a hole in it. I was in a rush as my family member was coming to town. I pulled in try understood the urgency and within 5−10min they got down to work and helped me… Very appreciative of there efforts!

I hate dealerships and repair shops, but I like these guys. If you give them a chance they will definitely work with you, explain your options and get you a decent deal. Chris the service manager is a great guy. Dave, at the desk, also helped me get a better deal. I would definitely use them again without hesitation.

I called ordering four tires, 4 days in advance. They guy on the phone wanted to charge me almost $ 200 more than the price I got quoted for on their website. I told him that I would rather buy them online and have the installment done at their store. He said OK, that it shouldn’t be a problem because they have all four tires already at the shop and booked my appointment. Then I bought them online and received a confirmation for my appointment, same time and place as the one I made with the man on the phone (I also called back to confirm that my online order went through, in addition to my 3 email confirmations I received, So I figured I covered all bases RIGHT! I did that Considering that I only have one day off a week (work really hard every other day) and don’t want to spend my day waiting around.
So…
I get there 15 minutes before my appointment (to make sure I could get this done on time). Longer story short… I waited almost 45 minutes for them to find all four tires, during waiting I was treated like I was bothering them and doing them a disservice. The guy who was supposedly in charge excepted no blame (neither did any of the other guys), I received not one apology The entire time! Plus my boyfriend was even treated rudely by the kid (Kyle) who couldn’t even do his job (acted too good for it). Their customer service sucks Beyond words! I am in disbelief, feeling like that could have been an episode of Punked, minus the part where someone tells me they’re just kidding. Smh

If you can get ANYWHERE that is 10% more expensive than this place, do it there. This place sucks. Warranteed work means nothing. It means, they’ll get to that AFTER they take care of any new sucker who is paying now.
I was told they would call me when they could get to the work. Never happened.
I can see this place (Pep Boys) will be out of business in the near future.
You suck.

Not sure what’s happening to this place, it’s too bad, looking at the reviews a year ago the customer service was fantastic now it has gone downhill my car SAT there for 12 hours, its a long story but I will say this John the general manager was awesome, he’s trying to fix this bad situation. He inherited untrained technicians but is truly trying to turn this place around. Thank you John you did me a real solid. Because of John I will continue to do business there I may not have major work done but I’ll definitely get my oil changes there.

Brought my car to be looked at and had a scheduled appointment for 1 pm. I called in advance to ensure they were running on time and was told yes they were but they had a number of cars on the platforms and only one mechanic… on a Sunday. So bring my car down to have the breaks inspected. Was told i need all four brake pads replaced AND the rotors in the rear replaced… for $ 450. I am no mechanic but did not believe the rotors needed to be replaced and had to head back to work after being there for 75 minutes.
Brought it to another mechanic closer to home to have them inspected since felt heir quote and assessment was unreasonable for a 2014 car and did not inform them of this places’ assessment. Was told I only needed the brake pads in the rear replaced and that the rotors look fine.
Bottom line: if you want to get ripped off, highly recommend. If not… I suggest just about anywhere else.

Okay so first off, I would never get service done at a retail store. When I drove a Subaru, I went to a dealership or a place that specialized in Subarus. Now that I have a BMW, I bring it to the dealership or a place that specializes in BMWs. The best Techs will work at a dealership or a specialty shop — not at a place that sells windshield wiper fluid. So based on the 1-​star reviews, I would suggest not bringing your car here for service.
I’ll get off my soapbox.
I go to Pep Boys when I need something that I forgot to buy online. Recently they had a 35% off sale that applied to all my detailing products. Much to my surprise, they had a good selection of Griots and Meguiars Professional products in store.
I placed my order online for in store pickup. When I went to pick it up, the order was wrong. I had a feeling it was the Cashiers first day on the job because he had no idea what was going on. He told me I could just go pick out the right products and be on my way since I had already paid online. I found it odd that I was told to go get them by myself, but I digress. I grabbed the few items they missed, a couple other items I wanted, and brought them back to the register. He gave me a receipt for the items I paid for online, never scanned the new items, and went to go talk to a woman who could have been a customer or his baby’s momma.
Now, at this point, I could have easily walked out with the items I hadn’t paid for, but that would be stealing and quite frankly I don’t need to steal some Rain-​X. I gestured to him that he had forgotten a couple things, so he told me he’d be a few minutes. Finally he comes back, rings up the 2 new items, and then goes back to talking to that distracting succubus.
I had over $ 100 in product and would have appreciated if he put them in a bag for me, but that was apparently beneath him. Fortunately one of the items I was purchasing was a new car wash bucket, so I just put everything in the bucket and left.
I’m giving a 3-​star because they do have a great selection and this 35% off sale beat Amazon’s prices for these items. The service I received this last visit was horrendous though (but what do you expect for $ 9/​hr).

