Complaint Review: Firestone Complete Auto Care - Amarillo Texas

Had my brakes replaced at the Coulter St. Firestone in late 2016 on my G35. In the past month I began hearing a clank sound from the rear when I pressed on the brakes so I jacked up the car to investigate. Turns out they installed the brake pads incorrectly. 2 of the pads are intended to be installed on the inside of the brake caliper, towards the piston, and the other 2 go on the outside. On one side though they had them reversed. As a result, the outside brake caliper body was resting on 4 metal rivets that protrude from the brake pad (one of these rivets is where the wear indicator is attached, but that pad was on the other side which was installed correctly). What was causing the noise?

Over the past year or so pressure from the caliper compressed one of the rivets allowing the pad to rock back and forth when pressing on the brakes. Imagine an unlevel table in a restaurant. Now, this wasn't the end of the world. Mistakes happen. I put everything back together and called Firestone explaining the issue and believing they'd make it right. When I showed up for my appointment they said it was installed correctly. I was baffled. Surely they see the exact issue I saw. With my car still on the lift, I showed them the issue.

I pointed to the rivets that weren't supposed to be on the outside brake pad. I pointed to the caliper resting on the metal rivets instead of the pad. The rep argues with me and says it's installed correctly. Out of the goodness of his heart, he'll go ahead and warranty them out but I'll have to pay for labor. Also, the rotors can't be turned so he'll have to replace them as well. Total? $257. I'm in complete disbelief. I told him to put everything back together and I'd take the car.

I immediately drove next door to Oreilly's, bought 2 new rotors and brake pads for $140 out the door, went home and had them installed in an hour. Not satisfied with the way I was treated, I then returned to Firestone with the old pads which very clearly showed the truth. The inside brake pad should have had a circle in the middle where the brake piston had made contact with it. It did not. The outside brake pad should have had marks on each end where the caliper body made contact but instead it had the circle from the brake piston. The evidence could not possibly have been more clear.

The rep said "how do I know you didn't swap them." Well, fair point I suppose, EXCEPT you can't erase the circular mark left on the pad from the brake piston. So the lack of that mark proves the pad was NEVER installed in the correct position. Unbelievable. By the end of the conversation the rep agreed to pay for the pads I purchased next door but I declined. By then it felt incredibly patronizing. He was acting as if they didn't do anything wrong but were trying to appease a difficult customer.

Compensating me for parts I had to replace due to faulty workmanship would have been the fair offer from the beginning, but after a half hour of listening to him tell me they did nothing wrong, it wasn't about the money. All I wanted was an acknowledgement they did the work incorrectly and perhaps an apology. In my opinion, the rep was either a liar, completely incompetent, or more focused on shielding them from liability than owning up to the mistake and providing good customer service to resolve the issue. I will never be back.