Ashburn Automotive Service - AVOID AT ALL COSTS (unless you like waiting)

(Full disclosure: I posted this mini-diatribe last week at brambletonian.net, but considering that this business is closer to y'all's neck of the woods, I thought I'd do the neighborly thing and repeat my post here.)

If you enjoy four-month-old magazines, five snowy channels of TV on a 13" set and waiting in drab, poorly-lit waiting areas, by all means head over to Ashburn Automotive Service at 43781 Parkhurst Plaza. No need to make haste, though--they certainly aren't in any hurry.

I arrived ten minutes early at 5:50 PM on Tuesday the 18th for my 6 PM appointment to have four tires installed. Twenty minutes later when I finally made it to the front of a line of customers that snaked across the lobby (my first clue that I should have turned around and walked out), I was told that my car would be ready in "an hour to an hour-and-a-half, tops" by fresh-faced Jim the service representative. Dear readers, please do not believe anything that fresh-faced Jim says. He lies.

90 minutes later, having smoked the three clods on Jeopardy! and having read the April issue of Popular Science cover to cover, I approached the service desk and asked young Jim the Liar how much longer my car would be. "Just a few more minutes, Mr. Gammans!" he cheerfully assures me. But remember, my attentive audience: Jim Lies. And sure enough, a few minutes later one of Jim's colleagues informs me that it will be another 45 minutes before my Accord is newly shorn with four Goodyear Eagles. Unfortunately for me, Jim's colleague has been around Jim too long, because he was lying too. I didn't part with 900 hundred clams and get my car back until 8:45 PM.

Maybe it's just me, but three hours to change a set of tires seems just a wee bit excessive to me.

 

I have to disagree for the most part. I take both my cars there, they have been pretty good speed-wise. I always just drop the car off however and pick it up later. Ashburn Auto rocks in that regard. They have a van there and will drive you home and come pick you up when its ready. Only time I have ever waited at AshAuto was for inspections, ~10 min wait.

You won't find anywhere for auto work that is fast. But really if you want an adventure in waiting, try Pep Boys! I did a 6.5 hour wait there once... ouch.

 

This place has been the biggest rip off place from day one. My wife went there to get her care inspected and it failed so we took it to Joe of Joe's Auto works Anyway the things they said failed were not broke. I would never never have them do any work on my cars ever again.

Yes the several times I did use them the wait time was all lies and took forever to get anything done.

Lee j

 

That doesn't sound like a fun way to spend an evening. If they had told you it would be as long as it turned out to be you could have spent your time perhaps more enjoyably down the way at the Wing place.

We've never had any problems taking our cars there and are generally pleased with them.

 

...well, as a woman I almost always just assume that a car repair shop will try to rip me off so I just ignore what they say and ask my husband later. My husband doesn't know much about cars, but still, they don't know that.

It's really hard to find a repair shop that really gives outstanding service. When we lived in Texas I had a favorite oil change place that I liked because the owner/manager really made an effort to give good service and I *didn't* feel like I was being taken advantage of because I was a woman.

 

Mr Linux -
Interesting that you post that you have good experiences with the Goodyear by the Ice House, but not with the Ashburn Goodyear by Shoppers - they're owned by the same parent company. That being said, my experience was the opposite with the one by the ice house - I spent 4 hrs there getting tires put on near closing time when they said they could do it in 1.5 hrs, and came home to an angry missus. I agree that it seems that leaving cars with the Ashburn center is the way to go, I've never had any issues with them.

 

I asked the manager when the shop at the ice house opened, and he told me they were owned by the same parent company - the owners wanted a bigger shop (which they have at the ice house), versus the small shop that originally opened in the shopper's strip mall. They use incompatible computer systems so the records cannot be shown at both stores. In fact the parent company owns 7 goodyear stores in the metro area - http://www.vatireandauto.com/locations.html

 

They are the same owner...been going there for nearly 10 years and have been very satisfied...if they screw up, which I've had happen twice, they make good plus some. They damaged the roof of a conversion van I had a few years ago and not only had it repaired but arranged and paid for a rental car for the nearly 2 weeks it took for an outside contractor to do the job.

 

That's what really ticked me off. As they were checking me out at 8:45 PM, one of the guys behind the desk (who was acting very exasperated with Jim the Liar) kept saying things like "You never should have promised him it would be done in an hour!" They actually have a shuttle service and offered to drive me home when I checked in at 6:10 PM, but I foolishly believed them when they said it would only be an hour's wait and elected to stay. I figured that since a shuttle service would have taken at least 15 minutes home and 15 minutes back, it wouldn't be worth the trouble. Silly, silly me.

Thanks for that bit of info... now I have six more tire store locations I can cross off my list.