I have mixed emotions about this place. My biggest problem is that they are SO SLOW. I’ve gotten oil changes and break evaluations there and it takes two hours easily, sometimes more. I don’t mind waiting, but they never even say how long it’ll be! I feel like they have a lot of sales people but only one or two mechanics, which seems ridiculous for a place so large!
However, from my experience, they have very good customer service. Everyone is friendly and helpful and I don’t feel like they’re ripping me off. I’ve also gotten my past two oil changes for free, I’m not sure why, but they just say I’m all set and let me go, so that’s always nice! Keep an eye out for coupons too, they’re usually pretty good!
I’d give it 3.5 stars. Wish they could do simple work faster!

I realize that everyone has their bad days, so I don’t leave a lot of negative reviews, only when the business really seems to have it coming. I had the most painful auto repair experience in my life here.
My wife made an appointment online to have her car serviced 2 days in advance. When I showed up on the day and at the time of the confirmed appointment, they said they could not find any appointment in their system. Not much I could do, so I scheduled for the following day. When I told the service manager what needed service, he said it would take 2 hours. I said that was fine. As I was getting in my car, my wife sent me the confirmation email, so I called Pep Boys with the info. They were then able to find the appointment in a different part of their system and apologized that the computer screwed up, but said it was busy and it would be better for them if I came the next day.
So I show up the next day at the time of the confirmed morning appointment. The employee who checks me in tells me that they are short staffed and that it may be 2 hours before they even start on my car. He offers to reschedule, but since this is already my second time coming to the shop in 2 days I go ahead and check in figuring if the car is still not started on in 2 hours, I will leave and reschedule. I figure a 2-​hour delay plus the previously quoted 2 hours is 4 hours, not pleasant, but tolerable.
They bring the car in about 90 minutes after my scheduled appointment. After an hour I walk by the window a few times where I see about 5 cars including mine up on lifts but only 2 people in there working, not on my car. 90 minutes after the car is brought in, the service manager gives me the update: they’ve changed the oil, they can fix a part that was broken and causing some rattling instead of replacing it, and they need to do more diagnostic testing on the AC for an additional fee. I say ok to the additional testing. He asks do I want them to fix the broken part? I say yes.
Other customers come and go. Several are frustrated by their longer than expected wait times, which are still nothing compared to the 6 hours I’ve spent there by this time. 3 hours after the update, I ask for another update, and the employee tells me they need to do some additional diagnostic testing on the AC. I tell him they said that already 3 hours earlier and that I’ve been there for 6 hours by this point. He says sorry, there’s only 1 master mechanic available to do all of the more complicated work. Finally after 7 hours, they tell me they’re done.
I turns out that after $ 100 of testing there’s an AC problem that they say only the dealer can fix. What a great conclusion to 7 hours of my time. Then, there’s an extra $ 300 worth of charges that I don’t understand, so I ask the guy checking me out. It was something they found on their routine inspection that needed to be replaced only they never told that they were going to be replacing these parts. He apologizes and says the service manager said he had gotten my ok. I am sure I would have remembered, because it had nothing to do with any of the problems I was bringing the car in for and I would have been very irritated.
To add insult to injury, after I get to the car it turns out that they forgot to address 2 issues (a wiper adjustment and a funny noise) that I specifically brought the car in for. I go back in and tell the employee who checked me out that a the wiper adjustment that I requested was not done. I even specifically mentioned it to the service manager when he gave me my update earlier. To their credit, the employee brought the car in and did the quick adjustment without charging me for the extra few minutes of «labor».
SEVEN hours and over $ 500 spent and the main issue of the nonworking AC didn’t even get fixed. I’d give this place 1 star, but at least a couple of the employees seemed to be trying to be polite and apologetic even though they didn’t offer any remedy for the poor service. So 2 stars it is, although I feel that is being very generous. I am certainly not going back to have them look into the funny noise that they forgot to address.
So, car service places I recommend: Car Zone (Somerville/​Cambridge), ABJ Auto Repair (Somerville), Ashmont Tire Service (Dorchester), Arborway Auto Services (Jamaica Plain)
Car service places I do NOT recommend: Herb Chambers Toyota (Allston; expensive, have had to bring car back multiple times for same problem with no credit for previous ineffective repairs, pressure to buy a new car), Prime Toyota (Dedham; way overzealous salesmen who try to convince you to buy a new car THAT DAY while you’re waiting for your car to be serviced), Direct Tire (Watertown; expensive), Pep Boys (Dedham; cruel and unusual punishment, see above)

