A long-time mechanic issued a warning about chain oil change spots like Jiffy Lube and Grease Monkey. He says he knows from personal experience that women are especially vulnerable to being upcharged on maintenance—even if they are accompanied by a man.
TikTok user @fordbossme recently stitched a video from user @kat_braden. The video starts with Kat saying that she will be bringing a man with her to get her oil changed going forward, because she was recently pressured into spending more than $400 on her car after going in for a simple oil change. That’s when @fordbossme takes over. And he says that plan is unfortunately not foolproof.
“Well, a little confession about myself,” @fordbossme says in the video. “I was one of those people that worked at the quick oil change places back when I was younger. I was one of the lead guys on the floor.”
He says he “knew more about what was going on with the vehicles than anybody else” but “was still new enough not to have answers for everything.”
@fordbossme says that you have to understand working at one of these places can be stressful. “They push you extremely hard,” he says. “Especially if you’re going to the quick oil change places—the Jiffy Lubes, the Take 5s, the Grease Monkeys. Stuff like that. Some of them are run … all pushed by corporate type numbers. Some of them are run more private. It all depends on which one you go to.”
If you’re a woman who believes bringing a man along will keep you safe from the mechanics there trying to sell you on some unnecessary work, @fordbossme says you should think again. He uses a story from personal experience to illustrate his point.
@fordbossme #stitch with @Kat ♬ original sound – Kat
A confession
“This girl comes in with a Mitsubishi Eclipse, front-wheel drive, only has like 50,000, 60,000 miles on the thing,” @fordbossme says. “She comes in for an oil change. It’s my job to upsell. I pull the air filter—a little bit dirty. Not completely plugged up. I pull PCV out of it. I pull one of the wiper blades. I pull several different things. And, honestly, the girl didn’t really need any of them.”
@fordbossme says he is not bragging and that he would not employ this tactic today. “The quick change places seem to have the reputation for it, because they push drive, drive, drive, sales, sales, sales. And the young guys are trying to perform and impress the management, which then they move up into management and train the new guys that are coming in to do the same thing,” he explains.
He says he ended up telling the Mitsubishi owner that her vehicle required about $600 worth of maintenance. She was skeptical and asked her companion for advice. “She looks over at the guy that’s with her, and she’s like, ‘Wow, we only came here for an oil change. It’s crazy that we need all that stuff,’” @fordbossme recalls. “The guy’s looking at her; they’re talking, and stuff like that. And he says, ‘You know what, just go ahead and do it. It’s fine.’”
In @fordbossme’s view, the man didn’t know anything about cars. “He didn’t know if she was being lied to,” he says. “And I sounded so convincing when I was approaching them that this needed to be done that they believed me. Now, mind you, I’m not proud of this. This is early on. I’ve given back to the community in a number of ways. I quickly got out of that side of the business.”
In conclusion, “Bringing a guy doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not going to get taken advantage of,” @fordbossme says.
Viewers share their own experiences
The video has amassed more than 4,000 views as of Monday morning. In the comments, users shared their own experiences with quick oil change businesses.
One user said, “There’s a lot of guys that know nothing, even the basics.”
A second user stated, “Same, second job was jiffy lube.”
A third user said, “The quick lube places only have a few sources of income so they have to push the other services.”
A Quora user asked why the mechanic tries to upsell them when they bring their vehicle in for a simple oil change. In response, a user stated, “Because they want to sell more service and parts and make more money. They are under a lot of pressure from management to make more $$.Of course not all shops are dishonest, but there are enough bad apples out there to make you keep your guard up.”
In May, another mechanic reacted to Kat’s video and explained why she was charged such a high amount for what she initially thought would be a simple oil change. “I am 100% not picking on poor Kat. She was totally taken advantage of because she doesn’t know anything about her car,” @mechanicofthestars said.
The Daily Dot reached out to @fordbossme via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. The Daily Dot also reached out to Jiffy Lube, Take 5, and Grease Monkey via email.
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