Jiffy Lube review: stripped my ignition

On Saturday, May 4th I was in Memphis TN to attend the Beale Street Music Festival. I pulled into a Jiffy Lube because my oil light had flashed on the previous night when I arrived into town and I was about due for a change. Other than that my car was good working order and although it is a 2002 it has less than 75, 000 miles on it. I drive a VW Golf. A 5 speed. Yes, you have to press the clutch in to start the engine.

Less than 15 minutes after the young service tech asked me to park the car for their maintenance tech to pull it into the bay they came to get me in the waiting room. The tech told me he couldn’t start my car. I got in and found the ignition stripped. The key would turn but had no give, everything on the dash was lit up and stayed that way even when the key was removed. Yes, I freaked.

At this point the service staff all begin to ignore me. Even though my car was completely blocking entrance to their first bay and business was getting steady. My boyfriend began trying to get information regarding contacting the franchise owner while I began calling ignition specialist that might possibly be open on a Saturday. Eventually I ended up having my car towed to the VW Dealership Service site and renting a car from Enterprise, which happened to be across the street.
The dealership office manager asked me how my car ended up in the shape it was. He said that it, “looked like someone tried to start it with a screwdriver”. Apparently Jiffy Lube personnel are not trained on VW’s.

The $680 service fee is going up another approximately $100 for some electrical module that was damaged inside. I haven’t seen the tow bill yet. I paid $95 to rent a car for the remainder of my holiday weekend but am still in a rental car at $30 a day while VW waits to receive the electrical component that was damaged inside the cylinder.

I’ll have to return to Memphis to return the rental and retrieve my vehicle… so the cost have not stopped adding up.
When I have a final tally I will also have my attorney draft a letter seeking compensation for my losses along with their fees and court costs. Small claims court here we come.