I needed new tires for my car asap. Pep Boys was the only place nearby I found that was open on a Sunday. I called them and they were able to squeeze me in at 4 o’clock, for which I was very grateful.
The wait time was quite long. I arrived at the store at a little after 4 and didn’t leave till about 7. There were some very angry customers, and I could understand why they were frustrated, but what REALLY bothered me was the attitude that one of the employees had toward the employee who was working at the service desk (his name was Ben). He was being a total a**hole to Ben, refusing to help him when there were issues with the store lights and complaining to the customers about having to stay late. At one point he was standing by a cash register making fun of a woman who was having trouble with the front door. He even tried to get me angry about the wait time, but I just brushed him off, telling him it didn’t bother me that much. Instead of standing around complaining, maybe he should have asked Ben if there was anything he could do to help. And I find it very unprofessional and childish of him to try and raise the frustration level of the customers, rather than helping to bring calmness to the situation.
Ben, on the other hand, was really nice and respectful to all the customers, including a REALLY loud woman who began complaining about waiting about 10 minutes after she got there. He was working really hard, running back and forth between the desk and the back where the mechanics were, and deserved more respect from the customers and his fellow employee than he received.
Yes, the wait time was much longer than I had anticipated, but I am eternally grateful to Ben and the mechanics for taking care of my car on such short notice – I really don’t know what I would have done otherwise.

This place is pathetic. I called them concerning a front wheel alignment at noon and they told me to come down because there was no line. I arrived at Pep Boys 15 minutes later and was told I had to wait 45 minutes for them to work on my car. This was no problem, because a couple of costumers may have gotten there before me. The problem I had was with their ridiculing and laughing with each other in front of a female customer that wasn’t sure what year her car was. She appeared to be very uncomfortable and I truly felt bad for her.
I proceeded to wait over 2 hours before I finally attempted to ask them how much longer I had to wait. The employee made me wait until he could thoroughly inspect a female customer’s behind before he said «next in line». He practically turned his head sideways while staring at her while she walked away, with a creepy smirk on his face. TOTALLY inappropriate! He then went in back to inquire how long I had to wait. When he came back and told me that there were 4 more cars ahead of me before they could take my car to be serviced, I asked him how it was possible that when I called there was no line, then the next thing you know, I now have to wait over 3 hours? He just said, «yeah, don’t know what to tell you man… we busy».
This employee, who already had my keys in his hand, handed them back to me without me even asking for them. I took the hint and left the store. I feel bad for whoever owns this business, because I find it hard to believe these people would still be employed if their actions were known. I will never, EVER return place! I also want to warn any females from doing business here. Trust me, you will be treated like garbage.

I have been to this «Pep Boys» location a few times. So far they haven’t failed to deliver anything but top notch service. I only give it a 3 star rating because once or twice, I was told over the phone they had an item in stock, then come to find out, it had just been sold to another customer. I do not use them for mechanic work, so this review is based solely on what items I have needed and bough, as well as the customer service. I have always been greeted upon entering the store. Helped with a friendly attitude when I needed to find a certain item.
They have a wide selection of tools and such for what you need. And normally, the item is almost always in stock. I would recommend them for buying items. They provide great customer service and are on top of their game when it comes to helping you get the item you need

I went to the store to buy rims and the guy at the service desk tole me to order them online because that’s they best way… so that’s what I did. They were supposed to email me to tell me when the rims arrived… never got an email. So I called the store the next week (5 days later) and they said that the rims were in the back, (so no one was going to call me?). The guy said I can come back that afternoon to put them on… I drove to the store and when I get there now they’re telling me that I needed hubcentric rings… something I never heard of until then and was never told to order. So they order them and said it would be there by Monday (it was Friday).
I waited until tues and called them and was put on hold twice and then hung up on. When I called back and finally spoke to someone they said there was a prob with the order and they would reorder it. So now it’s 2 ½ weeks since I ordered the rims. I call back the next week to see if they arrive and they have so I go down to the store again and they start telling me a different story… I made sure they looked through the entire back room before I left… and they found it. So now my car is up and the wheels are off but now they’re telling me I needed lugs. But it’s something that only a store employee can order… why don’t this things come with the rims. I was about to ask for a refund an go home but they happened to find some somewhere behind a desk. Total of about 3 ½ weeks to put on some rims that were sitting in their back room.
Very unorganized, and a lot of running around. 2 stars because inside the actual store is stoppable.

The only store in the area to carry the oil I need for my diesel Volkswagen — VW 507.00 specification. The oil is Mobil 1 ESP (Emissions System Protection). Also bought a bottle of diesel Power Service fuel additive for the fuel filter change.
Unfortunately, I had to buy the oil filter, air filter, cabin filter, and fuel filter elements from the VW dealer because they don’t carry any of them at Pep Boys — just the oil.
Otherwise the store is adequate.